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APR 5^n 1924 
 
 Division 3*^ 
 Section 
 
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CIark'8 Ipeoplee Commentatie 
 
 1. 11. AND III. JOHN, JUDK__ 
 
 ANDREVELATI0N^tpn.ai92 
 
 OSiUl %iv^ 
 
 A POPULAR COMMENTARY UPON A CRITICAL 
 BASIS, ESPECIALLY DESIGNED FOR PASTORS 
 AND SUNDAY SCHOOLS ♦^♦<$>«><S>«><S><S><S><$>^^<$><?> 
 
 O. p. EACHES, D. D. 
 
 Author of "Commentary on Hebrews, James, and I. and II. Peter. 
 
 M 
 
 PHILADELPHIA 
 
 AMERICAN BAPTIST PUBLICATION SOCIETY 
 
 BOSTON CHICAGO ST. LOUIS 
 
Copyright 1910 by 
 A. J. Rowland, Secretary 
 
 Published August, 1910 
 
PREFACE 
 
 The writings of John move in so ideal a sphere that they seem remote from 
 our common life and thought. No New Testament writer, however, comes 
 closer to our everyday thinking than John. He writes directly for his own 
 times, confuting heresies and presenting the complete truth. The questions of 
 John's day are the questions that stir men's minds to-day. Do all men sin ? 
 Are any living a sinless life ? To the latter John says No ! Must all aim at a 
 life beyond sin, not " the higher life," but the highest life? John answers Yes. 
 John gives the ideal portrait of the Christian life — this must always be borne 
 in mind — speaking of the Christian as he will be when Christ's work is done. 
 In the same way Paul, a more logical writer than John, declares that the be- 
 liever is dead to sin as shown symbolically in his burial in baptism. He then 
 urges believers to make the symbolic teaching true in their lives. 
 
 The great question of John's day and of our day is: Who is Jesus Christ? 
 How large is he ? John stands by the deity of Jesus and his true humanity, 
 presenting a divine-human Saviour beyond whom there can be no one. The 
 peril in his day, as in our day, was that men would go beyond Christ. With 
 many to-day the human consciousness has a more commanding power than the 
 eternal Word, who is himself the truth. 
 
 The doctrinal teaching of the Apocalypse is clear and pronounced. It 
 emphasizes the person of Christ, the inseparable union of sin and judgment, 
 God's overruling power in the world's history, the blessed consummation of 
 holiness, the eternal conditions in the unseen life. It unfolds to us the divine 
 machinery. 
 
 John's writings in Revelation, coming in visions that at times seem be- 
 wildering to our Western minds, seem even more remote than his other produc- 
 tions from the common thoughts of men. Is there a superintending power in 
 the world ? Does God watch over his cause upon the earth ? Will the gospel 
 of Christ get control of aflFairs here? Will Christianity displace all its rivals 
 for the hearts of men ? Does prayer avail to change the current of human 
 affairs ? Is Jesus Christ in an equal rank with the Father ? Will all opposing 
 agencies be put down? Will the prophecies be fulfilled? Will Satan be 
 crushed under foot? Will punishment for the finally impenitent be eternal? — 
 all these questions are discussed in a sjTubolic way. But clearly, the one great 
 commanding thought of the book is the rightful sovereignty of Jesus over the 
 universe of men and things, and his getting possession of this sovereignty. 
 
 The numerous commentaries written on this book differ widely in their 
 interpretations, so widely indeed that many turn from it feeling that there is 
 no light in it for us, and no certainty as to its meaning. The author has aimed 
 
PEEFACE 
 
 to give a consistent and reasonable unfolding of the book. May the general 
 
 system of interpretation here given be as serviceable to others as it has been 
 
 helpful to him. As we study the book we need to pray with more than Milton's 
 
 earnestness 
 
 What in me is dark, illumine. 
 
 The Bible opens with a first Adam, a sinless Eden, and then a lost paradise. 
 The book closes with a second Adam, and a paradise restored. As we stand 
 in presence of the open gates of the New Jerusalem may we join with Bernard 
 of Cluny (a. D. 1145) in singing: 
 
 Oh, sweet and blessed country, 
 
 The home of God's elect! 
 Oh, sweet and blessed country, 
 
 That eager hearts expect ! 
 Jesus, in mercy bring us 
 
 To that dear land of rest. 
 Who art, with God the Father, 
 
 And Spirit, ever blest ! 
 
 The author takes the occasion to express his obligation to Dr. G. W. Clark 
 for many valuable suggestions in the preparation of this work, also for his help 
 in preparing it for the press. 
 
 HIGHTSTOWN, N. J. O. P. EaCHES, 
 
A FINAL WORD 
 
 The aim of this work, of which this volume is the last, has been to furnish 
 a popular commentary, on a critical basis, to a class of Bible students, Sunday- 
 school teachers, and others, who have not the time, or the ability, to go to 
 the original sources. The constant questions have been : What did the New 
 Testament writers intend to express? What ideas did they convey to their 
 Christian readers ? How can their thoughts be best expressed to us now ? In 
 what prayerful spirit are we to receive and accept them ? 
 
 The critical Greek text has been constantly referred to in the preparation 
 of this work. Earlier and later versions have been consulted ; critical and 
 popular commentaries compared ; works of travel, histories of the church and 
 of doctrines, treatises on the life of Christ and on the travels of Paul, and 
 grammatical authorities of the New Testament have been constantly and care- 
 fully employed. 
 
 Each volume is made independent of the others. This is especially true 
 of the Gospel of Mark, to which attention is invited. The relation of the four 
 Gospels to one another, and of the Acts of the Apostles as a central book of the 
 New Testament, is presented in the Harmony of the Gospels and the Harmony 
 of the Acts. 
 
 The Remarks at the end of the chapters form an additional brief practical 
 and doctrinal commentary. The many scriptural references arranged beneath 
 the text, and others introduced into the notes, will assist those who desire to 
 explain Scripture by Scripture. The object is not to do away with study, but 
 rather to excite study and aid it. 
 
 The Scripture text is put in paragraph form, as the division of chapters 
 into verses often interferes with the connection of thought, and impedes a quick 
 and intelligent view of many passages. To aid the eye and facilitate study 
 different kinds of type are used ; and subjects, or leading events, are placed at 
 the head of principal paragraphs, or divisions. 
 
 Besides the two Harmonies, nine volumes complete the commentary, the 
 last two volumes being prepared by O. P. Eaches, D. D., whose valuable labors 
 are hereby gratefully acknowledged. 
 
 This work I now lay down at the feet of the Lord with devout thankfulness 
 for having seen its accomplishment, praying that he will pardon defects, and 
 bless it to his own glory and the advancement of his kingdom. 
 
 Geo. W. Clark. 
 HiGHTSTOWN, N. J., April, 1910. 
 
WORKS REFERRED TO IN THIS COMMENTARY 
 
 AND ACCESSIBLE TO GENERAL READERS 
 
 Alford, H, The Greek Testament, Vol. IV., Revelation (1861). 
 
 Angus, Joseph. Jude in the International Commentary (1883). 
 
 Baenes, a. Revelation of John (1850-1853). 
 
 Carpenter, W. Boyd. Revelation of St. John (1879). 
 
 De Burgh, W. An Exposition of the Book of Revelation (1857). 
 
 Davis, J. D. Dictionary of the Bible (1898). 
 
 Doddridge, Philip. Revelation in Family Expositor (1745). 
 
 Elliott, E. B. Horse Apocalypticse (1862). 
 
 Guinness, II. G. History Unveiling Prophecy (1905). 
 
 Hasting, James. Dictionary of the Bible. 
 
 Lange, J. p. Jude, Revelation of John (1868-1874). 
 
 Lee, William. Revelation of St. John (Speaker's Commentary). 
 
 Meyer. Revelation of John (1887). 
 
 MiLLiGAN, W. Revelation of St. John (1889). 
 
 Orr, James. The Problem of the Old Testament. 
 
 Plummer, a. Epistles of St. John ; of James and Jude (1883 — ). 
 
 Plumptre, E. H. Epistles of St. Peter and Jude (1879—). 
 
 Porter, Frank C. Messages of Apocalyptic Writers (1905). 
 
 Ramsay, W. M. The Letters to the Seven Churches (1905). 
 
 Sadler, M. F. Revelation of St. John (1893). 
 
 SCHAFF, Philip. History of the Christian Church (1882). 
 
 Simcox, W. H. Revelation of St. John (1893-1898). 
 
 Smith, J. A. Revelation of John in Am. Com'y (1884). 
 
 Smith, Wm. Dictionary of the Bible, Hackett's Edition (1868). 
 
 SwETE, H. B. Apocalypse of St. John, Greek text (1906). 
 
 Trench, R. C. Epistles to the Seven Churches (1861). 
 
 Vedder, H. C. Our New Testament. How Did We Get It? 
 
 Weidner, R. F. Revelation of St. John (1898). 
 
 Westcott, B. F. Epistles of St. John, Greek text (1883-1886). 
 
 Wordsworth, C. The New Testament, Vol. II. (1864). 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 THE FIRST EPISTLE OF JOHN 
 
 THE AUTHOR. 
 
 The early church bears testimony to John's authorship of this lett«r. The 
 external evidence is very strong. This letter is not of those called the antile- 
 gomena, those which were disputed. Polycarp, a disciple of John (ob. 166) 
 has a reference to 1 John 4 : 3. Ireuseus, born A. D. 115, has quotations from 
 this letter as Eusebius in his "Church History" testifies. Clement of Alex- 
 andria, born A. D. 150, gives testimony to this letter as written by John. Ter- 
 tuUian, born A. D. 150, in his work against Marcion quotes 1 John 4 : 1. Cyprian 
 of North Africa, born about A. D. 200, has a quotation from this letter. In the 
 list of New Testament books mentioned by the Muratorian Fragment, A. D. 
 175, this letter is given as one written by John. Eusebius, born about A. D. 260, 
 classes this letter as one of the acknowledged New Testament writings. The 
 Peshito version of the Scriptures in the second century contains it. The first 
 discordant note is not heard until five centuries had passed away. In the sixth 
 century, a writer evidently ill informed, asserts that this writing was not ad- 
 mitted into the sacred writings in the early centuries. It is true that the sect 
 called the Alogi, A. D. 200, did not accept it. It did not conform to their 
 teachings. The heretic Marcion, a. d. 150, excluded this letter as he did all of 
 John's writings from his list of accepted books. What did not conform to his 
 views was thrown aside. 
 
 The internal evidence is equallj' strong and convincing. If there were no 
 external testimony in its favor, and we had the two writings, John's Gospel 
 and this letter, we would be convinced tliat the same mind gave birth to both. 
 The method of thought, the style of the books, the terms employed, all agree 
 as to this. No less than thirty-five passages in the Gospel of John find a cor- 
 responding place in this letter. Compare 1 : 1, 2, 14 of the Gospel with 1:1,2 
 of this letter. For the entire list see the introduction in " Lange." It is Avorthy 
 of notice also that the larger part of these quotations are from the closing dis- 
 courses of Jesus. The resemblances of the two are not of a mere outward kind 
 that can be seen or counted, they belong to the very structure of the writings 
 themselves ; they can be felt by the attentive reader. The writer of this letter 
 shows that he stood in personal fellowship with Jesus (i ; 3). In the Gospel he 
 is that one who lay on the bosom of Jesus. The beloved disciple is preemi- 
 nently that one who would discourse about love as the embodiment of God's 
 character, as the moving principle in the Christian life, as the bond uniting 
 
 vii 
 
THE FIEST EPISTLE OF JOHN 
 
 Christians together. The rich experience of a long Christian life, the con- 
 sciousness of an undisputed apostleship, give to his words a calmness and clear- 
 ness, a self-conscious power that comes out in 4 : 6. There is in his statements 
 an apostolic power becoming one who, at the close of the iirst century, alone 
 remained of the apostolic group. We may attribute this letter to the author of 
 the Gospel, the Apostle John, the only one who could have written this letter. 
 Compare B. F. Westcott, " Commentary on the Epistles of St. John" (1886). 
 Besides exegesis and comments it presents many collations of Johannine terms 
 and phrases. So also Plummer, "The Epistle of St. John," introduction 
 (Cambridge Bible, 1883-1906). 
 
 THE PURPOSE OP THE LETTER. 
 John writes with a practical aim. The letter is a real tract for the times. 
 In two places John indicates his purpose (i : *; 5 .■ is). It is to keep his readers 
 in their felloAvship with God that they may possess a perfect joy. Fellowship 
 with God is possible only in a holy life of love, a love rooted in faith in Jesus 
 who is the manifestation of God. The Christian life is not an outward and 
 mechanical relation, but an inner one ; the believer is begotten of God. There 
 is a strong polemic spirit in the letter, even though the book presents an un- 
 ruffled surface. John makes unrelenting war upon the falsehood that had 
 appeared, that was perverting a right conception of the person of Christ. From 
 the introduction to the close we can understand the letter only by bearing in 
 mind the heresies that were then rife. The Epistle grew out of the circum- 
 stances and needs of the times, as Paul's letters Avere called forth by the special 
 needs of the different spiritual communities. So far as we gather from the 
 letter itself there was no persecution, nothing intense at least. The hatred of 
 the world is spoken of (3 : is), but such a hatred is found in every age when the 
 church is true to its mission as a witness for Christ. The struggles of the over- 
 coming young men (^ : '3, i4) are spiritual contests rather than outward persecu- 
 tions. It was an era of comparative peace and quiet. There are cautions, not 
 to a firm endurance of persecution, but to steadfastness in the Christian life, 
 and counsels against the seductions of the world, against false teachings. The 
 first enthusiasm of the Christian life had passed away, a period of falling away 
 had ensued. The lusts of the world were asserting their power (2 : i^-n), false 
 teachers had arisen who tore themselves away from the Christian fellowship 
 and were luring others away. A mighty heresy was taking shape in John's 
 day that was destined to exert a wide influence in the first centuries. Gnosticism 
 was a teaching that lay great stress on knowledge rather than on redemption, 
 the word itself meaning knowledge. Docetism was a teaching that denied the 
 reality of the person of Jesus making it only a phantom, an appearance. The 
 attack was made by these errorists on the central point of Christianity, the 
 doctrine of the person of Christ. John makes as the central point of his letter 
 a right conception of Jesus, his person, his power, his mission as redeemer from 
 sin. He affirms that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, the manifestation of 
 God come in the flesh. Cerinthus was a leading opponent of John as we learn 
 from Irenteus in his account of the heresies of the early ages. Cerinthus held 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 that Jesus was the son of Joseph with whom the Logos united itself at the 
 baptism, but left him at his suflerings on the cross. In Docetism there were the 
 antagonizing forces of spirit and matter, matter being essentially sinful, not 
 the handiwork of God the Creator. John declares that Jesus had come in the 
 flesh and was a veritable partaker of human nature. To him nothing of sin- 
 fulness inhered in matter as such. John opposes not spirit to matter, but light 
 to darkness, life to death, the fellowship with God to the world, truth to false- 
 hood, the Son of God to the evil one. All these antagonisms are in the domain 
 of the moral life. These false teachings call forth this Epistle and shape its 
 form. We must read the letter in the light of the questions that in his day were 
 the burning questions, the questions that were perplexing the minds of the 
 faithful and perverting the beliefs of mauy. We do not find in this letter the 
 same doctrinal defections that met Paul and called forth his writings; the 
 Judaism that insisted on the permanency of the Jewish rites, that belittled 
 Christ's work by exalting the position of Moses, does not present itself in this 
 letter. The purpose of the Epistle is the perfection of personal holiness by a 
 fellowship with tlie Father, the development of life and joy in the heart, the 
 maintenance of sound teaching concerning the fundamentals of the faith, the 
 holding fast to the persons of the Trinity — the Father, the Son, the Spirit. His 
 conception of the Christian life is that of a joyous, overcoming life, assured of 
 salvation, with no fear in view of the future, taught by the Holy Spirit, abiding 
 in God, a life moved by a love that cared for others, a life in love with the truth. 
 The terra, church, is not once named, but in the background, and as one of 
 the necessary presuppositions is the idea of the church. The conception here 
 presented is that of a brotherhood in the light and life of God. There are no 
 traces of any papacy, any priesthood with its grasping claims, no rites that 
 carry in themselves salvation, but rather the insistence on the great truth of 
 Protestantism, the universal church as controlled, influenced, and enlightened 
 by the Holy Spirit. He conceives of believers, all of them, as filled with the 
 Holy Spirit (2 : 2T: s -. 34). John recognizes no distinctions among the member- 
 ship but that of fathers and young men (2 : 12-1*). In his view he and they alike 
 are a community of sinners saved by grace, confessing their sins, yet sons of 
 God, destined to be perfect, having the highest aims in life. He asserts the 
 right of Christians to try the spirits, and all teachers and teachings that present 
 themselves for their acceptance. While preeminently the teacher of love yet 
 he, with James, insists that the Christian life be clothed with righteousness. 
 Tender in spirit he speaks with words of condemnation for the life that asserts 
 its fellowship with God, and yet is lived in ungodliness (1 = 6). With Paul he 
 declares that love must be united with faith, a faith that rests on the work and 
 person of Christ, a faith that overcomes (5 : 1-4). 
 
 THE STYLE. 
 The letter on the surface appears to be a series of disjointed meditations, in 
 which the thoughts are turned over and over again as in a reverie, rather than 
 a letter with a clearly marked purpose. This has been ascribed to the childish- 
 ness of old age, an old age that has lost its vigor of raind and continues to brood 
 
THE FIRST EPISTLE OF JOHN 
 
 over the thoughts that have been precious to the heart. This seeming repetition 
 may rather be ascribed to a Hebraic cast of mind, imbued with the spirit of 
 Hebrew poetry that delights to dwell upoji a thought and turn it over in an 
 ever-varying aspect. One occasion for the charge of monotony arises from the 
 apparent repetition of the same thought. But it must be noted that the author 
 never presents the same thought in precisely the same way a second time. We 
 find an illustration of John's method of thinking and writing in 1 : 1, 2, 3, In 
 the first verse we have certain clear and definite statements ; in the second verse 
 we have the same statements, but with the added testimony of John ; in the 
 third verse the statements of the first verse, but with the new statement of the 
 purpose of the letter. There is here progress in the thought all the while. 
 
 Another occasion of difficulty in this letter arises from John's neglect to 
 use connecting words. Where Paul in his writings would make use of for, 
 because, inasmuch, consequently, John simply puts statements side by side and 
 allows the reader to make his own inferences. The very simplicity of the style 
 creates a difficulty. The letter revolves around a few thoughts, life, love, light, 
 righteousness, fellowship. Sometimes a difficulty arises from his changing from 
 one expression to another of kindred import. To be begotten of God, to be a 
 child of God, to be in fellowship with God, to walk in the light, to love the 
 truth, all have the same import to John. Life, love, righteousness, and light 
 are interchangeable terms. Sin, unrighteousness, and death are all terms of 
 kindred import. To share in the life of God is to live a life of love ; to be 
 begotten of God is to walk in holiness and to share in God's fellowship ; the 
 fellowship with God is to be in the range of experience, of assured knowledge. 
 They present different shades of the same thought. 
 
 Bearing in mind the marks of John's style the book becomes intelligible. 
 We cannot understand this letter without remembering that John everywhere 
 moves in the region of the ideal, the complete. He is describing things and 
 persons, not as they actually are in their present aspects and limitations, but 
 as they are in the divine command and conception, as they will be when they 
 come to completeness. John writes not of love which exists among us as an 
 imperfect thing, but of a perfect love (2:5; i -. is). He describes the condition 
 of the child of God as without sin (5 : is); he describes the Christian as one 
 begotten of God, and therefore as free from error (2 •• ^i^)•, he declares that the 
 Christian cannot sin because of his relationship to God (3:6); the Christian is 
 as one that has overcome the evil one, the victory already is obtained (5 : *); 
 Christian love will lead to a voluntary death for others (' : i«) ; there is a com- 
 plete unworldliness (2 : i5); the believer has all the knowledge that is essential, 
 he is not immature in his conception of things (2 : m); the one who does sin is 
 of Satan (':«); the Christian does the things that are well pleasing to God, has 
 full confidence, is prayerful, is mature in holiness of conduct, and in the 
 knowledge of the truth. John is not alone in writing of the Christian life in 
 this ideal way. In Rom. 6 : 1-4 Paul declares that the Christian in his baptism 
 has asserted his death to sin, his burial, his utter separation from his old life, 
 his resurrection to a new life. After descril)ing this resurrection life as the 
 abiding state of the believer, he exhorts the same believer to put to death the 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 sinful deeds of his life (Rom- » : is). That John does not intend these terms to 
 be taken as an exact description of the actual life is evident from the confession 
 of himself as a sinner (i : » ; s : 21). He speaks of caring for the weak brothers, 
 with the intimation that there are many of tliem (5 : is). Great errors will arise 
 if we take John's ideal description of the Christian life as the portrayal of what 
 it is at present. If the Christian life is sinless, then it follows that much which 
 has been regarded as sin is not really sin. A person can be regarded as sinless 
 only by lowering the nature, narrowing the extent, and denying the spirituality 
 of the moral law. 
 
 ITS WIDE RANGE OF TEACHING. 
 We find in a small compass almost the entire range of New Testament 
 teachings. The practical duties of life are not ignored — the dnity of prayer, of 
 brotherly love, of personal righteousness. The letter stands out, in a pre- 
 eminent way, as the Epistle of love. All obedience must spring from love. The 
 atonement is the foundation of self-sacrifice (s : le). The cross in the life of 
 Jesus creates the cross in the life of the Christian ; God, in his triune nature. 
 Father, Son, Spirit ; evil in the universe and in man ; the personal existence of 
 Satan ; the person of Christ the redeemer, uniting in himself the divine and 
 the human ; righteousness, sonship, sanctification, the personal coming of the 
 Lord Jesus, all these doctrines are clearly taught in this short letter. 
 
 THE PLACE AND DATE OF THE LETTER. 
 
 It is not known at what place it was written, though the ancient tradition 
 and the general view of most writers is that it was probably written from 
 Ephesus. There is no indication in the letter itself that gives any means for 
 determining the date of the writing. The " last time " mentioned in 2 : 18 is 
 too indefinite an expression to furnish a chronological date. The absence of 
 any reference to the destruction of Jerusalem, and the consequent destruction 
 of the Jewish State, suggests that that catastrophe had long since past. It was a 
 period of quietness inasmuch as there are no allusions to persecutions either as 
 present or impending. We cannot think of John as entering on his labors in 
 Ephesus and Asia Minor until after the death of Paul. This would bring us 
 down to A. D. 66 at least. It would require some years for John to assume and 
 assert the position manifest in this letter. He writes with the consciousness of 
 an admitted authority as one who for years had been spiritual leader and father. 
 The church is here portrayed as something mature and well ordered. The 
 heresies would require years for their development. Everything points to a 
 period near to the close of the first century. It is altogether probable that the 
 year A. D. 90 would satisfy all the conditions. Meyer's Commentary gives its 
 conclusion in these words : " An unbiased consideration of all the circumstances 
 renders it probable that John wrote this epistle during the last quarter of the 
 apostolic age." Professor Ramsay puts it A. D. 90-100. 
 
 As to its relation to the Gospel it cannot be regarded as a companion docu- 
 ment or as an appendix to the Gospel. But it is evident that the Epistle is 
 entirely independent. Another class of readers is addressed, a new order of 
 
THE FIRST EPISTLE OF JOHN 
 
 circumstances had arisen, and a new development of false teachings. The 
 Epistle speaks of the "manifestation" of Christ, of "the day of judgment," 
 of "the last time," of the presence of "many antichrists." This indicates a 
 later date, though not a different author. There are in the Epistle new concep- 
 tions of the Logos, the propitiation, the nature and penalty of sin. It is prob- 
 able that the Gospel was written before the letter. As a rule, the briefer form 
 of a statement by the same author is the later. AVestcott says that the Epistle 
 presupposes the Gospel either as a writing or as an oral instruction. While 
 there are numerous and striking resemblances between the two there are 
 characteristic differences. The Gospel dwells on the divine glory of Jesus, the 
 Epistle emphasizes the rather his true humanity. 
 
 TO WHOM WRITTEN. 
 
 There can be no question that this writing has the character of a letter, 
 though lacking sometliing of the form of similar writings in the New Testa- 
 ment. The absence of the epistolary form is noticeable both at its beginning 
 and close. In the body of the letter there are more epistolary hints than in any 
 other book of the New Testament. The word " write," in its different forms, 
 occurs fourteen times. Tlie terms "to you," "in you," 'you," the terms of 
 direct address, occur thirty-six times. The terms " children,' ' "little children," 
 occur ten times. The term " beloved " occurs six times. Everything indicates 
 a letter sent to those endeared to him by years of spiritual fellowship. It might 
 be called an encyclical letter, the inscription of which would be different for 
 every church to which it was sent. The entire writing rests on a living and 
 personal relation between the writer and the reader. It remains for all the 
 ages a model of appeal from an aged pastor to his fold. In it tenderness for his 
 readers is united with an absorbing love for the truth, and all the great teach- 
 ings of the Christian revelation are affirmed in a strong yet incidental way. 
 
 THE CONTENTS OF THE LETTER, 
 This letter differs from many of the New Testament writings in that it 
 appears to have no orderly development of thought. Two mistakes may be 
 made, one that there is not found in it any orderly movement of thought, the 
 other finding in it a too minute analysis. The Epistle may be analyzed as 
 follows : 
 
 Introduction 1 : 1-4. 
 
 I. The nature of fellowship with God, 1:5-2: 29. 
 
 To have fellowship with God means, on the human side, a walking with 
 God. This may be looked at in two aspects, inclusive and exclusive. 
 
 1. What walking in the light includes, 1:5-2: 14. 
 
 The keyword of this section is, " God is light " (i : 5). 
 
 (1) It includes a fellowship with God and with the brother, 1 : 5-7, 
 
 (2) It inchides a sense of sin and the confession of sin, 1 : 8-10. 
 
 (3) It includes an aiming at sinlessness, but not despondent when failures 
 come, 2 : 1, 2. 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 (4) The test of a life that walks in the light is the doing of God's will, 
 
 2 : 3-6. 
 
 (5) A test of a life that walks in the light is a love for the brother, 2 : 7-11. 
 
 (6) The forgiveness of sins in the past is a reason for walking in the 
 light, 2 : 12-14. 
 
 2. What walking in the light excludes, 2 : 15-29. 
 
 (1) Walking in the light excludes worldliness, 2 : 15-17. 
 
 (2) Walking in the light excludes antichrists from having a control over 
 
 the life, 2 : 18, 19. 
 
 (3) Walking in the light excludes spiritual blindness on the part of the 
 believer, the spiritual anointing should protect from the deceivers, 2 : 20-29. 
 
 II. The result of fellowship with God is holiness, 3:1-4:6. 
 
 The keyword of this section is, " He is pure " (3:3). As God's light makes 
 light in men, so God's holiness creates a holiness in men. 
 
 1. The high destiny of the children of God and the duty of keeping them- 
 selves pure, 3 : 1-8. 
 
 2. Holiness is the test of the difference between the children of God and the 
 children of the devil, 3 : 9-13. 
 
 3. A mark of holiness will be a love for each other, 3 : 14-18. 
 
 4. The confidence begotten by the holy life, 3 : 19-24. 
 
 5. A test of holiness will be a love for the truth, 4 : 1-6. 
 
 III. Love springs from fellowship with God, 4 : 7-21. 
 The key-word of this section is, " God is love " (* = s). 
 
 1. Love is the test of being begotten of God, 4 : 7-11. 
 
 2. Because God is love we must love each other. Love to others gives the 
 assurance of sonship, 4 : 12-16. 
 
 3. God's nature is love. The realization of this dispels fear, 4 : 17-21. 
 
 IV. The relation of faith to love, to the overcoming life, to 
 
 ASSURANCE, 5 : 1-21. 
 The key-word of this section is, " Our faith " (5 : *). 
 
 1. A belief in the Messiahship of Jesus leads to life of love, 5 : 1-3. 
 
 2. Faith in Jesus leads to an overcoming life, 5 : 4, 5. 
 
 3. The testimony by which the believer is assured that Jesus is the Son of 
 God, 5 : 6-13. 
 
 4. Faith in God's promises leads to prevailing prayer, 5 : 14-17. 
 
 5. The assured beliefs of the Christian life, 5 : 18-21. 
 
SECOND AND THIRD JOHN 
 
 These two letters iu size, form, general spirit, and structure much resemble 
 each other. Both may therefore be considered at the same time. 
 
 I. THEIR AUTHORSHIP AND APOSTOLIC CHARACTER. 
 
 A few persons of the Tubingen school of thought deny that any one of the 
 three letters attributed to John was written by him. But inasmuch as this 
 school denies any supernatural element in the Scriptures, and gives no weight 
 to the testimony of the church Fathers, little consideration need be given to 
 its opinions. A second view is that while the first letter was written by John 
 the apostle, the second and third letters were written by another kno\vn as John 
 the presbyter. This view is founded on the expression occurring in 2 John 1 
 and 3 John 1, " John the elder." It is maintained by them that John the apos- 
 tle would not have written of himself in this mannei*. Papias, born a. d. 70, 
 regards this John as different from the John who wrote the first Epistle. But 
 it is to be noted that John seldom mentions himself, and never mentions his 
 apostolic authority. If it is conceded that John the apostle wrote these two 
 letters his use of the term, elder, may be explained by the usage of his fellow 
 apostles. Paul speaks of himself as " Paul, the aged," which means literally, 
 Paul, the elder (Philemon 9). In like manner Peter styles himself " a fellow 
 elder" (iPeter5:i). The apostolate was the highest oflice in the New Testa- 
 ment church, embracing in itself all the subordinate positions. It is 
 difficult to conceive that any other person, in that age, would have a style so 
 in harmony with that of John. The internal resemblances, binding all three 
 letters together, show that one and the same man wrote them all. Origen, a. d. 
 185, and Eusebius, A. D. 300, refer to these two letters as suspected by many, 
 but apparently without sharing these doubts themselves. Among those quoting 
 from them are Irenseus, A. D. 190, Clement of Alexandria, A. d. 200, Cyprian, 
 A. D. 257, Diouysius, A. D. 250. At the time of the Reformation Erasmus 
 questioned the apostolic authorship of these letters. It ought to be expected that 
 in familiar, personal letters unusual expressions would be found. The very 
 fact of their small size, their personal character, the absence of any great 
 theological discussions would naturally account for their omission from some 
 lists of the accepted books of the New Testament. Their comparative unim- 
 portance kept them out of the range of discussion and controversy. We may 
 tlierefore regard them as the productions of John the apostle. That they have 
 a common origin and a common spirit is the view of almost all modern com- 
 mentators. See Iluther's Introduction to Meyer's Commentary. See also B. 
 F. Westcott's valuable collations of .Tohannine terms and phrases in his 
 "Epistles of St. Jolin," with notes and essays, second edition, London, 1886; 
 also Pluramer, Cambridge Bible, Introduction to Second and Third Epistles, 
 xiv 
 
INTRODUCTION xv 
 
 II. FOR WHOM WRITTEN AND WHY. 
 
 The second letter has this peculiarity among the New Testament writings, 
 it alone was sent to a household. It was thought by some in the early ages, 
 among them Jerome, a. d. 400, that John was writing to the universal Christian 
 church, describing it by the term " lady." But we are not justified in attribu- 
 ting to John such a mystical mode of expression. A comparison of the Intro- 
 ductions of the second and third letters will show that John must be writing to 
 an individual, a Christian mother and her household. 
 
 In the third letter Gains, a person of high standing in the church, is ad- 
 dressed. This name is exceedingly common. It is not possible to indicate 
 definitely the person addressed or his place of residence. All the New Testa- 
 ment writings were called forth by some emergency. These letters, while full 
 of personal devotion, were written to combat errors. False teachers (2 John 7) 
 abounded, seeking in public ways and in households to pervert the truth and 
 to seduce believers. Their teachings attacked the fundamentals of the faith, 
 the character and work of Christ, the denial of the fact and possibility of an 
 incarnation, the denial of the reality of the human life of Christ (3 John:). 
 John puts himself on the side of the truth and the good men and women in 
 the churches, and recognizes the bad principles at work in the false teachers 
 
 (S John 11). 
 
 III. DOCTRINAL TEACHINGS CONTAINED IN THE LETTERS. 
 These letters throw light upon the practical duties of Christian hospitality, 
 and the needfal missionary activity of the church. We see the well-ordered 
 Christian household (* John 4) ; the turbulent Diotrephes, the faithful Gains, the 
 steadfast Demetrius, the majority of the church arrayed on the side of evil or 
 cowed by Diotrephes. We see here revealed God the Father, the incarnation 
 of Jesus Christ, the grace and peace of God, his mercy toward sinners, the 
 supreme authority of Jesus, and his unique relation to the Father. There is a 
 development of thought in the three letters. In the first no mention is made 
 of the church, though it is implied that there was an organization out of which 
 the false teachers went (1 John 2 : 19). The emphasis is laid in the first letter on 
 the personal Christian life. In the second letter the household appears, there 
 is the family piety. In the third the church appears, the organized household 
 of believers for work and worship. These two letters, while seemingly unim- 
 portant, liave many important doctrinal teachings and much wholesome counsel 
 for the after ages. 
 
 IV. TIME AND PLACE OF WRITING. 
 It is probable, from the similarity of the two letters, that they were written 
 about the same time. The journeys mentioned in 2 John 12 and 3 John 14 may 
 be one and the same journey. Alford thinks that both letters were the product 
 of the later portion of his life, probably subsequent to the writing of the 
 Apocalypse. As to the place of writing probability points to Ephesus. Ram- 
 say shows how full the first century was of correspondence. 
 
SECOND AND THIRD JOHN 
 
 CONTENTS AND ANALYSIS OF 2 JOHN. 
 This letter reveals the heart of the tender Christian man, the wise coun- 
 selor, the earnest defender of the faith, and the personal friend. The analysis 
 is as follows : 
 
 I. The address and greeting, ver. 1-3. 
 
 II. The body of the letter, ver. 4-11. 
 
 1. He expresses his joy at beholding the walk of her children, ver. 4. 
 
 2. He unfolds the law of Christian love, ver. 5, 6. 
 
 3. He puts her on her guard against false teachers, ver. 7-9. 
 
 4. He indicates the method of dealing with errorists, ver. 10. 
 
 III. The conclusion. The hope that he may soon see her, ver. 12, 13. 
 
 CONTENTS AND ANALYSIS OF 3 JOHN. 
 This brief personal letter throws a flood of light upon the closing part of 
 John's life and the close of the first century. There is revealed a struggle on 
 the part of John and the church for the supremacy of the truth over manifold 
 dangerous errors. The care of all tlie churches rested on men like John (2 Cor. 
 11 : 38). The letter shows how Christianity was spread by correspondence and 
 by personal visitation — the churches were missionary organizations. The 
 analysis is as follows : 
 
 I. The address, ver. 1. 
 
 II. The substance of the letter, ver. 2-12. 
 
 1. A prayer that Gains may prosper, ver. 2-4. 
 
 2. Praise of Gaius for his hospitality toward missionaries, ver. 5-8. 
 
 3. The hostility of Diotrephes, a leading man in the church, ver. 9, 10. 
 
 4. Fellowship must be had with the good, ver. 11, 12. 
 
 III. The conclusion. He hopes soon to see Gaius, ver. 13, 14. 
 
JUDE 
 
 ITS PLACE IN THE CANON. 
 
 Eusebius in his church history, A. D. 324-340, places this letter among the 
 six or seven books which were considered doubtful, as not everywhere received. 
 This is a proof that, being finally admitted, its admission was not made without 
 full consideration. The objections against it were that it was, to a large extent, 
 unknown to the churches in the East. It was also a matter of doubt whether 
 a book that was written by one not an apostle, or under the direction of an 
 apostle, ought to be placed among the recognized writings to be read in the 
 churches. Others thought that the existence in it of a quotation from an ad- 
 mittedly apocryphal book precluded its admission. It was said that if the 
 author did not know that the book of Enoch was apocryphal, he could not be 
 inspired, and if he had been inspired he would not quote from it. The very 
 briefness of the letter would also everywhere militate against any large knowl- 
 edge of it. The Gentile churches would not be attracted to it because it is cast 
 in an eminently Jewish mold, its quotations being largely from the Old Testa^ 
 ment. Comp. Vedder, " Our New Testament. How Did We Get It? " p. 195 £ 
 
 TertuUian (born about A. D. 150) cites from it as an authentic writing, 
 although he regards it as written by the Apostle Jude. Clement of Alexandria 
 (born about a. d. 150) quotes from it as a part of the holy Scriptures. The 
 Muratorian fragment, about A. D. 170, speaks of this letter as genuine and 
 worthy of a place in the canon. The other lists of the Scripture books, the 
 Laodicean, a. d. 363, and the Carthaginian, 397, contain it. Origen (born A. D. 
 185) has quotations from it. The oldest copies of the Peshito version, made 
 in the second century, do not contain it, but Ephrem the Syrian (born about 
 A. D. 304) accepts it. Zahn says that about a. d. 200 it was accepted " in the 
 churches of all lands round the Mediterranean Sea." In recent years it has 
 been regarded, almost universally, as authentic. 
 
 We may regard it as certain that it was written in the first century, for it 
 would not have met with such a general acceptance had it appeared in a later 
 age. Had a forger written it he would not have chosen for its reputed author 
 one not everywhere regarded as an apostle, nor would he have quoted so sla- 
 vishly from a former writing— that of Second Peter. It has been well said that 
 for so short a writing to be alluded to so frequently and quoted from so exten- 
 sively, especially when not the universally recognized writing of an apostle, is 
 remarkable. When we remember that the first century had means for deter- 
 mining the authorship of a letter that we do not possess, we may well join in 
 their verdict arrived at after mature consideration that the letter is and ought 
 to be in the New Testament. If, however, any letter is rejected, this does not 
 impair the worth of the admitted letters. 
 
 B xvii 
 
JUDE 
 
 WHO WAS THE WHITER? 
 
 We are fully justified in believing that this letter is a product of the apos- 
 tolic age, written by a person known as Judas or Jude as in the received version. 
 What Judas is meant? But two persons can, at all, claim consideration in 
 connection with the authorship of this letter : (1) Judas, not Iscariot (Jotn u -. 22)^ 
 an apostle called Thaddeus or Lebba;us in Matt. 10 : 3 and Mark 3 : 18, called 
 also Judas (the son ) of James in Luke 6 : 16 and Acts 1:3; (2) Judas the brother 
 of our Lord, one of the four brotliers mentioned in Matt. 13 : 55; Mark 6 : 3. 
 By some these have been identified. The Authorized version gives the weight 
 of its authority to this view by its rendering of the expression "Judas of 
 James " (Luke 6 : 16 ; Acts 1:3), " Judas the brother of James " instead of "Judas 
 the son of James," as it ought to be rendered, and as it everywhere else is ren- 
 dered. TertuUian and Augustine speak of the author of this letter as an 
 apostle, but against this are several considerations. Had he been an apostle 
 he would naturally have appealed to his ofiicial position as an apostle to give 
 weight to his denunciation of false teachers. Paul did this even when well 
 known as a writer, after he had written his great letters. How much more 
 would a comparatively unknown man like Judas need all the weight of in- 
 fluence given by his apostleship. In ver. 17 he compares himself with the 
 apostles, urging his readers to remember the words of the apostles. We may 
 conclude that he was not the apostle bearing that name. It remains only to 
 consider the case of Judas the brother of the Lord. Writing to Jewish Chris- 
 tians he would find no relationship more helpful to him than kinship to 
 the pastor of the church at Jerusalem. The general consensus of opinion 
 favors this Judas as the author of the letter. Both James and Judas had 
 a strong Jewish caste of belief, while holding to salvation through the 
 Lord Jesus. 
 
 Of the author personally we know almost nothing. At first he was not a 
 believer in the claims of Jesus (Joim 7:5); afterward he became a follower of 
 the Christ (Acts i : u). From 1 Cor. 9 : 5 we know that he was married. In the 
 reign of Domitian, A. D. 81, according to Eusebius, two of his grandsons were 
 arrested on the charge that they were of the family of David. On showing 
 their hands hard with toil they were released. Neither James nor Jude claims 
 relationship with the glorified Jesus ; the chasm between them was too great ; 
 reverence would forbid such a claim. 
 
 WHEN WAS IT WRITTEN AND FOR WHOM? 
 
 The time of writing will, to a large extent, be determined by the considera- 
 tion of the relation that this letter bears to 2 Peter. This letter from ver. 3 to 
 ver. 18 is parallel in thought and expression with 2 Peter 2 : 1-18. These two 
 writers must have been in coiuraunication with each other at the time of 
 writing, or both quoted from some common source, or the one must have quoted 
 from the other. It is impossible to decide which writing is entitled to priority 
 in time. If Peter wrote first and the quotation is made from the apostle then 
 this letter may have been written as late as A. D. 75, in which year Zahn places 
 
INTRODUCTION xix 
 
 it. If, on the other hand, this letter was written first, and Peter quotes from it, 
 then it must have been written about A. D. 65, inasmuch as Peter died about 
 A. D. 68. Alford says: "Of the place where the Epistle was written we know 
 absolutely nothing." It is probable that it was addressed to the same circle of 
 readers to whom Peter sent his letter, the believers resident in Asia Minor. 
 Others conjecture that the marked similarity in tone and expression make it 
 probable that it would be addressed to other readers, perhaps those living in 
 Palestine or Egypt. Nothing definite can be affirmed on these i)oints. 
 
 PECTJLIARITIES OF THE LETTER. 
 The number of words and expressions used nowhere else in the New Testa- 
 ment is remarkable. Farrar, in his " Early Days of Christianity," cites eighteen 
 such words and expressions as found in this short letter. .Other words found 
 here and in 2 Peter are exceedingly rare. The style of the Epistle is that of a 
 man struggling to express himself in a language with which he was not familiar. 
 The coloring and style remind one of the Hebrew prophets in whose writings 
 the author was trained in his home at Nazareth. The arrangement of the state- 
 ments and facts of the Epistle in groups of three is noticeable. The entire 
 letter is constructed on this plan. The author is " Judas," a " servant," a 
 " brother." Those addressed are " called," " beloved " and " kept." He prays 
 that "mercy," "peace," and "love" may be theirs. The wicked men are 
 " ungodly," " turning," " denying." Those punished are " Israelites," 
 "angels," "cities of the plain." Their sins are "defilement," "setting at 
 naught," " railing." The men whom they pattern after are " Cain," " Balaam," 
 " Korah." The false teachers " make separations," "are sensual," " not having 
 the spirit." The believers are exhorted to build themselves up, pray, and look 
 for the mercy of the Lord. Three classes of persons are to be dealt with. All 
 time is divided into three parts, past, present, future. A like arrangement is 
 that of the acrostic Psalms in the Old Testament. The letter is severe in the 
 style of the Old Testament prophets, but withal has a tender spirit toward the 
 believer, and the timid and fainting child of God. It is unequaled in its 
 arraignment of the ungodly in their fixed and contagious wickedness. 
 
 THE LETTER AND THE APOCRYPHAL WRITINGS. 
 The first century was full of writings, apocryphal in their character, deal- 
 ing very largely in descriptions of the unseen life, grotesque and absurd, having 
 predictions also concerning the future. Some of these perhaps were written 
 before the beginning of the Christian era, or in its early years. It has been 
 strenuously held by some that the author quotes in ver. 9 from the Assumption 
 of Moses, the incident concerning Michael and Satan ; also in ver. 14 from the 
 book of Enoch. It cannot be proved, however, that he quotes from these 
 writings. This letter is a message for the times, called forth by the lawlessness, 
 the factional spirit, the sensual character of the false teachings whereby the 
 gospel of Christ was made a cover for licentiousness and lust. The denial of 
 Jesus Christ and his teachings always makes for falsity in belief and wicked- 
 ness in conduct. 
 
XX JUDE 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 This letter is catholic in character, haviug much in common with 2 Peter. 
 Its special object seems to have been to guard Christians against certain false 
 teachers who merited the severest punishment, and to arouse Christians to 
 contend for the faith as delivered to them by the apostles. Analysis : 
 
 I. Salutation and prayer of Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of 
 
 James, ver. 1, 2. 
 
 II. Design of the letter and reason for writing it, ver. 3, 4. 
 
 III. Examples of God's punitive justice, ver. 5-7. 
 
 1. Unbelievers destroyed in the wilderness. 
 
 2. Fallen angels. 
 
 3. Sodom and Gomorrah. 
 
 IV. Ungodly teachers fully described in their own nature, by comparison with 
 
 Old Testament types and as portrayed in prophecy, ver. 8-19. 
 
 1. The sins of these false teachers resemble the three typically ungodly 
 men of Old Testament times, Cain, Balaam, Korah, ver. 8-11. 
 
 2. The ungodly described not by contrast with others, but as they are in 
 themselves, ver. 12, 13. 
 
 3. Prophecy through Enoch testifies to their ungodliness and predicts their 
 punishment, ver. 14, 16. 
 
 4. The ungodly desci-ibed as mockers, sensual, schismatics, ver. 17-19. 
 
 V. Words of counsel for the believing element in the churches. To be firm in 
 
 the faith, help the doubting, reclaim the erring, oppose the wicked, 
 ver. 20-23. 
 
 VI. The doxology, ver. 24, 25. 
 
THE REVELATION (APOCALYPSE^ OF JOHN 
 
 ITS APOCALYPTIC CHARACTER. 
 
 The mold into which the Revelation of Johu is cast is apocalyptic. As 
 literature it is the finest and best of its kind. Like all apocalyptic literature it 
 is distinguished for its language painting, its symbols, its imagery and figures 
 of speech. It is both poetic and dramatic. 
 
 The beginnings of apocalyptic literature extend far into the past. Apoca- 
 lyptic passages occur in the Pentateuch (Gen. 15 : 12-17; « : sf; Num. chap. 23, u)^ in 
 the historical books (1 Kings 22 : 17-23)^ in the prophets (isa. chap. 13, u t. ; n, 25 r. . 
 65 : 17 b ; Joel 3 : 9-17 ; zech. chap. 1-8). Ezekiel is largely apocalyptic. But it found 
 its highest realization in the Old Testament, in the book of Daniel. Thus 
 Ezekiel and Daniel are kindred in structure with the Revelation of John. 
 
 In the century preceding and the one following the founding of Christianity, 
 was a group of apocalyptic writings that had wide circulation, and made a deep 
 impression upon early Christians. Among these were the book of Enoch, the 
 Assumption of Moses, the book of Jubilees, Apocalypse of Ezra, of Baruch, of 
 Abraham, Testaments of the Patriarchs, and others of less note. This litera- 
 ture was Jewish in origin and cultivation, but it continued as such only about 
 a generation after the destruction of Jerusalem. It passed over into Christian 
 thought and found its masterpiece in the Revelation of John. 
 
 Apocaljrptic writings appear to have originated and flourished in troublous 
 times. They would solve the problem of the sufferings of Israel or the jrersecu- 
 tion of God's people, and inspire hope, comfort, and joy in the midst of their 
 trials with the prospect of future deliverance and victory. Their message was 
 thus especially for their own times, yet helpful in other days and in times like 
 their own. A true apocalypse would use such symbols and treat current events 
 in a way that would be intelligible to the age when written. In such a sense 
 the Revelation of John was a tract for the times, dealing with historic events 
 understood by the spiritually minded. Under the leading of the Holy Spirit 
 there would be a wider horizon to such as had an ear to hear. It is admirably 
 adapted to encourage the people of God in times of persecution and distress, 
 with the .sure prospect of final salvation and glory. And such it must continue 
 to be until its full and final fulfilment. 
 
 While the book of Revelation is apocalyptic in character it is also episto- 
 lary. It is addressed to the seven churches of Asia with a message to each. It 
 has also the epistolary beginning and ending (i = * : 22 : 21). Moreover it has the 
 prophetic element (1 : 3 ; 10 : 11 ; 22 : 7, 10, I8, 19). Whatever the theory and method 
 of interpretation, this is too important to be overlooked. Its writer too must 
 be regarded as the actual person he professes to be. " In no single in.stance," 
 says Swete, "do the non-canonical apocalypticals write in their own names; 
 
 xxi 
 
xxii THE REVELATION (APOCALYPSE) OF JOHN 
 
 their message is delivered under the assumed personality of some one of the 
 saintly or inspired teachers of the past." But not so with John the revelator. 
 He writes under his own name to churches existing at that time, from a well- 
 known island (i = *. 9). The visions too were actually seen by him, and were 
 not the creations of an excited imagination. He distinctly declares, "And I, 
 John, am he who heard and saw these things" (22 : 8). 
 
 The writer of Revelation shows great familiarity with the Old Testament. 
 Not only does he use its symbolical imagery and numbers, such as seven , twelve, 
 ten, and four, but much of his language is made up of words, phrases, and 
 informal quotations from the Jewish Scriptures. According to a list of quota- 
 tions at the end of Westcott and Hort's second volume of their Greek New 
 Testament, of the four hundred and four verses of Revelation, two hundred 
 and seventy-eight contain over five hundred references to the Old Testament. 
 " He refers to the book of Daniel in some forty-five places, . . and the books of 
 Isaiah, Ezekiel, and Zechariah are used with almost equal frequency, while the 
 other prophets, the Psalter, and the Pentateuch, are often in view. No book of 
 the New Testament is so thoroughly steeped in the thought and imagery of the 
 Hebrew Scriptures" (Swete, p. xlix). The author of Revelation seems to 
 have been familiar with the uncanonical apocalypses of his time, especially 
 with the book of Enoch. He has many similar thoughts and expressions. But 
 as Swete wisely says (p. cliii) : "The most that can be safely affirmed is that 
 he shared with the Jewish apocalyptists the stock of apocalyptic imagery and 
 mystical and eschatological thought which was the common property of an age 
 nurtured in the Old Testament and hard pressed by the troubles and dangers of 
 the times." 
 
 The divine influence under which John wrote is another factor to be con- 
 sidered. Without this in mind this brief consideration of the book would be 
 incomplete. It was "the revelation of Jesus Christ " which was committed to 
 John as "the word of God" and "words of prophecy." It was "in the 
 Spirit " that he heard and saw and was commanded to write. The greatness 
 and glory of the message accords with his commission. Many passages in the 
 book bear the mark of the inspiring Spirit ; moreover the gulf that separates 
 the Revelation of John from the uncanonical apocalypses indicates that the 
 former was not an evolution of the latter, but that it was written by one indued 
 with the Spirit of God. In saying this it is not meant that the human element 
 was not largely present. Indeed, John appears in the full exercise of his 
 mental powers. But he wrote as one fully ablaze with his subject. He evi- 
 dently did not quietly select his symbols and Scripture thoughts and references. 
 In his spiritual uplift the words and phrases of the Old Testament were at his 
 ready command. He did not write as an artist. He is dramatic without aim- 
 ing at the drama. He is poetic without attempting a poem. Notwithstanding 
 grammatical defects and rhetorical faults, his work stands forth as the master- 
 piece of apocalyptic writing, and holds a high place in the world's literature. 
 
 Such considerations also tend to prove the unity of the book, and that it is 
 not the product, as some scholars have maintained, of two or more authors. Its 
 words, phrases, symbols, style, and Old Testament phraseology witness 
 
INTKODUCTION 
 
 agaiust a composite authorship. After a prolonged and critical examination, 
 Swete expresses the conviction that "the Apocalypse of John is a literary 
 unity. . . Everywhere the same creative mind has made itself felt, and features, 
 which at first sight appeared to be foreign to the writer's purpose, were found 
 on nearer view to be necessary to the development of his plan " (p. xlix f ). 
 
 AUTHORSHIP AND GENUINENESS. 
 
 The early church was of the almost unanimous opinion that the book of 
 Revelation was written by the Apostle John. Papias, a hearer of John, born 
 about A. D. 70, a bishop of Hierapolis, a city near Laodicea (Rev. s : u) made use 
 of the book in a work published about a. d. 130. Justin Martyr, writing about 
 A. D. 150 in Ephesus, mentions the Revelation as a work of John. Irenseus, 
 writing about A. D. 180, refers to this book over thirty times, and quotes it as 
 the work of John. The Fathers of the Eastern Church, Apollonius of Ephesus, 
 Theophilus of Antioch, Clemens Alexandrinus, Hippolytus of Rome, bear 
 united testimony to John's authorship. Eusebius, in his church history, pre- 
 sents the traditions of the Eastern churches to John's authorship. Among 
 them all there is only the one conjecture of Dionysius that perhaps John did 
 not write the book. The early Latin Fathers give clear and unanimous testi- 
 mony to the apostolic authorship of the Apocalypse. Swete notes that of the 
 nine hundred and thirteen words used in Revelation, four hundred and sixteen 
 are found also in the Gospel ; that there is a considerable number of unusual 
 constructions common to both books, and that the style, diifering greatly, has 
 many points of resemblance both in regard to sentence formation and the 
 phrasing of thoughts. He also states the fact that early tradition explicitly 
 states that " the Gospel was written from dictation, and underwent some kind of 
 revision at the hands of those who received it." Tlie two books also resemble 
 each other in the doctrinal position that Jesus is the universal Lord, the Lamb 
 whose death brings salvation, and who has universal rule. The author of 
 Revelation is also a veritable " Son of Thunder." 
 
 Harnack attributes the authorship of John's Gospel and the Revelation to 
 John the Presbyter, the former not written later than A. D. 110, the latter from 
 93-96, but being a revision of one or more underlying Jewish Apocalypses. 
 Porter holds substantially the same view in Hastings' "Bible Dictionary." 
 But Ramsay, in his recently published "Letters to the Seven Churches," 
 attributes the authorship to John the apostle. He says : " It is a psychological 
 impossibility that tliese letters to the Asian churches could have been written 
 except by one who felt himself, and had the right to feel himself, charged with 
 the superintendence and oversight of all those churches" (p. 80). Concerning 
 the time, he says : " The tradition that connects his punishment with Domitian 
 is too strong " (p. 85). 
 
 The right of this book to a place in the canon is satisfactory. The Mura- 
 torian fragment (a. d. 175) gives it an undoubted place among the received 
 New Testament books. There is abundant evidence that it was in circulation 
 during the second half of the second century, not only in Asia, but in the West. 
 But there arose objections to it, and its general acceptance was long delayed. 
 
xxiv THE REVELATION (APOCALYPSE) OF JOHN 
 
 " Its claims are great (i : i-3 ; 23 : I6, is, 19), and it was probably treasured as the 
 most sacred of books by those who first received it. But it did not hold its 
 place in the East, and its reception into the canon was secured only by the 
 advocacy of the Western Church. The Greek mind naturally favored a more 
 ethical and rational type of Christianity, and always opposed the millenarian 
 ideas that appealed to this book for support. Eusebius records the objections 
 to it, and seems to sympathize with them; and the book was not found in the 
 original Syriac New Testament. But the Western Church accepted it after an 
 elaborate defense by Hippolytus, about A. D. 215, and the Eastern Church 
 finally yielded to the West" (Porter). "Messages of the Apocalyptical 
 Writers," p. 190 f. Comp. Vedder, " Our New Testament." 
 
 DATE OP WRITING. 
 
 Two conflicting theories are held, many modern commentators maintaining 
 that it was written about A. D. 68. In favor of this view it is urged that there 
 is no reference in the book to the destruction of Jerusalem, which would have 
 been alluded to as a judgment of God had it taken place before the book was 
 written ; that the beast of Rev. 13 : 1, 18 ; 17 : 3, 8-11 refers to the Emperor Nero 
 reigning at that time ; that the literary differences between this book and the 
 Gospel demand a long period of time between them. In favor of the later 
 date (a. d. 93-95) is the clear external testimony of Irenseus, a disciple of 
 Polycarp, a contemporary of John himself, whose words preserved in Eusebius 
 are that the Apocalypse " was seen by the apostle no long time ago, but almost 
 in our generation, about the end of the reign of Domitian." The first three 
 centuries had no other view than this. In favor of the later date is the de- 
 generacy shown in the seven churches, much greater than is manifest in Paul's 
 letter to the Ephesians and the letters of Peter. John's intimate relations to 
 these churches bear testimony to a later date. During Paul's lifetime they 
 would naturally look to him as their founder. After his death John would 
 naturally become their spiritual guide. 
 
 Alford says : " With every desire to search and prove all things, and groimd 
 faith on things proved, I own I am quite unable to come to the conclusion of 
 any of the maintainers of the Neronian, or any of the earlier dates. The book 
 itself refuses the assignment of any such times of writing. The evident as- 
 sumption which it makes of long-continued persecution (e : 9) forbids us to 
 place it in the very first persecution, and that only a partial one. I have no 
 hesitation in believing, with the ancient fathers and most competent witnesses, 
 that it was written about 96 or 97." 
 
 Westcott, Lightfoot, and Hort hold to the earlier date. Ramsay regards 
 it as of slow growth until it took its present form, that " it was not the vision 
 of a day ; it embodied the contemplation and the insight of years," that the 
 " point of view is the moment when the apostle was snatched from the world 
 and sent into banishment." But this is an assumption, which is contrary to 
 the impression which the Revelation naturally makes upon its readers. Professor 
 Porter, in his " Messages of the Apocalyptical Writers " (p. 190), concludes that 
 the date "about, if not exactly, a. d. 93, remains the probable one for the book 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 as it stands." Professor Bousset, in " Encyclopaedia Biblica," also dates Reve- 
 lation near the close of the first century. 
 
 Swete, in " The Apocalypse of St. John " (p. c), holds the later date (90- 
 96), and says: "This date appears to be consistent with the general character 
 and purpose of the book. The Apocalypse, as a whole, presupposes a period 
 when in Asia, at least, the church was compelled to choose between Christ and 
 Caesar. And the prophet foresees that this is no local or passing storm, but 
 one which will spread over the whole empire, and run a long course, ending 
 only with the fall of paganism and of Eome. The coming of the Lord is no 
 longer with the fall of Jerusalem, which is viewed as an event of past history. 
 A new Jerusalem has taken the place of the old city of God, and the apoca- 
 lyptist can already see its ideal glories revealed. But for the moment Babylon 
 is in the foreground of the pictui'e, and Babylon must fall before the end, and 
 after Babylon the beast and the false prophet. Even the triumph that follows 
 on their destruction is not final, for the dragon remains to be overcome. So the 
 coming is postponed indefinitely, though the old watchword, ' Behold, I come 
 quickly,' still rings in our ears. The whole standpoint is that of the closing 
 years of the first century, when the church knew herself to be entering upon a 
 struggle of which she could not foresee the end, although of the victorious issue 
 she entertained no doubt." The discussion maybe summed up thus: Thirty 
 years ago the majority of scholars held or inclined to the earlier date ; but since 
 then, as a result of more thorough investigation, the common opinion has 
 returned to the later date, the closing years of the reign of Domitian. 
 
 TO WHOM ADDRESSED AND WHY. 
 
 The Revelation of John is addressed to seven churches of Asia, and through 
 them to other churches in the province and elsewhere. These seven churches, 
 as Professor Ramsay points out, are named in the order that a messenger would 
 take in conveying " the letter (perhaps in so many distinct copies) to the cen- 
 tral cities of the various provinces" (p. 183). It was a book for the times, 
 written to comfort and sustain a suffering church. It is predictive in that in 
 general terms it unfolds the future. And so its design, in a fuller sense, is to 
 encourage the people of God between the close of direct revelation and the 
 second coming of the Lord. The book plainly reveals a superintending power 
 of God in the world, the downfall of all opposition, the sovereignty of Christ, 
 as an ever-present Christ in the aiFairs of the world. When the conflicts have 
 all closed, after the lapse of centuries, there is beheld the conquering Christ and 
 his church. If any one is in doubt as to the interpretation of particular por- 
 tions, there can be no doubt as to the general impression made on the mind of 
 the reader. 
 
 There is, however, a wide contrast between the book and a history which 
 simply records dates and events. This book represents God as acting in behalf 
 of his people, over all agencies in nature. Over all the movements in the cen- 
 turies by the great world forces stands the controlling providence of God. It 
 might have been an open question when Christianity started on its mission, how 
 it would succeed in such a world as this. The answer is found here that against 
 
xxvi THE REVELATION (APOCALYPSE) OF JOHN 
 
 brute force, against apostasies iu faith, against false philosophy, Christianity 
 would come out a conquering cause. 
 
 This book occupies a unique doctrinal place in the New Testament. It 
 alone clearly reveals tlie overthrow of evil as an organized agency, the over- 
 throw of Satan, the providence of God working in large ways, the plans of God 
 working steadily, the future triumph of Christianity in the earth. Under He- 
 brew figures. Oriental imagery, in visions, through numbers and symbolic acts, 
 we see this cause advancing and ultimate triumph coming. To make the New 
 Testament complete there was needed a book of this kind, teaching in direct 
 statement or in symbol the triumph of Christianity. In this we recognize the 
 guidance of the Holy Spirit. 
 
 METHODS OF INTERPEETATION. 
 No book in the Bible has been so variously interpreted as the Revelation 
 of John. Probably no book has been more misunderstood or more arbitrarily 
 treated. Modesty and reserve, a prayerful and teachable spirit, are needed in 
 considering and interpreting its contents. There are four main systems of 
 interpretation now variously advocated. 
 
 1. The " Preterist " method finds the fulfilment of the book, except the last 
 chapters, in the destruction of Jerusalem and in the history of pagan Rome 
 during the first emperors. This is substantially the " Scientific" interpretation 
 which has grown up during the last seventy-five years. Some refer it chiefly 
 to the overthrow of the Jewish State, others chiefly to the conflict with heathen 
 Rome, and still others to both. Bleek, De Wette, Stuart, Cowles, Farrar, Por- 
 ter, Bousset hold to this theory. 
 
 2. The " Futurist " system maintains that the entire book, except the first 
 three chapters, describes events that will occur in connection with the personal 
 coming of our Lord. Seiss, Kelly, De Burgh, Todd, hold to this view. 
 
 3. The " Continuous Historical " theory regards the book as giving a con- 
 tinuous history of the church from the first century to the end of the age. 
 Among the leaders of this method of interpretation are Luther, Bengel, Isaac 
 Newton, Elliott, Alford, Barnes, Grattan Guinness. From the thirteenth cen- 
 tury until recently this theory has had almost universal sway. 
 
 This class of interpreters, and others also, are divided into post-millen- 
 arians and pre-millenarians, according as they regard the millennium of chap. 
 20 as past or future. "Augustine committed the radical error of dating the 
 millennium from the time of the Apocalypse or the beginning of the Chris- 
 tian era (although the seer mentioned it near the end of the book), and his 
 view had great influence; hence the wide expectation of the end of the world 
 at the close of tlie first millennium of the Christian church. Other post- 
 millenarians date the millennium from the triumph of Christianity over 
 paganism in Rome at the accession of Constantine the Great (311) ; still others 
 (as Hengstenberg) from the conversion of the Germanic nations or the age of 
 Ciiarlemagne. All these calculations are refuted by events. The millennium 
 of the Apocalypse must lie in the future, and is still an article of hope " (P. 
 SCHAFF, " His. of Ch. Church," p. 839). 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 A good illustration of the continuous historical method is that of Rev. 
 Moses Lowman in his " Notes on the Revelation of St. John," 1737 and 174.5. 
 This was largely followed by Dr. Philip Doddridge in his " Family Expositor" 
 (Revelation, about 1750), and later was incorporated with Patrick, Lowth, and 
 Whitby's Commentary (1807). Mr. Lowman divides the prophetic parts of this 
 book into seven periods. The first represents, by the seals, the state of the 
 church under the heathen Roman emperors from a. d. 95 to 323 ; the second, 
 period of the trumpets, in its state from Constantime A. D. 337 to 750; third, 
 period of the vials, its state in the times of tlie last head of Roman govern- 
 ment, represented by the beast for one thousand two hundred and sixty years, 
 from about A. D. 756 to 2016; the fourth period, the millennium from A. I). 
 2000 to 3005 ; fifth period, Satan loosed f(jr a little season ; sixth period, the 
 resurrection and final judgment; seventh period, the heavenly state. 
 
 The fixing of these dates must be a matter of conjecture. Hence they 
 differ in different authors. This is true of the starting-point of one thousand 
 two hundred and sixty years (Rev. 12 : 6). Some would start as early as A. D. 
 533. Guinness, with many others since the sixteenth century, starts with the 
 decree of Emperor Phocar, in A. D. 606-607, and find the fulfilment in the years 
 1866-1870, in the overthrow of papal Austria, of the imperial power of papal 
 France, and the loss of the temporal sovereignty of the pope of Rome, which 
 he had held for more than a thousand years. 
 
 But not only do the advocates of this theory differ largely among them- 
 selves, but often with themselves. With the progress of events they find new 
 data, and their point of view changes, and they are compelled to make new 
 applications or correct old ones. In a sense " history is the interpreter of 
 prophecy." But there may be a too narrow and too brief a view of history, a 
 lack of a true historical sense, or a deficiency in spiritual perception. A look 
 into the past may help us. The Messianic and other predictions referred to and 
 quoted in the Gospels and the Acts, were not fully understood till after their 
 fulfilment. Indeed some of them were such that it would have been impossible, 
 without divine illumination, to know their full meaning beforehand. May we 
 not reasonably infer that the same may be true regarding the second coming of 
 Christ and the predictions preceding that event, especially when they are given 
 in symbolic language ? Yet these prophecies were intended for God's people, to 
 be heard, read, and understood sufficiently for their comfort, encouragement, 
 and instruction (3:7; i3 : 18; 15 : <; 22 : 7, is). 
 
 4. Such considerations have led to the adoption of the "spiritical" method, 
 of which Doctor Milligan is the best exponent. This method is not new. Ti- 
 conius in the fourth century used a spiritual interpretation, in his commentary 
 on the Apocalypse, and it became the commonly accepted view for ten centuries 
 until the Reformation. It has been revived by a number of able scholars of 
 the past generation, and is a widely accepted view in Germany, England, and 
 America. This system aflSrms that the book covers the entire period from the 
 first century to the coming of Christ, but not dealing in definite events so much 
 as in great principles. One may see in vision the conflicts, the degeneracy, the 
 triumphs of the church. Milligan, Ebrard, Godet, Lee, Boyd Carpenter, and 
 
xxviii THE REVELATION (APOCALYPSE) OF JOHN 
 
 Vaughan (1882) maintain this view. Bousset gives a historical survey of the 
 interpretation of the book since the first century. 
 
 In a book of visions and symbols a literal interpretation is not possible. 
 The books of Daniel, Ezekiel, and Zechariah, in the Old Testament, will throw 
 light on Revelation. Large portions of these books are cast in the same mold 
 as this book. The aim must be to find a rational and natural meaning for the 
 symbol, and one that will hold good for the entire book, and will be in harmony 
 with the Old Testament apocalyptic books. A knowledge of the non-canonical 
 Jewish apocalypses will be helpful in showing a common stock of imagery with 
 which John was familiar. But here one must be on his guard. As in the 
 parable so in the apocalyptic vision there is the drapery which belongs to the 
 scenery of the book, and must not be pressed in the interpretation. The book 
 teaches the general principles that constitute God's revelation to men. It is 
 also an apocalypse, an uncovering of what otherwise would be hidden. The one 
 central thought of Revelation is — the ascended, glorified, crucified Christ so 
 ruling among men that in time, despite opposition, his kingdom becomes 
 established in the world, and earth and heaven touch each other. Like Daniel 
 the Revelation is an unfolding of the meaning and end of the history of the 
 world. The explanation of the Saviour's discourse in the twenty-fourth cliapter 
 of Matthew will give an illustration of the method to be adopted. In that 
 chapter is a reference to an impending event, tlie destruction of Jerusalem, and 
 then a widening horizon that reaches to the end of the world. Here also events 
 that are near in time shadow forth events that will reach to the end of the 
 ages. If we might judge beforehand how a revelation would be made we might 
 surmise that a paradise lost in the Old Testament would be counterbalanced by 
 a paradise regained in the New Testament. That historical characters and 
 events of the seer's own time are referred to is generally accepted ; the only 
 question is whether there is any reference to the history of the church between 
 the author's time and the still future consummation. That there is such a 
 reference is maintained in this commentary. 
 
 Many questions touched upon in this introduction are further noticed as 
 they arise in the commentary. See especially introductory note to Chap. VI. 
 and Note II., p. 2.55. 
 
 For a list of over one hundred leading commentaries on Revelation see 
 Introduction to Meyer's commentary. See also Swete, Introduction, cxciii-ccii. 
 
 The following works can be profitably consulted : 
 
 "The Apocalypse of St. John," the Greek text, with introduction, notes, 
 and indices by Henry Barclay Swete, D. D. (1906). The introduction is sur- 
 passingly excellent. The notes are critical, scholarly, and suggestive. Their 
 brevity is often to be regretted. His method of interpretation is not identified 
 with any of the chief systems of apocalyptic exegesis, but at times it touches 
 each. " With the ' preterists ' it will take on the circumstances of the age and 
 locality to which the book belongs, and will connect the greater part of the 
 prophecy with the destiny of the empire under which the prophet lived ; with 
 the 'futurists' it will look for the fulfilment of St. John's pregnant words in 
 times yet to come. With the school of Auberlen and Benson it will find in 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 XXIX 
 
 the Apocalypse a Christian philosophy of history ; with the ' continuous his- 
 torical ' school it can see in the progress of events ever new illustrations of the 
 working of the great principles which are revealed. And while it maintains, 
 against the majority of recent continental scholars, the essential unity of the 
 book and its prophetic inspiration, it will gladly accept all that research and 
 discovery can yield for the better understanding of the conditions under which 
 the book was written." Introduction, p. ccxiv. 
 
 "Letters to the Seven Churches," W. M. Ramsay, D. c. L. (1904). This 
 ■work is very valuable for the light it throws upon the historical, geographical, 
 and religious condition of the province of Asia. But Professor Ramsay's 
 enthusiasm seems at times to affect his inferences and interpretation. The 
 work is worthy of careful study. 
 
 "The Messages of the Apocalyptic Writers," by Frank C. Porter, PH. D., 
 D. D. (1905). Much may be learned of apocalyptic literature, "the struggle 
 of Judaism with Antiochus and Hellenism, and the struggle of Christianity 
 with Rome." The work is learned, but needs to be read with some reserve as 
 to the fulfilment of both Daniel and the Revelation. Professor Porter assumes 
 and defends the late date of the book of Daniel. For the early date see 
 "Speaker's Commentary" (1876); Prof. John B. Davis, "Dictionary of the 
 Bible," Daniel (1898); Schatf-Herzog, "Encyclopaedia of Religious Knowl- 
 edge" (1882), Daniel, end of article on Chronology and Genuineness; James 
 Orr, " Problem of the O. T." pp. 428, 458, 534, 536. 
 
 The commentary of Milligan, "The Book of Revelation" (1889), and of 
 Simcox, "The Revelation of St. John" (1893), can be profitably compared. 
 " Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire," by Edward Gibbon, Milman's 
 edition (1856), is recommended. 
 
 A CRITICAL BASIS. 
 
 This volume, like those that preceded it, has been prepared on the Common 
 version in connection with the Critical Greek text. While interpretations and 
 conclusions have been expressed in a popular way to the English reader, they 
 have been drawn and suggested by a careful study of the original Scripture. 
 In many places there is much opportunity for difierences of opinion, but 
 generally it has been possible to speak only from our own point of view. 
 
 It is well known among scholars that the received Greek text of Revela- 
 tion was more than ordinarily defective. It was founded on the texts of 
 Erasmus and of the Complutensian editors, as reedited by R. Stephens (1550) 
 and printed by the Elzevirs at Leyden, 1624 and 1633. In forming his Greek 
 text of Revelation, early in the sixteenth century, Erasmus had but one manu- 
 script, and that one, says Tregelles, " appears to have been in a mutilated con- 
 dition. It contained the Greek text, with a commentary interspersed, and he 
 had to separate the words of the text as best he could. In not a few places he 
 clearly took the commentary for the text, and thus inserted readings found in 
 no Greek manuscript ; where his manuscript was altogether illegible, he appears 
 to have relied on the Latin Vulgate, and to have supplied words in the Greek 
 by retranslating them from it. We know this was the case with the last six 
 
XXX THE REVELATION (APOCALYPSE) OF JOHN 
 
 verses of the book ; iu his manuscript they were wholly wanting, owing to its 
 mutilated condition, and he ventured on the bold expedient of supplying them 
 by his own translation from the Latin." The Complutensian editors (about 
 1520) are said by Wetstein to have had but a single manuscript of Revelation, 
 from whose text, according to Mill, Erasmus in his fourth edition (1527) trans- 
 ferred ninety variations ; and as reedited by Stephens (1550), it is asserted of 
 him, that he used only two imperfect manuscripts. As a result some of these 
 imperfections have come down to us in the Common version. 
 
 With an increased number of manuscripts, some of them most ancient, it 
 has become possible to form a more satisfactory Greek text of Revelation, from 
 which late English versions have been made. Several years ago, in issuing 
 commentaries on the Epistles, the Improved Bible Union version was placed 
 beside the Common version as the best English expression of the critical text. 
 The same version is used in this volume to make it uniform with preceding 
 volumes. The American Standard Revision is also recommended for reference 
 and comparison, with which tlie Bible Union version is generally in accord. 
 
 Swete, in his valuable introduction to his "Critical Commentary on the 
 Apocalypse" (1906), has a scholarly chapter on the Greek text of this book 
 (pp. clxxxiii-cxcii). See also Westcott and Hort Greek N. T., Vol. II. Intro- 
 duction by Doctor Hort, § 344. 
 
 analysis of the book. 
 The prologue, 1 : 1-20. 
 
 1. The inscription and salutation, 1 : 1-8. 
 
 2. The vision of the Lord, 1 : 9-20. 
 
 . I. The letters to the seven churches, 2 : 11-3 : 22. 
 Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, Laodicea. 
 
 II. The vision of god and of the lamb, 4:1-5: 14. 
 
 1. The vision of the divine majesty, 4 : 1-8. 
 
 2. The imceasing hymn of praise, 4 : 9-11. 
 
 3. The book with the seven seals, 5 : 1-7. 
 
 4. The adoration of the Lamb, 5 : 8-14. 
 
 III. The opening of the seven seals, 6:1-8: 1. 
 
 1. The opening of the first seal, 6:1,2. 
 
 2. The opening of the second seal, 6 : 3, 4. 
 
 3. The opening of the third seal, 6 : 5, 6. 
 
 4. The opening of the fourth seal, 6 : 7, 8. 
 
 5. The opening of the fifth seal, 6 : 9-11. 
 
 6. The opening of the sixth seal, 6 : 12-17. 
 
 7. The sealing of the servants of God, 7 : 1-8. 
 
 8. The innumerable multitude, 7 : 9-17. 
 
 9. The opening of the seventh seal, 8 : 1. 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 IV. The sounding of the seven trumpets, 8 : 2-11 : 18. 
 i. The sounding of the first trumpet, 8 : 2-7. 
 
 2. The sounding of the second ti'umpet, 8 : 8, 9. 
 
 3. The sounding of the third trumpet, 8 : 10, 11. 
 
 4. The sounding of the fourth trumpet, 8 : 12. 
 
 5. The three woe-trumpets announced, 8 : 13. 
 
 6. The sounding of the fifth or first woe-trumpet, 9 : 1-12. 
 
 7. The sounding of the sixth or second woe-trumpet, 9 : 13-21. 
 
 8. The vision of the little book, 10 : 1-11. 
 
 9. The measuring of the temple, 11 : 1, 2. 
 
 10. The prophesying of the two witnesses, 11 : 3-14. 
 
 11. The sounding of the seventh or third woe-trumpet, 11 : 15-19. 
 
 V. The church and her three enemies, 12 : 1-13 : 18. 
 
 1. The vision of the woman and the great red dragon, 12 : 1~C. 
 
 2. The war between Michael and the dragon, 12 : 7-9. 
 
 3. The rejoicing in heaven over the fall of Satan, 12 : 10-12. 
 
 4. The deliverance of the woman, 12 : 13-17. 
 
 5. The vision of the first beast, 13 : 1-10. 
 
 6. The vision of the second beast, 13 : 11-18. 
 
 VI. The series of the seven bowls of wrath, 14 : 1-16 : 21. 
 
 1. Three consolatory visions, 14 : 1-20. 
 
 (1) The vision of the Lamb with one hundred and forty-four thousand, 
 14 : 1-5. 
 
 (2) The vision of three angels of judgment, 14 : 6-13. 
 
 (3) The visions of the harvests of the saints and the wicked, 14 : 14-20. 
 
 2. The seven bowls of wrath, 15 : 1-16 : 21. 
 
 (1) The vision of the sea of glass 15 : 1-4. 
 
 (2) The seven angels with their seven bowls, 15 : 5-8. 
 
 (3) The first bowl of wrath, 16 : 1, 2. 
 
 (4) The second bowl of wrath, 16 : 3. 
 
 (5) The third bowl of wrath, 16 : 4-7. 
 
 (6) The fourth bowl of wrath, 16 : 8, 9. 
 
 (7) The fifth bowl of wrath, 16 : 10, 11. 
 
 (8) The sixth bowl of wrath, 16 : 12-16. 
 
 (9) The seventh bowl of wrath, 16 : 17-21. 
 
 VII. Destruction of the harlot and Babylon, 17 : 1-19 : 10. 
 
 1. Description of the great harlot, 17 : 1-6. 
 
 2. Explanation of the mystery of the beast and the harlot, 17 : 7-18. 
 
 3. Fall of Babylon announced, 18 : 1-3. 
 
 4. The summons to the godly to leave the city, 18 : 4-8. 
 
 5. Lamentation over the fall of the city, 18 : 9-20. 
 
 6. Symbolic proclamation of Babylon's fall, 18 : 21-24. 
 
 7. A song of triumph over the fall of Babylon, 19 : 1-10. 
 
xxxii THE REVELATION (APOCALYPSE) OF JOHN 
 
 VIII. The consummation of all things, 19 : 11-22. 
 
 1. Christ destroys the beast and false prophet, 19 : 11-22 : 5. 
 
 2. The binding of the dragon, 20 : 1-3. 
 
 3. The millennial kingdom of Christ, 20 : 4-6. 
 
 4. The final victory over Satan, 20 : 7-10. 
 
 5. The final judgment of the wicked, 20 : 11-15. 
 
 6. The new heaven and the new earth, 21 : 1-8. 
 
 7. Vision of the New Jerusalem, 21 : 9-27. 
 
 8. The paradise of God, 22 : 1-5. 
 
 The epilogue, 22 : 6-21. 
 
 1. The testimony of the angel, 22 : 6, 7, 10, 11. 
 
 2. The testimony of John, 22 : 8, 9. 
 
 3. The testimony of Jesus, 22 : 12-17. 
 
 4. The benediction, 22 : 18-21. 
 
I. JOHN 
 
 Fellowship with God through the incarnated 
 
 Christ ; its nature and effects. 
 1 THAT "which was from the begin- 
 
 THAT which was from the begin- 
 
 a 2 ; 13; John 1 : 1. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 In the Introduction we have the fun- 
 damental thought of the entire letter, 
 the reality and divinity of the person 
 of Christ, who, as the Logos or Word, 
 existed eternally with God. John has 
 a conscious fellowship with the Father 
 through the manifested Son, Jesus 
 Christ, and he writes that his readers 
 may enter into the same fellowship and 
 share in the joy of God's people (ver. 
 1-*). This fellowship with God in- 
 volves a waliiing in the light; and 
 walking in the light includes a fellow- 
 ship with God and with the brethren. 
 A fellowship with God involves a fel- 
 lowship with all his moral e.iccellencies, 
 a departure from all unholiness, being 
 cleansed from sin by the blood of Christ 
 
 (ver. 5-7). 
 
 It includes also a sense of sin and tlie 
 confession of sin. The denial of sin- 
 fulness involves self-deception. But 
 confession of sin brings forgiveness, 
 inasmuch as God's faithfulness and 
 holiness are pledged to this gracious 
 result. The central thoughts of the 
 chapter are walking in the light, fel- 
 lowship with God, the consciousness 
 and confession of sin, the forgiveness 
 
 of sin (ver. 8-10). 
 
 1-4. Introduction. The writer's 
 message concerning Jesus Christ, his 
 eternal preexistence, and the identity 
 and reality of that life manifested 
 among men, together with his purpose 
 in writing. 
 
 1. That Avhich, etc. This passage 
 is indefinite in itself, but is fully ex- 
 plained in the following clauses. There 
 IS a likeness between the opening sen- 
 tence here and the beginning of John's 
 
 Gospel. In both he connects Jesus 
 Christ with the preexistent life. The 
 other evangelists traced the life of 
 Jesus to Abraham, to Adam. John at 
 one step takes us into the prior eternity. 
 His aim here is to show the identity of 
 that preexisting person, the Word, 
 with that person known among men 
 as Jesus, whoseireality was attested by 
 the testing of the senses. Before the 
 birth at Bethlehem, he was known as 
 
 the Logos, the Word (see John 1:1). As a 
 
 word makes manifest the invisible 
 thought, so Jesus is the manifestation 
 of God who is the invisible God ( i Tim. 
 6 : 16), John does not introduce Jesus 
 as a person, in the strict sense, but uses 
 instead a word in the neuter form, 
 That which. To the apostle Christ is 
 life itself. But life itself, viewed in the 
 absolute sense, may be looked at more 
 as an idea or a conception than as a 
 person. He did not intend to apply 
 the term directly to the Son of God ; in 
 that event he would have used the mas- 
 culine pronoun. But he had the Son 
 of God in view, and meant to make a 
 strong affirmation concerning him, but 
 the thing here had in mind was the 
 proof, the evidence of the senses that 
 he was a real person. Jesus is more 
 than an individual, one human person ; 
 he is also the embodied life. John, 
 in his ideal way, therefore looks upon 
 Christ in this passage as the life rather 
 than as a living person. He regards 
 Jesus as having no beginning in that 
 preexistent state. He Avas ; not he be- 
 gan to be. In like manner Jesus says : 
 " Before Abraham was, I am " (John 8 : 
 58). The difference between "he was" 
 and " he began to be " is the difference 
 between an eternally preexistent being 
 
 33 
 
34 
 
 I. JOHN 
 
 [Ch. 1. 
 
 uing, which we have heard, »> which 
 we have seen with our eyes, « which 
 we have looked upon, and dour liauds 
 
 ning, that which we have heard, that 
 which we have seen with our eyes, 
 that which we belield, and our hands 
 
 b Luke 1:2; Acts 1 : 3. 
 
 c 2 Peter 1 : 16. 
 
 d Luke 24 : 39. 
 
 and one whose life had a beginning in 
 time. 
 
 From the beginning. In John 
 1 : 1 the apostle speaks of Jesus as ex- 
 isting in the beginning, having his life 
 in eternity, with the implied athrma- 
 tion that there was no time in the past 
 when he began to be. Alford says 
 that the two expressions, "in the be- 
 ginning" and "from the beginning" 
 in the drift of their meaning express 
 the same thought. This expression 
 emphasizes rather the point of de- 
 parture from which his existence is 
 reckoned. He dwelt in eternity, he 
 exists from the beginning. Unitarians 
 and those who deny the eternal pre- 
 existence of Christ make the expres- 
 sion /ro7n. the begijinincf refer to the be- 
 ginning of the gospel dispensation. But 
 it is evident from the term "manifested ' ' 
 in ver. 2 that John refers to some- 
 thing that had a prior spiritual exist- 
 ence, and then was manifested, became 
 open to the examination and testimony 
 of the senses. The one manifested was 
 also a person who had been with the 
 Father (ver. 2). Barnes, in his notes, 
 regards the exjiression as having refer- 
 ence to the beginning of his manifesta- 
 tion as the Son of God. But this is an 
 obviously untena])le view. When John 
 uses the expression "beginning" in a 
 limited sense, as in 12 : 7, 24 ; 3 : 2, the 
 context makes it evident that the refer- 
 ence is to a recent or temporal begin- 
 ning. Four times the writer makes 
 use of the term, "that which," in this 
 verse, referring to the same thing, the 
 same person. He wishes not merely 
 to show tlie reality of Christ's exist- 
 ence among men as testitied to by a 
 personal examination, but also to show 
 that that wliich existed in the eternal 
 state is identical with that which was 
 manifested in a human life. It was a 
 real Christ that John believed in ; it 
 was the same Christ existing beibre the 
 foundation of the world (Johu 17 : 24), 
 manifested in Galilee, suffering on the 
 cross, exalted on high. John gives 
 four proofs, evidences of the reality of 
 the manifested Cliiist : hearing, seeing, 
 gazing upon, handling. 
 
 We have heard. The we may 
 
 refer to the entire apostolic body, 
 though the reference must be mainly 
 to John alone. It is noticeable that 
 John has a fondness for repeating the 
 words of the Saviour that reveal the 
 inner life of Christ and his relation to 
 the Father. We must join the expres- 
 sion of the Word, rather, conceiving 
 the Word, to the verb heard. The words 
 spoken by Jesus and concerning Jesus 
 bore testimony to the reality of his life 
 and his preexistence. It is on the 
 ground of Jesus' testimony concerning 
 himself, the impossibility of his being 
 deceived, the impossibility of his de- 
 ceiving others, that we base, to a large 
 extent, our belief concerning his per- 
 son. Added to his testimony is the 
 united witnessing of men, honest, 
 capable, with large opportunity for 
 observation. Their testimony makes 
 for us an immovable foundation for 
 belief. Have seen. This refers to a 
 second and higher testing, inasmuch 
 as seeing is more convincing than hear- 
 ing. The eye is a better witness than 
 the ear. It was a real life that had 
 been seen. There could be no doubt 
 on this point, it was no apparition. 
 
 (Corap. 2 Peter 1 : 16 ) A sigllt of JcSUS 
 
 embraced also a sight of his miracles, 
 the evidence of a divine indwelling 
 power, showing a close relationship to 
 God, and revealing a life divine before 
 it was manifested here. With our 
 eyes. TJiis adds force to the testi- 
 mony as that of an eye-witness. He 
 can say nothing too strong concerning 
 Ciirist ; in his mind there are no 
 doubts. The reality of Christ's person 
 was attested by his own personal ex- 
 perience, extending through years. 
 Have looked upon, rather, beheld. 
 This verb is in the aorist tense, indi- 
 cating the particular acts in the Sa- 
 viour's life. The word here made use 
 of is different from that rendered seen. 
 He does not mean a spiritual behold- 
 ing, but a contemplation with the 
 bodily eyes. He had riveted his eyes 
 on Jesus as friend. Lamb of God, 
 teacher, Lord. Have handled, 
 rather, handled, Jesus was no ghost, 
 
Ch. I.] 
 
 I. JOH^^ 
 
 35 
 
 have handled, of the Word of life; 
 
 2 (for 'the life was manifested, and we 
 have seen it, 'and bear witness, and 
 show unto you that eternal life, e which 
 was with the Father, and was mani- 
 
 3 fested unto us;) ii that which we have 
 
 handled, concerning the Word of life ;— 
 
 2 and tlie life was manifested, and we 
 have seen, and bear testimony, and 
 report to you the eternal life, which 
 was with the Father, and was mani- 
 
 3 fested to us ;— that which we have 
 
 e JohQ 1 : 4 ; 2 Tim. 1 : 10. 
 
 / John 21 : 24 ; Acts 2 ; 32. 
 
 g John 1 : 1, 2. 
 
 A Acts 4 : 20. 
 
 but had an actual body both before 
 and after the resurrection. (Sce joUa 
 20:20,27) That which was from the 
 beginning with the Father, spirit, was 
 now la incarnate form, that could be 
 felt by human hands. The belief in 
 the real Jesus, his humanity, his di- 
 vinity, is so essential that John pre- 
 sents these four proofs, rising to a 
 climax, heard, seen, contemplated, felt. 
 The eye and ear might be deceived, 
 the sense of feeling could be depended 
 on. Jesus was no apparition ; a ghost 
 could not make atonement for sin or 
 know how to sympathize with men 
 living a real human life in tlie flesh. 
 His words and liis works combine to 
 show his divine nature and his real 
 physical person. Of the Word of 
 life, rather, concerning. Tlie prepo- 
 sition depends directly upon the term 
 heard, and indirectly upon tlie other 
 verbs. The entire clause is in appo- 
 sition to the preceding. That which 
 was from the beginning is the Word of 
 life. Two different lines of interpreta- 
 tion arise at this point, springing from 
 different meanings given to the term 
 Word. It is maintained by some that 
 this has reference to the proclamation 
 of life made by Christ. It is better to 
 regard the term Word as having tlie 
 same meaning that it has in John 1:1. 
 Jesus is the manifested God, the Logos, 
 the Word. The reference is directly to 
 the person of Christ. There is an" in- 
 finite remove between the terms word 
 and Word. In the Word was life. 
 Jesus is the life (John le : «), the bread 
 of life (John 6 ; 35), the light of life (Joi'o 
 8:12). Jesus has all fulness of life 
 in himself. One of the ruling words 
 in this letter is life — life in Christ, life 
 with Christ, life for Christ. It does 
 not mean existence simply, but life in 
 its full sense, involving blessedness, 
 holiness, happiness, life like God's 
 own life. 
 
 2. This verse is parenthetical. The 
 mention of life in ver. 1 leads John to 
 dwell on this thought, holding back 
 
 for a time the conclusion that follows 
 naturally from tlie preceding state- 
 ment. For, rsLther,and, was mani- 
 fested. From being invisible it had 
 become visible. Jesus did not begin 
 to be at Betiilehem. There was a re- 
 vealing of God's life with its holiness, 
 joy, peace, blessedness, through the 
 incarnation. What had been from 
 eternity came into a human life and 
 was handled by men. The manifesta- 
 tion involved a coming in the flesh, 
 and the denial of this was the essence 
 of antichrist (4 : 2). Seen. John, 
 as is his manner, turns this thought 
 over and over again. He had been a 
 personal associate of Christ. If any 
 were wavering in their minds as to the 
 reality of Christ's person, John assures 
 them that he and others had seen the 
 life, the Christ who was life. Bear 
 witness. As John could not be de- 
 ceived and would not deceive others, 
 his testimony should have great weight, 
 lie was a witness to what Christ was 
 and did, and what he could do in the 
 hearts of believers. Show, rather, 
 declare. As a witness John declares, 
 not in this letter only, but always and 
 everywhere that Jesus is the manifes- 
 tation of all that God has of life for 
 the soul. That eternal life, rather, 
 the life, the eternal life. Jesus in that 
 preexistent state was the source of all 
 life, physical, I'ational, spiritual (John 
 1 : 4). With the Father. This 
 affirms personal as.sociation and fellow- 
 ship with the Father. It proves also 
 that the life here considered was em- 
 bodied in a per.son. This verse is not 
 a mere restatement of the first verse in 
 other terms ; there is a distinct advance 
 in the thought. Four additional state- 
 ments are made: The life was with the 
 Father, was eternal in its duration, 
 was manifested ; and the apostolic de- 
 claration on these points was unani- 
 mous and decided. 
 
 3. With this verse John resumes 
 the statement of ver. 1. He wa.s an 
 eye and ear-witness of Jesus. What 
 
3G 
 
 I. JOHN 
 
 [Ch. 1. 
 
 seen and heard declare we unto you, 
 that ye also may have fellowship with 
 lis: and truly '"our fellowship is with 
 the Father, and with his Son Jesus 
 4 Christ. And these things write we 
 unto you, ^ that your joy may be full. 
 
 seen and have heard we report to you 
 also, that ye also may have fellowship 
 with us; and our fellowship also is 
 with the Father, and with his Son 
 4 Jesus Christ. And these things we 
 write that our joy may be made full. 
 
 i John 14 : 20-23 ; 17 : 21 : 1 Cor. 1 : 9. 
 
 k John 15 : 11 ; 2 John 12. 
 
 lie had seen and heard he announces 
 ill this letter and in liis otlier writ- 
 ings, to those who had not seen 
 Christ in the flesh. The purpose of 
 this writing is announced, that ye 
 may have fellowship with us : 
 Have in common the certainty of 
 Christ's presence in the flesh and his 
 divine nature with tlie consequent 
 peace and joy that come from knowing 
 these tilings. Our fellowship . . . 
 Jesus Christ. John unites his read- 
 ers, not to a simple outward fellowsliip 
 with the apostles, but to a spiritual 
 fellowship with the Father through 
 Jesus Christ. God is fully nuule 
 known to us only through Christ 
 the Son. The joining of these two 
 terms together, Father, Son, is a proof, 
 the stronger for being incidental, that 
 John had no doul>t of the deity of 
 Jesus. He would not consciously have 
 joined the uncreated God with a created 
 being. The believer may have fellow- 
 ship with God in the enjoyment of 
 God's own life, peace, joy, thoughts, 
 and desires. Heaven is the life on 
 earth expanded and freed from imper- 
 fections. There is a fellowship with 
 God in service. A godlike man re- 
 veals God to man. Christians are the 
 letters of Christ known and read by 
 all men. There is a fellowship with 
 God in prayer and communion of soul, 
 the enjoyment of God's presence, as 
 real as that of friend with friend. 
 John's conception of the Christian life 
 is that of a direct per.sonal relation 
 with God through Jesus Christ. This 
 comes, as a rule, only by a correct 
 knowledge concerning God and Jesus. 
 The church is meant to be a help to 
 the spiritual fellowship with Christ. 
 Fellowship with Christ must precede, 
 in order of time, the connection with 
 the church. Any inversion of this 
 order is ruinous to the soul and a con- 
 tradiction of the Scriptures. 
 
 4. The purpose of writing is an- 
 nounced by the author. The expres- 
 sion these things refers not simply 
 
 to what has here been stated, but to the 
 contents of the entire Epistle. He had 
 already announced the general aim of 
 the apostolic proclamations. The we 
 refers mainly to John, though it in- 
 cludes the unity of the apostolic teach- 
 ing. With this announced purpose of 
 writing see also 2 : 1, 7, 8, 12, 36 ; 5 : 13. 
 Your joy. The Revised version 
 reads oiir joy. Many old manuscripts 
 have your. A result of fellowship 
 with Christ is joy (Joi>n is : ii; n : is). 
 The direct results of the Christian life 
 may be persecutions and losses, but in 
 and through them all will be Christ's 
 own sustaining power and the attend- 
 ant blessings (Matt. 5 : 10-12 ; 19 : 29). The 
 reconciliation with God, the sense of 
 sonship, the guidance in life, the sus- 
 taining care, the hope of a blessed im- 
 mortality, all contribute to an abiding 
 joy. The results produced in the lives 
 of John's readers, the wider knowledge 
 and holiness begotten in them, would 
 produce in John a fulness of joy. In 
 like manner Paul writes of his own 
 joy begotten by the holy lives of his 
 disciples p Thesa. 2 : 19). Tlic repentance 
 of one sinner makes joy among the 
 angels (Luke 1,5 : t). It IS ouc mark of 
 a Ctiristian that his joy is increased in 
 seeing others come to a right knowl- 
 edge of God. Imperfections in the 
 lives of his readers would disturb the 
 profound peace and rest of his own 
 soul, Paul wept over the ungodly 
 lives of some professing Christians 
 (Phil. 8 : 18). In like manner God is 
 grieved at the waywardness of his 
 
 creatures (Gen. 6:6). 
 
 Note.— Why did John write 
 THIS LETTER? It is ncedful to bear in 
 mind John's purpose in writing this 
 letter. The surroundings, the times, the 
 heresies then rife, the peculiar circum- 
 stances to which he refers ; all these 
 must be kept in mind as helps to the 
 understanding of it. After the mar- 
 tyrdom of Paul the influences which 
 liad already begun to oppose them- 
 
Ch. I.] 
 
 f. JOHN 
 
 37 
 
 selves to the Christian life in the 
 churches of Asia Minor broke forth 
 with increased strength when no longer 
 restrained by the weight of Paul's per- 
 sonal character and authority. The 
 closing part of the tirst centurj' was 
 full of speculations that touched and 
 opposed the foundation teachings of 
 the Christian Aiith. They menaced 
 the existence of Christianity itself. 
 The discussions in Paul's letters had 
 reference to the question whether 
 faith in Jesus Christ as the Saviour 
 would of itself be sufficient for sal- 
 vation, or whether in addition to 
 this an obedience to the Mosaic law 
 was not essential. In John's day the 
 main point of conflict was as to the 
 person of Christ. An inadequate con- 
 ception of the person of Christ must 
 lead inevitably to an inadequate con- 
 ception of the power and work of 
 Ciinst. The main insistence of the 
 apostle is on the reality of his person, 
 the oneness of the eternal Word with 
 that person known as Jesus Ciirist. 
 If he was not a real person, only in 
 appearance, then Christianity itself 
 had no historical foundation ; it was in 
 reality only a dream, a deception. If 
 Jesus was not a divine person then he 
 could be no more than a prophet. If 
 he had no real human existence, then 
 he could not have wrought out a re- 
 demption for us on the cross. In main- 
 taining the reality of his person, he was 
 maintaining the essential principles of 
 Christianity itself. Without a real, 
 living, personal, divine-human Saviour 
 at its center, Christianity can have no 
 real existence. Two forms of error 
 were at this time prevalent, both of 
 them mutilating the person of Christ. 
 One view of Christ emphasized the 
 human nature of Christ. It dwelt so 
 exclusively on the human side that it, 
 in effect, denied tlie divine side. Tliis 
 was Ebionism. The other view em- 
 phasized the divine side. It regarded 
 the visible form as only an appearance 
 through which the divine glory mani- 
 fested itself. This was called Doce- 
 tisui, which means a seeming, an ap- 
 pearance. A third view arose, that of 
 Cerinthus. According to him, Jesus 
 was a mere man on whom the divine 
 Spirit rested at his baptism. Cerinthus 
 recognized lioth the human and the 
 divine in Jesus, But the union was 
 
 only a mechanical one ; there was not 
 any life union between the two. Dur- 
 ing the sufi'erings of Jesus the divine 
 took its departure. In opposition to 
 all these fragmentary conceptions of 
 Jesus, John gives us his testimony, 
 from his own experience, of the mani- 
 fested glory of tliat One who was from 
 elernity, who was manifested in a 
 thorough life among men, a life whose 
 reality was manifest to the senses. 
 Some practical mistakes as to the 
 Christian life Avere also holding sway 
 among the Christians of Asia Minor. 
 Having a consciousness of redemption 
 already secured, th^y had lost siglit of 
 the yet remaining necessity for Christ's 
 work in them, as a sanctifying power. 
 A dim sense of sin made no necessity 
 for a present Saviour possessed of 
 almighty power. Some were hoping 
 for a forgiveness of sins, but with no 
 renunciation of sinful ways in their 
 lives. With them forgiveness was only 
 a mechanical thing, involving no ac- 
 companying holiness. To them Chris- 
 tianity was becoming an outward and 
 formal system, not a spiritual and su- 
 pernatural life. To these theoretical 
 errors and practical mistakes in life 
 John opposes his testimony, his appeal, 
 his counsel. To their errors and mis- 
 takes he holds up the living and com- 
 plete person and work of the Lord 
 Jesus. The best antidote to error is 
 the manifestation of the truth as it is 
 in Jesus. 
 
 Part one. 1 : 5-2 : 29. The 
 
 nature of fellowship with god. 
 The entire letter falls naturally into 
 four divisions, (see introduciion.) Each 
 division presents God in one distinctive 
 feature of character. The first division 
 centers about the controlling expres- 
 sion, God is light (i ■■^). This is not 
 an incidental statement in reference to 
 God, but is a revelation of God's inner- 
 most nature. The statement reveals 
 God. 
 1 : 5-2 : 14. What w^alkincj in 
 
 THE LIGHT INCLUDES. If God be 
 light, his people must be light. If 
 God dwells in light, his people must 
 dwell in light. John aims to bring 
 the large teaching, God is light, info 
 a practical relation to the lives of his 
 readers. He has already shown the 
 fulness of joy which comes from fel- 
 
38 
 
 I. JOHN 
 
 [Ch. I. 
 
 5 This then is the message which we 
 have heard of him, and declare unto 
 you, that 'God is light, and in him is 
 
 6 no darkness at all. "' If we say that we 
 have fellowship with him, and walli in 
 
 5 And this is the message which we have 
 heard from him, and announce to you, 
 That God is light, and iu him there is 
 
 6 no darkness. If we say that we have 
 fellowship with him, and walk in the 
 
 I Pa. 104 : 2 ; John 8:12; 1 Tim 6 : 16. 
 
 ml:*, 9-11 ; Amos 3 : S ; 2 Cor. 6 : 14. 
 
 lowsliip with the Father and the Son 
 He phuis now by statement and appeal 
 to lead his readers into the recognition 
 of what a waliiing in the light involves. 
 He wishes to drive away darkness from 
 their intellectual conception of God 
 and of Christ, and their relations with 
 theiu, also to drive away the moral im- 
 perfections from their hearts and lives. 
 The mission of Goil's Sou in the world 
 is to beget light, to reveal God in the 
 life as a creator of light. In order that 
 there may be the development of light 
 iu the heart, there must first of all be 
 the clear recognition of the darkness 
 that has been in the heart. With this 
 must be joined confession of sin. On 
 God's part will be forgiveness and a 
 constant cleansing from the moral un- 
 cleanuess. God's character and human 
 conduct will, in time, coincide in the 
 life of the believer. Walking in the 
 light includes 
 5-7. Fellowship with God and 
 
 WITH THE BRETHREN. It is not 
 
 merely a statement with the tongue, 
 but a union of the heart and life with 
 God. 
 
 5. Message. The substance of the 
 revelation through Christ is given. 
 Ofliim, rather, from him. This does 
 not mean respecting him, but from 
 him, as author or means. The entire 
 teaching of Jesus concerning God is 
 found iu the following statement. John 
 and his fellow apostles heard the teach- 
 ing of Jesus, the message came to them 
 at first hand. This message is trans- 
 mitted to us. Tliere is no possibility 
 of any alteration in it. GoA is light. 
 Jesus had applied this figure to him- 
 self (Joi'n 8 : 12). Doubtless John had 
 heard Jesus apply this expression to 
 God. Light in the Scriptures, and 
 especially in .Tohn's Gosi)el, is used as 
 the image of the divine, the true, the 
 opposite of all darkness. Truth, peace, 
 joy, holiness may be designated as light, 
 inasmuch as they all belong to the 
 nature of the divine. Wickedness, 
 fiilsehood, misery belong to the dark- 
 ness. In John's usual manner he states 
 
 the negative side of the same truth, 
 no darkness at all. God is not a 
 
 limited or imperfect being, defective 
 in any part of his nature. He is the 
 absolutely holy and perfect one. Some 
 have charged God with lieing, in some 
 way, the author of sin and wretched- 
 ness. Some have charged him with a 
 limitation of power because sin was 
 permitted to come into the world. 
 John defends the moral government of 
 God by declaring that, in no respect, is 
 any defect or unworthiness found in 
 God. Among the Romans Jupiter, 
 Mars, Vulcan, Venus, all the gods were 
 either infamous or subject to limita- 
 tions that unfitted them for the wor- 
 ship of intelligent beings. Among 
 the Hindus many of the temples for 
 worship are scenes of bestiality and 
 lust ; uncleanness is the fitting adjunct 
 of the unclean god. The source of 
 power in the Jewish religion and in 
 the New Testament Christianity is that 
 it has a holy God at its foundation and 
 its center. The great need of pagan- 
 ism, and all forms of religion outside 
 of Christianity, is its need of a right 
 conception of God. A false concep- 
 tion here vitiates everything; it gives 
 false views of the nature of man, the 
 nature of worship, the nature of 
 morals. 
 
 6. Because God's nature is holy John 
 declares the conditions of fellowship 
 with God. He shows what will be the 
 sign of fellowship with God, and what 
 will declare that no fellowship exists 
 with him. If . . . with him. Fel- 
 lowship means having things in com- 
 mon. All spiritual fellowship assumes 
 a likeness of nature. The likeness in 
 character must find a true expression 
 in the outward life. No fellowship 
 with God can exist without a life in 
 harmony with that fellowship. A fel- 
 lowship with God, who is light, must 
 make a life whose nature is light. Ho- 
 liness in God must create a holiness in 
 the godly man. If the lips assert a 
 fellowship with him, the life must de- 
 clare that fellowship. It is the priv- 
 
Ch. I.] 
 
 I. JOHN 
 
 39 
 
 darkness, we lie, and do not the truth. 
 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in 
 the light, we have fellowship oue with 
 another, and °the blood of Jesus Christ 
 his Son cleanseth us from all sin. 
 
 darkness, we lie, and do not the truth ; 
 
 7 but if we walk in the light, as he is in 
 the light, we have fellowship one with 
 another, and the blood of Jesus his 
 
 8 Son cleanses us from all sin. If we 
 
 2:2; Zcch. 13 : 1 ; Eph. 1 , 7. 
 
 ilege of the believer to be conscious of 
 a oneness with him. Walk in dark- 
 ness. To live in sin as the element of 
 life. A sinful life is proof that there 
 is no fellowship with God. A true 
 Christianity implies a holy life. John 
 is not speaking merely of the begin- 
 ning of the Christian life, but of its en- 
 tire course. To be one with God is to be 
 like God. We lie. There is an irrec- 
 oncilable contradiction between fel- 
 lowship with God and a life in sin. It 
 is impossible to twist the multiplica- 
 tion table into the utterance of an un- 
 truth ; it is just as impossible to har- 
 monize a life that rejoices in sin with a 
 life that has a fellowship with God. 
 Godliness is holiness. John puts his 
 statement in the positive and negative 
 forms. Do not the truth. The term 
 truth is not limited in its application 
 to speech ; the entire life is embraced. 
 Veracity in word is but a small part of 
 what the Scriptures mean by truth. 
 The life must be in harmony with the 
 truth, with God's moral law. If one 
 claim a character that is contradicted 
 by his whole course of life it may be 
 said of him that his life is at variance 
 with the truth, that he is living a false- 
 hood, that he does not do the truth. 
 Jesus speaks of those whose lips laid 
 claim to piety, but their hearts were 
 strangers to God (Matt. 7 : 22). One may 
 have a strong attachment for a church 
 or a creed, and yet have an unchanged 
 heart. It is impos.sible to have a right 
 conception of a personal and holy God 
 and yet live under the dominance of 
 sin. Sometimes there is a love for 
 God, but the judgment is impaired. 
 The Romanist Xavier was a lover of 
 Jesus, but had wrong conceptions of 
 baptism, thinking that it could re- 
 generate the soul. The New England 
 Puritans loved God, but thought that 
 all holding dififering views should be 
 fined, and otherwise punished. Within 
 a century human slavery, lotteries, and 
 the .selling of strong drink were re- 
 garded as in harmony with the Chris- 
 tian life. An enlarging knowledge 
 
 has convinced Christian men that these 
 things are inconsistent with true Chris- 
 tian character. There must always be 
 the intention to do God's will so far as 
 that will is revealed. It may not al- 
 ways be true that a conscious joy will 
 be possessed. Cowper was in almost 
 despair a large part of his life, yet his 
 was a Christian life. Peace, joy, and 
 assurance are not of the essence of sal- 
 vation. A desire for holiness and the 
 practice of God's will are essential. 
 The Christian life is, negatively, not a 
 falsehood; and positively it is doing 
 the truth. The truth is revealed in 
 Jesus, in his words and life (Jobu u ; 6). 
 This must be held to, loved, and lived 
 
 (Eph. 4 : 21). 
 
 7. This verse has the thought of the 
 preceding verse with the additional 
 idea of an apostolic fellowship and 
 a consequent purilication of the Chris- 
 tian life. But shows the contrast be- 
 tween the unreal life, which consents 
 with the tongue only, and that which is 
 real, manifest in holiness. Walk in 
 the light. The light means not 
 merely knowledge, but the life of holi- 
 ness as the element in which the godly 
 man lives and moves. To walk in the 
 light is enforced and defined by the 
 expression, as he is in the li^ht. 
 There is no diflference in the quality of 
 the goodness that is in God and that 
 which is in the good man. So far as 
 this goodness goes it is of the same 
 nature as God's. Man is limited by 
 imperfections, ignorance, besetting 
 sins, weiglits, and hindrances, while 
 God is unlimited. If men are in fel- 
 lowship with God, they are in fellow- 
 ship with John and the apostolic group. 
 John doesnotemploy the term, church, 
 in the entire Epistle. The fellowship 
 here spoken of is practically identical 
 with church fellowship. If this fel- 
 lowship had been perfect John would 
 not have added the closing words, and 
 the blood . . . sin. This is a preg- 
 nant sentence. It declares that Jesus 
 had a real body, otherwiise there would 
 be no blood. It declares that this cru- 
 
40 
 
 I. JOHN [Ch. I. 
 
 8 
 
 •If we say that we have no sin, we | say that we have no siu, we deceive 
 
 1 Kings 8 :46; Job 9 : 2 ; 25 ; 4. 
 
 cified one was a divine being, the very 
 Son of God. It declares that salvation 
 rests upon the ofiering made by Jesus. 
 Jesus, in John's view, is not simply an 
 exemplar, a martyr, but his death is a 
 vicarious otlering for sin. Does the 
 cleansing spoken of here refer to the 
 forgiveness of sins or to the eradica- 
 tion of sin itself, whereby the nature 
 will have a growing conformity to 
 God's nature, or does it include both? 
 In ver. 9 forgiveness and cleansing 
 from unrighteousness are looked upon 
 as distinct features of God's gracious 
 work. It is best, therefore, to limit 
 the meaning here to the gradual cleans- 
 ing from siu itself. In the life of the 
 believer the controlling tendency is to 
 a walking in the light. Yet the dark 
 and sinful mingle with the light their 
 disturbing influences. If there is a 
 fellowship with God and with the 
 brethren the blood of Jesus will make 
 known its purifying efficacy, its power 
 to cleanse from all inhering sin. The 
 blood must not be understood in a lit- 
 eral sense; only a spiritual cleansing 
 can be meant, and a spiritual method of 
 cleansing. It stands for the entire 
 work and influence of Jesus Christ. 
 Cleanseth is in the present tense, 
 showing the continuous character of 
 the work. The work will go on until 
 all the sinful elements in the heart 
 have been removed. The forgiveness 
 of past sins is completed, once for all, 
 upon repentance. The remaining sin- 
 fulness IS more and more removed by a 
 f)rogressive purification of the entire 
 ife. The redemption through Jesus 
 is completed once for all ; the regen- 
 eration and forgivene.ss of sins are 
 completed once for all ; the work of 
 building up holiness in the life goes 
 on gradually until the work is com- 
 plete. Among good and saved men 
 there are gradations in faithfulness, in 
 service, in holiness. Every believer is 
 a sanctified man, set apart for Christ, 
 but there are varying degrees of con- 
 formity to Christ (I'hii. 1.1). All 
 marks the completion of the work. 
 Any religion that does not make pro- 
 vision for both parts of tlie work, the 
 forgiveness and the sanctification, must 
 
 be a failure. The more refined and 
 pure a soul becomes the more sensitive 
 it will be to any taint of sin remain- 
 ing. Paul had a growing sense of sin- 
 fulness (1 Tim. 1 ; 15). The Christ who 
 works for us will, in time, be a Christ 
 fully formed within (Gai. 4 : 19). This 
 verse refutes many heresies. It refutes 
 that of Cerinthus, that Jesus was not 
 the Christ ; that of the Ebionites, that 
 he was not the Son of God ; that of the 
 Docetse, that the Christ did not really 
 die ; that of the Novatians, who denied 
 pardon to deadly sin after baptism ; 
 that of the Autinomians who denied 
 the necessity of moral obedience to the 
 Christian. 
 Walking in the light includes 
 8-10. A SENSE OF 6IN AND THE 
 CONFESSION OF IT. Theoretically a 
 fellowship with God involves sinless- 
 ness; practically the one who has a 
 conscious fellowship with God has a 
 constant need of forgiveness. 
 
 8. Purification from sin implies the 
 existence of siu even in believers. The 
 denial of this is an act of self-decep- 
 tion. The prayer taught by the Sa- 
 viour implies a con.stant need of for- 
 giveness. If we say. John may be 
 alluding to some of the early Chris- 
 tians who denied any sinfulness since 
 conversion. No sin. John does not 
 stop to distinguish here between the 
 sinful nature that yet remains and the 
 actual sin that comes out specifically in 
 the life. He speaks in a general way 
 of sin. Christians have so far ceased 
 from sin that they do not walk in the 
 darkness (vcr. 6), but they have not 
 ceased from actual sin. Ideally they 
 are saints and perfect ; in reality they 
 are struggling with daily imperfections 
 and have not, by any means, attained 
 unto the measure of the fulness of 
 Christ. If those walking in the light 
 think themselves freed entirely from 
 sin, do not have the constant conscious- 
 ness of it yet as an indwelling factor, 
 this is a token that the truth has not 
 yet gotten a complete control of the 
 life. In all ages .some have maintained 
 that they live without sin. In some 
 cases they afl^irm this from the belief 
 that no violation of a moral law by a 
 
Ch. I.] 
 
 I. JOHN 
 
 41 
 
 deceive ourselves, p and the truth is not 
 
 9 in us. 1 1f we confess our sins, 'lie is 
 
 faitliful "and just to forgive us oi«r sins, 
 
 and to 'cleanse us from all uuriglit- 
 
 10 eousness If we say that we have not 
 
 ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 
 
 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful 
 and righteous to forgive us our sins, 
 and to cleanse us from all uurighteous- 
 
 10 uess. If we say tliat we have not 
 
 p 2:i 
 
 q Lev. 26 : 40. 
 
 r Ueut. 7 : 9. 
 
 8 Isa 45 i 21 i Rom. 3 : 26 
 
 Christian is reckoned as a sin. Iii 
 some cases the chiim arises from a mis- 
 taken definition of sin, referring it to 
 some flagrant act alone. Sometimes 
 tliere is a lack of knowledge of one's 
 own heart, so that a proud self-sutii- 
 ciency arise.s. John embraces himself 
 in the term nve. Deceive. This is 
 a more forcible term than "making a 
 mistake." We mislead ourselves, de- 
 part from the truth, have wrong views 
 about our spiritual condition. lie 
 does not state that this self-deception 
 is wilful, but that it is a fact. Truth 
 not ill us. This is the negative side 
 of the statement. John does not here 
 allude to veracity or truth telling, but 
 to a lack of conformity to the actual 
 facts of the case. Augustine, Judson, 
 Brainerd, in their writings, show con- 
 trite hearts over their own sins. If any 
 believer, from any reason, asserts that 
 his nature is in entire conformity with 
 the truth, it is plain that the truth is 
 not in him. 
 
 9. This ver.se has reference to the 
 Christian's ever-abiding need of for- 
 giveness and perfection, and reveals the 
 foundation of his confidence through 
 the faithfulness and righteousness of 
 God. If we coufess. Forgiveness 
 is ever conditioned upon repentance 
 and confession. God has given no 
 promises except to those opening their 
 
 hearts to him (Pa. S2 : 5 ; 51 : 3 ; Luke 15 : 18). 
 
 Pardon is not the act of a God who is 
 almighty alone, but of a right-dealing 
 God, taking the heart into account. 
 Tlie true confession may also involve 
 a confession to men and restitution. 
 Wins. The reality of sin does not de- 
 pend on the size or quality of it, but 
 upon its want of conformity to God's 
 will. Faithful. God cannot be un- 
 true to his promises (Heb. e : is). No 
 one will seek his face in vain (isa. 45 : 
 19). More unchanging than the laws 
 of the physical universe are the laws 
 of the spiritual world (Mark 13 ; 31). 
 Just. Faithfulness implies the har- 
 mony of God's action with God's na- 
 ture. Righteousness implies that God 
 
 will observe the laws which he has 
 him.self established. Jesus Christ is 
 the gift of God's love and mercy. Sal- 
 vation, in its inception, does not spring 
 from obligation on God's part, but is 
 an act of mercy. The original pro- 
 vision is the outcome of the divine love, 
 but having once been ealablished its 
 fulfilment is guaranteed by the divine 
 righteousness. It is implied that if the 
 believer complies with the condition 
 named, if he confesses his sin, it would 
 be an act of unrighteousness in God 
 not to bestow forgiveness. God's right- 
 eousness is allied to his faithfulness, 
 and is a pledge that forgiveness will 
 come to the confessor. The confession 
 alluded to is an inward act, the inward 
 confession of sin as sin, involving also 
 the outward confession. The heart and 
 mouth are joined together (Kom. 10 : 10). 
 A twofold work is spoken of. The 
 pardon is complete, though often the 
 defilements of past sins will injure the 
 life ; while there goes on in the nature 
 of the believer a work of renovation. 
 There is no chance work in the secur- 
 ing of salvation and holiness. The 
 sense of sin, the repentance, the con- 
 fession are met, on God's part, by a 
 forgiveness based on his faithfulness 
 and righteousness. The expression to 
 forgive, is literally in order to forgive. 
 In tills one particle {'ina) lies the most 
 comprehensive and the highest witness 
 of God's love that it is possible to con- 
 ceive. 
 
 10. This verse is a strengthening of 
 the statement in ver. 8. As ver. 8 is 
 connected with ver. 7, this verse is con- 
 nected with ver. 9. The reference is 
 not to a denial of sins before conver- 
 sion ; for the Christian life becomes 
 Christian by receiving Chri.st's forgive- 
 ness for past sins. The statement here, 
 in the perfect tense, is substantially 
 equivalent to that in ver. 8 in the 
 present tense. Meyer distinguishes be- 
 tween them by saying that ver. 10 de- 
 scribes a sinful activity and ver. 8 a 
 sinful state. The use of the perfect 
 tense indicates a life up to and iuvolv- 
 
42 
 
 I. JOHN 
 
 [Ch. I. 
 
 sinned, we make him a liar, and bis | 
 word is uot in us. I 
 
 sinned, we make him a liar, and his 
 word is not iu us. 
 
 ing the present. The sinful activity is ; 
 shown in the use of the plural term 
 sins, and also by the use of the term 
 unrighteousness (ver. 9) . An additional 
 thought is now introduced : the denial 
 of sin is not only an act of self-decep- 
 tion, but is, in reality, the assertion 
 that God is a liar, make him a liar. 
 God's word everywhere affirms the 
 sinfulness of human nature (Rom. s : 9- 
 20 ; Gal. 3 : 21). We must accept as true 
 God's statements concerning ourselves. 
 God, in sending his Son into the world, 
 thereby declared that all are in need 
 of redemption. Iu John's view it is 
 of the utmost importance for right 
 living and correct thinkiug about God 
 that we have a constant sense of our 
 sinfulness. His Avord. This term 
 corresponds with the term truth in 
 ver. 8. The truth of God is made 
 manifest in the terms and proclama- 
 tions of the gospel. A denial of the 
 believer's sinfulness shows that the 
 mind is not illumined by the teachings 
 of Christ. There is salvation only for 
 the sinful. A large sense of sin will 
 beget a large need of a Saviour who 
 forgives and makes holy. The two 
 things, the constant forgiveness and 
 the constant growth in holiness must 
 go hand in hand. 
 
 Note. 
 The teachings of John, in the 
 
 FIRST chapter, CONCERNING GOD. 
 In a marvelous way John, in his ap- 
 parently simple and disconnected writ- 
 ings, reveals God in his innermost 
 nature and in his gracious relations to 
 men. He does not make logical state- 
 ments in the manner of theologies and 
 creeds, but incidentally he gives a large 
 insight into God's nature and dealings. 
 
 1. We have God's gracious nature 
 devising salvation. Salvation is not of 
 man's devising. Back of salvation, 
 the cross, the Saviour, the forgiveness, 
 was the person of a gracious and mer- 
 ciful Gocf. Jolin reveals a God whose 
 heart goes out after men (ver. :), 
 
 2. The believer may have fellowship 
 with the Father. God is at an infinite 
 remove from man in the largeness of 
 his person, but the godlike man may 
 share in God's very thoughts and life 
 
 and joy and peace and holiness. God 
 will have fellowship with him, calling 
 him sou ; the believer will have the 
 spirit of adoption and call him Father 
 
 (ver. 2). 
 
 3. God, in the essence of his being, 
 is light. The Parsees of India cliose 
 the fiuest of all created things as the 
 oliject of worship, the sun, the light. 
 God does uot simply dwell in light or 
 give light, he is light. John's decla- 
 ration is not made with the formality 
 or definiteness of a creedal statement, 
 but it is understood at once by all as 
 asserting a complete holiness of char- 
 acter and conduct. He is purity, 
 holiness, joy. The conscience in man 
 that condemns the slightest infraction 
 of right doing is a faint reproduction 
 of that which exists in its fulness in 
 
 God (ver. 5). 
 
 4. Because God's nature is light, he 
 is holy. In all his dealings there is 
 absolute spotlcssness. The heathen 
 deities were limited in intelligence, in 
 morality, in power. The Bible reveals 
 a God whose surpassing claim to the 
 reverence of men is his holiness. Every- 
 thing in God is subordinate to this, 
 which is not a quality in God, but the 
 essence of his being. He is more than 
 the almighty, he is the Holy One 
 
 (ver. 5). 
 
 5. God is faithful. He is true to his 
 nature and to his word. His laws for 
 the physical world are so unchanging 
 that an eclipse can be foretold a hun- 
 dred years. Jesus declared that his 
 words are more firm than the laws of 
 nature (.Mark is : 31). The assurance of 
 forgiveness rests, not upon an emotional 
 experience, but upon the faithfulness 
 of God to his promise. The " I will " 
 of God is the foundation for the laws 
 of the moral universe (ver. 9). 
 
 6. God is righteous. He is a moral 
 God. He is under obligation to his 
 own nature and to his own promises. 
 He is faithful because he is righteous. 
 If God were to prove unfaithful to any 
 promise, he would thereby destroy his 
 holiness and lay aside his scepter of 
 righteousness. Every believer may 
 rely upon his rigliteousness as an as- 
 surance of salvation. Every penitent 
 may find in this the assurance of his 
 
Ch. I.] 
 
 I. JOHN 
 
 43 
 
 own forgiveness upon repentance (^er.9). 
 
 7. God the Father forgives sins on 
 account of the atoning work of Jesus 
 his Son ('^ : 12). This is in harmony 
 with the teaching of Paul that forgive- 
 ness is through and on account of the 
 work of Christ (Rom- » = 2»). It is also 
 the testimony of Jesus (Matt. 26 : js). 
 The cross is an essential element in the 
 salvation that God brings to men 
 
 (ver. 9). 
 
 8. God the Father works sanctifica- 
 tion in the heart of the believer. There 
 is more than tlie forgiveness that frees 
 from peualty. There is a cleansing, a 
 renovation that goes on in the moral 
 nature. This work will be complete 
 when Christ is seen (3 : 2). The Holy 
 Spirit, secured through the work and 
 intercession of the ascended Christ, 
 brings power, guidance, a growing 
 holiness, a final completion into the 
 heart and life of the believer (ver. 9). 
 
 The teachings of Johx, ix the 
 
 FIRST CH.\PTER, CONCERNING JESUS. 
 John's writings are full of Jesus the 
 Christ. His main intention in this 
 letter is to lead believers to think right 
 about Christ and liis work, and to make 
 their lives correspond to his teachings 
 and life- 
 
 1. He teaches the eternal preexist- 
 ence of Christ. In his view Jesus can- 
 not be classified among men. There 
 was no time when he did not exist. A 
 merely human Christ would empty 
 John's writings of all their meaning 
 (ver. 1, J). 
 
 2. He teaches an incarnation, a com- 
 ing of the Word into union with human 
 nature. The nature of Jesus was not a 
 phantasm, an unreal existence ; he had 
 a real body. The eye, the ear, the 
 hand all testified to his real physical 
 life (t". 1). 
 
 3. He teaches that .Jesus is the mani- 
 festation of God. He is the Logos, the 
 Word. He is the one through whom 
 God is seen and made known (ver. 1, 2). 
 
 4. He teaches that Jesus is Son, hav- 
 ing a peculiar relation to God whereby 
 Father and Son are terms appropriately 
 used, showing a peculiar and unique 
 relation. John does not use the term 
 trinity, but he believed and taught 
 these abiding distinctions within the 
 Godhead (^er. 3). 
 
 5. He teaches that this divine Son, 
 the incarnate Word, is that person 
 
 known to us as Jesus the Christ. Some 
 errorists taught that the divine in 
 Christ was separated from Jesus during 
 his sufi'erings. It was a divine-human 
 person that brought redemption 
 through his sacrifice ("er. 3). 
 
 6. He teaches that we may have fel- 
 lowship with Jesus Christ. It is a per- 
 sonal Christ whom he presents to men, 
 not a dead Saviour. John had seen 
 Jesus living, he thinks of him as j'et 
 living. There is a kinship of Christ 
 \yith his people insomuch that the be- 
 liever and tlie Saviour are one in life 
 and destiny (^cr. 3). 
 
 7. He teaches that the suflerings of 
 Jesus were vicarious and atoning. "They 
 were not the suflerings of a good man 
 simply or of a martyr dying for the 
 truth. They were the suflerings of one 
 whose death stood in a vital relation to 
 forgiveness of sins and acceptance with 
 God. In Jesus we are accepted (ver. 7). 
 
 Practical Remarks. 
 
 1. Eternal life is manifested in Christ. 
 It is not a pardon for sin begotten by any 
 native goodness in man, it is the gift of 
 God (ver. 2). 
 
 2. Only through Christ is there fellow- 
 ship with God and salvation (ver. 3). 
 
 3. Sin separates from God. There can 
 be no alliance between tlie light and the 
 darkness. They are mutually exclusive 
 (ver. 6). 
 
 4. Sin exists in all men. The univer- 
 sality of sin is evident from universal 
 sinfulness. John does not use the term 
 depravity, but he knows no man who 
 does not need Christ (ver. 8). 
 
 5. Sin exists even in believers. Sin as a 
 controlling principle, dominating the life 
 is destroyed at conversion, but sin as a 
 disturbing principle remains (ver. 8 ; 
 Rom. 7 : 14-25). 
 
 6. On repentance for sin and confession 
 comes the forgiveness of sins in and for 
 Christ's sake. There is created also a 
 power against sinning (ver. 9). 
 
 7. The deniul of sin by making its seat 
 in the flesh for which we are not respon- 
 sible, or by affirming that sin in the be- 
 liever is not reckoned as sin, or by de- 
 fining all sin as only the good In the 
 making, or by regarding as sins only gross 
 outbreaking sins ; such denial shows only 
 
44 
 
 
 I. JOHN [Ch. 11. 
 
 2 
 
 "MY little children, 
 
 these things | 3 MY little children, these things I 
 
 t( Johu 13 : 33. 
 
 blindness of mind, and is, in reality, a 
 charging of falsehood upon God (ver. 10). 
 8. The emphasis laid by Jolm upon the 
 existence of sin in the believer, shows a 
 deepening sense of sin as a marli of a 
 deepening religious life. The apostle had 
 a quickened sense of his own siu because 
 he had a quickened sense of his fellow- 
 ship with God and with Jesus (ver. lo;. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 The opening part of tins chapter, e.-c- 
 teudiug to ver. 14, continues the thought 
 of the preceding chapter — what a walk- 
 ing in the light includes, viz., an aiming 
 at sinlessness, with no despair or de- 
 spondency when failures come, since 
 there is an Advocate with God, the 
 righteous Jesus Christ (ver. i, 2). Tlie 
 test of such a life is doing God's will. 
 Knowing God means the keeping of 
 the commandments ; abiding in God 
 means a life like God's (ver. 3-6). An- 
 other test of the life in tlie light is a 
 love for the brother, having a new 
 motive from the life and love of Christ. 
 Not 10 love is to hate ; to hate is to be 
 in the darkness; to be in tlie darkness 
 means a life of stumbling (ver. 7-11). 
 The forgiveness of siii^ in the past is a 
 reason for walking in tlie light. He 
 regards all his readers as little children, 
 dividing them into the mature and im- 
 mature, giving the characteristics of 
 each class ('er. 12-n). 
 
 Having considered the Christian life 
 on its positive side, he now looks at it 
 on its negative side (ver. 15-29). 
 
 Walking in the light excludes the 
 spirit of worldlincss. God and the 
 wicked world are mutually exclusive 
 (ver. 15-17). It excludes antichrists. 
 Over against tlie one true Christ are 
 many false teachers who assail hira, 
 undermining his authority and in- 
 fluence by denying the reality of his 
 person and falsifying the purport of 
 Ills mission. JIany of the.se had sprung 
 from the church itself (ver. is, 10). It 
 excludes spiritual l)lindness on the part 
 of tlie believer. A spiritual anointing 
 belongs to him. The believer is a 
 
 priest (ver. 20-59). 
 
 1, 2. An aiming at sinlessness. 
 
 but with no added despondency at the 
 failure to attain at once the end in view. 
 The opening verse of this chapter 
 ought, from the connection of thought, 
 to be joined to the preceding chapter. 
 John is discussing the question, what 
 walking in the light includes, the dis- 
 cussion extending from 1:5 to 2 : 14. 
 He has shown that it includes a sense 
 of fellowship with God and with the 
 brotherhood (1 : 5-7) ; a sense of sin 
 with a consequent confession (1 ^ 810) ; 
 that the blood of Christ and the faith- 
 fulness and righteousness of God (1 : 9. 
 10) secure the forgiveness and the sanc- 
 tification of the believer; that repent- 
 ance and confession of sin are the 
 human prerequisites for securing God's 
 blessings. He now shows how the con- 
 trition in the heart end the sacrifice of 
 Jesus on the earth are complemented 
 by the work of Jesus on high. The 
 historical Christ is merged into the 
 heavenly Christ, these two making 
 one continuous life, involving the com- 
 pletion of the work of forgiveness and 
 purification. 
 
 Augustine, who himself had sinned 
 deeply, thought this passage was added 
 lest some persons might pervert the 
 faithfulness and righteousness of God 
 into an excuse for light views as to sin 
 and sinning, knowing the facility of 
 pardon. But this cannot be the only 
 reason. John adds an additional ele- 
 ment to the believer's relation to sin ; 
 he must not only repent of sin and 
 confess it, but he must also aim to live 
 a life without sin and strive to keep all 
 God's commands. 
 
 1. My little children. The di- 
 minutive denotes afi'ection. He speaks 
 in this tender manner on account of his 
 age, and his venerable cliaractcr as a 
 father in Chri.st. Many of those, to 
 whom he writes, had doubtless been 
 led into the Christian life through his 
 ministry; they were his spiritual chil- 
 dren. Paul writes in a like manner 
 (nai. 4:19). Eu.scbius in his history, 
 written in .324 A. D., gives the beautiful 
 story of .John in his old age running 
 after a young man, a confessor of Christ, 
 who had departed from the faith, cry- 
 ing out, " Why dost thou flee from thy 
 
Ch. II.] 
 
 I. JOHN 
 
 45 
 
 write I utito you, «that ye sin not. 
 And if any man sin, J we have an Ad- 
 vocate with the l^'ather, Jesus Christ 
 
 write to you, that ye may not sin. And 
 if any one sin, we have an Advocate 
 with the Father, Jesus Christ the right- 
 
 X Erck. 3 ; 21 ; Rom. 6:1,2; Titus 2 : 11-13. 
 
 y Isa, 53 : VI ; Kph. 2 : 18 ; 1 Tim. 2 : 5. 
 
 father " ? John unites tenderness, trust 
 in his readers, and tact, with great 
 boldness in statement. The expression 
 these things, refers not to the entire 
 letter, but exclusively to what he has 
 just written. Tiie deep> sense of sin 
 in its nature antagonistic to God, the 
 consciousness of remaining sin as a 
 source of grief to the believer, the 
 assurance that the work of Christ Avill 
 bring al)out a complete moral cleansing 
 (1 : 9), these thoughts lead naturally to 
 the precept about to follow. The moral 
 judgment passed by the believer upon 
 himself differs very widely from the 
 light and superficial judgments of the 
 world. The divine forgiveness creates 
 a resolution to break away from sin, 
 the reliance upon a constantly bestowed 
 renovating power gives confidence. 
 That ye sin not, rather, ??i«yno<>'!?n. 
 The aorist tense shows that the refer- 
 ence is to particular, definite acts of 
 sin. The very act of regeneration and 
 conversion makes a complete and defi- 
 nite break between the believer and 
 the controlling power of sin as a prin- 
 ciple of life. It is an unconditional 
 exhortation. Such a command springs 
 from the very nature of the holy life, 
 the fellowship with Christ. No com- 
 promise with sin can be allowed in the 
 government of a holy God, no division 
 of sins into trivial and mortal can be 
 made, no permission to modify the 
 moral laws can be granted. God's 
 commands must be, like God, very 
 high. He adds, at once, a ground of 
 consolation to those who fall under the 
 power of temptation, and commit sins 
 of infirmity, of ignorance, of weakness. 
 Had John stopped with his exhorta- 
 tion, the believer might be tempted to 
 despair. John connects the sentences 
 with And, where another would natu- 
 rally write 6«<. Any man sin. Pro- 
 vision is here made, not for tlie wilful 
 sinner, but for the one who sins against 
 his own inner and true nature (Rom. 7 : 
 17). John does not dLscuss the question 
 whether we may live in a sinless state, 
 but passing straightway to this state- 
 ment implies that each believer will 
 have need of a present divine helper. 
 
 The believer who sins must not sink 
 into a slough of despond or be shut up 
 in a doubting castle. He may turn 
 with confidence to a Mediator on high. 
 Having spoken, in a general way, he 
 now by returning to the use of we, 
 shows that he hiin.self is included. The 
 present tense shows that Christ belongs 
 to the believer who has yet about him 
 the remains of sin. Advocate. The 
 Revised version has in the Margin, 
 Helper, Paraclete. 'The word is found 
 in John 14 : 16, 26 ; 15 : 26 ; 16 : 7. In 
 all the.se cases the reference is to the 
 personal Holy Spirit whom Christ 
 would send to his people as a helper 
 within the heart. It is implied by 
 Jesus that he himself is a Paraclete, a 
 Helper, inasmuch as he says: "He 
 shall give you another Comforter " (John 
 u : 16). A present, living Jesus, who 
 at the first forgave and helped, will 
 now be a perpetual helper. The idea 
 of comforter, in the sense of giving 
 consolation, nowhere inheres in the 
 word. The Advocate is a helper, a 
 strengthener in the upper sphere before 
 God, just as an advocate in an earthly 
 tribunal would plead for a consciously 
 guilty man. Spiritual things are placed 
 before us in a way in which we can 
 understand them, through the use of 
 figures common to men. The advocacy 
 is before the Father. He is not 
 spoken of as God, but as one who 
 stands to us as a Father ; the believer 
 is in a filial relation. The term Father 
 itself is one of encouragement. Jesus 
 was an advocate for Peter when tempted 
 by Satan (Luke 22: 32). He was inter- 
 cessor for those crucifying him (Man. 
 23 : 3i). Applied to the Lord Jesus it 
 is a figurative expression since the 
 pleading may not be understood as a 
 literal pleading in heaven. It is ex- 
 pressive of the great truth that Jesus 
 has undertaken our cause with God, 
 and that he perfinns for us all that a 
 counselor or advocate would perform 
 for us in a like position in the earthly 
 sphere. Jesus, in heaven, through his 
 intercession supplements and completes 
 the work begun on the earth. With- 
 out the cross the advocacy would not 
 
46 
 
 I. JOHN 
 
 [Ch. II. 
 
 2 «the rigliteous. And "he is the pro- 
 pitiatiun for our sius : and not for ours 
 only, but ""also for the sins of the whole 
 world . 
 
 3 And hereby we do know that we 
 
 2 eous. And he is a propitiation for, our 
 sins ; and not for ours only, but also 
 for the whole world. 
 
 3 And in this we know that we know 
 
 X 2 Cor. 5 : 21 ; Ueb. 7 : 26 ; 1 Peter 3 : 18. 
 
 1 4 ; 10 ; Rom. 3 : 25. 6 * : 14 ; John 1 : 29 ; 2 Cor. 5 : 15, 18-21. 
 
 avail ; without the advocacy the cross 
 would not avail to bring to an ultimate 
 salvation. The cross and the advocacy 
 taken together mean a completed sal- 
 vation. There has always been in the 
 human heart conscious of sin and of 
 the great chasm between the heart and 
 the holy God, a desire for a mediator. 
 Hence everywhere a priesthood has 
 sprung lip. Jesus is fitted to act as 
 mediator, the term u.sed by Paul (i Tim. 
 » : 5) because he is divine-human in his 
 person, knowing the temptations of 
 men, also because he is righteous. 
 The term righteous reveals that nature 
 of Jesus by which he becomes fitted to 
 be the helper to imperfect believers on 
 the earth ; he is one whose life satisfies 
 perfectly the will of God. As the holy 
 One he can stand as the substitute for 
 sinners before the throne, as in like 
 manner the symbolically holy high 
 priest entered into the holiest of all, 
 having made an offering for himself. 
 A sinning advocate would be a mock- 
 ery and a failure. 
 
 2. The ever-continuing mediation 
 of Jesus is based upon the previous 
 work of Jesus as a propitiation. There 
 had been a sense of guilt, of estrange- 
 ment, of condemnation, of ob.stacles in 
 the way of finding God's favor. Jesus 
 is called the propitiation because he 
 has, by his blood, expiated the guilt of 
 sin. It is to his blood that John at- 
 tributes the cleansing power (i : i). 
 The reconciliation is by means of his 
 blood. Aleyer says: "This term does 
 not denote the reconciliation of God 
 with himself or with men, but the jus- 
 tification or reconciliation of the sinner 
 with God because it is never stated in 
 the New Testament that God is recon- 
 ciled, but ratlier that we are reconciled 
 to God." This is not strictly correct, 
 because it is asserted that without sucli 
 an oflering God could not grant pardon 
 for sins. He was restrained by his own 
 holy nature from granting forgiveness. 
 The cross had an influence God ward as 
 well as manward. The death of Jesus 
 has reference to our sius. His death 
 
 was vicarious, having reference not 
 only to sins before conversion but 
 afterward. The preposition for does 
 not here mean in behalf of, but means 
 more generally, concerning. The pro- 
 pitiation is not for the Christian only, 
 but for the sins of the whole 
 world, rather, for the whole world. 
 It is a violent perversion of the mean- 
 ing of this expression to attempt to 
 limit it to the world of believers. 
 John affirms a universal atonement, a 
 death for all, by which every man be- 
 comes savable. It does not become a 
 universal salvation unless there be a 
 universal acceptance of Christ. The 
 term world must not be limited to the 
 entire number of believers only, but it 
 includes the entire race of fallen man. 
 If all do not obtain the blessings of the 
 reconciliation it is not through anj' de- 
 fect or weakness in the provision made. 
 It is sufficient for the salvation of all 
 men, it is efficient only for those who 
 accept it. The widenessof God's mercy 
 
 is shown elsewhere (John S : 16 ; Heb. 2 : 9). 
 
 No one may therefore doubt whether 
 for him Jesus died, whether for him 
 is salvation through faith in the Re- 
 deemer. There is to be noted this dif- 
 ference between the propitiation and 
 the advocacy, the one is for all men, the 
 other is for the believer only. 
 3-6. The test of walking in 
 
 THE LIGHT IS THE DOING OF GOD'S 
 WILL. John has presented three proofs 
 of the possession of eternal life, the 
 forgiveness of past guilt (i : s-io) ; the 
 deliverance from the power of sin (i = 6, 
 7) ; the aim to live beyond sin (ver. i, 2). 
 These are proofs that we are walking 
 in the light with reference to God 
 mainly. He now shows how this life 
 is evidenced to the inner life of the be- 
 liever, hisown con.sciousness. Having 
 warned them against discouragement 
 and despair, he now counsels against a 
 false confidence and security. 
 
 3. Hereby. The reference is to 
 what follows. The test of knowing 
 Christ is keeping his commandments. 
 KnoAV. John does not use the term 
 
Ch. II.] 
 
 I. JOHN 
 
 know him, if we keep his command- 
 
 4 ments. "He that saitn, I know him, 
 aud keepeth not his commandments, 
 is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 
 
 5 But* whoso keepeth his word, 'in him 
 verily is the love of God perfected. 
 'Hereby know we that we are in him. 
 
 him, if we keep his commandments. 
 
 4 He that says. 1 know him, and keeps 
 not his commandments, is a liar, aud 
 
 5 in him the truth is not. But whoever 
 keeps his word, truly in him the love 
 of God is perfected. lu this we know 
 
 c 1 : 6, 8 : 4 : 29. 
 
 d 3 : 24; John 14 : 21, 23 ; 15 : 14. 
 
 / 4 : 13. 
 
 on its intellectual side, meaning a the- 
 oretical knowledge. He does, how- 
 ever, desire a right intellectual appre- 
 hension of Christ in order that he may 
 be loved and his work understood. He 
 explains the historical proofs of Chris- 
 tianity ; a true religion must rest, not 
 on feelings, but oil facts (i ■ i-s). John 
 uses the term know in its highest, 
 spiritual sense, the knowledge of the 
 heart, a fellowship with Christ. True 
 knowledge, with John, means a walk- 
 ing in the light, a doing God's will. 
 The Old Testament wisdom consists 
 in the fear of the Lord (p>. "i = lo). 
 John's knowledge is the holy percep- 
 tion by the heart. Him, is the refer- 
 ence to God or to Christ or to both. If 
 the verse is a continuation of ver. 2 the 
 allusion must be to Christ. But it is 
 better to regard John as going back to 
 the thought of the entire preceding 
 portion, a fellowship with God in a 
 walking in the light. But undoubt- 
 edly John has Jesus also in mind, for 
 through Jesus alone is God fully made 
 known to us. Commandments. 
 The commands are revelations of him- 
 self, eacii one separately illustrating 
 God's nature. But the life of no be- 
 liever presents an example of perfect 
 fulfilment of God's commands. In all 
 believers, however, there is a marked 
 purpose, distinguishing them from all 
 others, whereby there is an earnest 
 aim after a complete obedience. Obe- 
 dience is a test of a holy life. No one 
 may know God unless he obeys God 
 from the heart. It is also true among 
 believers that there will be varying 
 degrees of knowledge as there are vary- 
 ing degrees of the spirit of obedience 
 
 (1 Cor. 3:1). 
 
 4. This verse is an inference from 
 ver. 3, presenting a contrast between 
 the utterance and the life. There is a 
 similarity with the thought of 1:6. 
 Having shown the positive side of the 
 truth, he now presents the negative. 
 There is inconsistency in professing to 
 
 know Christ and yet disobeying his 
 commands. A divorce between the 
 creed aud the life shows that the gov- 
 erning principles of the life are wrong ; 
 fal.sehood, a want of conformity to the 
 truth, rules in the heart. A con- 
 fession of Christ that does not include 
 a life in the light and truth arises 
 from a want of earnestness, from self- 
 deception, and in time from con- 
 scious falsehood. John pronounces 
 this man, on the positive side, a liar, 
 on the negative side he declares, the 
 truth is not in him. God is truth, 
 the believer in him must be in accord 
 with him. 
 
 5. This verse is in contrast with the 
 preceding, aud is an expansion of ver. 
 3. The word embraces the command- 
 ments spoken of in ver. 3. All tlie 
 separate commands of God are em- 
 braced in this term, the entire revela- 
 tion through Christ. John does not 
 here mean the Word, the Logos of John 
 1 : 1, but the entire teaching of and 
 concerning God, covering the faith 
 and conduct of the believer. He now 
 introduces a new thought, love of 
 God, which is synonymous with walk- 
 ing in the liglit, knowing God, doing 
 his commandments, having the truth 
 in the heart. This expression does not 
 mean God's love to us, but our love to 
 God. Verily means truly, in truth, 
 and is opposed to the life deceptive, 
 existing in appearance only, spoken 
 of in ver. 4. Is . . . perfected, 
 rather, hath been. The one who truly 
 obeys God's commands, in him the 
 love of God has reached its completion. 
 John does not declare that in any be- 
 liever there has been a complete love 
 of God, leading to a complete obedience. 
 He is dealing, in a general way, with 
 principles, giving the ideal conception 
 of every Christian life, showing also 
 what it will be when the life has 
 reached its completion. In the present 
 life there are gradations of love and 
 consecration, hence of obedience, con- 
 
48 
 
 1. JOHN 
 
 [Ch. II. 
 
 6 BHe that saith he abideth in him 
 •'ought himself also so to walk, even as 
 he walked. 
 
 7 Brethren, I write no new command- 
 meut unto you, but an old command- 
 ment ' which ye had from the begin- 
 ning. The old commandment is the 
 word which ye have heard from the 
 beginning. 
 
 8 Again, k a new commandment I write 
 unto you, which thing is true in him 
 
 6 that we are in him. He that says he 
 abides in him ought himself also to 
 walk even as he walked. 
 
 7 Beloved, I write not to you a new 
 commandment, but an old command- 
 ment which ye had from the begin- 
 ning. The old commandment is the 
 
 8 word which ye heard. Again, a new 
 commandment I write to you, which 
 thing is true in him and in you ; be- 
 
 3 3:6. Johu 15 4-6. 
 
 ft .Matt. 11 : 29. i 3 : 11 . 2 John 5. 
 
 k ver. 9-11 , John 13 ; 3* ; 15 ; 12-15. 
 
 formity to God's will, and of fruitful- 
 
 ness (Matt. 13 . 8). 
 
 6. In this verse John defines what is 
 implied in obedience to the commands 
 of God. The term abideth is stronger 
 than the expression to be in him (ver. 5). 
 It denotes a permanent life-union with 
 God, holding fast by faith what has 
 been received. Ought. The profes- 
 sion implies obligation. Him. The 
 different term here used shows that the 
 reference is not now to God but to 
 Christ. The pattern of the Christian 
 life is the Christ life. 
 
 7-11. The test of walking in 
 the light is the love of the 
 BROTHERHOOD. In a general way- 
 John has defined the keeping of God's 
 commandments as the evidence and 
 completion of love to God. He now 
 proceeds to declare that God's com- 
 mandments are summed up in love, 
 and this love will be manifested out- 
 wardly in a love for the brotherhood. 
 The essence of God's commands is 
 found in brotherly love. 
 
 7. Brethren, ratlier, beloved. This 
 word, beloved, prepares for the utter- 
 ance of some emphatic statement. I 
 . . . commandment, rather, )io new 
 commandment write I. The einpliatic 
 position occupied by the words no new 
 command, shows that .Jolin is insisting 
 that he is introducing no novel teach- 
 ing. He wishes to guide them in the 
 right application of what they had long 
 known. It is wortliy of notice tliat 
 John does not here use the word com- 
 mandments, but refei-s them all l)aek 
 to one command, the law of love wliich 
 embraces them all. Tlie command has 
 reference to tlie injunction to walk as 
 Christ walked (ver. 6) ; liis walk was 
 supremely one of love. From the 
 beginnin^r marks the beginning of 
 the Christian dispensation, the intro- 
 duction of the gospel. There is no 
 
 allusion to the Old Testament times, to 
 the law given by Moses, or the original 
 creation of the race, although all the 
 commands of the former dispen.sation 
 were summed up in love to God and 
 love to one's neighbor (Matt. 22 : 37-40 ). 
 The expression, which ye heard, in 
 the aorist tense, indicates a definite 
 time of hearing, that time when the 
 gospel was proclaimed to them. The 
 second expression, from the begin- 
 ning, is to be omitted. John has in- 
 vented no new teachings, prescribed 
 no new duties, but simply taught what 
 was, of necessity, bound up in their 
 received beliefs, and held by them 
 frf)m the first. 
 
 8. He represents the old command- 
 ment as in a certain sense new. The 
 term new would at once .suggest to his 
 readers the solemn occasion at the Last 
 Supper, when Jesus had said, " A new 
 commandment I am giving unto you" 
 (John 13:34). John had heard the.se 
 words of the Saviour. It would be 
 new to them as something distinctively 
 Christian, inasmuch as the command 
 to brotherly love is founded upon the 
 imitation of Jesus. It would be per- 
 petually new to them, inasmuch as 
 with their constantly enlarging spir- 
 itual life the command would have a 
 new power over them. The person and 
 character of Christ have a constantly 
 enlarging horizon to the believer. A 
 larger fellowship with Christ would 
 give a perpetual impulse to the repro- 
 ducing of Christ's life toward others. 
 Which thing. Tlie reference is to 
 the contents of the new commandment, 
 the walking in brotherly love. In 
 him. In .Jesus Christ was the com- 
 plete fulfilment of love for others; he 
 gave it a new meaning, a new range, a 
 new motive (Joim 13 : 34). True shows 
 that the love is a reality, not a seeming 
 merely. The sentence introduced by 
 
Ch. II.] 
 
 I. JOHN 
 
 49 
 
 and in you: 'because the darkness is 
 
 past, and mthe true light now shineth. 
 
 9 "He that saith he is iu the light, and 
 
 hateth his brother, is in darkness even 
 
 10 until now. He that loveth his brotlier 
 abideth in the light, and "there is none 
 
 11 occasion of stumbling in him. But he 
 
 cause the darkness is passing away, 
 
 9 and the true light is now shining. He 
 
 that says he is in the liglii, and hates 
 
 his brother, is in tlie durkness until 
 
 10 now. He that loves his brother abides 
 in the liglit, and there is no occasion 
 
 11 of stumbling in him. But he tliat 
 
 I Rom 13 : 12 ; Eph. 5 : 8. 
 
 n 3 ; 14-17 ; 1 Cor. 13 : 
 
 m Mai. 4:2; John 1 : 4, 5, 9 , 2 Tim. 1 
 2 i 2 Peter 1:9. o 2 Peter 1 : 10. 
 
 because explains the expression in 
 you. Christians were the children of 
 light. Since Christ had come into the 
 world, the darkness had largely passed 
 away. Is past, rather, is passing. 
 Paul in Rom. 13 : 11 speaks of the end- 
 ing of the night and tlie drawing near 
 of the day of the Lord. The command 
 which they have always known will 
 constantly be a growing power with 
 them. The darkness of sin aiul igno- 
 rance will pass away, and the true light 
 will take the place of the darkness. 
 Jesus is the true light (John i : 9) shi- 
 ning in the heart, driving away the 
 darkness gradually (i ^ '). In the world 
 at large Christianity has largely dis- 
 pelled the darkness, idolatry has been 
 driven away, intellectually Christian- 
 ity has gotten hold of the world's best 
 thought, and the character of Christ 
 has won a unique place in the minds of 
 men (Mait. is : n). 
 
 9. The mention of light in ver. 8 
 leads John to speak of the life of light 
 as a life of love. The new command 
 is a command to exhibit and cultivate 
 brotherly love. In like manner the 
 opposite of love, the spirit of selfish- 
 ness, is designated as darkness. He 
 that saith. The confession of being 
 in Christ, being in the light, is a con- 
 fession of brotherly love. Hateth. 
 The intensity of John's nature is shown 
 in this, that he finds nothing inter- 
 mediate between love and hatred. Love 
 is the characteristic of the Christian ; 
 hate is the characteristic of the un- 
 believer. John is looking at life, not 
 as it is seen in its present fragmentary 
 condition, but as it exists in its ruling 
 principle, and as it will appear when 
 It has reached its fulfilment, when the 
 controlling principle has come to its 
 proper fruition. 'The heart, apart from 
 Christ, is under the control of dark- 
 ness, selfishness, worldliness. How- 
 ever much the life may be covered over 
 at present by a decorous exterior, it is 
 
 a life of hate in reality, and will in 
 time be seen to be such. A man must, 
 in the final result, be either for or 
 against Christ, and therefore moved by 
 love or hate. The term, brother, ap- 
 plies primarily to the fellow-Christian, 
 for John is writing to Christians only ; 
 but it is equally true that hatred to- 
 ward any fellow-man is a sign that the 
 heart is abiding in the darkness. There 
 is always a special duty toward the 
 Christian brother (oai. 6 : lo). Until 
 now. Even if there had been an out- 
 ward union with the people of Christ, 
 and an outward change in the life 
 manifest to all, yet the heart remains 
 in a real union with the darkness. It 
 is the inner life alone which ultimately 
 decides where a man is in his moral 
 standing before God. Christ recog- 
 nizes but two grades among men, those 
 serving him and those serving the 
 world, those building on the rock and 
 those on the sand (Matt. 7 : 24-37). 
 
 10. This verse takes up the case of 
 the man who loves his brother. It is 
 ■said of him first that he abideth in 
 the light. The exhibition of broth- 
 erly love is a proof of dwelling in the 
 light, it is also a help to the development 
 of a larger brotherly love. The light 
 in the heart becomes love to the breth- 
 ren. Second, no stumbling iu hinj. 
 The word rendered stumbling means 
 literally a stumbling-block in the way, 
 over which one might fall in tlie dark. 
 It does not mean tliat this man will so 
 walk in love that others will not stum- 
 ble over his wayward life, though this 
 is also a governing principle of the life 
 (Rom. 14 : 21). Jt mcans the man him- 
 self will not stuml)le, his pathway 
 being illumined by such light that he 
 will walk in safety. Love will keep 
 the heart pure, keep down pas.sions, 
 clarify the judgment, and so give se- 
 curity to the believer. Compare the 
 words of Je.sus in John 11 : 10 for the 
 same figure of stumbling. 
 
50 
 
 I. JOHN 
 
 [Ch. II. 
 
 that hateth his brother is in darkness, 
 and 1' walketh iu darkness, and know- 
 eth not whither he goeth, because that 
 darkness liath blinded his eyes. 
 
 Exhortations, warnings, and encouragements _ 
 
 12 I WRITE unto you, little children, 
 
 because i your sins are forgiven you for 
 
 1.3 his name's sake. I write unto you, 
 
 hates his brother is in the darkness, 
 and walks in the darkness, and knows 
 not where he is going, because the 
 darkness blinded his eyes. 
 
 12 I write to you, little children, be- 
 cause your sins have been forgiven 
 
 13 you for his name's sake. I write to 
 
 p John 12 : 35. 
 
 7 1 ; 7 : Luke 2i : 47 ; Acts 10 . 43 ; 13 : 38. 
 
 11. The opposite case is now pre- 
 sented, that of the man hating his 
 brother. Of him three things are as- 
 serted, he is in darkness, rather, in 
 the darkness; he walks in darkness, 
 he knows not whither he is going. 
 The first statement reveals his moral 
 conditioa ; the second alludes to his 
 deportment; the third implies that he 
 walks in a life subject to stumblings, 
 not knowing the goal of life, the end 
 toward which he is going. There is a 
 hint in this of the punishment to which 
 he will be subject when the end is 
 reached. Compare the words of Jesus 
 on the same point in John 12 : 35. This 
 man has false views of life, walks in 
 an aimless way, comes to destruction. 
 Sin is its own punishment. The wilful 
 remaining in the darkness takes away 
 the eyesight. Jesus speaks of the law 
 of growth by use, the law of deci<ease 
 by non-use (Matt. 13 : u). The fish in 
 Mammoth Cave have no eyes, only 
 sightless eyeballs (oomp johu 12 : 40 ; 2 
 
 Cor. 4 : 4). 
 
 12-14. The forgiveness of sins 
 already secured furnished a 
 reason for continued walking 
 IN THE LIGHT. Having depicted the 
 Christian life in its essential features, 
 its aiming at siulessness, its conformity 
 to God's will, its love for the brethren, 
 John now passes on to an exhortation, 
 an appeal to steadfastness in the Chris- 
 tian life based on past experience. It 
 is a sixfold appeal, constructed in a 
 methodical and orderly way. The first 
 three classes are introduced by the pres- 
 ent, I write, the second group of three 
 by the aorist, I wrote. The structure 
 of the paragraph is as follows : 
 
 1. An appeal to all Christians in the 
 present tense, I write, ver. 12. 
 
 (1) An appeal to fathers, ver. 13. 
 
 (2) An appeal to young men, ver. 13. 
 
 2. An appeal to all Christians in the 
 aorist tense, I wrote, ver. 13. 
 
 (1) An appeal to fathers, ver. 14. 
 
 (2) An appeal to young men, ver. 14. 
 
 12. Little children, rather, 7ny 
 little children. There is here a tender 
 personal appeal. He calls them, using 
 the same term employed in ver. 1, 28 ; 
 3 : 7, 18; 4:4; 5:21; John 13:33. It 
 is a term used by John alone. That 
 the reference is not to children in years 
 is evident from the order employed by 
 John : children, fathers, young men. 
 All believers are spoken of as children. 
 Of these there are the two groups, the 
 more and the less mature. If he had 
 meant little children in years, as many 
 writers have supposed, he would have 
 written children, young men, fathers. 
 Are forgiven. The verb is in the 
 perfect tense, meaning have been for- 
 given ; a forgiveness complete in the 
 past and extending up to the present. 
 Name's sake. The name stands for 
 the entire person and work of Jesus, the 
 divine-human mediator and redeemer. 
 There is implied the reconciliation 
 effected by Christ, and also his inter- 
 cession on high spoken of in ver. 2. 
 John knows nothing of any salvation 
 by church or baptism, salvation in his 
 thought is only through Christ, the 
 personal Saviour. All in the churches 
 are spoken of and regarded as believers 
 in Christ, and hence forgiven. That 
 unworthy persons secured entrance into 
 the early churches is evident from ref- 
 erences in this letter (ver. J9), but they 
 came into the churches as professed be- 
 lievers. John takes their profession as 
 real, and therefore their forgiveness as 
 real. 
 
 13. Having addressed believers as a 
 whole, he now turns to the classes 
 which collectively made up the church. 
 Fathers. This has reference to those 
 who for a long time had been in the 
 Christian life, embracing naturally the 
 older members of the churches. The 
 essential characteristic of the fathers 
 
Ch. II.] 
 
 I. JOHN 
 
 51 
 
 fathers, 'because ye have known him 
 that is from the beginning. I write 
 unto you, young men, because ye have 
 overcome the wicked one. 
 
 you, fathers, because ye know him who 
 is from the beginning. 1 write to you, 
 young men, because ye have overcome 
 
 is their knowledge. Knowledge does 
 not come at once, this is the fruit of 
 years. It is not always true, prac- 
 tically, that growth in knowledge is 
 proportioned to the years of open con- 
 fession of Christ. But John is here 
 looking at men and things in an ideal 
 way, in the light of what should be 
 true in the Christian life. Have 
 known, rather, know. The knowl- 
 edge will be historical as well as tliat 
 deeper heart-knowledge that comes 
 from fellowship with Christ. To know 
 him means vastly more than to know 
 about him (?"!• s : lo). With John 
 there is no true knowledge that is not 
 associated with holiness. From the 
 beginning. This may be understood 
 in a limited sense as applying to the 
 introduction of Christianity on the 
 earth. Some of the older members in 
 the churches had seen Christ in the 
 flesh, or had seen and heard the apostles 
 of Christ. It is better, however, to 
 understand this term as alluding to 
 the eternal existence of Christ (i ; i). 
 Knowing the divine and eternally ex- 
 isting One, this fellowship would natu- 
 rally create a holy life, a spiritual 
 knowledge. The second address is to 
 young men. John applies this term 
 to those less mature in the Christian 
 life, embracing naturally the young 
 disciples, immature in years, or imma- 
 ture in character. Young life is fitted 
 for conflict and conquest. The young 
 man is full of life, enthusiasm, energy. 
 Overcome. The conflicts of life come 
 in the early years ; the life will then, 
 as a rule, overcome or be overcome. 
 He does not assert that there will be no 
 struggles in after years ; but the same 
 overcoming spirit should lead them to 
 a final overcoming. Wicked one. 
 The assaults of the evil one will be es- 
 pecially against the young. Their 
 passions and inexperience make them 
 open to his assaults (Ps. 25: ?; 2 Tim. s; 22). 
 John elsewhere alludes to the works of 
 Satan (s : 8, 10, 12) and to his power over 
 the world (5 : 19). We may be assured 
 that the devil who left even Jesus for 
 a season only (Luke * = is), will not 
 
 abandon his attacks as long as life 
 lasts. But Jesus Christ and the young 
 disciple taken together will be stronger 
 than any evil being or agency. We 
 now come to the second division of this 
 group of appeals. The tense is now 
 changed from the present to the aorist, 
 / wrote. The Received version has I 
 Avrite four times, hence this appeal is 
 embraced in ver. 13. A new verse 
 ought to begin here.' Many explana- 
 tions of this change have been given. 
 Some have attributed the appeals in 
 the present teuse to the present and 
 following parts of this letter, and the 
 appeals in the past tense to the parts 
 already written. This is the view of 
 Meyer. Some refer the past tense to 
 John's other and previous writings. 
 It is better to regard both tenses, the 
 present and the aorist, as referring to 
 this letter in its entirety, but regarding 
 it from difierent standpoints. _ The 
 present tense applies to John's imme- 
 diate act of writing ; the aorist to the 
 reader's act of reading when completed. 
 This is sometimes called the epistolary 
 aorist, used when regarding the letter 
 as a whole when finished. Little 
 children. This is a difierent term 
 from that employed in ver. 12 (paidia). 
 Some regard the term used in ver. 12 
 (teknia) as more personal and afiiec- 
 tionate, the Revised version rendering 
 it my liltle children. But the terms 
 have substantially the same meaning, 
 and both refer to the same class of 
 persons — all believers — the Christians 
 to whom John wrote. Have known, 
 rather, know. The term little children 
 suggests thecorresponding term Father. 
 In the first division their sins are de- 
 clared to be forgiven through Christ, 
 here they stand in a personal relation 
 to God as their Father. As children 
 they know the Father, have fellowship 
 with him through the Son. God is 
 theirs, Christ is theirs, a conscious, 
 spiritual life is theirs. They cannot 
 be Ciiristians unless they have the 
 knowledge of God and of the Son. 
 Paul gives us a deep insight into the 
 interior relations in the Godhead when 
 
52 
 
 I. JOHN 
 
 [Ch. II. 
 
 14 I write unto you, little children, 'be- 
 cause ye have kiiowu the Father. I 
 have written unto you, fathers, be- 
 cause ye have kuown him titat is from 
 the beginning. I have written unto 
 you, young men, because 'ye are 
 strong, "and the word of God abideth 
 in you, and ye have overcome the 
 wicked one. 
 
 15 »Love not the world, neither the 
 
 the evil one. I have written to you, 
 little children, because ye know the 
 
 14 Father. I have written to you, fathers, 
 because ye know him that is from the 
 beginning. I have written to you, 
 young men, because ye are strong, and 
 the word of God abides in you, and ye 
 
 15 have overcome the evil one. Love not 
 the world, neither the things in tlie 
 
 e John H : 7. 
 
 t Eph. 6 : 10; 2 Tim. 2:1. u Ps. 119 : 11 ; John 15 : 7. 
 
 I Rom. 12:2; Col. 3 : 1, 2 ; 1 Tim. 6 : 16. 
 
 he speaks of God being the Father of 
 our Lord Jesus Christ (Coi. i : 3). 
 
 14. As in the first division there is a 
 twofold distinction. Fathers. He 
 describes the same classes as in ver. 13, 
 the more mature and the less mature 
 iu the churches. He attributes to the 
 fathers the same quality before given, a 
 knowledge of Christ, the divine One. 
 Jesus declared the knowledge of God 
 to be the essence of eternal life (Joim 
 17 : »). The young men overcome the 
 devil because they are strong in God's 
 strength. The old men are for counsel, 
 the young men are for war, indicating 
 that the victory of the entire life is to 
 be gained in the early part of the 
 Christian life. The word of God, 
 meaning the teachings of God, the 
 revelations of God in every form, abide 
 in and control the life. When Jesus 
 overcame Satan, it was by the use of 
 the Scriptures (Matt. 4 : 4, 7, 10). The 
 terms, fathers and young men, embrace 
 all the membership of the church, men 
 and women. Unless the word of God 
 abide in them they will be overcome. 
 The New Testament gives many ex- 
 amples of professing Christians who 
 made shipwreck of their faith and life 
 
 (1 Tim. 1 : 20 ; 2 Tira. 1 : 15 ^ i : 10). Satail 
 
 is strong and full of wiles ; but a young 
 disciple, with an indwelling Christ 
 and an open New Testament, is stronger. 
 15-29. What walking in the 
 LIGHT EXCLUDES. A walking in the 
 light, of necessity, shuts out certain 
 forms of erroneous thinking witli the 
 consequent erroneous living. A life of 
 godliness is both inclusive and ex- 
 clusive. Jesus, vhile a compassionate 
 Saviour, was utterly intolerant of any 
 claim to equality or partnership with 
 himself. There mu.st l)e an acceptance 
 of himself alone, the wearing of liis 
 yoke alone, the confession of him.self 
 alone (Matt, lo : 32, ss). John has de- 
 
 scribed the constituent classes of Chris- 
 tians, in their ideal aspect, possessing 
 a full knowledge and full strength. 
 But they are not yet in glory, but liv- 
 ing in bodies assailed by temptations, in 
 a world that leads men astray. They 
 are all, therefore, warned against the 
 surrounding perils. 
 15-17. Walking in the light 
 
 EXCLUDES WORLDLINESS. 
 
 15. The Christian must love God 
 who is love, must love the brother 
 (ver. 10)^ but he must love not the 
 world. The term world is used in 
 several senses in the New Testament : 
 (1) It means the creation, the outward 
 physical system ; the earth is a place 
 trodden by the feet of the Redeemer 
 (John 17 :24). (2) It is applied to the 
 race of men inhabiting the world. God 
 loved the world and gave his Son (John 
 3 : 16). (3) There is a darker use of the 
 term alluding to the perverted in- 
 fluences and tendencies of the present 
 iile, under which view Satan is looked 
 upon as corrupting the minds of men 
 (2 Cor. 4:4). The hearts of men are 
 largely against God ; are not moved 
 by his will (John 17 : 25). The material 
 splendor of the present outward world 
 blinded the eyes of men to the spiritual 
 life (2 Cor. 4:18). The course of this 
 world, its tendencies and habits, are 
 regarded as evil, making war upon 
 the spiritual life (Eph. 2 : 2). It is evil, 
 not because God so made it, but be- 
 cause perverted by the evil self-will 
 residing in man. It is not wrong to 
 love the phy.sical world, for its mani- 
 festations of design reveal God's power 
 and wisdom (!•»• «). Through nature 
 the devout mind should see God, who is 
 manifest in the creation (Rom. 1 : so). 
 Notice the Saviour's use of the grass, 
 the lily, the bird, in his teachings (M»tt. 
 6 : 26, 30). It is right to love men, in- 
 asmuch as God loves them. There is 
 
Ch. II.] 
 
 I. JOHN 
 
 53 
 
 things thai are in the world. J If any 
 man love the world, the love of the 
 16 Father is not in him. For all that is 
 in the world, »the lust of the flesh, 
 •and the lust of the eyes, '■and the 
 
 world. If any one loves the world, 
 the love of the Father is not in him. 
 16 Because all that is in the world, tlie 
 desire of the flesh, and the desire of the 
 eyes, and the vain glory of life, is not 
 
 y Matt. 6 : 24. z Matt. 5 : 28 ; Rom. U : U. 
 
 a Josh. 7 : 21 ; Job 31 : 1 ; Kocl. 5 : 11 ; Malt. 4:8. 6 Isa. 39 : 2-7. 
 
 no blessing on a man for retiring from 
 society and living apart from men in 
 order to get additional sanctity. Je- 
 rome, who lived iu a cave at Beth- 
 lehem, took his worst enemy with him 
 in his own heart with its evil tenden- 
 cies. Jesus meant his people to be 
 light and salt, to be among men to 
 help them. Read the words of Paul 
 in Phil. 1 : 24 ; also the words of Jesus, 
 John 17 : 15. There isa perverted way 
 of looking at outward things so that 
 they get control of the heart. Paul 
 exhorts Christians not to be conformed 
 to the world, but to be transfigured 
 (Rom. 12 : 2). John is here speaking of 
 the world in its bad sense as alienated 
 from God, in its influence against spir- 
 ituality in the life, in its antagonism 
 to the control of the life by the unseen 
 spiritual forces, in its subjection to the 
 controlling power of the evil one. Jesus 
 alludes to tlie prevailing evil course of 
 things in the present life," I pray not for 
 the world " (John n : 9, i6). Love to God 
 must be supreme. This love must rule 
 everything else, must use everything 
 to God's glory. What cannot be so 
 used must not be loved, but hated. 
 The prohibition, not to love the world, 
 is strengthened by neither . . . world. 
 This denotes the specific objects in life 
 which are the aims of the ungodly. In 
 its entirety and in its parts the world 
 is not to be loved. The tendencies that 
 lead to a perversion of the right uses of 
 life and of present things are alluded 
 to in the next verse. Love of the 
 F'ather. This is a tenderer term than 
 God. John had spoken of Christians 
 as children (ver. 12). The Christian life 
 cannot be conceived of without a deep, 
 abiding, controlling love for God the 
 Father. Worldliness depends on the 
 state of the heart, not on the sur- 
 roundings or possessions. Thomas 
 £l Kempis, in his " Imitation of Christ," 
 creates the impression that tliere 
 must be a physical separation from 
 the world in order that a fitting un- 
 worldliness may be attained. A true 
 
 fellowship with Christ will make pos- 
 sible a real imitation of Christ in busi- 
 ness, in society, iu the leadership of 
 communities. 
 
 16. This verse gives a reason for 
 ver. 15, showing that the world is 
 alienated from God, and showing also 
 the elements of the world's power. 
 For assigns a reason why the world 
 must not be loved. He mentions three 
 temptations in the world which con- 
 stitute a sinful trinity. As the world is 
 against God, so is this anti-trinity in 
 enmity to Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 
 All three find their dwelling-place in 
 the heart, but are called into activity 
 by the outward surroundings. A holy 
 being might live iu the same surround- 
 ings and find no harm to the soul. 
 Lust, in both cases in this verse, has 
 a perverted sense, meaning unhallowed 
 and corrupted desires. Flesh stands for 
 the physical man, for all the sins which 
 spring from or find their home in the 
 physical organization. Such sins are 
 drunkenness, gluttony, licentiousness, 
 all sins of uncleanness and sensuality 
 are included here. The term flesii does 
 not of itself assert selfishness or sinful- 
 ness, for John declares again and again 
 that Jesus had a body of flesh (J"b° 6 ; 
 
 51; 1 John 4 : 2, 3, 25, 27). NowherC doCS 
 
 John incline to the first-century heresy 
 that all matter is sinful in itself; he 
 always stoutly opposes this notion. 
 There are instincts of body that are 
 not wrong, the feeling of hunger, of 
 thirst, of pleasurable sensations. But 
 a sinful and sinning agency has per- 
 verted the nature so that it is not only 
 a minister of evil thoughts, but it is, in 
 turn, a creator of evil thoughts. So 
 much has this nature been debased 
 that the term flesh in the New Testa- 
 ment is almost. always opposed to the 
 term spirit, and stands for weakness 
 and sinfulness. Eyes. Through the 
 eyes the outer world is brought into 
 relation to the spirit within. The en- 
 ticements of life that allure and deceive 
 the soul, the power of things seen to 
 
54 
 
 I. JOHN 
 
 [Ch. II. 
 
 pride of life, is not of the Father, but 
 17 IS of the world. And "the world pass- 
 eth away, and the lust thereof: ""but 
 he that doeth the will of God abideth 
 for ever. 
 
 of the Father, but is of the world. 
 17 And the world is passing away, and 
 the desire thereof ; but he that does 
 the will of God abides forever. 
 
 c 1 Cor. 7 : 31. 
 
 d Matt. 1 : 21, 24, 25. 
 
 crowd out the power of things unseen, 
 ail these make a menace to the soul. 
 An unclean picture, an evil page, a 
 sinful gesture, may work irreparable 
 injury. The eye was made to drink in 
 beauty^ to come into a loving fellow- 
 ship with outward things bringing God 
 nearer, but a perverted eye brings ruin. 
 The flesh within, the world outside, 
 and Satan, constitute a sinful trinity. 
 In John's day were the unclean siglits 
 at the theaters and the savage contests 
 in the arena. Our first parents looked 
 longingly upon the forbidden fruit be- 
 fore they took it; Jesus beheld the 
 glory of the world's kingdoms,' but he 
 kept his faith steadfast. Fride, rather, 
 vainglory. This is a vainglorious 
 pride arising usually from the posses- 
 sion of material things. It includes 
 vanity, ostentation, delight in show. 
 The word here rendered life is not the 
 highest term indicating the spiritual 
 life, but hios, meaning the course or 
 manner of life. Two things are af- 
 firmed of these corrupting manifesta- 
 tions, they are not of the Father, 
 they are of the world. The of 
 means out of, springing from as their 
 source. They do not derive their origin 
 from the Father, but from the world. 
 It requires rare wisdom to use the 
 ■world, its forces and opportunities, the 
 body with its powers and passions, in 
 such a way as to fulfil one's mission 
 here and find God's favor at last. 
 
 17. John now gives an additional 
 reason for not loving the world : be- 
 cause it is but a fleeting show, and the 
 desires which it inHames can have but 
 a momentary gratification. Passeth 
 away. The present tense indicates 
 the constant change now in progress. 
 The allusion may not perhaps be so 
 much to the passing away of the ma- 
 terial world which is spoken of in 2 
 Peter 3 : 10, but to the constant chatige 
 in life whereby it so much resembles 
 the stage (comp. i Cor. 7:3i). The one 
 who seeks his highest good in the per- 
 ishable will find nothing, in the end, 
 but disappointment. All that isearthly 
 
 is fleeting, only invisible things deceive 
 not. The things that cannot be shaken 
 by convulsions in nature are the un- 
 seen things (Heb. 12 : 27). Lust there- 
 of. Under this term he embraces the 
 three lusts spoken of in the preceding 
 verse. It is a lust not after the world, 
 but a lust that springs from it. When 
 he speaks of the world passing away, 
 he means in reality the ungodly men 
 who live in an ungodly manner. In 
 complete contrast with these is he that 
 doeth . . . abideth forever. God 
 is eternal, his counsels and plans will 
 stand forever. He who does God's will 
 has in himself the power of an endless 
 life. Confusion and final disaster be- 
 long to those who are not in harmony 
 with God. Passeth away and forever 
 are contrasted with each other, as 
 also doing the will of God is contrasted 
 with the lust of the world. An eter- 
 nally blessed life belongs to the man 
 who sides with God. Dives owned the 
 outward things of this life ; Lazarus 
 owned all the next life, and the best 
 things of this life. 
 
 18, 19. Walking in the light 
 excludes the control of the 
 life, its beliefs and conduct, by 
 ANTICHRISTS. This section is inti- 
 mately connected with the preceding. 
 John now proceeds to consider, not 
 principles, but persons who rise up in 
 antagonism to Christ and Christianity, 
 and subvert the faith of the unguarded. 
 The first centuries were fruitful in 
 heresies that tended to destroy tlie 
 foundations of Christianity by attack- 
 ing the true conceptions of the person 
 and work of Christ. False teachers 
 had arisen and were at their destruc- 
 tive work, the names of some of whom 
 we know from current history. John ap- 
 plies to them a most expressive phrase, 
 summing up in one word, their char- 
 acter, their teachings, their ultimate 
 destiny— antichrists. These words 
 will be of use in all ages, making a 
 call upon the church to be on its guard 
 against false teachings. Christ in his 
 person is the foundation of Christianity, 
 
Ch. II.] 
 
 I. JOHN 
 
 55 
 
 18 Little children, « it is the last time : I 
 and as ye have heard that 'antichrist | 
 
 18 Little children, it is the last hour; 
 and as ye beard that antichrist is 
 
 e 1 Tim. 4:1; Heb. 1 : 2. 
 
 / 2 Thess. 2 : 3, etc. 
 
 the essence of the truth, the source of 
 revelation, the founder and ruler of 
 the church, the exemplar of the true 
 life. Errors vary with the passing 
 centuries, but it will be found that all 
 heresies and misconceptions of funda- 
 mental truths will find their correc- 
 tion in a more accurate knowledge of 
 Christ's person, work, and authority. 
 
 18. In proportion to the gravity of 
 the situation does John manifest his 
 tender regard for his spiritual children, 
 little children. Last time, rather, 
 last hoar. Two interpretations of this 
 passage are given. Calvin and others 
 regard this term as applicable to the 
 entire Messianic period, from the per- 
 sonal coming of Jesus to his second 
 advent. In the Old Testament the 
 Messiah was promised in the last times 
 (is». 2:2; Acts 2 : 17). The Jcws there- 
 fore spoke of the age before Christ as 
 the present age, and the age after 
 Christ as the coming age. In the New 
 Testament (Heb. i : 2; i Petcr 1 : 20) it is 
 represented that Christ has appeared 
 in the last times. There can be no 
 other Christ, no other redemption, no 
 further display of God's grace for sal- 
 vation — these are all centered in Christ. 
 There will, therefore, be no further 
 kind of age than the present so far as 
 redemption is concerned. The view of 
 Alford and Meyer is that the reference 
 is, not to the entire Messianic period, 
 but to a part that immediately precedes 
 the final coming to judgment. It is 
 urged, first from ver. 28, that the speedy 
 personal coming of the Lord was before 
 his mind at this time ; secondly, that 
 not the entire period was meant ; third- 
 ly, in the Gospel of John the resurrec- 
 tion, accompanying the last things, is 
 placed in the last day (John 11 : 24) ; 
 fourthly, many passages in the New 
 Testament correspond with this view 
 
 ( 2 Tim. S : 1 ; 1 Peter 1:5; 2 Peter S : 1 ) ; 
 
 fifthly, the signs of approaching dis- 
 solution, together with the presence of 
 rank heresies, impressed John with 
 the belief of an age almost run. It was 
 taught by Jesus that the times and 
 seasons God had reserved for himself, 
 no angel, not even the Son of man, 
 when on the earth, knowing the time 
 
 of the end (Mark 13 : 32). The ability 
 to compute the time of the final con- 
 summation, or of the definite parts of 
 it, is not promised to the teachers of 
 the Christian era. Alford has these 
 words: "We understand the apostle 
 to be speaking, as any one in any sub- 
 sequent age of the church might have 
 spoken, and as we may speak now, of 
 his time as being the last time, seeing 
 that the signs of the last time were rife 
 in it. How long it may please God to 
 prolong this last hour, how long to 
 permit the signs to continue which 
 demonstrate each age of the church to 
 have this character, is a question to 
 which it was not given to him, and is 
 not given to us to reply." Ve heard. 
 This refers to their first hearing of the 
 gospel from Paul, John, and others. 
 John speaks of the contents of that 
 preaching as containing the testimony 
 concerning these times of lalse teach- 
 ers. What is now come to pass ought 
 not therefore to surprise them. The 
 fulfilment of prophecy, whether writ- 
 ten or unwritten, is a strong proof of 
 the inspiration of the prophecy. Jesus 
 foretold coming events, by the fulfil- 
 ment of which they would be assured 
 not only of his wisdom but of his 
 knowledge (Joha is : 19). Antichrist 
 shall come, rather, cometh. This is 
 the present tense, indicating a fixity in 
 the coming: the coming may not be, 
 so far as the form of the words is con- 
 cerned, for centuries hence. What is 
 meant by the term antichrist? So far 
 as the etymology goes it may mean one 
 who comes in the place of Christ, a 
 false Christ (Matt. 24 : 5, 11), or an enemy 
 of Christ. In favor of the meaning, 
 against Christ, is John's usage. If he 
 had meant one coming in place of 
 Christ he would have said pseudo- 
 christ as he uses the term pseudo or 
 false prophet {^^ ■ i)- The Greek inter- 
 preters nave always understood the 
 meaning to be enemies of Christ. The 
 reference here seems to be to one dis- 
 tinct person who should appear, sum- 
 ming up in himself all the opposition 
 to Christ. It is agreed by almost all 
 interpreters that John understands by 
 this enemy the same person spoken of 
 
56 
 
 
 I. JOHN 
 
 
 
 
 [Ch. II. 
 
 shall come, 
 antichrists 
 
 seven now are there many 1 
 whereby we know that it | 
 
 coming, even now 
 have arisen ; whence 
 
 many antichrists 
 we know that it 
 
 
 
 g Matt. H : S 
 
 24; i John 7. 
 
 
 
 
 
 by Paul iu 2 Thess. 2 : 3. There is a 
 close correspondence between the defi- 
 nitions of the two, in the form of the 
 words and in the general features. 
 Meyer says : " Like tlie second coming 
 of Christ, so the appearance of anti- 
 christ also belongs to the future ; of 
 antichrists, as they had appeared in 
 tiie time of John, there has never 
 since been any lack; but the anti- 
 christ has not yet come. It is arbitrary 
 to regard Mohammed or the pope as 
 the antichrist." Neander declares that 
 equally with the development of Chris- 
 tianity the evil will gradually increase 
 in its contest with Christ until at the 
 last, when it has attained its highest 
 summit, it will find expression in a 
 person, and will be overcome by Christ. 
 
 (Seeou2The68. 2:3, 4, 12.) Eveil . . . auti- 
 
 christs, rather, even noto have there 
 arisen many antichrists. We are not 
 to infer that these antichrists, taken 
 collectively, constitute the one anti- 
 christ spoken of, rather are they fore- 
 runners of that personal being yet to 
 come, filled with his spirit. These 
 teachers are enemies of Christ in teach- 
 ing and in life. He defines them after- 
 ward as those denying the Father and 
 the Son (2 ; 22)^ denying also the incar- 
 nation (* : 3). An antichrist may be a 
 Nero, a Simon Magus, a Voltaire, a 
 priest usurping powers that belong to 
 Christ only ; those described by John 
 in this immediate connection had been 
 nominally Christian. This evil prin- 
 ciple had long been working in the 
 churches. When Paul took leave of 
 the elders of Ephesus in A. D. 55, he 
 said: "From among your own selves 
 shall men arise speaking perverse 
 things to draw away the disciples 
 after them" (Acts 20 : 30). The first 
 century was peculiarly fertile in her- 
 etical teachings, arising from the intro- 
 duction of many into the churches who 
 wished to combine their former re- 
 ligious and philosophical notions with 
 Christianity. The power of the false 
 teachers would consist in the seductive 
 character of their teachings, having a 
 mixture of truth and reason whereby 
 the error would get an entrance into 
 their hearts. The heresies of recent 
 
 centuries are, in the main, only new 
 forms of the old errors that made their 
 attack upon the church in the earlj' 
 centuries. In general the antichrists 
 are not to be identified with heathen or 
 Jewish opponents, for these had been, 
 from the first, the open and avowed 
 opponents of Christianity. The dis- 
 ciples had always lived in the midst of 
 their opposition. The strength of the 
 false teachers would arise from their 
 possession of partial truths. History 
 has not preserved the names of their 
 mauy false teachers. Cerinthus stands 
 out the most prominent. The ency- 
 clopedias under the title," Gnosticism," 
 will show how the first two or three 
 centuries were influenced and corrupted 
 by enticing perversions of the truth. 
 Irena;us, who died in A. D. 190, writes : 
 "And there are those still living who 
 heard Polycarp relate that John, the 
 disciple of the Lord, went into a bath 
 at Ephesus, and seeing Cerinthus with- 
 in, ran out without bathing, and ex- 
 claimed : ' Let us flee lest the bath 
 should fall in, as long as Cerinthus, 
 that enemy of the truth, is within.' " 
 Whereby we know. These teachers 
 have the characteristics which it was 
 foretold that many would have before 
 the final close of this age. Jesus had 
 foretold the coming of such teachers 
 (Matt. 24:5,24-27). Their coming is a 
 proof that it is the last dispensation. 
 Paul mentions certain events that 
 would precede the final appearance of 
 Jesus (2 These. 2 : 1-9). That " his Com- 
 ing " was not far remote was a belief 
 that, in all probability, filled the minds 
 of the early disciples. 
 
 19. This verse describes the origin 
 of the false teachers. They once had 
 an outward connection with the church, 
 but John aflSrms that they never had 
 the inner fellowship with Christ. A 
 solemn crisis had arrived in the history 
 of the church ; there were defections 
 on the part of members, leaders in the 
 church. A crisis, like it in nature, had 
 occurred in the ministry of Jesus (John 
 6:66). This verse is also an encour- 
 agement to the remaining disciples 
 who might fear from the defection of 
 these teachers that the entire church 
 
Ch. IL] 
 
 I. JOHN 
 
 57 
 
 19 is the last time. iiThey went out from 
 us, but they were not of us ; for ' if they 
 had been of us, they would no doubt 
 have continued with us : but they iicnt 
 out, ''that tliey might be made mani- 
 
 20 fest that they were not all of us. But 
 lye have an unction ™from the Holy 
 One, and "ye know all things. 
 
 19 is the last hour. Tliey went out from 
 among us, but Ihey were not of us ; for 
 If they had been of us, they would 
 have abode with us ; but it was in 
 order that they might be made mani- 
 
 20 fest. that tlicy are not all of us. And 
 ye have an anointing from the Holy 
 
 h Deut. 13:13; Acts 20 : SO. t Jer. 32 : 39-40 ; John 6 : 37 , 1 Peter 1 : 2-5. 
 2 Vcr. 2T ; 4 : 13 ; 2 Cor. 1 : 21, 22. m Mark 1 : 24 ; Acts 3 ; 11. 
 
 k Rom. 9 : 6 ; 1 Cor. 11 : 19. 
 John U: 26; 16: 13. 
 
 was in danger of going to pieces. 
 Went out from us. They had been 
 members of the outward church, re- 
 ceiviug and teaching its doctrines. 
 This enhanced their guilt and also 
 added to their power. Their secession 
 from the church would confuse both 
 the remainiug members and also those 
 who were outside. Of us. John dis- 
 tinguishes between the true and the 
 false member. In appearance they 
 both were in fellowship with Christ, 
 in nature they were different. The 
 unreality of their life is shown in their 
 leaving the church, for if . . . with 
 us. The expression, no doubt, is to 
 be omitted. John speaks confidently 
 on this point. If they had been true, 
 they would have endured. These teach- 
 ers had known the church, they had 
 not known Christ. With John, to deny 
 the coming of Chri.st in the flesh, an 
 incarnate Son of God, is to deny Christ 
 himself, to destroy Christianity, and 
 to pass out of the domain of truth and 
 life. It is not ours, however, to declare 
 that even for such an one there is no 
 salvation. One may trust in Clirist as 
 Saviour even while mistakenly and 
 illogically denying his divinity. While 
 declaring that these teachers had not 
 known the truth, he does not make the 
 universal statement that it is impos- 
 sible for one to fall away from the 
 truth. But . . . manifest. Paul 
 declares that there must be heresies, 
 defections, divisions, that it may be 
 made manifest who are the genuine 
 members of the church (i Cor. ii : i9). 
 That which produces heresies is an 
 evil, but the evil being present it is a 
 wholesome necessity that it should be 
 openly manifested that it may be sep- 
 arated from the true church life. That 
 they were not all of us, ratlier, 
 how that they all were not of tis. The 
 meaning is that the defection of these 
 false teachers shows that all of them 
 
 had uo real fellowship with Christ, 
 rightly conceived of and regarded. It 
 has this lesson for the future tliat there 
 is a possibility of further defections; 
 when they come they need not over- 
 whelm tlie church with surprise or 
 sorrow. 
 
 20-29. Spiritual anointing 
 should give protection against 
 DECEIVERS. John turns from the de- 
 ceptions of the antichrists to the se- 
 curity of the believer. The mind of 
 the believer is not unguarded, open to 
 every attack of the evil one. As Jesus 
 was anointed with the Holy Spirit 
 (Acts 10 : ss), as prophet, priest, and 
 king were anointed of old, in like 
 manner all Christians are anointed by 
 the same Holy Spirit. They therefore 
 are fitted to discern between Christ and 
 antichrist. Jesus had promised that 
 the Holy Spirit would lead them into 
 all the truth (Joho i6 -. 13). What was 
 included in this promise would be a 
 reality in their thinking and living. 
 The Holy Spirit, sent in answer to the 
 prayer of Christ, would lead to right 
 beliefs about Christ. 
 
 20. But . . . Holy One, rather. 
 And ye have an anointing from the 
 Holy One. The anointing refers not 
 to the act of anointing, but to the oil 
 or ointment by means of which the 
 anointing takes place. The reference 
 here is to the Holy Spirit. In the Old 
 Testament the oil of anointing (E.xod. 
 29 : 7, 21) was the symbol of the Holy 
 Spirit. It set apart the person so an- 
 ointed, and symbolically consecrated 
 him. The anointing here spoken of 
 signifies that the person belongs to 
 Christ as opposed to antichrist, and 
 also has received the same prophetic 
 .spirit as the Lord Jesus. What was 
 restricted in the Old Testament to the 
 leaders is now given to all believers (• 
 Peter 2 : 5. 9). Christ is preeminently 
 the anointed one, the terms Messiah 
 
58 
 
 I. JOHN 
 
 [Ch. II. 
 
 21 I have not written unto you » because 
 ye know not the truth, but because ye 
 know it, and that no lie is of the truth. 
 
 22 p\Vho is a liar but he thatdenieth that 
 Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, 
 that deuieth the Father aud the Son. 
 
 21 One, aud ye all know ; I have not 
 written to you because ye know not 
 the truth, but because ye do know it, 
 and because no lie is of the truth. 
 
 22 Who is the liar, but he that denies that 
 Jesus is the Christ ? This is the anti- 
 christ, he that denies the Father and 
 
 Rom. 15 : U, 15 : 2 Peter 1 : ii. 
 
 p i iS: 2 John T. 
 
 and Christ both alike having this sig- 
 nification. The term Holy One does 
 not refer to the Holy Spirit, but to the 
 Father or the Son, both of whom are 
 absolutely holy in nature. Believers 
 are thereby placed in fellowship with 
 God, and are guarded in their inner 
 lives from unholy and seducing in- 
 fluences. KnoAV all things. John 
 is describing, as is his manner, the 
 ideal conception of the Christian. The 
 natural result of the Spirit's presence 
 and teaching, when his work is com- 
 plete, will be a complete and full 
 knowledge of all essential Christian 
 truth. Asa matter of fact large limi- 
 tations must be made in the applica- 
 tion of this statement to the practical 
 life, inasmucli as it remains true that 
 all Christian life is far below its proper 
 level and its consequent privileges. 
 The reference here is not to all knowl- 
 edge, but only to spiritual knowledge. 
 The Holy Spirit reveals to a man the 
 nature of lus own heart, leads him to 
 love moral and spiritual truth, enlarges 
 his mind that he may see more truth, 
 gives him clearness of view and stead- 
 fastness in l)elief. Having spoken pre- 
 viously of the Father and the Son, he 
 now speaks of the Holy Spirit. There 
 is in the Greek a play on the words 
 that cannot well be rendered into Eng- 
 lish ; having received a chrism, ren- 
 dered an anointing, they are to be 
 Christian that the antichrist may not 
 lead them astray. To get a knowledge 
 of God and the holy Scriptures the 
 knowledge of books must be supple- 
 mented by spiritual enlightenment. 
 
 21. This verse is apologetic, assuring 
 the readers that in writing to them the 
 authordoes not disparage or doubt their 
 knowledge. The have written re- 
 fers most probably to what he has just 
 written. The Christian truth is already 
 known by them. He writes to awaken 
 i n them their consciousness of the truth. 
 Know the truth. Jesus Christ is 
 himself the truth. The facts received 
 
 concerning Christ and their own con- 
 sciousness united in giving them a firm 
 possession of the truth. He writes to 
 them for this reason, because they know 
 the truth and because no lie is of 
 the truth. John seeks to awaken the 
 inward perception of the truth, and 
 the love for the truth, in order that 
 falsehood may be rejected. With 
 John, a falsehood is not a modified 
 truth but a lie. 
 
 22. We now pass from the general 
 consideration of falsehood as opposed 
 to truth, to a particular form of the 
 untruth. Who is a liar, rather, 
 Who is the liar. The one especial 
 form of falsehood at that time most to 
 be feared, that to which his readers 
 were most &pen, was the one now 
 spoken of. The central falsehood is 
 denieth that Jesus is the Christ. 
 To this formula may be reduced most 
 of the heresies of the age, especially 
 that of Gnosticism, with its manifold 
 variations, which made Christ an ema- 
 nation or aeon who joined the man 
 Jesus for a season. John makes this 
 earnest appeal, passing from the ab- 
 stract lie of ver. 21 to the concrete liar 
 of this passage. If any one maintained 
 that Jesus was only a man, not the 
 divine, incarnate Son of God ; if any one 
 denied his humanity, making him only 
 an appearance ; if any one declared 
 that he was not the fulfilment of the 
 Old Testament proj^hecy ; if any one 
 denied that the divine nature always 
 dwelt in Jesus, such persons were, in 
 John's mind, guilty of denying the 
 real Jesus. He . . . denieth, rather, 
 This is the antichrist, even he that de- 
 nieth. John does not declare that these 
 persons denied the existence of God 
 or his general attributes. To think 
 wrongly about Christ is, as a result, to 
 think wrongly about God. (See John 
 1 : 18.) Where Christ is not known as 
 a historical person, God is not rightly 
 viewed as God, much less as Father. 
 
 23. John reaflirms in this verse the 
 
Ch. II.] 
 
 I. JOHN 
 
 59 
 
 23 1 Whosoever denieth the Son, the same 
 hath uot the Father: [but] 'he thai ac- 
 knowledgelh the Hon hath the Father also. 
 
 24 Let that therefore abide in you, 
 • which ye have heard from the begiu- 
 ning. If that which ye have heard 
 from the begiuning shall remain in 
 you, « ye also shall continue in the Son, 
 
 25 and in the Father. "And this is the 
 promise that he hath promised us, evai 
 eternal life. 
 
 26 These things have I written unto you 
 » concerning them that seduce you. 
 
 23 the Son. Every one that denies the 
 Sou has not the Father either ; he that 
 confesses the Son has the Father also. 
 
 24 As for you, let that which ye heard 
 from the beginning abide in you. If 
 what ye heard from the beginning 
 shall abide in you, ye also will abide 
 In the Son, and in the Father. And 
 
 25 this is the promise which he himself 
 promised us, the life eternal. 
 
 26 These things I have written to you 
 concerning those who are leading you 
 
 q John 5 : 33 ; 15 : 23 ; 2 John 9. r 4 : 15 ; John 14 : 7. t Ver. 7 ; 2 John 6. t 1:1; John 14 ; 23. 
 
 u 1 : 2 ; 5 : 11-13 ; John 17 : 3. i Mark 13 ; 22 ; 2 Pcler 2 : 1-3 ; 2 John 7. 
 
 teaching of the preceding. He makes 
 his statements in both the negative 
 and positive forms. The antichristian 
 spirit makes three denials, the denial 
 that Jesus is the Christ, the denial that 
 he is the manifestation of God as Son, 
 and therefore the denial that God is 
 Father. Whosoever does this hath 
 not the Father. No one knows the 
 Father but the Son (M»tt. u : 27). The 
 hnth. not refers uot merely to right in- 
 tellectual conceptions of God, but to 
 the possession, the having spiritual fel- 
 lowship with God. It may rightly be 
 said of the believer that he has God, 
 and is in loving fellowship with him. 
 He . . . also. In the Received ver- 
 sion these words are in italics, signify- 
 ing that they form no part of John's 
 writings, but were supplied by the 
 translators. 
 
 24. The false teachers introduced 
 novelties in their teachings ; their doc- 
 trines were opposed to the steadfast 
 message of the gospel. John now in- 
 troduces the apostolic teaching as the 
 standard to which all teachings must 
 correspond. Let . . . beginning, 
 rather, As for yon, let that abide in you 
 which ye heard from the beginning. 
 Many had fallen away and estranged 
 themselves from fellowship wnth God 
 and with the Son. By way of contrast 
 he appeals to the faithful followers. 
 As for you . . . abide. The teachings 
 which they had heard should be al- 
 lowed to influence them permanently. 
 The truth concerning the Father and 
 the Son will, if that truth be kept in 
 mind, constantly enlighten their hearts. 
 Beginning. The Christian teaching, 
 concerning Christ, had been uniform. 
 The words they heard at the beginning 
 were the unwritten scriptures with 
 
 which everything must be compared. 
 We now have the written New Testa- 
 ment with which every teaching must 
 be compared. A promise is joined 
 with the appeal. Continue, rather, 
 abide. The abiding in God is the sub- 
 stance of the promise. God's word 
 being in them will result in their being 
 in God. The dwelling in God means 
 securitj', fellowship, a blessed oneness. 
 Jesus speaks of his words abiding in 
 them (John 14 : 20). Thcsc words of 
 .John are to be interpreted in a spiritual 
 manner. John teaches that the use of 
 means is essential to the highest spir- 
 itual life, the spiritual life will never 
 take care of itself. 
 
 25. This verse is the unfolding of 
 the latter part of ver. 24. The abiding 
 in Christ means life, eternal life. The 
 promises of God all rest on fellowship 
 with Christ. Eternal life, rather, 
 the life eternal. It is life in its fullest 
 sense, a large, abounding life akin to 
 God's, a participation in the highest 
 and truest existence. 
 
 36, 27. Before closing this section 
 John makes another statement concern- 
 ing his purpose in writing and concern- 
 ing their security. These things. 
 Tlie reference is to all that he has just 
 said concerning false teachers. Se- 
 duce you, rather, that tcould lead 
 you astray. The present tense shows 
 that these evil teachers were then at 
 their work. Ilis readers had been kept 
 from the power of their seductive teach- 
 ings. John's faithfulness in teaching 
 and in writing may have been one of 
 the agencies whereby they were pre- 
 served. He notes ngain his former 
 teaching (ver. 20) that the presence in 
 them of the Holy Spirit as teacher 
 would be to them a source of knowl- 
 
60 
 
 I. JOHN 
 
 [Ch. II. 
 
 27 But J the anoiuting which ye have re- 
 ceived of him abideth in you, and '^ ye 
 need not that any man teach you : but 
 as the same anointing "teacbeth you 
 of all things, and is truth, and is no 
 lie, aud even as it hath taught you, 
 ''ye shall abide in him. 
 
 28 And uow, little children, abide in 
 him ; that, " when he shall appear, we 
 may have confidence, ^and not be 
 ashamed before him at his coming. 
 
 29 'If ye know that he is righteous, ye 
 
 27 astray. And the anointing which ye 
 received from him abides iu you, and 
 ye have no need that any one teach 
 you ; but as his anointing teaches you 
 concerning all things, and is truth, 
 and is not a lie, and even as it taught 
 you, ye abide in him. 
 
 28 And now, little children, abide in 
 him ; that, if he be manifested, Ave 
 may have confideuce, and not turn 
 away from him with shame at his 
 
 29 coming. If ye know that he is right- 
 
 V Ver. 20 ; 1 Peter 1 : 23. 
 c 3 : 2 ; Col. 3 : 1. 
 
 z Jer. 31 : 33, 31. a Vers. 20, 21. 5 John 15 : 4-7. 
 
 d ■* : 17 ; Isa. 25 : 9. e Ver. 1 ; Acts 22 : U. 
 
 edge. This anointing, the possession 
 of all Christians, was secured through 
 Christ. But . . . received, rather, 
 and as for you the anointing which ye 
 received. The emphatic position in the 
 sentence, and as for you, emphasizes 
 the vast difference between his readers 
 and the false teachers. The abiding 
 presence of this holy chrism or anoint- 
 ing oil in them would render super- 
 fluous any other teaching. John now 
 makes three statements: first, as the 
 same anointing, rather, as his an- 
 ointing, alluding to Christ's Holy Spirit 
 sent into the heart; the Spirit teaches 
 all things needful. Secondly, the 
 teaching is truth, rather, is true. 
 The Spirit will not lead into foolish- 
 ness or falsehood. Thirdly, there is 
 the gracious statement that, in their 
 case, there had been a walk in accord 
 with the Spirit's teaching. In con- 
 sequence of this ye shall abide, 
 rather, ye abide. There was a present 
 walk with Christ and a dwelling in 
 Christ because there had been a recep- 
 tion of the Holy Spirit who had taught 
 of Christ (John 16 : li). In him refers 
 to dwelling in Christ. 
 
 28. While John refers all of knowl- 
 edge and salvation to the Son and the 
 Spirit, yet he recognizes the need of 
 human watchfulness. Salvation is of 
 grace, but not by force ; so that no one 
 is saved apart from watchcaie, con- 
 stancy, piety, purity. He now exhorts 
 them to a steadfast perseverance in the 
 direction of the true life, until they 
 attain the goal. Little children, 
 rather, my little children. Abide is 
 one of the favorite words of John oc- 
 curring twenty-three times in this letter. 
 .John had heard his Master use this 
 word eleven times in the teaching con- 
 cerning the vine and the branch (John 
 
 16 : 1-16). When . . . appear, rather, 
 
 ■(/ he shall be manifested. Jesus is now 
 in glory, he will come again in person. 
 Having had a personal fellowship with 
 him there was a longing desire in the 
 first century to see him again. The 
 persecutions to which the church was 
 exposed added to this desire. This 
 feeling should, to a large degree, be 
 found in the church in all ages. John 
 does not here indicate when he will 
 come. Whether in that age or in far 
 after ages, the life should be so lived 
 that there may be confidence, rather, 
 boldness, before him. If they should 
 follow the false teachers and deny 
 Christ or have unworthy conceptions 
 of him, there could be no boldness. 
 John draws an argument from the end 
 of all things as a help to a daily guid- 
 ance in life. The opposite of boldness 
 is ashamed, (comp. nan. 12 : 2.) A false 
 life or hope will bring confusion and 
 destruction (Mutt. 7 : 21-23). It is notice- 
 able that John joins himself with his 
 readers in using we. All alike needed 
 a life that should welcome Christ's 
 coming with joy. 
 
 29. With tlie preceding verse the 
 first section closed. The keyword of 
 that section is, "God is light" (1 : 6). 
 This verse is, in reality, the introduc- 
 'tion to the second section, the keyword 
 of which is, " God is righteous" (3 : s). 
 It ought to be joined to the next chap- 
 ter. It follows as a matter of course 
 from God's righteousness that every 
 Christian should be righteous. It was 
 a part of their common stock of knowl- 
 edge that the life lived in the light 
 (1 : 7) must be a holy life, ye know. 
 Doeth righteousness defines the 
 life that springs from forgiveness. This 
 is the result of the new birth, not the 
 occasion or cause of it. He refers, not 
 
Ch. II.] 
 
 I. JOHN 
 
 61 
 
 know that 'every one that doeth right- 
 eousuess is born of him. 
 
 eous, ye know that everyone that does 
 righteousness has been begotten of 
 him. 
 
 /3 : 7-10; 4 : 7 ; 5 : 1. 
 
 to Christ, but to God. (See s -. s.) Born, 
 rather, begotten. Jesus is the only be- 
 gotten Son, all Christians are sons 
 through regeneration of the Holy 
 Spirit. They thereby become the chil- 
 dren of God. It is a correct and neces- 
 sary inference that a life of godliness 
 is the best evidence of a relation to 
 God as a child. 
 
 Note 1. The work of Christ 
 IN atonement and intercession. 
 
 1. In his person Christ is sinless. 
 He requires neither expiation for his 
 sin nor an advocate before the Father 
 
 (Heb. 7 : 27). 
 
 2. His work on the earth is expressed 
 by expiation (2-2). The expiation 
 makes a reconciliation, an at-one-ment 
 
 (2 Cor. 5 : 20). 
 
 3. This expiation is universal in its 
 scope. Through his death all men 
 stand in a different relation toward 
 God. 
 
 4. The atonement remains as a per- 
 manent fact, needing no repetition, 
 having a perfect efficacy. 
 
 5. His work in heaven is indicated 
 by the term advocate (' = i). He is the 
 ever-living Redeemer. 
 
 6. The advocacy in heaven concerns 
 the need of help after the expiation, 
 arising from our infirmity and the re- 
 mains of indwelling sin, 
 
 7. This work is a real work, not sim- 
 ply a figure of speech. It excludes of 
 necessity all intercession of saints, 
 angels, and that of the Virgin Mary. 
 They are needless, and declare, in 
 reality, the insufficiency of the inter- 
 cession of Jesus (John 16 : 26). 
 
 8. The atonement and the advocacy 
 supplement each other. Without an 
 atonement the work of intercession 
 would be valueless. Without the in- 
 tercession the atonement would be in- 
 adequate and weak. His perfect life, 
 his vicarious death, his presence before 
 the Father, are all equally essential. 
 
 9. Every New Testament writer, 
 under differing terms, expresses the 
 need and the fact of a sacrifice for sin. 
 Jesus alludes to his vicarious death 
 
 with its blessed fruits (m«". 26 : 28). Paul 
 speaks of the one death as the means 
 of human salvation (Koni. 3 : 21). Peter 
 speaks of Jesus bearing the sinsof men 
 in a real way (1 Peier 2 : 24), The entire 
 book of Hebrews is full of the expla- 
 nation of the Old Testament rites in 
 the light of the cross and intercession 
 of Jesus. 
 
 Note 2. John's, ideal concep- 
 tion OF the Christian life. John 
 is very practical, dealing with love for 
 the brethren, giving counsel concern- 
 ing false teachings, enforcing the 
 claims of a pure and holy life. But 
 he deals also largely in ideals. He 
 writes of the Christian life ; not so 
 much as it is now, but as it ought to 
 be — its ideal character. 
 
 He describes the outlines of the 
 Christian life as drawn by the Holy 
 Spirit, giving the plans on which a 
 life is to be built. As a matter of ex- 
 perience we see no man who is all 
 black in motive, and no man all white. 
 John looks at the man in his funda- 
 mental character as a child of God 
 who is light, or as a child of the devil 
 who is all darkness. In the present 
 life we see the mistakes of the highest 
 saint. Even Paul, in whom Christ 
 dwelt, was only a man clothed with 
 infirmity. We see the dark spots in 
 the life of John (Mark 10 : 37). In like 
 manner John has no middle ground 
 between love and hate (2 : 10, 11). John 
 sees the heart of things. The control- 
 ling principle of the believer is love, 
 because God dwells in him in the center 
 of this life. In time he will be dom- 
 inated by love, the beginnings of which 
 now dwell in him. That which is not 
 love is hate. This will, in time, ripen 
 into the absence of all love. In the 
 moral world things go according to 
 their tendencies. The tendency of the 
 believer is toward love ; the tendency 
 of the unbeliever is toward hate. 
 
 John looks upon the Christian as a 
 possessor of the truth. In time, un- 
 doubtedly, when Christ has finished 
 his work in the believer, the creed and 
 
62 
 
 I. JOHN 
 
 [Ch. II. 
 
 the conduct will be in entire accord 
 ■with Christ's revealed will. The Holy 
 Spirit will create a holy life and a 
 correct belief. 
 
 In the same manner we must inter- 
 pret John's teachings concerning sin 
 (2 : 9). The Christian is a Christian 
 because he is regenerated by the Holy 
 Spirit whose work is, of necessity, a holy 
 work. The Christian man must, there- 
 fore, of necessity be a holy man of God. 
 At the center of his being there is a 
 love for God that is irreconcilable with 
 a life in sin or a love for sin. This 
 principle must ultimately result in a 
 life that is beyond sin and sinning. 
 John looks upon the Christian as one 
 who has in him the principle of a sin- 
 less life. He therefore speaks of him 
 as existing in that state now. At the 
 present time no one, as a matter of 
 fact, is in that state. John is looking 
 at the Christian life and its opposite in 
 the light of the ruling motives that 
 characterize them. John is preemi- 
 nently the idealist of the New Testa- 
 ment, though this method of presenting 
 the truth is used by Paul. Writing in 
 a general way of the Christian life, 
 Paul declares that the believer has 
 died to sin, has been buried out of 
 sight, has risen to a resurrection life on 
 the earth._ (see Rom. e : i-i.) This de- 
 scription is not actually true of anj' 
 believer, but it is the ideal to which 
 the Christian life is constantly approx- 
 imating. 
 
 Note 3. Heresies of the apos- 
 tolic AGE. We must not think of 
 the first centuries of the church as 
 ages of undimmed piety and incorrupt 
 doctrine. That the members brought 
 into the churches would bring in 
 traces of their former heathenism is 
 not to be wondered at. The letters 
 to the Corinthians show how much 
 of this element was in the church, 
 and how vigorous was the fight to 
 keep the church pure in life (> Cor. 6: 
 «-u). The letters of Paul reveal the 
 long and hard struggle to maintain the 
 teaching of salvation by faith alone 
 through Christ without the works of 
 the law. In the letters of John other 
 errors present themselves. Paul, 
 years before, addressing the elders of 
 the Ephesian church, had predicted 
 the birth of dangerous heresies (Aet» 
 
 20 : 30). The letters to Timothy at 
 Ephesus, showed false teachings as 
 widely prevalent (i Tim. i : s-t). We 
 find the names of two of these false 
 teachers (i Tim. i : 20). In the letter to 
 the church at Ephesus in the Revela- 
 tion (2 : 6) there is allusion to a sect of 
 Nicolaitans. This letter reveals an 
 idolatrous and licentious element in 
 their religious life. John, in his first 
 
 and second letters (1 John 2 : is ; 2 John 7), 
 
 speaks of deceivers in the world. It 
 was asserted that to maintain the sin- 
 less nature of Jesus it must be affirmed 
 that he did not possess a material or- 
 ganization. With this as an assumed 
 truth large consequences follow as a 
 matter of course. If Jesus had no real 
 body, then there was no complete atone- 
 ment wrought for sin, for there was no 
 divine human person who suffered. 
 Therefore also Jesus was not for us a 
 perfect example, for he was not him- 
 self a person like ourselves who had 
 passed through temptation. Jesus could 
 be neither redeemer, mediator, nor 
 brother. The effect of the denial of a 
 real body to Jesus would be to make 
 all knowledge uncertain. If the teach- 
 ings of sight, hearing, and touch are 
 worthless in establishing a belief in 
 the real existence of an object there 
 can be no foundation for any facts in 
 nature, and all knowledge becomes a 
 no-knowledge or an uncertainty. John 
 lays great stress upon Jesus having 
 come in the flesh {* ■ 3), upon the reality 
 of his person (1 = i-s). In Timothy 
 Paul alludes to a practical result of 
 the admission that matter is sinful, in 
 the forbidding of marriage (1 Tim. * : s). 
 If the body forms no part of the real 
 self then, on the other hand, the com- 
 mission of sensual excesses are not in 
 themselves immoral, inasmuch as the 
 body that commits these violations of 
 law is not of itself any part of the real 
 man. And, therefore, in the early ages 
 it was maintained that it was not im- 
 moral for professing Christians to in- 
 dulge in any desired bodily pleasures. 
 An abominable licentiousness was the 
 result of this teaching. It was vastly 
 important for John to safeguard the 
 reality of the person of Christ as well 
 as his divinity, to maintain his exist- 
 ence in the flesh, to declare that with 
 the giving up the real Christ that God 
 himself would in reality be given up 
 
Ch. II.] 
 
 I. JOHN 
 
 63 
 
 (» : 2S). The center of Christianity is 
 Clirist. To pervert the rigiit teachings 
 about Christ is to corrupt Christianity 
 itself. 
 
 Practical Remarks. 
 
 1. Sin is a wicked and destructive thing. 
 It is not forced upon us from outside, but 
 springs up from witliiu. Its wilfuluess 
 malces its guilt (ver. 1). 
 
 2. It is a cause for rejoicing that Jesus 
 has made provision for tlie forgiveness of 
 sins. Every one in the world may say, 
 Jesus died for me. No one is shut out 
 from Christ's salvation unless he shuts 
 himself out by his own unbelief and rejec- 
 tion of Christ (ver. 2). 
 
 3. Jesus did not cease to love and help 
 men when he died on the cross. He is 
 still concerned for men, especially for 
 those who are his. We need no human 
 mediators, nosaiuts in heaven, no angelic 
 intercession when we have Jesus as an 
 ever-living advocate (ver. 2). 
 
 4. Right knowing should lead to right 
 doing. Works are not the ground of jus- 
 tification, but the evidence of it (ver. 3). 
 
 5. A conformity to Christ who is the 
 truth meaus far more than veracity, truth- 
 telling. A man's life must be in har- 
 mony, not only with his confession, but 
 with Christ's teachings and Christ's life 
 (ver. 4). 
 
 6. Love to God is the only motive that 
 can compel to a right keeping of God's 
 commands. Fear may produce an out- 
 ward keeping of God's laws; other mo- 
 tives may conspire to the same end. The 
 law of God needs back of it the love of 
 God (ver. 5). 
 
 7. 8. The death of Christ was a ransom, 
 an atonement. Christ, in person, con- 
 tinues his work for the salvation and per- 
 fection of believers. The life of Christ in 
 heaven furnishes a motive for comfort 
 and an overcoming life (ver. 6). Duties 
 in him arise from new motives, and are 
 enforced by new examples (ver. 7). 
 
 9. Sin is darkness, holiness is light. In 
 regeneration light, as a prevailing prin- 
 ciple, comes into the heart, but al 1 through 
 the life the light is getting a new power 
 in the life. Duty will have a stronger 
 hold, the conscience will be more tender, 
 sin will seem more ugly as the heart grows 
 in grace (ver. 8). I 
 
 10. Brotherly love is an evidence of love 
 to God. But a mere philantiiropy can 
 never take the place of piety (ver. 9). 
 
 11. Life is a journey, needing open eyes 
 and careful feet. Sin gives wrong views 
 of life, dulls the understanding, blinds 
 the eyes, leads to carelessness. Only a 
 God-guided being can pass through life 
 aright (ver. 11 ; Matt. 22 : 1.3). 
 
 12. The forgiveness of sins is God's gift 
 through Christ. Not even repentance 
 alone can secure forgiveness apart from 
 Christ. Forgiveness is never found apart 
 from repentance, regeneration, adoption, 
 a holy life (ver. 12). 
 
 13. Every age should cultivate the graces 
 peculiar to it. Years of confession should 
 impart strength of soul, a vigorous char- 
 acter, a larger knowledge (ver. 13). 
 
 14. Satan is strong. It requires a strong- 
 er one to overcome him. This the young 
 disciple can do through Christ helping 
 him. The young disciple will often have 
 his hardest struggles at the beginning of 
 the Christian life (ver. 14). 
 
 15. The unbeliever lives for the things 
 that are seen, he is a man whose portion 
 is in this life. The believer lives, or 
 should live, for the unseen things — for 
 Jesus, for the Father. The fitting occu- 
 pant of the throne in the heart is God 
 (ver. 15). 
 
 16. The world is unsatisfactory, passing, 
 deceitful. He is a foolish man whose 
 only wealth is material things (Luke 12 : 
 20). The Christian must keep the world 
 under his feet, not in his heart (ver. 16). 
 
 17. The Christian is living for an assured 
 and indestructible future. Only the man 
 who lives in and for Christ will share in 
 God's blessedness (ver. 17). 
 
 IS. The temptations to an ungodly life 
 and to a corrupted teaching must be re- 
 sisted. If overcome they will make the 
 life stronger (ver. 18). 
 
 19. The most dangerous errors are those 
 having a large admixture of truth. The 
 most dangerous teachers are those who 
 have, at some time, named Christ. Those 
 errors which affect the deity of Christ, 
 the authority of the Scriptures, the salva- 
 tion through Christ, the claims of morality 
 upon the life, the reality of the future 
 state of rewards and punishments, these 
 are fundamental questions (ver. 19). 
 
G-4 
 
 
 
 
 I. JOHN 
 
 
 
 [Ch. 
 
 III. 
 
 3 
 
 BEHOLD, 
 
 what 
 
 manner 
 
 of love the | 3 BEHOLD 
 
 what 
 
 manner 
 
 of love the 
 
 20. Every Christian is an anointed priest 
 and prophet. The Holy Spirit, if yielded 
 to, will lead to a knowledge of the truth 
 (John 16 : 13). Holiness is essential for 
 a right knowledge of God's teachings 
 (ver. 20). 
 
 21. Eternal life is a life begun here; it 
 is a present possession (John 10 : 28) . In its 
 full sense it is completed and glorified on 
 the other side (Matt. 19 : 29). Even Jesus 
 ■was encouraged by the joy of the life to 
 come (ver. 21 ; Heb. 12 : 2 ; 6 : IS). 
 
 22. The touchstone of right thinking 
 and living is Christ (Luke 2 : 35). A con- 
 fession with the heart and life brings a 
 present ownership of the Father and the 
 Son. He who does not confess Christ is, 
 in reality, denying him (ver. 23). 
 
 23. Abiding in Christ is essential to 
 safety and growth. Not the man who 
 begins well, but the man who keeps on 
 will attain the blessed life (ver. 24). 
 
 24. Satan and false teachers may tempt, 
 but only the weakened nature can be led 
 to yield. Little deviations from the truth 
 should be guarded against. Jesus, the 
 Bible, and the Holy Spirit, being held 
 fast to, the feet will be in safety (ver. 26). 
 
 25. The anointing spoken of as vouch- 
 safed to all Christians, is a permanent 
 gift, leads to the truth, contributes to 
 holiness and peace, and creates assurance, 
 the privilege of all believers (ver. 27). 
 
 Part two. The result op fel- 
 lowship WITH God is holiness. 
 Chap. 3-4 : 6. 
 
 Having considered the nature of 
 fellowship with God, who is light, 
 John now passes to consider the result 
 of fellowship with God, which is holi- 
 ness. Tlie design of this holy fellow- 
 ship with God is not the creation of 
 peace and joy in the soul, though they 
 are natural results, but something 
 vastly larger and higher, the forma- 
 tion of a holy character. A fellowship 
 with (iod that does not result in 
 godlikeness is a fellowship only in 
 seeming. The keyword of this sec- 
 tion is found in 3 : 3, eve^i as he -is 
 pure. The highest attribute in God is 
 his holiness. Ilia majesty might over- 
 awe us, but it would furnish no rea.son 
 for worship. The highest quality in 
 
 the believer, in John's view, is a like 
 holiness of character, a life that shall 
 reflect God's character. The radical 
 difference between the believer and the 
 unbeliever is the holy character. That 
 which constitutes heaven is not the 
 gold or the pearl or the palm, but the 
 jjure heart. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 The opening thought of this chapter 
 follows closely the last verse of chap. 2. 
 To be begotten of God (2 : 29) is to be a 
 child of God; to be a child of God 
 implies a likeness to God. Believers 
 are now the children of God. This 
 must inspire to holy living (ver. i-s) ; 
 holiness is the mark of the children of 
 God, unholiness is the mark of the 
 children of the devil (ver. 9-13) ; holi- 
 ness will lead to brotherly love, ban- 
 ishing hatred (ver. n-is) ; the holy life 
 begets a confidence in the heart, dis- 
 pelling doubt and fear (ver. 19-24). 
 
 1-8. The high destiny of the 
 children op god and the duty 
 of keeping themselves pure. 
 John develops the thought of sonship 
 with its attendant results. Since God 
 is so largely unknown by the world, 
 tlie child of God will not be loved by 
 the world. Because they are children 
 there will come a complete likeness to 
 Christ, who is God manifest in the 
 flesh, and a purification of the life that 
 now is. 
 
 1. Behold calls attention to a mar- 
 velous statement now to be made. 
 John had been a disciple for many 
 years; in his old age the thought of 
 God's personal relation to the believer 
 awakens astonishment and admiration. 
 What manner. God is a God of 
 love. This is manifest in God's pro- 
 vision for the welfare of man. There 
 is a love of God toward all men, mani- 
 fest in the gift of the Son for their sal- 
 vation (Johu s : 16). This is the love of 
 redemption — God's love for the guilty, 
 the undeserving, the need.v, and apos- 
 tate children of men. How great the 
 love that, springing out of itself, sought 
 the welfare and salvation of men, that 
 gave the Son, that led to humiliation 
 in the Son's life (Puii. 2 : 8). There is a 
 great chasm between God's infinity 
 and man's creaturely life, a greater 
 
Ch. III.] 
 
 I. JOHN 
 
 65 
 
 Father hath bestowed upon us that 
 B we should be called the sons of God. 
 Therefore the world knoweth us not, 
 2 i" because it knew him not. Beloved, 
 ' now are we the sons of God, and '' it 
 
 Father has given to us, that we should 
 be called children of God ; and such 
 we are. For this cause the world 
 knows us not, because it knew him 
 2 not. Beloved, now are we children of 
 
 g John 1 : 12; 2 Cor. 6 : 18. 
 
 A John 15: 18, 19; 17 ; 25. 
 k Rom. 8 : 18 ; 1 Cor. 13 : 12. 
 
 i Rom. 8: 15; Gal. 3; 26. 
 
 chasm between God's holiness and 
 man's guilt, yet God sought and found 
 man. This love is unique in its kind 
 and in its degree. It is love itself, not 
 some proof of it that is given. This 
 love finds its expression in what fol- 
 lows. Father. John is not speaking 
 of the relation of the Creator to his 
 creatures whereby all are his children 
 (Acta 17 ; 28), whereby he is also called 
 the "Father of spirits" (Heb. 12 : »), 
 but of that closer relation existing be- 
 tween the father and the child, with 
 the spirit of sonship. Bestowed. 
 This refers to the definite act whereby 
 God gave himself to us in Christ. The 
 incarnation, the entire work of the 
 atonement, the gift of the Holy Spirit, 
 are all included in this one bestow- 
 ment. Called. To be called and to 
 be are often used interchangeably in 
 the Bible, but here the being called is 
 contrasted with the being children in 
 the same sentence. The aorist tense 
 signifies that we have received once 
 for all the title of children. Sons, 
 rather, children. Paul uses the term 
 sons ; John, looking not so much at 
 the process of adoption, but at the re- 
 newal of nature, uses the term chil- 
 dren. The Revised version adds an 
 expressive phrase at this point, and 
 such xve are. The designation of chil- 
 dren is not an empty or fictitious one, 
 it does not exist in name merely. They 
 are called children, they are children. 
 They are not simply adopted as such, 
 tliey are born such. The point of view 
 of John is ditferent from that of Paul. 
 According to Paul believers receive for 
 Christ's sake the rights of children by 
 adoption (g»i- * : a). According to John 
 the believer receives through Christ 
 the child's nature. In Paul's view the 
 old nature of man is transformed into 
 the new ; in John's view an altogether 
 new principle of nature takes the place 
 of the former. In the present life there 
 is a vital relation between the believer 
 and God. Sonship does not begin in 
 heaven, it is completed there. There 
 
 K 
 
 is involved m the conception of child- 
 hood the idea of growth ; the spiritual 
 life begins with a spiritual infancy, 
 and goes on to the stature of full man- 
 hood in Christ (Epb- * : i3). It is the 
 highest honor that can come upon a 
 person, the right to be called a child 
 of God, to be such in reality. There- 
 fore, rather, for this cause. The world 
 does not understand the believer, hia 
 aims, purposes, plans, method of liv- 
 ing, his joys and hopes. Jesus was 
 misunderstood; the followers of Christ 
 were regarded as enthusiasts. Carey, 
 with his plan of world-wide missions, 
 was a laughiug-stock to the worldly 
 wise men of his age. Even when vio- 
 lent persecution has passed away there 
 will remain the settled antagonism of 
 the world to the decided Christian. A 
 fashionable and cultured world, not in- 
 fluenced by the spirit of Christ, can be 
 an intolerant and persecuting world. 
 Sneers and ridicule are as efiective 
 weapons of persecution as the stake 
 and the jail. The world, as here 
 used, is the world as fixed and hard- 
 ened in sin. Knew him not. The 
 him refers primarily to God who was 
 manifested in Christ. Christians are 
 not recognized or known because God 
 is not recognized or known. See the 
 
 words of Jesus ( Jobn 15 : is ; 18 -.25). The 
 
 world, so long as it is under the control 
 of the ungodly spirit, cannot know 
 
 God (Rom. 8 : 7). 
 
 2. This verse repeats the statement 
 of ver. 1, that there is a present son- 
 ship, and contains also the prophecy 
 of a completed sonship. Beloved 
 marks the beginning of an appeal to 
 the sharers in this common love of 
 God. Though the world did not recog- 
 nize them, yet they were the children 
 of God. As children they have a 
 future. Appear, rather, inade 7na)it- 
 fest. We look for an inheritance in 
 character and surroundings not yet 
 revealed. John had not seen what 
 God would do for his children. Paul 
 speaks of groanings in the present life 
 
66 
 
 I. JOHN 
 
 [Ch. III. 
 
 doth not yet appear what we shall be : 
 but we kuow that, when he shall ap- 
 pear, 'we shall be like him; for "Mve 
 3 shall see him as he is. "And every 
 man that hath this hope in him puri- 
 fieth himself, even as he is pure. 
 
 God, and it was never yet manifested 
 what we shall be. We know that If 
 he be manifested, we shall be like him, 
 because we shall see him as he is. 
 3 And every one, that has this hope on 
 him, purifies himself even as he is 
 
 J Pa. 17 : 15 ; 1 Cor. 15 : 49 ; 2 Peter 1 ; 4. 
 
 m Matt. 5:8; John 17 : 24. n 2 Cor. 7 : 1 ; 2 Peter 3 : 14. 
 
 that shall, in time, give way to a weight 
 of glory (Kom.8 ; 23). John luid spoken 
 in 2 : 28 of the manifestation of God, 
 he here resumes the same thought. 
 But . . • appear, rather, We know 
 that ij he shall he manifested. The 
 Revised version places it in the Margin. 
 However much of indefiniteness may 
 be about the future, we know that the 
 manifestation of God in Christ will 
 create a perfect conformity in body, 
 soul, and spirit to his image. There 
 ■was the promise of Jesus, which John 
 had heard, that there should be a sight 
 of the glorified Christ and fellowship 
 with him (John 17 : 24). The sonship 
 will be no more real then than now, 
 but it will be complete in character 
 and in conditions. John does not in- 
 dicate when this manifestation shotikl 
 occur. So far as the words themselves 
 are concerned, they might be fulfilled 
 in John's day or not for centuries after- 
 ward. The manifestation refers to the 
 personal appearance of Jesus a second 
 time. The term manifested implies 
 his real existence at the present time. 
 The glory desired by John is a spiritual 
 character. We shall be like him. 
 Everything else, all material concep- 
 tions of heaven, are unthought of. The 
 design of the Chri.stian life is a con- 
 formity to Christ (Roii>. 8 : 29). Heaven 
 is not so much place as condition. The 
 likeness .spoken of is not equality, nor 
 absorption in the Godhead, nor identifi- 
 cation, but similarityin character. For. 
 Tliis gives the reason for the spiritual 
 conformity, a sight of God as lie really 
 is. Tiie time at which, and the method 
 by which the conformity will be re- 
 alized, are both expressed. Purity of 
 heart is essential to the sight of God 
 (Matt. 5 : 8), and the sight of God, as he 
 is, on the other hand, completes the 
 glorification. No one can look upon 
 God as he is in himself, (see k.\oci. 33 : 20; 
 1 Tim. 6 : i«.) "What Capacities a glorified 
 body may have we do not know. There 
 is a physical si^ht of God tliat will 
 bring no spiritual transformation (Matt. 
 
 22 : 13 ; 25 : 31-46 ; Rev. 6 : 16). As JcSUS 
 
 walked among men some were even 
 repelled from a holy life, and became 
 harder in nature. For the method of 
 spiritual transformation here by a sight 
 of the glorified Christ see 2 Cor. 3 : 18. 
 The sight of God here meant is a spir- 
 itual fellowship. In the unseen life no 
 corrupted body will pull the soul down, 
 no bad influences will weaken the holy 
 desires, no environments will entice, 
 the surroundings will inspire to a holy 
 life and large impartations of grace 
 will be given. 
 
 3. The eflect of this hope of future 
 glory will be evidenced in the present 
 life. Hope in him, rather, hope set 
 on him. The hope rests on him as on 
 a foundation. The Christian life does 
 not exhaust itself in dreams of heaven, 
 but shapes the life that now is into 
 accord with the life that is to be. 
 Purifieth. This springs from a hope 
 fixed on God. The will to do this 
 springs from God's will inworking (Heb. 
 13 : 21). Apart from Christ nothing can 
 be done (Jo'm JS = 5). The life of purity 
 means a will co-operating with God's 
 will, responding to its claims. The 
 term used here and in 1:9 means a 
 cleansing from all spiritual unclean- 
 ness. The quality and extent of the 
 purification is found in the phrase, as 
 he is pure. This is both motive and 
 rule. As all the allusions here are to 
 tlie Father, it is better to refer this to 
 him, meaning the essential divine ele- 
 ment of purity which dwells primarily 
 in God. John does not teach that this 
 purity is attained in this life. It may 
 be asserted that the tendency of tliis 
 hope is toward puritj' in life ; all who 
 have this hope will aim to become 
 holy ; this hope will be consummated 
 in time. The same kind of purity that 
 makes heaven exists now in the be- 
 liever; it will be enlarged in degree 
 hereafter, and all impurities elimi- 
 nated. All Christians should be holier 
 than they are ; the best Christians feel 
 this the most. It is a mistake to affirm 
 
Ch. III.] 
 
 I. JOHN 
 
 67 
 
 4 Whosoever committeth sin trans- 
 gresseth also the law: for "sin is the 
 
 5 transgression of the hiw. And ye 
 know p that he was manifested i to take 
 away our sins ; and ■• in him is no sin. 
 
 6 ' Whosoever abideth in him sinueth 
 not ; < whosoever sianeth hath not seen 
 him, neither known him. 
 
 4 pure. Every one that commits sin 
 commits transgression of law al.so ; 
 
 5 and sin is transgression of law. And 
 ye know that he was manifested that 
 he might take away sins ; and in him 
 
 6 is no sin. Every one that abides in 
 him sins not ; whoever sins has not 
 seen him, nor does he know him. 
 
 Rom. 7 : 7-13 ; James 2 : 9-11. p I : i. 
 
 < John 15 : 4-7. 
 
 q Joliu 1 : 29 ; 1 Tim. 1 : 15. 
 (2:4; 3 John 11. 
 
 Isa. 53 : 9. 
 
 sinlessness of the believer's life at the 
 present ; it leads to light views of siu ; 
 it is a greater mistake to feel that sin- 
 ning is such a necessity of the present 
 life that the believer remains iu sin 
 quiescently and contentedly. The be- 
 liever must glowingly regard siu as a 
 hateful thing, to be fought against and 
 overcome. 
 
 John now passes on in the develop- 
 ment of the thought of purification to 
 show that regeneration and sinning are 
 incompatible in their nature. He con- 
 siders this first as arising from our re- 
 lation to Christ who was manifested to 
 take away sin, and from our knowledge 
 of him. He considers this second from 
 the relation of sin to the devil with 
 whom the Christian can have no fellow- 
 ship. He considers the believer in his 
 fundamental relation to Christ as the 
 source of his spiritual life, and in his 
 fundamental antagonism to Satan in 
 whom is summed up, as it were, the 
 evil in the world. 
 
 4. Whoever . . . law, rather, every 
 one that doeth sin doeth also lawlessn ess ; 
 and sin is laic/essness. Sin is looked 
 upon as a real thing involving the action 
 of the will — "doeth sin." It is some- 
 thing more than a condition or state of 
 the mind, it is an actual doing. However 
 decorous sin may be, it is in its very 
 nature lawlessness and moral anarchy. 
 John has already taught (» ; 29) that 
 one begotten of God is righteous. Hav- 
 ing thus dwelt on sonship with its con- 
 sequent privileges and duties, he now 
 comes back again to the thought of the 
 manifestation of Christ the righteous. 
 Christ came to make an atonement by 
 which righteousness is rendered pos- 
 sible, and to live a life, making right- 
 eousness obligatory by his example. 
 The Roman Catholic commentators 
 make a mistake in referring this state- 
 ment to what are called mortal sins in 
 distinction from venial sins. John is 
 
 dealing with siu in its innermost na- 
 ture ; as such the statement is true of 
 all sins. 
 
 5. He who sins does so in violation 
 of the entire purpose of Christ's mani- 
 festation. Ye know ... take 
 away . . . sins. The coming of 
 Christ had to do with sin, to atone for 
 sin, that men might escape from its 
 power and penalty, to remove actual 
 sin from tlie heart (Juhn i ; 29). He 
 came to take away sin because in him 
 is no sin. There was in Christ a sin- 
 less nature, and therefore a sinless life. 
 
 6. John gives his estimate of the 
 character of the believer's life, the life 
 of a child of God. He defines the life 
 in a negative way. Sinneth not. 
 In ver. 7 he gives the positive side of 
 the Christian life, " is righteous." I17(0- 
 soever . . . sinneth not. John is speak- 
 ing, as is his habit, of the ideal state 
 of the Christian, of what it is in com- 
 pleteness. In this ideal state, bound 
 as it is to Christ in a vital union, there 
 is and can be no sin. There is im- 
 planted in the soul at regeneration cer- 
 tain divine principles which will, in 
 time, render sin impossible. The life 
 of God and the life in sin absolutely 
 exclude each other. The man abiding 
 in God must share in God's life. In 
 baptism the believer confesses that he 
 is dead to sin and is buried, as to his 
 old nature, out of sight in the watery 
 grave, and a new resurrection life at 
 once emerges. The believer is then 
 called upon to make actual in his life 
 the ideal of which he has made con- 
 fession (Rom. 6:4: 8 : 13). To abide in 
 him, to know him, to be begotten of 
 him, to be without sin are equivalent 
 expressions. If any one sin this is the 
 proof that one has not seen God, has 
 not known God. Every sin committed 
 is a proof that the nature is not yet 
 entirely under the control of the light. 
 For every defection forgiveness must 
 
68 
 
 I. JOHN 
 
 [Ch. hi. 
 
 7 Little children, let no man deceive 
 you: "he tliat doelh righteousness is 
 righteous, 'even as he is righteous. 
 
 8 y He that committeth sin is of the 
 devil ; for the devil siuneth from the 
 
 7 Little children, let no one deceive 
 you. He that does righteousness is 
 
 8 righteous, even as he is righteous. He 
 that commits sin is of the Devil ; be- 
 cause the Devil sins from the begin- 
 
 u 2 : 29 ; Ezek. 18 : 5-9; Rom. 2 : 13. x Ver. 3; 1 Peter 1 : 15, 16. y Matt. 13 : 38 ; Johu 8 : 44. 
 
 be sought aud divine help implored 
 against further defection. John is 
 urging reasons against a life in sin by 
 these considerations, sin is a violation 
 of God's law (ver. 4); the object of the 
 coming of Christ is to take away sin 
 (rer. 5); those who are Christ's do not 
 siu (ver. 6); those wlio siii are of the 
 devil (ver. 8); there is in every believer 
 a principle of true piety (ver. 9). 
 
 7. John is writing to counteract false 
 teachings as in 2 : 26. Children, 
 rather, my little children. Deceive 
 you, rather, lead you astray. Various 
 views have at times been held that would 
 lead to erroneous teachings, as that holi- 
 ness is not to be expected here, therefore 
 one may live a careless moral life ; that 
 Christ came to relax the moral law ; 
 that bodily passions, lying outside of 
 the soul, might be indulged without 
 sin ; that transgression consists in out- 
 breaking sins only, not in the want of 
 conformity to God's laws ; that sins of 
 infirmity and venial sins are not real 
 sins. John declares that every one 
 having the character of a rigliteous 
 man must do the works of a righteous 
 man. The righteous life is not an 
 optional thing, but a moral necessity. 
 Doeth righteousness is John's test 
 of being righteous. The righteous 
 man is one that is renewed in heart, 
 forgiven, walking in conformity with 
 God's law. Jesus laid the same em- 
 phasis upon doing (Matt. 7 : 16-23). Moral- 
 ity is an element of piety, but not the 
 whole of it. As he is righteous. 
 The quality of the righteousness of the 
 believer is of the same kind as that 
 which dwells in God, but far inferior 
 in degree, in quantity, Johu here ab- 
 solutely and unconditionally excludes 
 all sin from the Christian life, asserts 
 that it must correspond to the image of 
 Christ in a complete rigiiteousness. 
 In what precedes, however, he has 
 plainly said that the Christian life 
 needs a purifying process (1:7). In 
 opposition to all lax views concerning 
 sin he brings out the full .scope of what 
 is involved in the essential nature and 
 
 idea of sin and righteousness to show, 
 in all its majesty and power, the claims 
 of the Christian life arising from fel- 
 lowship with Christ. It is the same 
 point of view presented by the Saviour 
 in the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5 : 48). 
 The Christian life as such is, in its very 
 nature, a life of righteousness. Under 
 this aspect no diflerences of moral 
 gradation can be made, although in 
 actual life such gradations are found 
 to exist. It must follow, tiierefore, 
 that every one begotten of God, in the 
 determining influence of his life, must 
 be entirely averse to sin. It is owing 
 to the results of the former life in sin 
 that the believer is not brought at once 
 into a complete subordination to the 
 will of Christ, and that disturbances 
 arise in the moral life. 
 
 8. The apostle has shown that being 
 begotten of God involves a righteous 
 life ; he now shows further that a sin- 
 ful life involves, of necessity, a moral 
 fellowship with the devil. Com- 
 mitteth, rather, doeth. Sin, whether 
 inward or outward, is regarded as an act, 
 a something done wilfully. Even a dis- 
 position of character, as something held 
 fast to, is looked upon as a commission 
 of sin. The expression, doing sin, indi- 
 cates a permanent, fixed disposition of 
 character, diametrically opposed to the 
 doing of righteousness, which is the 
 mark of the Christian life. Of the 
 devil, is in contrast with " of God," in 
 ver. 10. John declares that all whose 
 fixed disposition is sinful are in moral 
 kinship with the devil. It is also true 
 of the believer that in so far as he sins 
 he comes under the temporary influence 
 of the devil. See the words of Jesus 
 in Matt. 16 : 23. There is a personal 
 devil, at the opposite moral pole from 
 God. Through him sin entered the 
 moral universe, through him the hu- 
 man race was corrupted. All sin is, 
 therefore, an imitation of Satan ; all 
 who sin are moved by the impulses 
 that move him. Satan stands as the 
 representative of sin ; those who sin are 
 bound to him by spiritual ties, John 
 
Ch. III.] 
 
 I. JOHN 
 
 69 
 
 beginning. For this purpose the Son 
 of God was manifested, 'that he might 
 9 destroy the woiks of the devil. » Who- 
 soever is born of God doth not commit 
 sin; for I" his seed remaiueth in him: 
 " and he cannot sin, because he is born 
 of God. 
 
 ning. To this end the Son of God was 
 
 manifested, that he might destroy tlie 
 9 works of the Devil. Whoever has 
 been begotten of God does not commit 
 sin ; because his seed abides in him : 
 and he can not sin, because he has 
 
 z Gfin. S : 15 ; Luke 10 : 18 ; Johu 16 : 11 ; Hob. 2 : U. 
 o 5 : 1, 4, 18. 6 1 Peter 1 : 23. c Matt. 7 : 18 ; Rom. 6 : 2. 
 
 does not favor any dualism — the belief i 
 in two eternally existing principles of 
 good and evil ; a belief that had wide 
 currency in the early ages. He pre- 
 sents a contrast between the two fathers 
 and the two kinds of children animated 
 by infl uences corresponding to the char- 
 acter of the fathers. It is a willing, 
 not an enforced subjection. For this 
 purpose, rather, to this end. The 
 object of the incarnation was to rec- 
 oncile all things to God (Coi. i : 20). 
 This involved the removal of all hin- 
 drances, the destruction of Satan's hold 
 upon men. Destroy the works. 
 There is a personal agency of Satan in 
 leading men astray, in begetting sins 
 of all kinds (oai- » : 19-21), in blinding 
 the eyes of men (2 Cor. 4 : 4), in alien- 
 ating the mind from God, in perverting 
 men's conceptions of God (Gen. 5). As 
 Jesus came to destroy the works of 
 Satan, it is not possible for one of God's 
 children to be in alliance with the op- 
 ponent of Christ. Christ is Redeemer, 
 Satan is destroyer. Apollyon, one of 
 the names of Satan, signifies the de- 
 stroyer (Bev. 9 : 11). Jesus came to build 
 the foundation of his kingdom on the 
 ruins of Satan's kingdom. Only that 
 man who renounces all sin can share 
 in the work of Christ, can live in ac- 
 cord with the purpose for which Christ 
 came into the world. Christ's triumph 
 means a Satan bruised and under foot 
 (Rom. 16 : 20). Christ and the Christian 
 must be equally antagonistic to Satan, 
 and equally triumphant over him. 
 
 9-13. Holiness is the mark of 
 difference between the chil- 
 DREN OF God and the children 
 OF the devil. There is a radical 
 difference between those who are the 
 children of God and those who are the 
 children of the devil. It is a differ- 
 ence arising from a difference in con- 
 trolling principles. 
 
 9. John defines the character of the 
 believer as one born of C^od, rather, 
 
 begotten. Of him it is affirmed, as his 
 essential characteristic, he does not 
 commit sin, rather, does no sin. So 
 irreconcilable is God's nature to sin 
 that it is impossible for the child of 
 God to sin. Cannot sin. In ver. 6 
 it was stated that the oiie abiding in God 
 does not sin. It is now stated that a 
 birth from God begets a life in wliich 
 sin cannot exist, for the existence of 
 sin in a God-begotten child would be, 
 in reality, to make God the author of 
 sin. The statement is universal in its 
 nature. Whosoever. The seed is 
 the principle of the divine life im- 
 planted, the permanent change in the 
 governing disposition. The idea is 
 that it has in it the power of growth, 
 gradually controlling the entire life. 
 It is an abiding transformation. Re- 
 maiueth, rather, abideth. Cannot 
 sin does not refer to physical but to 
 moral impossibility. God cannot deny 
 himself, his own supremely holy na- 
 ture restrains him (2 Tim. 2 : 13). Tlie 
 only sin that John considers possible 
 to the real Christian is an act wliich 
 he mourns over as soon as recognized 
 as sin, which, through the intercession 
 of the Advocate, is forgiven, and is not 
 followed by the withdrawal of the 
 Spirit, as the ruler of the inner life. 
 The truly regenerate life will find sin 
 more and more incompatible with itself 
 as the life approaches the ideal state. 
 Just in proportion as the divine life 
 penetrates the human life it will be as 
 impossit)le for tlie believer to sin as it 
 is for the angel or the Redeemer of 
 men. We must join the statements of 
 ver. 6, 8, 9 into a harmonious relation 
 with the passages in 1:8 and 2:1. 
 John cannot intend to contradict him- 
 self witliin the space of a few inches. 
 These passages must be interpreted to 
 explain each other. 
 
 10. This verse gives a test by which 
 the children of God may be distiii- 
 guLshed from the children of the devil. 
 
70 
 
 I. JOHN 
 
 [Ch. III. 
 
 10 In this the children of God are mani- 
 fest, and the children of the devil. 
 <^ Whosoever doeth not righteousness is 
 not of God, « neither he that loveth not 
 his brother. 
 
 Brotherly love essential to Chr-istian character 
 — its evidences and fruits. 
 
 11 FOR 'this is the message that ye 
 heard from the beginning, e that we 
 
 12 should love one another. Not as '■ Cain, 
 
 10 been begotten of God. In this are 
 manifest the children of God, and the 
 children of the Devil. Every one that 
 does not righteousness is not of God, 
 neither he that loves not his brother ; 
 
 11 because this is the message which ye 
 heard from the beginning, that we 
 
 12 should love one another. Not as Cain 
 
 d Z: 29; 3 John 11. 
 
 e 2 :9, 10; 4: 8. 
 
 /I :5; 2 : 7, 8. 
 
 g John 13 : 34. 
 
 A Gen. 4 : 4-15. 
 
 In society the children of God and un- 
 believers are mingled together. John's 
 aim is to show how they may be dis- 
 tinguished from each other. Manifest 
 has reference to God, who sees the 
 heart iu its innermost workings, also 
 to men who may judge of the character 
 by the conduct. The doing righteous- 
 ness and the doing sin are the marks 
 respectively of the children of God 
 through regeneration and the children 
 of the devil. It is worthy of notice 
 that unbelievers are never said to be 
 begotten of the devil, they are his 
 children by identity of chai-acter and 
 imitation. In this refers to the con- 
 cluding clause of this verse. The 
 mark of the believer has been shown 
 to be the doing righteousness (^er. 7). 
 It is now further shown that the mark 
 of the unbeliever is doeth not right- 
 eousness. He consequently is not of 
 God. There is now added, in the de- 
 velopment of the thought of unright- 
 eousness, that one of its main elements 
 is the lack of brotherly love. John is 
 writing against those who made pre- 
 tensions to piety and knowledge, but 
 lacked a religious life that controlled 
 their relations to each other. True re- 
 ligion embraces both God and man, so 
 that no one can be right toward God 
 who is not at the same time right to- 
 ward his fellow-man. He does not in- 
 tend to declare that brotherly love is 
 synonymous with righteousness, but 
 no one can be righteous who does not 
 manifest this through brotherly love. 
 It is to be noted that John makes but 
 two clas.ses of men, referring both 
 clas.ses back to their controlling prin- 
 ciples. He has no room for any mid- 
 dle or neutral class of people. This 
 must be a guide to us in all our inter- 
 pretation of John's writings. He does 
 not describe men as he actually sees 
 
 them, with all gradations of character 
 shading into each other imperceptibly, 
 but he seizes hold of the essential prin- 
 ciple of the life, love to God or imita- 
 tion of the devil. The brother spoken 
 of is not here the uuiversal human 
 race, but a brother in the household of 
 God. The Christian is under a deeper 
 obligation to a fellow-disciple than to 
 one not of the household of faith (Gai. 
 6 : 10). The latter part of this verse 
 serves as an introduction to a further 
 discussion of this subject. 
 
 11. This verse furnishes a proof that 
 the absence of love for the brethren 
 shuts a person out from the family of 
 God. No one can love the Father and 
 not love the Father's child, a brother 
 by virtue of a common relation to God. 
 Message. We are reminded by this 
 term of the message in 1 : 7 defining 
 God as a God of light. That was a 
 fundamental teaching in reference to 
 God. This is a fundamental reference 
 in relation to men. A new command- 
 ment is spoken of in 2 : 7. This mes- 
 sage is the substance of that command- 
 ment, given from God at the first, en- 
 forced by new motives, and illustrated 
 in a new way by Jesus and brought to 
 the people by their early religious 
 teachers. The teaching of the apostles 
 embraced a correct theology — right 
 conceptions about God ; and a pure 
 ethics — right relations toward men. 
 Beginning- This refers to the be- 
 ginning of the Christian dispensation. 
 Brotherly love is one of the essential 
 elements of the Christian teaching. 
 John's expression is very forcible, 
 literally, " in order that we love one 
 another." The purpose of the apostolic 
 teaching is defeated if brotherly love 
 be not the practical outcome. 
 
 12. The opposite of brotherly love 
 is hate, as represented by Cain* Not 
 
Ch. III.] 
 
 I. JOHN 
 
 71 
 
 who was of that wicked one. and slew 
 his brother. And wherefore slew he 
 him ? 1 Because his owu works were 
 
 13 evil, and his brother's righteous. Mar- 
 vel not, my brethren, if ^the world 
 
 H hate you. ' We know that we liave 
 passed from death uuto life, " because 
 
 was of the evil one, and slew his 
 brother. And wherefore did he slay 
 him? Because his own works were 
 
 13 evil, and his brother's righteous. Won- 
 der not, brethren, if the world hates 
 you. 
 
 14 We know that we have passed out of 
 
 i Beb. II : 4 k John 15 : 13, 19; 2 Tim. 3 : 12. I Eph. 2 : 1. 
 
 m 4 : 7, 9, 12 ; Matt, 25 : 40; Eph. I : 15. 
 
 . . . brother, rather, not as Cain was 
 of the evil one and sleio his brother. 
 Brotherly love is contrasted with hate, 
 there being no intervening dispo.sition. 
 Where love and unselfishness are want- 
 ing, there hate and selfishness reign. 
 John presents hatred, not in its begin- 
 nings, but in its consummation when 
 it ripens into murder. The root of 
 murder is hate, the absence of love. 
 All hatred, in the New Testament view, 
 has in it potential murder. Cain and 
 Abel are the first Old Testament repre- 
 sentatives of the unbelieving and the be- 
 lieving life. Becau.se Cain was of the 
 evil one he hated Abel. There is an 
 abiding antagonism between righteous- 
 ness and unrighteousness. This is an il- 
 lustration of John's expressive phrases : 
 doing sin, doing unrighteousness, be- 
 ing a child of the devil, being not of 
 God, hating the brother, slaughtering 
 the brother, all of them being diflfering 
 forms of the one thought. 
 
 13. The apostle makes an inference 
 for all ages from the unbrotherly act of 
 Cain. My brethren, omit ??i?/. In all 
 ages there will be the same relation of 
 the believer to God and of the world 
 to the evil one that was represented in 
 the personal lives of Cain and Abel. 
 These abiding relationships will beget 
 a like righteousness and unrighteous- 
 ness. Therefore believers ought not to 
 be surprised if hatred should be felt 
 toward them. See the words of Jesus 
 on this point (Join 15 : n, is). (The rela- 
 tion of Cain and Abel is an illustration 
 of the relation of the world to the be- 
 liever.) The term world indicates 
 those who have a fixed, inveterate op- 
 position to Christ. In this manner 
 Jesus and Paul make use of the term 
 world (Joha 15 : 18: Rom. 12 : 2). The ab- 
 sence of love means hate ; and hate 
 means, when it has come to its logical 
 development, murder; and murder 
 means the absence of eternal life 
 
 (ver 15). 
 
 14-18. A MARK OF HOLINESS WILL 
 BE LOVE FOB EACH OTHER. To love 
 is a mark of life. To hate is an in- 
 fallible mark of abiding in death. 
 God is light, God is life, God is love. 
 To love is to be in the light, is to have 
 life. 
 
 14. It has been shown in ver. 10 that 
 a distinguishing mark of the child of 
 God is a love for the brethren. The 
 distinguishing mark of the world is 
 hate. This hate of the world comes 
 upon the believer (ver. i3). It is now 
 shown again that the mark of the tran- 
 sition from death to life is a love for 
 the brethren. The we is emphatic, 
 though hated by the world we are in 
 fellowship with God. Have passed, 
 in the perfect tense, shows the com- 
 plete and permanent passage into the 
 new spiritual relationship. God's work 
 in regeneration through the Holy Spirit 
 was manifest in the conscious free 
 choice by which Christ and his work 
 were accepted. Death marks the 
 state out of which they have come, 
 the state of spiritual alienation from 
 God. Not to have God's fellowship is 
 to be dead (Eph. 2 : i ; i Tim. 5 : 6). Life 
 means far more than existence, it 
 means a blessed life springing from 
 God, in fellowship with God, finding 
 its goal in God. Love for the brethren 
 is not the cause of this passage from 
 death to life, but the mark and proof 
 of it. There is here expressed a con- 
 scious and full assurance of salvation ; 
 anas.surance reserved not for the apos- 
 tle alone, but for all di.sciples. This 
 love is not a general love for all, but a 
 holy love for the redeemed as such. It 
 is a love for His sake (Matt, j.s : si-ie). 
 Jesus commanded such a spirit (John is : 
 35) . It is a sad feature of the Christian 
 life when Christians persecute fellow- 
 Cliristians, because they do not follow 
 Christ in a manner assumed to be the 
 only right manner. Consult Vedder's 
 "History of the Baptists" to see the 
 
72 
 
 I. JOHN 
 
 [Ch. III. 
 
 we love the brethren. " He that loveth 
 not his brother abideth in death. 
 
 15 "Whosoever hateth his brother is a 
 murderer : and ye know that? no mur- 
 derer hath eternal life abiding in him. 
 
 16 1 Hereby perceive we the love of God. 
 because he laid down his life for us. 
 ■•And we ought to lay down our lives 
 
 17 for the brethren. But » whoso hath 
 this world's good, and seeth his brother 
 have need, and shutteth up his bowels 
 of compassion from him. 'how dwelleth 
 
 18 the love of God in him ? My little 
 
 death into life, because we love the 
 brethren. He that loves not abides in 
 
 15 death. Every one that hates his broth- 
 er is a murderer : and ye know that no 
 murderer has eternal life abiding in 
 
 16 him. In this we know love, that he 
 laid down his life for us ; and we ought 
 to lay down our lives for the brethren. 
 
 17 But whoever has the world's suste- 
 nance, and beholds his brother having 
 need, and shuts up his pity from him, 
 how abides the love of God in him? 
 
 18 Little children, let us not love in 
 
 2 : 0, 11. See Gen. 27 : 41 ; Malt. 5 : 21, 22. p Gal. 5 : 21 ; Rev. 21 : 8. 
 
 8 John 15 : 13 ; Acts 20 : 28 ; Rev. 1:6. r 4 : 11 ; Rom. 16 : 4 ; Phil. 2 : 17, 30. 
 
 « Deut. 15 : 7-11 j Tsa. 58 : 7-10; Luke 3 : 11. t 4 : 20. 
 
 perseciition.s that came upon sincere 
 witnesses for a New Testament church 
 life, in Switzerland, in Germany, Hol- 
 land, England, and in our country. 
 Every century has witnessed this lack 
 of brotherly love. He . , . brother, 
 rather, he that loveth not. _ This refers 
 to the absence of the spirit of love in 
 general, and is not limited to love for 
 believers. Not to love is to dwell in 
 death, in hate, away from God. 
 
 15. This verse emphasizes the 
 thought of the preceding verse, and 
 carries it to its logical conclusion. Not 
 to love is to hate ; to hate is, when it 
 comes to its full growth, murder. John 
 does not intend to say that no one hav- 
 ing committed murder can be forgiven 
 and saved, but while one has a heart 
 of murder there can be no divine life 
 in the soul. The case of Cain is yet in 
 John's mind. (See the words of .Tesus, 
 John 8 : 44.) Ye know shows the 
 Christian consciousness to which John 
 appeals for a right verdict on this 
 statement. The word remaining does 
 not show that the murderer had eternal 
 life and lost it, but is simply a general 
 assertion that this man in whom mur- 
 der dwells does not have the divine life. 
 
 16. The apostle presents the supreme 
 example of love — tliat of Jesus in his 
 self-sacrifice for men. We are carried 
 back in thought to the first verse, " Be- 
 hold, what manner of love." From 
 Cain and human hate he passes to 
 notice the pure life and love of Jesus. 
 Hereby . . . God, rather, hereby 
 knoiu we love. We find love in its 
 essence, its complete manifestation in 
 the love of Christ. He refers to Jesus. 
 It is an impressive expression, as 
 though all would understand, without 
 
 the mention of the name, that Jesus 
 only could be meant. Know is the 
 intellectual deduction from a survey 
 of the love of Christ ; there is included 
 also a heart knowledge, as no one could 
 understand Christ's love without ex- 
 periencing it. Christ's love for us 
 must be changed into a like love in us 
 for others. His self-sacrifice for us 
 must create in us the spirit of self-sac- 
 rifice for others. The spirit of Christ 
 will always carry a cross. 
 
 17. There is in brotherly love the 
 spirit of the Good Samaritan, helpful- 
 ness to the needy. Jesus fed the mul- 
 titude (Matt. 15 . 32) ; Dorcas helped the 
 needy (Acts9:S6); Jesus makes help- 
 fulness, for his sake, a test of salvation 
 (Matt. 25 : 35). The strong must help the 
 weak, not only in spiritual matters, but 
 in counsel, in material aid. Jesus and 
 the Twelve, in their poverty, helped 
 those who were poorer (John is : 29). 
 Notice also the sympathy of the Gen- 
 tile Christians for the poor saints in 
 Jerusalem (1 Cor. le : 1). If we must lay 
 down even our lives, how much more 
 must we consider the smaller, the 
 physical needs. Shutteth ... 
 bowels, rather, shutteth up his com- 
 passioyi. To the Hebrew mind bowels 
 expresses what we mean by heart. 
 HoAV . . . him, rather, how doth the 
 love of God abide in him? Put as a 
 question it is a strong assertion that 
 the life of piety, the life dwelling in 
 God, must be one of helpfulness, in 
 all ways. The world's goods must be 
 used for doing good. Neither ortho- 
 doxy alone nor a morality alone will 
 save; true piety is the love for men 
 that springs from love to God. 
 
 18. John appeals for a sincere, truth- 
 
Ch. III.] 
 
 I. JOHN 
 
 73 
 
 children, "let us not love in word, 
 neither in tongue ; but in deed and in 
 truth. 
 
 19 And hereby we know 'that we are 
 of the truth, ^ and shall assure our 
 
 20 hearts before him. ^ For if our heart 
 condemn us, God is greater tlian our 
 
 21 heart, and kuoweth all things. "Be- 
 
 word, neither with the tongue ; but in 
 
 19 deed and truth. In this we shall know 
 that we are of the truth, and we shall 
 
 20 assure our heart before him, whatever 
 our heart m.iy condemn us for, because 
 God is greater than our heart, and 
 
 21 knows all things. Beloved, if our 
 
 u Ezek. 33 : 31; Rom. 12:9; 1 Cor. 13:4-7. i 1 : 8; Johu 18 : 37. y Ucb. 6 : 10, 11. 
 
 z John 8 : 9 ; 1 Cor. 4:4. a Job 17 : 6. 
 
 ful life and love. Jesus loved in tongue, 
 in word, in deed. Deed is opposed 
 to the profession which amounts to 
 nothing ; truth is opposed to that 
 which is seeming and unreal. Christ 
 kept nothing back in his gift; the 
 Christian must love in the same way, 
 moved by the mind that was in Christ 
 Jesus. 
 
 19-24. The confidence of the 
 HOLY LIFE. Having distinguished 
 between truth and appearance in re- 
 spect of love, requiring the love which 
 is truth, John now connects this with 
 the general statement that the entire 
 Christian life must have its root in 
 truth. Character and conduct must be 
 in accord with sincerity and knowl- 
 edge ; there mu.st be no seeming, no 
 hypocrisy. The believer must belong 
 to the kingdom of reality, and be in 
 accord with Him who is the truth. And 
 this would beget in the believer a con- 
 fidence and assurance of heart ; a con- 
 fidence that would dispel doubt and 
 fear. A true brotherly love is a test of 
 the Christian state. 
 
 19. And hereby, rather, hereby. 
 The reference is to what has gone be- 
 fore, the fulfilment of the exhortation 
 to love in reality. The presence of a 
 true love for others and a willingness 
 to make sacrifices will beget the spirit 
 of assurance. Know, rather, shall 
 we knoio. This is a natural consequence 
 of the state of mind spoken of. Of 
 thetrnth. This does not mean merely 
 that they are really what they appear 
 to be, but they are begotten by the 
 truth even as they have l)een begotten 
 of God. Assure our hearts. The 
 assurance spoken of will be able to still 
 the mi.sgivings of the heart that arise 
 from the remembrance of defects and 
 failures in the life. Peter appealed to 
 the larger knowledge of .Jesus as a 
 source of justification (John n -. n). Be- 
 fore him does not allude to the future 
 
 judgment, but to the continued presence 
 of Christ or God before whom the life 
 is lived. The value of a calm con- 
 sciousness in harmony with itself is 
 seen in this that ev^n in his presence 
 is there confidence (Rom. 8 : 34). The 
 term hearts, rather, heart, as used in 
 John, is about equivalent to conscience 
 as used by Paul, when he speaks of the 
 thoughts of men accusing or excusing 
 them (R"K>- 2 ■ is). There will be con- 
 scious imperfections in the believer's 
 life, but he may know whether his love 
 for God and for others is sincere, and 
 whether his desire is to live in con- 
 formity with God's will. Assurance is 
 not of the essence of salvation, but it 
 is a source of strength and inspiration 
 for Christian activity. No other writ- 
 ing in the New Testament uses the 
 term knoiu so many times as this 
 letter. It is designed for the cultiva- 
 tion of Christian assurance. A Christly 
 spirit within will not fear a Christ 
 upon the throne. 
 
 20. For if . . . condemn, rather, 
 whereinsoever our heart condevins us. 
 This must be joined closely with the 
 preceding verse. In the presence of a 
 holy law, commanding perfection, there 
 will be a conscious imperfection (1 = 8; 
 2:1). iSins of omission and commission 
 will be remembered. These taken in 
 and by themselves will bring condem- 
 nation upon tlie heart ; the conscience 
 will reaffirm the condemnation of God's 
 law. From the condemnation of a 
 lower tribunal there is an appeal to a 
 higher. God . . . all things, rather, 
 because God . . . things. This fur- 
 nishes the reason for the heart's assur- 
 ance. From the conscious infirmity 
 and imperfection of the individual 
 heart the believer may fall back upon 
 the love and mercy of one who is in- 
 finitely greater, and therefore more 
 tender than our self-condemning heart. 
 The entire passage is consolatory in 
 
74 
 
 I. JOHN 
 
 [Ch. III. 
 
 loved, if our heart condemn us not, 
 ^ then have we coatidence toward God. 
 
 22 And "= whatsoever we ask, we receive 
 of him, because we keep his commaiid- 
 meuts, dand do those things that are 
 
 23 pleasing in his sight. "And this is his 
 comuiandmeut, Tliat we should be- 
 lieve on the name of his Son Jesus 
 Christ, fand love one another, as he 
 
 heart condemn us not, we have con- 
 
 22 fidence toward God. And whatever 
 we ask. we receive from him, because 
 we keep his commandments, and do 
 the things that are pleasing before him. 
 
 23 And this is his commandment, that we 
 should believe on the name of his Son 
 Jesus Christ, and should love one an- 
 otlier, as he gave us commandment. 
 
 i 2: 28j Heb. 10: 22. c Ps. 34 : 15-17; Matt. 21 : 22. (2 John 9 : 21. 
 
 e Johu 6 : 29; Acts 16 : 31. / John 13 : 34. 
 
 its nature. God's omniscience will not 
 be an enemy, but a friend to the be- 
 liever. Our little hearts have compas- 
 sion for a suSering brother. God's 
 greater heart will have an infinite com- 
 passion toward us in a life of conscious 
 sincerity. 
 
 21. He indicates the blessed results 
 of the persuasion spoken of in ver. 19, 
 20. These re.sults are a confidence of 
 heart and an assured answer to prayer. 
 Condemn us not. This refers to a 
 final conclusion in the heart, sitting in 
 judgment on itself, looking over all 
 the circumstances of our infirmities 
 and God's larger mercy. Faith has 
 triumphed over a self-condemning de- 
 spair. John alludes to a state of mind 
 expressed by Paul. "For I know 
 nothing against myself" (i cor. 4 : 4). 
 The confidence of the believer has been 
 brought about by the consoling and 
 indwelling Holy Spirit (ver 24). Then 
 ... God, rather, we have boldness 
 toward God. Boldness is a favorite 
 word of John, used four times in this 
 letter (2 : 28 ; 4 : n ; 6 : 14). Twice it ex- 
 presses his confidence of hope in refer- 
 ence to a day of judgment ; twice it is 
 used in reference to prayer. It corre- 
 sponds in meaning to Paul's use of the 
 term, full assurance. As the believer 
 draws near God in prayer and in fel- 
 lowship, it is not with a slavish fear, 
 but with the confident feeling of a 
 child (Rom. 8 ; 15). God is not so much 
 the great God as the loving Father. 
 The not condemning is the negative 
 side, the boldness toward God is the 
 positive side of the believer's life. 
 
 22. Believers, whose life is of the 
 truth, conscious of no di.sturbance of 
 their filial relation to God through 
 unfaithfulness on their part, may ask 
 all things from their Father in child- 
 like confidence and trust. Whatso- 
 ever we ask. This statement is in 
 accord with the words of Jesus (John 
 
 14:13; 15:7). John spcaks with the 
 utmost confidence ; he had tested the 
 promise through many years. There 
 are always limitations to the seemingly 
 unlimited promises, as that there must 
 be faith (Mark u : 24); the thing desired 
 must be in accord with the will of God 
 (5 : 14). A reason assigned for the an- 
 swer to the prayer, is that the believer 
 is in harmony with God, obedient, well 
 pleasing to him. In proportion as one 
 approaches that state these words are 
 true. 
 
 23. The entire duty of the believer 
 is summed up in the two aspects, to 
 believe in Jesus and to love the breth- 
 ren. The one expres.ses the inner life, 
 the other the outer life. The com- 
 mandment contains all others, em- 
 bracing the unity of faith and love. 
 Faith rests on Jesus, love on the 
 brother. On the name, rather, in. 
 In John's Gospel allusion is made 
 ninety-eight times to believing ; the 
 term repentance is not once used. The 
 sense of sin, repentance, confession, 
 all lead to and find expression in faith 
 in the Son of God. The reference 
 here is to the entire person of Christ, 
 including his work and his words, in- 
 volving also the confession of Christ. 
 Son reveals the relation to God, show- 
 ing the divinity of his person. Jesus 
 is the human designation, giving his 
 name among men. Christ is the title, 
 showing the fulfilment of the Old 
 Testament Scriptures. Love one 
 another. Piety and morality cannot 
 live without each other. God com- 
 mands us to believe in his Son ; Jesus 
 commands us to love each other. Faith 
 without works is dead, works without 
 faith do not commend us to God. John 
 urges first to a right attitude toward 
 Jesus tlien a right action toward 
 others. 
 
 24. The result of obedience to God 
 is a blessed and mutual indwelling of 
 
Ch. III.] 
 
 I. JOHN 
 
 75 
 
 24 gave us commandment. And e he that 
 keepeth his commaudments •■ dwelleth 
 in him, and he in him. And 'hereby 
 we know that he abideth in us, by tli'e 
 Spirit which he hath given us. 
 
 24 And he that keeps his commandments 
 abides iu him, and lie in him. And in 
 this we know that he abides iu us, 
 from the Spirit wliich he gave us. 
 
 i : 12 ; John U : 21-23 : 15 : 10. 
 
 ft John 17 : 21, etc. 
 
 i 4 : 13 ; Rom. 8 : 9-17. 
 
 the believer in God aud God in him. 
 Abiding in him has been spoken of 
 before in this letter (2 : e, 27, 28; 3 : e). 
 The believer abides in him for safety, 
 security, guidance, eternal life, joy, 
 blessedness, peace. 
 
 Note 1. The sinlessness of 
 Christ, 3:5. It is needful to main- 
 tain the spotlessness of the character of 
 Christ. Only in this way can we main- 
 tain the divinity of his nature and his 
 fitness to be a mediatorial sacrifice. 
 His sinlessness is maintained by all the 
 New Testament writers in a formal or 
 in an incidental way. The book of 
 Hebrews shows the superiority of his 
 priesthood in that he was not forced to 
 make an oiFeriug for himself (Heb. 7 : 
 J6). John the Baptist regarded liim as 
 the bearer of the world's sins (Joun 1 : 
 sa). Peter speaks of him as a lamb 
 
 without spot or blemish (1 Peter 1 : I9). 
 
 Paul speaks of Jesus as dying for the 
 ungodly, asserting for him a perfect 
 godliness (Rom. 5:6). The strongest 
 proof of Christ's sinlessness is found 
 in his attitude toward God. Other 
 good men like Payson, Judson, Brain- 
 erd, Spurgeon have been burdened in 
 their confessions and prayers with a 
 sense of their own infirmities. Jesus 
 never betrays any sense of his own sin, 
 though he reproves others. He wor- 
 ships God, but he makes no confession 
 of wrong-doing. He asserts that he is 
 always well pleasing to God (John 8 : 
 M). He says that Satan finds nothing 
 in him (Join li : 80). He was tempted 
 in all points as we are, without sin. 
 Bushnell's sermon on the impossibility 
 of classifying Jesus among men, and 
 UUman's "Sinlessness of Jesus" are 
 very valuable helps to the understand- 
 ing of the sinless character of Christ. 
 
 Note 2. Sinlessness in the pres- 
 ent LIFE, 3 : 9. Taken by itself 1 : 8 
 teaches that sin inheres in every Chris- 
 tian life upon the earth, that complete 
 holiness comes only at the vision of 
 Christ (3 : 2). Taken by itself 3 : 9 teaches 
 
 that the presence of sin in the heart is 
 a proof that one belongs to the king- 
 dom of Satan. Neither passage must 
 be sacrificed in order that tbe other 
 may have its natural meaning. The 
 Romish church divides sins into two 
 classes, mortal and venial sins. Wesley 
 discriminates between sins, calling 
 those only sins in a proper sense which 
 are deliberate violations of known 
 laws. These theories are inconsistent 
 with the Scripture teachings coucern- 
 ing sin in regarding as sins only the 
 wilful, designed violations of law. Any 
 violation of God's law is sin. Paul 
 did not judge himself sinless (1 cor. 4 : 
 *). The struggle portrayed in Rom. 7 
 shows the eflbrts of a saintly man to 
 become more saintly. That the be- 
 liever is commanded to live a life be- 
 yond sin is evident. God as a holy 
 God can give no lower command than 
 this. As a holy God he cannot make 
 a compromise with sin and command 
 a moderately holy life. John is here 
 describing not the average Christian 
 life, but the life as it ought to be; as it 
 might be through Christ's help ; as it 
 will, in time, be in the future. These 
 words of John not only are a descrip- 
 tion of what each life ought to be, but 
 they .serve also as an appeal to live up 
 to this standard. In like manner Paul 
 writes to the Roman Christians, " You 
 are dead, you are buried to the old 
 life, you have been raised in the life 
 that now is to a spiritual resurrection 
 estate" (Rom. 6 : 4). And then afterward 
 as showing that the ideal state had not 
 been realized by these same persons he 
 writes, "Inasmuch as you are ideally 
 dead, put to death the sinful things 
 that yet remain in you" (Rom. a : is). 
 Every believer should aim day by day 
 to live a sinless life. The unattainable 
 should be striven for. And then day 
 by day, realizing that the flesh is weak, 
 he will need to pray for forgiveness 
 and help. 
 
 Note 3. Evidences of the 
 Christi.\n life, 3 : 16. John's first 
 
76 
 
 I. JOHN 
 
 [Ch. III. 
 
 letter seems designed to give answer to 
 the question, How may a person know 
 whether he is a child of God? Inas- 
 much as there is no organization that 
 can infallibly know the heart, as there 
 is no voice from heaven or vision that 
 can speak for God, it is needful to have 
 tests by which the intelligent believer 
 may examine his own heart and life. 
 Creed statements and emotions are not 
 sufficient. John gives no less than 
 eight specific tests of the regenerate 
 life. (1) In 2 : 29 he writes, "Every 
 one also that doeth righteousness is be- 
 gotten of him." A holy life is the test 
 of godliness. The fruits of the Spirit 
 are manifest in the life (cai. 5 : 22, 23). 
 (2) In 3 : 9 he writes, "Whosoever is 
 begotten of God doeth no sin." The 
 life, in its nature, is like Christ's. 
 There will be a permanent break with 
 sin as a ruling power, and a constant 
 growth toward the sinless life in Christ. 
 A person may judge whether there is a 
 growing conformity to Christ and a 
 growing hatred of wrong-doing. (3) In 
 3 : 14 he writes, "We know that we 
 have passed from death to life because 
 we love the brethren." A brotherly 
 love is a test of the new relation to 
 Christ. The Spirit makes a spiritual 
 kinship that is closer than blood rela- 
 tionship (Matt. 12 : 50). (4) In 4 : 7 he 
 writes, "And every one that loveth is 
 begotten of God." Here the love takes 
 a wider range, involving a love for 
 God, for good things, for service, for 
 others, even for enemies. God is love 
 itself— the Christian is also love. (5) 
 In 4 : 15 he writes, " \V'hosoever shall 
 confess that Jesus is the Son of God, 
 God abideth in him." A clear recog- 
 nition and confession of Jesus as the 
 divine one is an evidence of the new 
 life. A real, not a theoretical, knowl- 
 edge of Jesus, is implied. A book like 
 " Ecce Homo," ignoring the higher 
 nature of Jesus, is essentially anti- 
 christian. (6) In 5 : 1 he writes, " Who- 
 soever believeth that Jesus is the Clirist 
 is begotten of God." The confession 
 of the Messiahship of .Tesus is a mark 
 of the new relation to God through 
 Christ. It is not the mere verbal con- 
 fession that Jesus is the Messiah, but 
 the heart knowledge, the believing on 
 .Tesus as the fulfilment of the divine 
 plan unfolded in the Old Testament. 
 (7) In 5 : 4 he writes, " For whatsoever 
 
 is begotten of God overcometh the 
 world." The test of a Christian life is 
 that it is a conquering life. It over- 
 comes self, besetting sins, the tempta- 
 tions of the world, the wiles of Satan. 
 (8) In 5 : 18 he writes, " But he that 
 was begotten of God keepeth himself." 
 He is kept by God, is safe in his hands 
 (John 10 : 28). In like manner the be- 
 liever, because he is a believer, keeps 
 guard over himself. He does not ex- 
 pose himself to temptations, does not 
 walk in the way of danger to the soul. 
 The regenerate life as such has its fit- 
 ting manifestations. By its fruits it 
 must be known . Nowhere in the range 
 of the inspired writings are given so 
 many practical tests of the regenerate 
 life as in this short letter. 
 
 Note 4. John's teaching con- 
 cerning THE Holy Spirit, 3 : 2i. 
 John had heard the promise of Jesus 
 that the Holy Spirit would be bestowed 
 that he might convict of sin, create 
 holiness in the lieart, and lead into the 
 truth (John 16 : 13). John speaks of the 
 Spirit as granted to them at a definite 
 time (5 : 2*). The indwelling Spirit 
 would create a desire to keep God's 
 commands and bestow the ability to 
 keep them. In this way the Spirit 
 would be a constant indwelling witness 
 of God's presence (Rom s : le). This 
 gift of the Spirit does not refer to 
 special endowment, but is regarded as 
 a common and abiding possession, 
 given to all who are Christ's followers. 
 The indwelling Spirit would work in 
 two practical ways, in the perfection of 
 holiness in the life, and also in preserv- 
 ing the truth of Christ free from error 
 (2 : 26, 27). Orthodoxy in thinking 
 about Christ John emphasizes. Wrong 
 conceptions about the person and work 
 of Christ will shape all the views in 
 reference to Christianity and, in time, 
 will shape the practical life. Holiness 
 in living, in the long run, depends on 
 riglit thinking. Jolin insists that the 
 presence of the Holy Spirit in the 
 heart, given at the entering on the 
 Christian life, ought to be a protection 
 for the Christian life, ought to be a 
 protection against error. The Holy 
 Spirit should be as real a teacher as 
 John or Paul (2:27). Tliis was the 
 promise of .Tesus (John ic : i3). How 
 can tliese words be reconciled with the 
 
Ch. III.] 
 
 I. JOHN 
 
 77 
 
 inconsistencies of conduct and belief? 
 There ought, as a mattei* of fact, to be 
 a growing knowledge of Jesus and his 
 teachings. False teachers ought to 
 have no hold upon the intelligent l)e- 
 liever. Varying statements of doctrine 
 might be made and different explana- 
 tions given of the facts underlying 
 Christianity, but in the main, the one 
 common mold of doctrine ought to be 
 held (Rom. 6 : 17), the common form of 
 sound words ought to be maintained 
 (a Tim. 1 : 13). There ought to be no 
 mysticism that lays undue stress upon 
 the Spirit's inner leaching, but ignores 
 the outward facts of revelation, the 
 Bible, the church, and its ordinances. 
 There ought to be no denial of the 
 Deity of Christ as in Unitarianism 
 among tho.se who rely on him for sal- 
 vation. There ought to be no bap- 
 tismal regeneration emphasizing a rite 
 as the means of salvation. There 
 ought to be no infant baptism in plain 
 violation of the words of the Lord 
 
 Jesus (Mark 16 : 16 ; Matt. 28 : 19). There 
 
 ought to be no prelacy, an ecclesiastical 
 organization that usurps the power of 
 Christ, denying the simplicity of the 
 New Testament government. Univer- 
 salism finds its existence in denying or 
 ignoring large sections of the Saviour's 
 teachings. Errors will arise if persons 
 come to the New Testament with 
 opinions already formed, if they seek 
 the Bible to get its blessing on views 
 held, instead of asking the Bible what 
 they must believe. It is presupposed 
 by John in his teachings here, that the 
 heart is opeu to conviction, walking 
 in the light already seen, desiring to 
 know the truth that it may be followed, 
 submitting all views to the Scripture 
 for final decision, that due diligence is 
 used in finding out what are the teach- 
 ings of the Bible. If these conditions 
 are wanting then, by necessity, the 
 promise falls to the ground. 
 
 When serious inroads have been 
 made upon the churches as by laying 
 undue stress upon the act of baptism 
 in securing the remission of sins, the 
 explanation is that there has not been 
 such a reception of all the facts in the 
 case as to preserve from error. When 
 large sections of the church have ac- 
 cepted infant baptism as the rule of 
 church life, the explanation is that 
 they have rested on the power of tra- ' 
 
 ditlon and false views of baptism that 
 made such a baptism seem almost a 
 necessity for the saving of the souls of 
 tiie dead. If all in the church were 
 living lives of holiness, sincerely de- 
 sirous of knowing the truth, searching 
 the Scriptures tliat God's thoughts 
 might be known, walking in the truth 
 so far as known, it cannot be doubted 
 that this promise of preservation from 
 error would be fulfilled in a way that 
 has never yet been witnessed. Here, 
 as everywhere, in John's writings, lie 
 is looking, not at the church life as it 
 actually exists, but as it ought to be, 
 might be ; he is regarding not so much 
 the actual church as the ideal church 
 as it is defined in the word and out- 
 lined in Christ's commands concerning 
 it. The church has two teachers. It 
 has the living Christ revealed in the 
 New Testament and the living Holy 
 Spirit in the heart interpreting the 
 word, clarifying the mind, giving a 
 spiritual vision. The believer must 
 not ignore either teacher. The Friends, 
 relying on the Spirit, belittle the out- 
 ward institutions of Christianity ; 
 others, relying on the outward facts of 
 Christianity, do not sufficiently recog- 
 nize the Spirit as a present teacher and 
 helper. 
 
 For a discussion of the work of the 
 Spirit consult Hare's " Mission of the 
 Comforter," and the " Ministry of the 
 Spirit," by A. J. Gordon, 
 
 Practical Remarks. 
 
 1. It is wonderful that the great and 
 holy God should pour out his love on sin- 
 ful men. It is a love wonderful in its 
 quality and in its quantity. God's high- 
 est love and wisdom are manifest, not iu 
 creation, but in redemption (ver. 1). 
 
 2. The Christian is to be in the world, 
 but not of it. He is to be spiritually 
 minded. All things in life are to be held 
 in subordination to the will of Christ and 
 the interests of the soul (ver. 1). 
 
 3. The best part of the Christian's life 
 is in the future, he is the child of a king. 
 All things at present are in his possession 
 in part (1 Cor. 3 : 21). In the future tlie 
 life will be in glory (ver. 2). 
 
 4. The sight of Christ will create Christ- 
 likeness. Then the longings for holiness 
 will be satisfied (ver. 2). 
 
I. JOHN 
 
 [Ch. III. 
 
 5. A hope of heaven should make a 
 heavenly mindedness. The work of puri- 
 fication, begun at conversiou, should be 
 daily continued. Piety, purity, aud 
 heaven go together (ver. 3). 
 
 6. Sin may seem very decorous, but in 
 its essence it is a breaking of God's laws. 
 Every man by nature is a sinuer and a 
 lawbreaker (ver. 4). 
 
 7. Jesus liad no sin, therefore he can 
 take away sin. He takes away the nature 
 of sin, the power and love of sin, and the 
 penalty of sin. He is a complete Saviour. 
 Sin is the opposite of the salvation that 
 Christ brings (ver. .5). 
 
 8. To be a Christian means to hate sin. 
 The more one becomes like Christ, the 
 less power will sin have over him. One 
 who does not hate sin, and have a grow- 
 ing power over it, has no right to regard 
 himself as a Christian (ver. 6). 
 
 9. A person may be deceived by false 
 tests of the Christian life, by emotions, 
 happy dreams, or successful work. The 
 real test of the life is right-doing, a daily 
 and growing conformity to the holy will 
 of Christ (ver. 7). 
 
 10. The Saviour and Satan are at the 
 opposite moral extremes. Jesus means a 
 confirmed holiness, Satan means a fixed 
 ungodliness. It is well to ask in Avhat 
 direction the life is growing (ver. 8.) 
 
 11. To be born of God implies a perma- 
 nent change in the governing disposition. 
 Souship implies obedience, family like- 
 ness, conformity to God's will. To be a 
 child of such a Father is a privilege and 
 an inspiration also to a higher life (ver. 9). 
 
 12. The Christian ought to live a life 
 that can be known as Christ's. There 
 ought to be a separation between the 
 church and the world in the motives and 
 governing principles of life and conduct. 
 The Christian must be above the world 
 that he may influence it (ver. 10). 
 
 13. Cain built for himself a monument 
 that stands through the centuries. The 
 ugly disposition and the sudden angry 
 impulse ripened into murder. Back of 
 Cain was the unseen Satan. The same 
 principles in the heart will beget a Cain- 
 life to-day (ver. 12). 
 
 14. The world at large hated Jesus. 
 Persecutions will pass away with enlight- 
 enment, but siu, worldliness, Satan, the 
 
 evil heart of unbelief are always antag- 
 onistic to Christ and his cause (ver. 13). 
 
 15. The Christian must love fellow- 
 Christians because he loves Christ. Jesus 
 loved his disciples better than his flesh 
 and blood kinsmen. Spiritual ties are 
 enduring (ver. 14). 
 
 16. Hatred is not a trifling sin, it can- 
 not exist in the heart with eternal life. 
 Hatred can be crowded out only by an 
 incoming love (ver. 15). 
 
 17. We must imitate Christ in love and 
 sacrifice for others. He loved even unto 
 death. A lifelong regard for others is 
 equal to a martyrdom (ver. 16). 
 
 18. There must be orthodoxy in creed. 
 There must be a like orthodoxy in caring 
 for the needy, the hungry, the destitute, 
 the uncared-for. The orphan asylum, the 
 home for the aged, the caring for the 
 feeble-minded, are evidences of Christian- 
 ity that can be seen. Piety toward God 
 and philanthropy toward man must go 
 hand in hand (ver. 17). 
 
 19. There is always a tendency to love 
 with the tongue only, it costs less than 
 loving with the heart. James and Joiin 
 are brothers in asserting the need of sin- 
 cerity in religion and love. Words will 
 not feed the hungry or clothe the naked 
 (ver. 18). 
 
 20. A heart that is troubled or doubting 
 cannot be strong. The assurance of 
 salvation and God's favor makes joy and 
 peace, and contributes to strength and 
 efficiency. It is the privilege of the 
 Christian to have a comforting assurance 
 (ver. 19). 
 
 21. God is tender in judging his people. 
 " He remembereth that we are dust " (Ps. 
 103 : 14). God's people should, therefore, 
 not be unduly severe in judging them- 
 selves or others. God condemns hypoc- 
 risy ; he pities weakness (ver. 20). 
 
 22. It requires great wisdom for a man 
 rightly to understand his own heart. 
 There are many opportunities for self- 
 deception, for palliating, and explaining 
 away the sins of the life. The heart may 
 be enlightened by the Scriptures and the 
 Holy Spirit, so that it may pass a right 
 judgment on itself (ver. 21). 
 
 23. An obedient life is a condition of 
 receiving answers to prayer. There are 
 no promises for the disobedient and self- 
 
Ch. IV.] 
 
 I. JOHX 
 
 79 
 
 Religious teachers tested hy their doctrines i 
 
 and the fru its oj love and /a ith . 
 4 BELOVED, '^ believe not every spirit, | 
 
 4 BELOVED, believe not every spirit. 
 
 k Jer. 29:8; Matt. 24:4,5. 
 
 willed. No good thing will the Lord 
 withhold from them that love him (ver. 
 22). 
 
 24. Our first duty is to God, our second 
 duty is toward men. Religion embraces 
 morality, there may be a seeming morality 
 that excludes religion (ver. 23). 
 
 25. If a man dwell in God as a refuge 
 he will have an abiding security. No foe 
 on earth or elsewhere can harm him. 
 God is the dwelling-place of his people 
 (ver. 24; Ps. 90 : 1). 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 The first section of this chapter be- 
 longs, in order of thought, to the pre- 
 ceding chapter, in the division ex- 
 tending from 3:1-4:6. The general 
 subject is that holiness is the result of 
 fellowship with God, John has spoken 
 of the high destiny of the children of 
 God, and the duty of keeping them- 
 selves pure ; of holiness as the test of 
 discrimination between the children of 
 God and the children of the devil ; of 
 love for each other as a mark of holi- 
 ness ; of the confidence that is begotten 
 by a holy life. It remains for him to 
 discuss in this section a fifth topic, that 
 love for the truth is a test and fruit of 
 holiness. 
 
 Jesus is himself the truth, all teach- 
 ers and teachings must conform to his 
 words. Many autichristian teachings 
 are in the world (^er. i-e); since God is 
 love, the one who does not love is not 
 begotten of God (^er. 7-ii); God himself 
 cannot be seen, but his children may 
 be seen and must be loved (ver. 12-16); 
 the realization of God's love will cast 
 out fear and will beget confidence in 
 
 God ("er. 17-21). 
 
 1-6. A TEST OF HOLINESS WILL BE 
 A LOVE FOR THE TRUTH. Through- 
 out this Epistle the exhibition of the 
 truth and the condemnation of error 
 alternate with each other. John had 
 said in 3 : 24 that all believers partici- 
 pate in the presence and influences of 
 the Holy Spirit, and that this is the 
 pledge of continued fellowship with 
 
 Christ. This mu.st be so, for the Holy 
 Spirit is the Spirit of truth. But inas- 
 much as all teachers, both the true and 
 the heretical, claimed to be under the 
 influence of the Holy Spirit, how was 
 the true teacher to be distinguished 
 from the false teacher? It is assumed 
 by John that the Holy Spirit is the 
 efficient source of light and of the true 
 teaching ; that no one is qualified to 
 teach until thus illumined, and that 
 such teachings as were begotten by the 
 Holy Spirit should be received as 
 authoritative. "What was taught, how- 
 ever, must commend itself to the judg- 
 ment of those enlightened by the teach- 
 ings of the same Holy Spirit (2:27), 
 Every teacher, prophet, apostle, even, 
 must be tested by the true standard of 
 the holy Scriptures (Acts 17 : 11). f^very 
 teaching must be tested by the law and 
 the testimony (isa. 8 : 20). 
 
 1. John cautions his readers against 
 trusting every kind of spirit, every 
 teacher that appealed to them. It is 
 not true that every professed believer 
 in God is moved by the Holy Spirit. 
 The attitude of the believer must be 
 to keep the heart open to all the truth, 
 to be desirous of knowing what is the 
 truth, and using all the means at com- 
 mand to discriminate the true from the 
 false. Believe not every spirit. 
 Delusions, fanaticism, false teachings, 
 had a large place in the first century. 
 All teachers, true and false alike, 
 claimed to be acting under the control 
 of the Holy Spirit. All pretensions to 
 inspiration are to be fully examined. 
 John urges his readers to exercise a 
 Christian judgment. The Christian 
 and the church must not be credulous. 
 The claims and partial success of 
 Swedenborg (died 1722); of Ann Lee 
 (died 1784); of Joseph Smith (died 
 1844); of Mrs. Mary G. Eddy, of the 
 spiritualists, and of many kindred 
 errors show that the church must, in 
 the present age, be on its guard against 
 deception. Try the spirits, rather, 
 prove. The right of private judgment 
 is here clearly affirmed as against the 
 claim that only the church as repre- 
 
80 
 
 I. JOHN 
 
 [Ch. IV. 
 
 but 1 try the spirits whether they are of 
 God : because "> many false prophets 
 
 2 are gone out into the world. Hereby 
 know ye the Spirit of God: » Every 
 spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ 
 
 3 is come in the flesh is of God. And 
 every spirit that confesseth not that 
 Jesus Christ is come in the flesli is not 
 
 but try the spirits whether they are of 
 God ; because many false prophets 
 
 2 have gone forth into the world. In 
 this ye know the Spirit of God : every 
 spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ 
 
 3 has come in tlie flesh, is of God ; and 
 every spirit that does not confess Jesus, 
 is not of God ; and this is the spirit of 
 
 I Isa. 8 : 20 ; 1 Thess. 5 : 21 ; Rev. 2 : 2. 
 n 5 : 1 ; 1 Cor. 12 : J. 
 
 m 2 : 18; Acts 20 -. 30 ; 2 Peter 2 : 1. 
 2 ; 22 ; 2 John 7. 
 
 sented by its officers, can rightly inter- 
 pret the Scriptures. There is a spir- 
 itual indwelling in even the humblest 
 believer, whose opinion must have 
 weight in giving the verdict of the 
 church at large. The general agree- 
 ment of holy believers the world over 
 as to the mind of Christ and the truth- 
 fulness of a doctrine must have great 
 weight. The point to be discovered is 
 whether these teachings are of God, 
 that is, in accord with the truth of God 
 as manifest in his nature and revealed 
 in his word. God speaks through 
 those who were the admitted apostles 
 
 of Christ (see Paul s claim in Gal. 1 : 8, 9)^ 
 
 through those who were entrusted with 
 the divine teachings, through the gen- 
 eral result of the teachings thus re- 
 vealed, through a present Holy Spirit 
 at work on the hearts of holy men. 
 The term, prophets, does not mean 
 the man foretelling the future event, 
 but the teacher who is a witness for 
 the Spirit of truth. That many false 
 teachers had arisen is alluded to in 
 2 : 19. Gone out. This does not 
 mean, gone forth from the church into 
 the world, as in 2 : 19, but from the 
 world into the church. It required 
 wisdom in the first age when Chris- 
 tianity was in process of establishment 
 on its intellectual and moral sides, to 
 a.scertain the truth and to hold it firm- 
 ly. It requires wisdom in all ages 
 when there is much of intellectual and 
 spiritual unrest. Because an interpre- 
 tation is new is not a proof that it is 
 untrue. The doctrine of justification 
 by faith, brought into new prominence 
 by Luther, was an old Bible teaching, 
 forgotten and obscured by a false 
 church. The despised Anabaptists of 
 Germany and Switzerland were almost 
 fought out of existence for presenting 
 the New Testament conception of the 
 church as a spiritual body. In their 
 case the truth lay with a very small 
 minority. 
 
 2. This verse furnishes the criterion 
 by which the teachings are to be tested. 
 Spirit of God. This reference is to 
 the Holy Spirit, through whom God is 
 truly revealed, who works upon and 
 through the human spirit. It is as- 
 sumed by John that every one influ- 
 enced by the Holy Spirit will make an 
 outward confession in accord with the 
 mind of the Spirit. That confess- 
 eth. It would not follow that every 
 one making this correct confession con- 
 cerning Christ would, of necessity, be 
 a Christian. It would follow that his 
 teachings would be in accord with the 
 truth, and that he would not be a 
 teacher of error. The substance of the 
 confession is that Jesus Christ is 
 come in the flesh. John does not 
 declare the error to be the denial that 
 Jesus is the Messiah, as some maintain, 
 but that he had a true human nature. 
 In 2 John, ver. 7, John speaks of Jesus 
 coming in the flesh, apart from all con- 
 sideration as to time. In 5 : 20 he 
 alludes to the historical event when 
 Jesus came. The expression used by 
 John here implies that Jesus came in 
 the flesh, and even yet retains that 
 human nature. Of God. This teach- 
 ing, the verity of Christ's human na- 
 ture, is a divine teaching. The apostles 
 witnessed to it, the enlightened reason 
 sees a necessity for it, the Holy Spirit 
 in the heart of the true teacher is con- 
 stantly adding his influence to the truth 
 of the doctrine. 
 
 3. This verse presents the opposite 
 side, the spirit which is not of God. 
 The Revised version presents here a 
 reading diiferent from that of the Com- 
 mon version. And every spirit . . . 
 of God, rather, Ayid every spirit which 
 confesseth not Jesus is not of God. The 
 grammatical form implies not merely 
 the non-confession, but the refusal to 
 make the confession. The man who 
 doe.s not hold to Jesus cannot be re- 
 garded as a Christian or a Christian 
 
Ch. IV.] 
 
 I. JOHN 
 
 81 
 
 of God. And this is that sinril of anti- 
 christ, whereof ye have heard that it 
 should come; and p even now already 
 is it ill the world. 
 
 1 Ye are of God, little children, i-aiid 
 have overcome them : because greater 
 is he that is in you, than ■ he that is in 
 the world. They are of the world : 
 therefore speak they of the world, and 
 
 the antichrist, of which ye have heard 
 
 that it is coining ; and now, it is in the 
 
 world already. 
 ■1 Ye are of God, little children, and 
 
 have overcome them : because greater 
 
 is he who is in you, than he who is in 
 5 the world. They are of the world ; for 
 
 this cause they speak of the world, 
 
 p 2 : IS; 2 Thcss. 
 
 « 3 : 9, 10. 
 
 r 2 : 13; 5 :4, 5. 
 
 s John 12 : 31. 
 
 teacher. And this is . . . should 
 come, rather, And this is that spirit 
 of the antichrist whereof ye have heard 
 that it Cometh. The ye have heard does 
 not refer to what John has written in 
 this letter, but to the general course of 
 instruction in the Christian faith which 
 they had received. At the time when 
 John wrote, as in Paul'.s day (2 Tbess. 
 2 : 1), the spirit of antichrist was already 
 at work. John would open their eyes 
 to see the dangerous character of the 
 teachings that were presented to them. 
 While avowedly in the line of the Holy 
 Spirit's teaching, they were essentially 
 antichristian. It is implied here, as in 
 2 : 18, that there would be, in time, the 
 manifestation of a distinct, personal 
 antichrist of whom these false teachers 
 ■were forerunners. 
 
 4. John writes in an assured tone 
 concerning his readers. Ye shows the 
 contrast between his Christian readers 
 and the antichristian teachers. He 
 implies that all in the church are all 
 that they professed to be, redeemed, 
 and anointed by the Holy Spirit. As 
 a matter of fact some unworthy mem- 
 bers wei-e in the churches that were 
 under John's oversight. (See 3 John 9.) 
 Little children, rather, my little 
 children. Have overcome. He 
 does not say that they will overcome, 
 but that they have overcome them ; 
 that is, the false teachers. As they 
 are the children of God, and are 
 led and guarded by him, they have 
 thereby in fact already overcome them 
 who are animated by the opposite 
 spirit. John is moving here in a high 
 and ideal region, assuming that all 
 God's people will assuredly be kept 
 free from the entanglements of Satan. 
 It is that victory of the divine over 
 the iindivine which is inherent in tlie 
 relation which they sustain to God, to 
 Jesus their mediator, to the Holy Spirit 
 their ever present indwelling teacher. 
 
 It is not true that all believers are kept 
 entirely free from all errors, for the 
 New Testament shows how easily tlie 
 members were led aside by false teach- 
 ings. We have but to read the letters 
 to the Galatians, the Thessalonians, 
 the Corinthians, to see how often false 
 notions led them captive. John ia 
 writing as always, not concerning all 
 teachings, but the fundamental one 
 concerning the person of Christ; and 
 not concerning all members, but of the 
 true members ; and not of all true mem- 
 bers for all time, but in a general 
 way, in an ideal sense, it remains true 
 that they who are of the truth will hold 
 the truth. Because assigns the reason 
 for overcoming. God is greater than 
 Satan, than the antichrist, than the 
 delusions which spring from the world. 
 God is in the life of the Christian (3 : 
 2*). The Holy Spirit dwells in the spir- 
 itually minded man (s = 2*). By reason 
 of God's indwelling and watchcare, by 
 reason of Jesus' victory over the prince 
 of this world (John 16 : 11, 33), by reason 
 of the constant light given by the Holy 
 Spirit, there must be victory of truth 
 over error. By world is meant the 
 prince of this world, who has large 
 power here, from whom the false teach- 
 ers come and whose cause they repre- 
 sent. 
 
 5. This verse gives the origin of the 
 false teachings and teachers. They do 
 not spring from above, from God, and 
 are not divine in their nature. Of the 
 world. This term is not used of the 
 earth in its physical aspect, but stands 
 for the unrenewed, unregenerate na- 
 ture, living in the darkness, under the 
 control of Satan, the god of this world 
 (2 Cor. 4:4). Speak they of the 
 world, rather, speak they as of the 
 world. He does not mean that they 
 speak concerning the world, but they 
 speak as those who have sprung from 
 the world. These teachers are not in- 
 
82 
 
 I. JOHN 
 
 [Ch. IV. 
 
 6 'the world heareth them. We are of 6 and the world hears them. We are of 
 
 God : " he that kuoweth God heareth 
 us ; he that is not of God heareth not 
 us. Hereby know we »the spirit of 
 truth, and tlie spirit of error. 
 
 God ; he that knows God, hears us ; he 
 that is not of God, hears us not. From 
 this we know the spirit of truth, and 
 the spirit of error. 
 
 t John 15 : 19 ; 17 : 14. 
 
 u John 8 : 47 ; 1 Cor. 14 : 37 ; 2 Cor. 10 : T. 
 
 X Is». 8 : 20 ; John 14 : 17. 
 
 fluenced by the desire to please God, 
 the contents of their teachings have 
 not come down from heaven. For the 
 source of Christ's teachings see John 
 8 : 26 ; 14 : 24. For the source of the 
 apostolic teachings see 1 Cor. 2 : 13 ; 
 Gal. 1 : 12. These teachers have an 
 audience, the world heareth them. 
 The unregenerate do not love the truth, 
 especially when it exalts Christ and 
 humbles human nature. Those who 
 belong to the world have no suscep- 
 tibility for the divine, and cannot re- 
 ceive what is made known by those 
 anointed by the Holy Spirit. This 
 inner prevailing temper will manifest 
 itself in the attitude toward Christ and 
 his truth. Paul draws a line of dis- 
 tinction between the world and Christ's 
 kingdom. James condemns a love for 
 the world as inconsistent with a friend- 
 ship for God (James 4: 4). There is a 
 spiritual kingdom in the world, but 
 not of it. God and world mark the 
 extremes, in John's mind, of truth and 
 error. 
 
 6. As opposed to the false teachers 
 stand the teachers of the truth, re- 
 ceiving their message from on high. 
 Knoweth God. To know God is, in 
 the Scripture use of the term, vastly 
 more than to know of God. Spiritual 
 fellowship with God leads to a recog- 
 nition of the true teaclier who stands 
 for the truth of God. There are some 
 things hidden from the mere intel- 
 lectual powers M'hich are open to the 
 spiritual mind (i Cor. 2 : u). The man 
 who is not of God will not be in love 
 with the truth which is of God. There 
 is a moral opposition between the two. 
 It is not strange that the truth and the 
 true teacher will meet with dislike and 
 opposition. Jesus had a comparatively 
 unsuccessful ministry judged by nu- 
 merical results (John 1:11). Paul speaks 
 of the unpalatable nature of true teach- 
 ing to the unregenerate mind (2 Tim. 4 : 
 8). Hereby, rather. By this. The 
 reference is to what is contained in ver. 
 6, 6, the reception of the false teach- 
 ings by the world, the reception of the 
 
 true teachings by those knowing God, 
 and their rejection by those not of God. 
 Jesus gives the same test in John 10 : 8, 
 and in his answer to Pilate (John is : 37). 
 In physical nature there is a mutually 
 attractive power; in like manner in 
 the sphere of truth there is a kinship 
 between the truth-loving man and the 
 truth as it is in Jesus. The we em- 
 braces both John and his readers. In 
 ver. 2, 3 John had spoken of the atti- 
 tude of the teachers toward the person 
 of Christ as the test of the true and 
 the false teaching, inasmuch as it was 
 false teaching on this point to which 
 they were most exposed. This anti- 
 christian teaching, here considered, 
 was on the part of the teachers alone. 
 In ver. 5, 6 John speaks of the spirit 
 of truth and error to be distinguished 
 from each other by the attitude toward 
 true teaching, the reference being to 
 the hearers. There is required a spir- 
 itual anointing of the mind and the 
 tongue that there may be a right teach- 
 ing concerning Christ ; there is required 
 a like anointing of the mind and the 
 ear that there may be a love for the 
 right teaching. Heretical teaching 
 will beget false views, heretical hear- 
 ers will create a demand for false teach- 
 ers. Christ is himself the truth. Both 
 teachers and hearers must be judged 
 by their attitude toward Christ, his 
 person, his authority, his works and 
 words. In setting Christ right before 
 them John will settle the entire con- 
 tents of their theology. 
 
 Pakt THEEE. This chapter marks 
 an advance in the thought contained in 
 this letter. God is light, has all per- 
 fections, is without the limitations that 
 belong to men. But a person might 
 be conceived of as full of^holiness and 
 yet not moved by love. The atmos- 
 phe-re of this letter is that of love. In 
 preceding portions John has enforced 
 the duty of brotherly love (2 : i-n ; s : 
 14-18). The peculiar teaching of this 
 section, love for others, springs directly 
 out of kinship with God's nature itself 
 
Ch. IV.] 
 
 I. JOHN 
 
 83 
 
 7 T Beloved, let us Iotc one another: 
 I for love is of God ; • and every one 
 that loveth is born of God, and know- 
 
 8 eth God. He that loveth not kuoweth 
 not God ; for i" God is love. 
 
 9 "In this was manifested the love of 
 
 7 Beloved, let us love one another; 
 because love is of God, and every one 
 that loves has been begotten of God, 
 
 8 and knowsGod. He that loves not has 
 not known God ; because God is love. 
 
 9 In this was manifested the love of God 
 
 y 3:10, 11, 23. 
 
 z Dcut. 30 : 6 ; 1 Thess. 4:9. o 3 : 14. 
 
 c 3 : 16 ; John i : 16, 17 ; Rom. 8 : 32. 
 
 b Ver. 16 ; Exod. 34 : 6, 7. 
 
 as one of love. No higher motive for 
 the daily conduct of life can be given 
 than that here announced. 
 
 7-11. Love is the test of being 
 begotten of god. 
 
 7. This is not a command to love, 
 but au appeal. Beloved . . . an- 
 other. The love spoken of is not 
 simply an emotion, but a love that fulfils 
 the law (Rom. 13 : 8). John joins him- 
 self with them. He assigns the high- 
 est reason, for love is of God ; that is, 
 springs out of, comes from God as its 
 source. The natural man makes self 
 the center and end of life. Love im- 
 pels a man to go outside of and beyond 
 himself. All true love has its origin 
 in God. Such love shows that we have 
 his spirit, and are moved by divine 
 impulses. Hatred, malice, envy, wrath, 
 and all ugly moral Impulses have their 
 origin in a sinful and perverted nature. 
 They do not originate in God either 
 directly or indirectly. God, with all 
 his nature, is against them. John joins 
 love, sonship, and knowledge of God 
 together as synonymous terms. The 
 man who loves is born of Ood, rather, 
 begotten and knoweth God. John 
 is speaking, not of all affection among 
 men, but of the affection of Christians 
 for each other. An unregenerate man 
 may display much of a benevolent 
 character. Even this we may recog- 
 nize as an outgrowth of the divine life 
 introduced by Christ, and as coming 
 from the general influence of society 
 that has been unconsciously impressed 
 by the spirit of Christ. We may, in 
 many cases, see the blessed influence of 
 God shining through the darkness of 
 sin, even when men have not submitted 
 themselves to his gracious regenerating 
 influences. John is speaking here, not 
 of such emotions breaking forth singly 
 in opposition to prevailing selfishness, 
 but of that life in which love is the 
 ruling principle. When Christian love 
 is sovereign in the life there is evidence 
 that the man is begotten of God. 
 
 8. This verse is in contrast with the 
 preceding, giving the negative side. 
 Loveth not. No object is given- 
 John is speaking of love in a general 
 way, love as a controlling motive. 
 Such a man has no true acquaintance 
 with God, no just conceptions of him, 
 no right attitude toward him. The 
 reason is assigned. God is love. In 
 his relation to all beings God is love. 
 Only a personal spirit can love ; there- 
 fore, God is a personal existence. He 
 is a being to whom it is a necessity of 
 his existence to manifest himself, and 
 to impart to others the blessedness en- 
 joyed by himself. God poured out his 
 love, before the creation, on the eternal 
 Son (John 17 : 24), he HOW pours it cut on 
 all those who are Christ's. This love 
 moves God in all that he does. It is 
 not said that God is knowledge, or 
 power, though he is omniscient and 
 almighty. This is a definition of God's 
 essential being on its moral side. He 
 cannot cease to love without ceasing to 
 be God. God would not have put in 
 our nature as an essential attribute 
 what did not first exist in himself. In- 
 asmuch as God has made us with the 
 capacity, the power to love, has created 
 a delight in the exercise and reception 
 of love, these must exist in their ful- 
 ness in God himself. Paul's thorn in 
 the flesh came from love, though it 
 brought suffering (2 cor. u : 7). David's 
 afflictions were the products of God's 
 wise love (ps- ii9 : 67). God desires the 
 good of all his creatures. To the love 
 of such a God every man may fittingly 
 entrust himself, both here and here- 
 after. 
 
 9. Now follows the supreme act of 
 God's love. In this, rather. Herein. 
 John fixes his thought upon the con- 
 summation of God's love in sending a 
 Saviour to a guilty world, having no 
 claim upon God. This is not our love 
 to God, but his love to us— spontaneous, 
 undeserved, gracious, bringing untold 
 blessings, bestowed upon the neglectful 
 
84 
 
 I. JOHN 
 
 [Ch. IV. 
 
 God toward us, because that God sent 
 his only begotten Son into the world, 
 dthat we might live through him. 
 
 10 Herein is love, not that we loved God, 
 . but that he loved us, and sent his Son 
 
 ^to he the propitiation for our sins. 
 
 11 Beloved, sif God so loved us, we ought 
 
 in our case, that God has sent his only 
 begotten Son into the world, that we 
 
 10 may live through him. Herein is love, 
 not that we loved God, but that he 
 loved us, and sent his Son to be a 
 propitiation for our sins. 
 
 ] 1 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also 
 
 e Deut. 7:7,8; John 15 : 16 ; Rom. 5 : 8-10. 
 g Matt. 18 : 33 ; John 15 : 12, 13 ; Eph. 4 : 31, 32. 
 
 f 2:2. 
 
 and disobedient. Toward us, rather, 
 in us, or, in our case. This love has 
 reference to us. Sent, rather, hath 
 sent. The sending took place at one 
 definite time, referring to the incarno,- 
 tion and the entire mediatorial life 
 upon the earth, but the etfects are re- 
 garded as abiding in their character. 
 It is implied here that Jesus had a pre- 
 existent life, so that he did not begin to 
 be when he was horn into a human life ; 
 that he bore a relation to God as Son, 
 so that while others may be adopted as 
 children he was always in a filial rela- 
 tion to God ; that his relation to God 
 was unique, so that he is called an only 
 begotten Son. This verse is a remin- 
 iscence of John 3 : 16, 17. The term 
 only begotten occurs here only in this 
 letter. For instances of its use see 
 Luke 7 •. 12 ; 8 : 42 ; 9 : 38 ; John 10 : 
 14, 18; 3 : 16, 18; Heb. 11 : 17. The 
 term only begotten indicates both the 
 divine character of the person sent and 
 the greatness of the love that impelled 
 the sending. The greatness of God's 
 love, the greatness of the person of 
 Jesus, the greatness of man's worth 
 that required such a sacrifice, all stand 
 out here. This love was personal, 
 eternal, atoning, entailing a sacrifice 
 on God's part. The wideness of God's 
 love appears in the term, world. The 
 purpo.se of the coming is found in 
 that we might live through him. 
 The life is eternal life — fellowship 
 with God's own life, blessed participa- 
 tion in the fulness of his nature, a life 
 that is life indeed (i Tim. 6 : 19, r. v.). 
 In John 3 : 16 the blessings of Jesus' 
 death are limited to believers. Here 
 the blessings are not compulsory — 
 moral blessings never are — but all may 
 share in them. It is a world-wide pro- 
 vision. It is an atonement that is suffi- 
 cient for all ; it becomes efficient to all 
 who accept its provisions. 
 
 10. This verse reveals God's love as 
 mediatorial. The peculiar nature of 
 
 God's love is that it is a seeking love, 
 not waiting to be sought for or deserved. 
 The Christian religion, alone in the 
 world, presents a God who goes out 
 after men in their sins, desiring their 
 welfare and holiness, providing for 
 them a complete salvation, and urging 
 their acceptance. We may not con- 
 ceive of God as hating men until his 
 wrath was averted by the offering of 
 Jesus. Rather, back of Jesus and his 
 cross, was God's love moving him to 
 efiect a reconciliation. On propitia- 
 tion see 2 : 2. The eternal love of 
 God is the ground, not the result, of 
 the reconciliation. It were well if the 
 term reconciliation were always used 
 instead of the term atonement. By 
 the one act, God efl'ected a reconcilia- 
 tion, so that now nothing stands in the 
 way of the salvation of all but their 
 unreconciled hearts. It is through the 
 death of Christ the reconciliation took 
 
 place (Eph. 1 : 7). 
 
 11. John now comes down from the 
 height of God's love and sacrifice to 
 the efiect on the Christian life. Be- 
 loved. He uses this term no less 
 than five times in this short letter. If 
 one so high above us in position, in 
 power, in character, loved us in our 
 guilt and imperfection, we ought to 
 love those on the same level with our- 
 selves. Only in* this way can we show 
 our love to God and oui' possession of 
 his spirit. True love cannot be hid in 
 the heart, it must go out toward others. 
 We may reciprocate God's love to us 
 by giving our love to others. At the 
 final judgment as portrayed in Matt. 
 25 : 31-46, Jesus gives as the deciding 
 test the works of help done to others 
 in his name. Not theory or orthodoxy, 
 but the helpful Christian life on the 
 earth reveals the saved life. The great 
 motive for human benevolence is God's 
 benevolence. 
 
 12-16. Love to others gives 
 
 THE ASSURANCE OF SONSHIP. John 
 
Ch. IV.] 
 
 I. JOHN 
 
 85 
 
 12 also to love oue another. ""No man 
 hath seen God at any time. If we love 
 one another, God dwelleth in us, and 
 * his love is perfected in vis. 
 
 13 k Hereby know we that we dwell in 
 him, and he in us, because he hath 
 
 11 given us of his Spirit. And ' we have 
 seen and do testify that ■" the Father 
 
 12 ought to love one another. No one has 
 ever beheld God. If we love one an- 
 other, God abides in us, and the love 
 
 13 of him is perfected in us. In this we 
 know that we abide in him, and he in 
 us, because he has given us of his 
 
 14 Spirit. And we have beheld, and tes- 
 tify, that the Father has sent the Son, 
 
 A Ver. 20 ; John 1 : 18 j 1 Tim. 6 : 16. i Ver. 18 ; 2:5. 
 
 { 1 -. 1-3. m Ver. 10 j John 3 : 17. 
 
 & 3 : 21 ; John 14 : 20. 
 
 has just spoken of love as the test of 
 souship. To be begotten of God is the 
 same as to love one another. God 
 dwells above, the absolutely holy and 
 I)erfect God, pouring out his love con- 
 tinually like the sun. How may we 
 know that we are his, when there comes 
 no outward sign? The apostles who 
 lived in a personal fellowship with 
 Jesus might be -assured of acceptance, 
 but when Jesus is absent how may 
 assurance come to the heart? John 
 answers this question. 
 
 12. This verse explains the state- 
 ment in the latter part of ver. 11. No 
 man . . . any time. The same ex- 
 pression occurs in John 1 : 18. God 
 remains a God unseen by the human 
 eye, pure spirit (Jobn t -. u'-. i Tim. 6 : le). 
 Men had seen manifestations of Jeho- 
 vah, flashes of his glory, but him they 
 had not seen. God cannot be known 
 through the sight or bodily senses, but 
 he may be known. There is one 
 method by which we may be assured 
 that we have a true knowledge of him, 
 the evidence that we love one another. 
 The church can know God and be 
 united to him only by a spiritual bond, 
 the bond of love. If love rule in the 
 heart, there is in this the assurance 
 that God is an indwelling God. If 
 we . . . in us. John is here speak- 
 ing of the Christian brotherhood. A 
 man may not say, I have seen God in 
 open vision, or I comprehend God in 
 all his perfections, but he may say, 
 I am assured that God lives in me, for 
 he works in me (sue johu \i : 23, 24). 
 Pantheism makes God and the man 
 one, denying a personal consciousness 
 to God, thereby obliterating a personal 
 God. Mysticism makes the believer 
 conscious of the presence of God as dis- 
 tinct from his own thougiits. lie sep- 
 arates in his own mind between the 
 consciousness of God and his own con- 
 sciousness. Johu does not fall into 
 
 either of the.se errors. He reasons 
 from a manifested love for others, a 
 love that is not in harmony with a 
 selfi.sh and unregenerate heart, that 
 God's love is present. His love. 
 The reference is to our love to God, 
 not to his love for us. Perfected. He 
 does not mean that there is perfect 
 love for the brother, but that love to 
 God comes to completeness, acquires 
 strength and maturity by the exercise 
 of love to others. While God is un- 
 seen, men are always with us. We have 
 many opportunities for doing good, for 
 cultivating uu.selfishness, for resisting 
 temptations. Love for God attains to 
 its required stature by the exercise of 
 love for the man next to us. 7s per- 
 fected. A man who has a growing love 
 for men will, at the same time, and as 
 a result, have a growing love for God. 
 A man grows heavenward by living 
 the right life earthward. 
 
 13. What proof have we that God 
 dwells in us? In this refers to the 
 fact stated, that we have his Spirit. 
 That God dwells in a man is the same 
 as to say that the Spirit dwells in the 
 heart, imparting God's nature of love. 
 The first fruit of the Spirit is love (Oai. 
 
 5 : 23; Rom. 8 : 16). 
 
 14. In the group of verses extending 
 to the sixteenth we have emphasis laid 
 on the thought of the mutual indwell- 
 ing of God and the believer. We em- 
 braces the apostolic group to whom 
 was entrusted, in an especial manner, 
 the duty of witnessing of and for Christ 
 (John 15 -27; Acts 1:8). Have Seen and 
 testify, rather, have beheld, implying 
 a continued looking at, and bear tvit- 
 ness. We have here the main facts of 
 the gospel history, the Father's love, 
 the sending of the Son, the divine na- 
 ture of the Son as manifest from the 
 peculiar relation to the Father, the 
 purpose of the coming of tlie Son that 
 he might be a Saviour, the implied 
 
86 
 
 I. JOHN 
 
 [Ch. IV. 
 
 sent the Son to be the Saviour of the 
 
 15 world, o Whosoever shall confess that 
 Jesus is the Son of God, » God dwelleth 
 in him, and he in God. 
 
 16 p And we have known and believed 
 the love that God hath to us. i God is 
 love; and 'he that dwelleth in love 
 dwelleth in God, and God in him. 
 
 17 Herein is our love made perfect, that 
 ' we may have boldness in the day of 
 judgment : ' because as he is, so are we 
 
 15 as Savior of the world. Whoever con- 
 fesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God 
 
 16 abides in him, and he in God. And we 
 have known, and have believed, the 
 love that God has in our case. God is 
 love ; and he that abides in love abides 
 in God, and God abides in him. 
 
 17 In this has love been perfected with 
 us, that we may have confidence in 
 the day of judgment ; because even as 
 he is, so we also are in this world. 
 
 n 5 : 1 ; Eom. 10 : 9. o 3 : 24. p 3 : 1, 16. q Ver. 8. r Ver. 12 ; 
 
 « 2:28; 3:19-21. (3:3. 
 
 guilt and condemnation of the race 
 whereby it needed a salvation, the 
 death of Jesus through which redemp- 
 tion issues, the wideness of his work, 
 as shown in the term, world. Both 
 here and in 2 : 2 he shows the wideness 
 of the mission of Christ. The New 
 Testament rests on a historical founda- 
 tion, on facts well known, capable of 
 proof from witnesses who were per- 
 sonally cognizant of them. John bears 
 witness that God had really, in this 
 manner, manifested his love toward the 
 race of men. Sent, rather, hath sent. 
 The act of sending was completed at 
 one definite time, the results abide per- 
 petually. Through time and eternity 
 Jesus remains the Saviour of his 
 people. 
 
 15. Faith in Christ must approve 
 itself by an open confession of the Son 
 of God without fear or shame in oppo- 
 sition to the world which ignores or 
 hates his followers. Faith rests on 
 knowledge, on facts which may be 
 known ; knowledge and love are joined 
 together. Dwelleth, rather, abideth. 
 
 16. John declares that he and they 
 have received this knowledge. Have 
 known and believed, rather, hiow 
 and have believed. To us, rather, in 
 vs, or, in our case. The great redemp- 
 tive love of God is here meant. This 
 love had illumined their knowledge 
 and warmed their hearts. There is a 
 tendency in John to turn a thought 
 over and over again, hence he again 
 Bays, God is love. John has here 
 three abidings: abiding in love, abid- 
 ing in God, abiding in the believer. 
 Abiding in love is regarded as the con- 
 dition of abiding in fellowship with 
 God. The term, love, is here used in 
 its widest sense. It takes two forms, 
 love to God, love to men. In this 
 
 statement he sums up all that he has 
 been saying in this entire section. 
 
 17-21. The realization of 
 God's love dispels fear. The 
 apostle now deals with the habitual 
 temper of mind which exists when the 
 abiding love of God has come to its 
 maturity. What John here says is 
 true only of the higher grades of the 
 Christian life. These words are par- 
 allel in meaning with 3 : 19-21. They 
 set forth the repose and confidence 
 with which a mature love will endow 
 the believer in the day of judgment. 
 
 17. Herein. That is, the statement 
 in this verse that we may have con- 
 fidence when standing before the final 
 and holy tribunal. Our love made 
 perfect, rather, love made perfect with 
 us. Love is used here in its largest 
 sense, going out in all directions; not 
 love to God alone, not love to man 
 alone, but love itself is meant. The 
 result of the perfected life is that we 
 may have boldness in the day of judg- 
 ment. Luther renders the term bold- 
 ness by joyfulness. Sin and guilt 
 bring alarm, so that Adam hid himself 
 from God (Gen. 3 : 8). Peter felt him- 
 self unworthy to be in the presence of 
 Christ (Lake 5 : 8). Isaiah was conscious 
 of a woe upon him when he saw God's 
 holiness (isa. 6:5). Judas, moved by 
 remorse, fled to suicide. At the com- 
 ing of the judge men cry out for fear 
 of the wrath of the Lamb (Rev. 6 : i6). 
 The judgment day has nothing but 
 terror for the ungodly, a fearful look- 
 ing for of judgment (Heb. lo : 27). But 
 union with Christ brings confidence, 
 serenity of mind, joyfulness (««« Rom- 8 : 
 S3). Jesus the judge is also Jesus the 
 Saviour and friend. For ... Avorld. 
 The he refers, not to God, but to Jesus. 
 In 2 : 28 John speaks of the confidence 
 
Ch. IV.] 
 
 I. JOHN 
 
 87 
 
 18 in this world. "There is no fear iu 
 love ; but perfect love casteth out 
 fear : because fear hath torment. He 
 that feareth is not made perfect in 
 
 19 love. »We love him, because he first 
 loved us. 
 
 20 y If a man say, I love God, and hateth 
 his brother, he is a liar : for he that 
 loveth not his brother whom he hath 
 seen, how can he love God ^ whom he 
 
 21 hath not seen? And ''this command- 
 ment have we from him, That he who 
 loveth God love his brother also. 
 
 18 There is no fear iu love ; but perfect 
 love casts out fear, because fear has 
 torment ; and he that fears is not per- 
 
 19 fected in love. We love, because he 
 
 20 first loved us. If any one say, I love 
 God, and hates his brother, he is a liar ; 
 for he tliat loves not his brother whom 
 he has seen, cannot love God whom he 
 
 21 has not seen. And this commandment 
 we have from him, that he who loves 
 God love his brother also. 
 
 u Rom. 8 : 15 ; 1 Tim. 1 : T. x Ver. 10 ; Luke T : 47. y 2 : 4 ; S : IT. z Ver. II. 
 
 o 3 : 11, 23 ; Matt. 22 : 37, 39 ; Jobn 13 : 34 ; 15 : 12 ; Rom. 13 : 10. 
 
 that believers will have at the appear- 
 ing of Jesus. The judgment, spoken 
 of here, is under the authority of Jesus 
 (seo John 6 : 22). In 2 : 21, 22 the cliildreu 
 of God have confidence because tliey 
 kept the commandments. Here there 
 is no fear because the life in the 
 world is like that of Jesus. It is 
 founded on a righteousness like his 
 (3 ; 29), it is moved by God's love, it is 
 the life of a child of God, controlled 
 by his Spirit (3 : 24). The Christian 
 has the same kind of peace, holiness, 
 repose of mind, righteousness, that 
 Jesus had, though vastly smaller in 
 degree. 
 
 18. This verse gives the negative 
 side of the believer's position ; it is not 
 one of fear. Love does not beget fear, 
 but it drives it away. When there is 
 dread of the future, of death, it is be- 
 cause God's gracious love has not yet 
 been realized in a full measure. Per- 
 fect love drives away disturbances, 
 doubts, fears. Both here and here- 
 after the trusting heart may repose on 
 God's love, wisdom, goodness, guid- 
 ance, and gracious care. 
 
 19. This verse looks back to the 
 preceding, and gives reason to think 
 that our love may become supreme in 
 us. We love him because he first 
 loved us. Omit him. The term love 
 is used in the broadest, most absolute 
 sense. In so far as our nature is re- 
 sponsive to God there is begotten in us 
 a nature and a love like his own. The 
 love will be of the same kind as his, 
 moving in the same direction and hav- 
 ing the same power ; a love for enemies, 
 for service, for sacrifice, for all good 
 causes. 
 
 20. Love to God and hatred of the 
 brother are mutually contradictory. 
 
 John reasons as follows : If a man does 
 not love God's image as revealed in his 
 fellow-disciples, an image that is seen 
 day by day, an image that appeals to 
 the sight, he cannot love the One in 
 whose likeness these brethren are 
 formed. If a God visible in his dis- 
 ciples is not loved, but hated rather, a 
 God utterly invisible will not be loved. 
 It is probable that John was moved to 
 make these utterances because he noted 
 the beginnings of unloveliness on the 
 part of some of the early disciples. 
 He shows what the natural tendency 
 of the want of love leads to, a separa- 
 tion from the life of God. It is as- 
 sumed that the brother spoken of is 
 one begotten of God, a fellow-disciple. 
 21. This verse adds the emphasis of 
 a divine command for love to the 
 brother. In 3 : 23 we had a command- 
 ment speaking of the duty toward Jesus 
 Christ and the brother. The command 
 here mentioned is found iu Matt. 22 : 
 37-39. The him refers to God, not to 
 Jesus. The new commandment attrib- 
 uted to Jesus embraced simply the 
 duty of love for one another (John is : 
 34). The Ten Commandments revolve 
 about the two centers, love to God, 
 love to man. A right relation to these 
 two sums up the entire duty of men. 
 It is admitted by all that a person 
 should love God and serve him. Even 
 when men are orthodox in their views 
 concerning God, they may forget justice 
 and kindness toward their fellow-men. 
 John Newton prayed to God and en- 
 slaved his fellow-men. A person who 
 loves God must cultivate and exhibit 
 toward his brothers a sense of duty, of 
 consideration, of kindness, of ju.stice. 
 Benevolence and humanity do not con- 
 stitute piety, but they are fitting and 
 
I. JOHN 
 
 [Ch. IV. 
 
 necessary channels by which piety 
 manifests itself. Piety and helpfulness 
 and brotherly love should grow side 
 by side. In his attitude toward men 
 the entire life of Jesus is summed up 
 in the words, "He went about doing 
 
 good " (Acts 10 : 38). 
 
 Note 1. The person of Jesus 
 the test of orthodoxy, 4 : 6. 
 Wrong views as to the person of Christ 
 will materially affect the entire con- 
 ceptions of Christianity. Almost all 
 heresies have, at bottom, wrong cou- 
 ceptions of the person of Christ. The 
 one point of contention on John's part 
 is to win his readers to a right concep- 
 tion of what Jesus is. If a man, a 
 teacher, is riglit in regard to Christ, this 
 man is regarded as the orthodox man 
 and teacher. But the denial of the 
 reality of Jesus, of his complete per- 
 son as human and divine, this to him 
 is the essence of wrong thinking, the 
 spirit of error, the spirit of antichrist. 
 In our day, as in John's day, nothing 
 is more essential than the question 
 asked by Jesus himself: "What think 
 ye of Christ?" (Maw. 22:41.) For a 
 complete discussion of the person of 
 Christ consult Dorner, "The Doctrine 
 of the Person of Christ." 
 
 Note 2. The assurance of 
 FAITH, 4 : 21. There is in John's 
 writings a noticeable assertion of cer- 
 tainty as to salvation and an assurance 
 that characterizes the faith of the be- 
 liever. John declares that we are of 
 God (ver. 6). In ver. 13 he declares we 
 know that we dwell in God. In ver. 
 18 there is the assertion of a supreme 
 confidence as to the decisions of the 
 great day. John dwells personally in 
 the land of assurance, and writes to 
 all his fellow-disciples as also dwelling 
 in that gracious land. We must not, 
 however, confound faith with assur- 
 ance. The ground of faith is the ex- 
 ternal word of promise. The ground 
 of assurance is the inward witness of 
 the Spirit that we fulfil the conditions 
 
 of the promise (Rom. 4 ; 20, 21 ; 8 : 16 ; Eph. 
 1 : 13 ; 1 John 4 : 13 ; 5 ; 10). This witUCSS 
 
 of the Spirit is not a new revelation 
 from God, but a strengthening of faith 
 so that it becomes conscious, and has 
 in it no element of doubt. There may 
 be a faith which saves, but which has 
 
 no assurance, no peace or joy. Those 
 who are already saved are urged by the 
 New Testament M-riters to go on unto 
 assurance (ueb. 6 : ii ; 2 Peter 1 : 10). One 
 person may know, as did Wesley, the 
 hour and minute when tbere came a 
 new light into the soul with an accom- 
 panying assurance ; another may have 
 love to God, but may not locate even 
 the year when the heart found rest in 
 God. But we are not saved by peace, 
 joy, or assurance, we are saved by faith 
 only in Jesus Christ. There may be a 
 little faith that permits a man to sink, 
 for a time ; there may be a large faith 
 that does not know the meaning of 
 fear. The physical infirmities of life 
 or imperfect conceptions of the fulness 
 of God's forgiveness may cause the life 
 to be lived in doul)t and fear. The 
 approach of death may bring alarm ; 
 the thought of the judgment may cause 
 apprehension. The possession of peace, 
 joy, assurance is not of the essence of 
 salvation ; they belong to the privileges 
 of the Christian life. 
 
 Note 3. Fellowship with God, 
 4 : 24. John dwells much on fellow- 
 ship with God. In 1 : 3 he speaks of 
 this fellowship, using the term, koino- 
 nia, which means having things in 
 common. The word is employed in 
 Acts 2 : 42 to show that they had all 
 things in common. In this chapter he 
 uses the expression dwelling, abiding. 
 He speaks of it again and again (ver. 
 10-12, 15). The terms abiding in God, 
 and God abiding in us, are both used, 
 so that one is not found apart from the 
 other. God may be said to abide in us 
 by his personal watchcare and love. 
 Above all, the expression signifies that 
 the Holy Spirit abiding in us, is in re- 
 ality, God abiding in us. John does 
 not stop to discuss the personality of 
 the Holy Spirit. There is a participa- 
 tion in what God has and does in his 
 moral nature, so that his peace, joy, 
 holiness, happiness, his mind as to life 
 and conduct will be shared by his dis- 
 ciples. God and the believing soul 
 will, in a true sense, be one. A person 
 may be conscious of God's indwelling 
 presence because a review of the heart 
 shows that the conduct and life are in 
 accord with God's will. Peter speaks 
 of sharing in the divine nature (2 Peter 
 1 ; *). Rationalism is more to be feared 
 
Ch. IV.] 
 
 I. JOHN 
 
 89 
 
 than mysticism ; the ignoring of the 
 Spirit's presence and power is a source 
 of more danger tliau tlie magnifying 
 of his presence and power. There is 
 an illumination of the heart and mind 
 of the believer by the Holy Spirit; 
 there will be an open-mindeduess for 
 seeing new forms of the truth, there 
 will be new conceptions of the old 
 teachings under the guidance of the 
 heavenly teacher whereby the willing 
 disciple will be led into larger truths 
 (John 16: 13). If the heart be opened 
 for the incoming and indwelling of the 
 Holy Spirit there will come a wonder- 
 ful increase in spiritual knowledge, in 
 spiritual activity, in personal holiness, 
 in the discovery of teachings hidden 
 from others. 
 
 Practical Remarks. 
 
 1. The Christian must be an intelligent 
 Christian, inasmuch as he is called upon 
 to test all religious teachings presented to 
 him (ver. 1). 
 
 2. All ages have false teachers. The 
 truth even in a false system must not be 
 condemned, but falsity must always be 
 condemned. False teaching may, in the 
 end, bring false living (ver. 1; 1 Cor. 
 11 : 19). 
 
 3. God is always on the side of Jesus 
 Christ. Thinking right about Christ 
 should lead to living right in the presence 
 of Christ. Christ loved must be a Christ 
 confessed (ver. 2). 
 
 4. It ought not to be a matter of surprise 
 that errors should arise, inasmuch as 
 Jesus, Peter, and Paul announce their 
 coming (ver. 3). 
 
 5. No humble, spiritually minded Chris- 
 tian stands alone. He has with him, in 
 him, for him, God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit. 
 The Bible, prayer, thoughtfulness, and 
 fellowship with Christian minds will be 
 of great help in discovering the truth 
 (ver. 4). 
 
 6. There are but two grades of men, two 
 animating principles among men. The 
 true teacher will aim to exalt Christ, to 
 beget a sense of sin, to lead men to Christ 
 and a Christly life. The false teacher 
 will avoid Christ and the cross (ver. .'S). 
 
 7. Like seeks like. Each one after death 
 will go to his own place (ver. 6). 
 
 8. Love is costly. It demands patience, 
 
 requires sacrifice, takes time. God's 
 love cost him the gift of the only be- 
 gotten Sou. Jesus' love made for him the 
 cross. AH true love on our part will cost 
 much more than words or mere emotions 
 (ver. 7). 
 
 9. That which God loved in us was 
 not our sins, but our souls, which we 
 had marred, which he desired to repair 
 (ver. 8). 
 
 10. We cannot adequately estimate the 
 real lieinousness of sin without consider- 
 ing the sacrifice which it costs to redeem 
 us from its power and guilt (ver. 9). 
 
 11. God's love in natin-e is insignificant 
 when measured by his love as seen in re- 
 demption. The reconciliation would not 
 be known to us apart from revelation. 
 The cross is the highest manifestation 
 of God's love, power, and holiness. It 
 shows God's heart, our danger, our worth 
 (ver. 10). 
 
 12. The unpurchased love of God in the 
 redemption of the world by Jesus Christ 
 is the great argument for Christian be- 
 nevolence. God's love should create and 
 maintain man's love for others. God's 
 benevolence means more to us than his 
 almightiness. All God's powers are under 
 the control of his love (ver. 10). 
 
 13. God's love cannot be adequately de- 
 scribed, it is a so loved. He called Abra- 
 ham, " My friend." We cannot earn God's 
 love, but we may so live as to share in it 
 richly (ver. 11). 
 
 14. No one may see God with the phy- 
 sical eyes, but Moses saw the God who 
 cannot be seen. It is only by such a 
 vision of God that the life may be purified 
 and strengthened. We may see God's 
 iraage, in a sadly blurred way, in men 
 around us (ver. 12). 
 
 15. The Spirit, sent by God, will work 
 in men the mind of God. The Holy Spirit 
 works from within, making not a me- 
 chanical imitation, but building up an 
 inner life of godliness. He gives a par- 
 ticipation in the divine life (ver. 13). 
 
 16. A universal salvation is possible if 
 there is a universal acceptance of Christ. 
 Jesus came, not to destroy, but to save 
 (John 3 : 17). It is against the plain 
 teachings of Jesus to declare that all will 
 be saved (ver. 14). 
 
 17. Tlie heart, the lips, the conduct; 
 
90 
 
 I. JOHN 
 
 [Ch. V. 
 
 5 Whosoever ^ believeth that Jesus is 
 the Christ is boru of God : "and every 
 one that loveth him that begat loveth 
 him also that is begotten of him. 
 
 5 EVERY one who believes that Jesus 
 is the Christ has been begotten of God ; 
 and every one that loves him who be- 
 got, loves also him who has been be- 
 
 b 4 : 2, 15 ; Matt. 16 : 16 ; Johu 1 : 12, 13 : Rom. 10 : 9, 10. 
 
 c 4 : 20 ; Johu 15 : 23. 
 
 must all confess Christ. If the heart con- 
 fess Christ, but the lips remain silent, it 
 is but half a life. If the lips confess 
 Christ, but the heart be unloving, it is 
 simply a word religion. If the heart and 
 lips confess Christ, but the life be un- 
 worthy, the inconsistent life will be a 
 stumbling-block to others (ver. 15). 
 
 18. That God should send an only be- 
 gotten Son to a world like ours, only an 
 atom in the physical universe, is almost 
 incomprehensible. It reveals God's 
 boundless love and our boundless worth 
 (ver. 16). 
 
 19. The certainty of a judgment should 
 awaken the careless and ungodly. That 
 it is delayed reveals God's patience that 
 the judgment may not overwhelm us. 
 God's patience should not benumb the 
 heart into forgetfulness (ver. 17). 
 
 20. God's love awakens and sustains 
 love. Before the foundations of the world 
 were laid, God had provided a Lamb slain 
 (Rev. 13 : 8). It is a mark of deep guilt 
 when God's love does not beget a respond- 
 ing love (ver. 19). 
 
 21. If God loves my brother, then I 
 ought to love him. Jesus identifies him- 
 self with his disciples (Acts 9 : 5). To 
 hurt a disciple hurts Jesus, to help a dis- 
 ciple helps and pleases Je.sus. Hatred of 
 a brother and love for God cannot exist 
 in the same heart (ver. 20). 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Part four. The relation of 
 faith to love, to assurance, and 
 AN OVERCOMING LIFE. John presents 
 a new thought that love springs from a 
 Christ rightly understood on the side of 
 the mind and heart (ver. i-3); there will 
 of necessity be conflicts in the inner 
 and outer Christian life, but faith will 
 lead to victory (ver. *. 5); there is a three- 
 fold testimony to the Sonship of Jesus 
 (ver. 6-13); lovc for Christ and confidence 
 in hira will lead to intercessory prayer 
 (ver. 14-11); he closes with mentioning 
 the certainties of the Christian life, 
 the fellowship of the believer with 
 
 God, and an appeal for a godly life 
 
 (ver. 18-21). 
 
 The necessary connection between 
 love to God and brotherly love is de- 
 duced from a common sonsliip of God. 
 John understands by faith, not a mere 
 assent to an intellectual proposition, 
 not a creed faith, but embracing these, 
 and having also a spiritual fellowship 
 with Christ. John in this letter rarely 
 mentions faith ; he looks at the rela- 
 tion of the believing soul to Jesus as 
 one of love. In this last section he 
 notices the relation of faith to love and 
 to the overcoming life. The love of 
 the heart is the love of a believer. The 
 keyword of this section is found in 
 f) : 5. "This is the victory that over- 
 cometh the world, even our faith." In 
 the preceding sections he had shown 
 that God is light, that God is holy, that 
 God is love. In showing now that love 
 is grounded in faith in the Son of God 
 he gives completeness to his discussion, 
 and brings his Epistle into harmony 
 with the other writings of the New 
 Testament. 
 
 I. 1-3. A BELIEF IN THE Messiah- 
 ship OF Jesus leads to a life of 
 LOVE. John here shows that a belief 
 in Jesus as Christ constitutes the es- 
 sence of the regenerate life. From 
 this faith there must be, of necessity, 
 a love upward toward God, and a love 
 toward the brother standing in the 
 same relation to God. 
 
 I. Whosoever . . . Christ. Faith 
 in Jesus as the Christ has here the 
 meaning which John always gives it 
 as that divinely wrought trust in the 
 work and in the person of Christ pi-o- 
 duced by the Spirit. Born of God, 
 rather, begotten of God. The father- 
 hood of the regenerate life is in God. 
 God implants brotherly love in the 
 heart in the act of begetting the spir- 
 itual life. When the lineaments of 
 God's nature are recognized in any 
 one, these features must be loved. To 
 hate a fellow-believer, a godly man, 
 would be the same as to hate God him- 
 self. What is here said is conceived 
 to be true of all Christians, whosoever. 
 
Ch. v.] 
 
 I. JOHN 
 
 91 
 
 2 By this we know that we love the 
 children of God, when we love God, 
 and keep his commandments. 
 
 3 "'For this is the love of God, that we 
 keep «his commandments. And his 
 
 4 commandments are not grievous: for 
 'whatsoever is born of God overcometh 
 the world : and this is the victory that 
 overcometh the world, even our faith. 
 
 2 gotten of him. la this we know that 
 we love the children of God, when we 
 love God, and do his commandments. 
 
 3 For this is the love of God, that we 
 keep his commandments. And his 
 commandments are not burdensome : 
 
 4 because all that has been begotten of 
 God overcomes the world ; and this is 
 the victory that has overcome the 
 
 d John 11 : 15,21-2*, 15 : 10; 2 Johu 6. e Ps. 119 ; 47,103; Micab 6 : 8; Matt. 11 : 28-30; Rom. 7 : 12,22. 
 / 2 : 13-17 ; 3:9; 4:4; John 16 : 33. 
 
 The spirit of Christ in the ruiiid will 
 beget a family feeling, in the presence 
 of which artificial social distinctions 
 will be forgotten. It is the tendency 
 of selfishness and worldliness to create 
 and maintain fixed dividing lines in 
 the social structure and in the church ; 
 it is the tendency of Christ to level 
 men upward, and to create a spiritual 
 brotherhood. 
 
 2. John's writings have in them the 
 spirit of Hebrew poetry, giving the 
 same thought in two forms, but witli 
 this peculiarity that in the second state- 
 ment is always an added thought. In 
 4 : 20 it was stated that our love for 
 the brethren is a condition of love to 
 God. Here the converse is stated, that 
 our love to God, is the measure of our 
 love to the children of God. Where 
 one is found tlie other is also found. 
 Love God. Of this every believer 
 may be assured by direct knowledge. 
 Every heart may be conscious of a right 
 attitude toward God. Every Peter may 
 say, "Thou knowest that I love thee." 
 Love for God may be evident from the 
 desire to obey his commands, to medi- 
 tate on his precepts, to be fashioned 
 into his likeness. This love to God 
 will prompt to keep, rather, do, his 
 commandments. Obedience is always 
 and everywhere the test of love. From 
 this love to God it follows by this, 
 rather, hereby, that Ave love the 
 children of God. He who loves a 
 Christian because he is a Christian, 
 has tlie evidence that he himself is a 
 Christian. 
 
 3. For explains the two preceding 
 clauses and their relation to each other. 
 It is also a command of God that we 
 love the brethren. Love of God 
 here means our love to God. Not 
 grievous. The same word is used by 
 Jesus in Matt. 11 : 30, there rendered 
 " burden." The commands of Jesus are 
 
 not irrational, absurd, oppressive in 
 their nature. Jesus is a reasonable 
 Christ, knowing our natures and the 
 power of our temptations. 
 
 II. 4,5. Faith IN jEsr.s LEADS TO 
 AN OVERCOMING LIFE. John having 
 spoken of the assured conquest for the 
 Christian life, whereby God's com- 
 mandments are to be, not grievous, but 
 pleasant, now gives the secret of this 
 success — faith in Jesus Christ. 
 
 4. For shows the reason for the 
 statement in the preceding verse that 
 the commandments are not grievous. 
 Whatsoever is a collective term in 
 the neuter gender, signifying all who 
 are begotten of God. That it stands 
 for the wc of the preceding verse is 
 evident from the use of our in tiie 
 closing part of this verse. Only per- 
 sons can be begotten of God. Over- 
 cometh. There is a conflict involv- 
 ing the passions and weaknesses of our 
 own nature, the opposition of an evil 
 world (John 17 : 14), a god of this world 
 (2 Cor. 4 : 4), of perverted principles of 
 life and action. John writes in no 
 doubtful spirit, but in terms of con- 
 fidence as to the result. World is 
 used in a bad sense as under the con- 
 trol of wicked forces (see 3 Cor. 4:4; 
 Johu 17 : 14 ; James 4:4:1 John 5 : I'J). Tlie 
 
 test of the Christian life is that it over- 
 comes. John makes no provision for 
 worldliness in the church, or for 
 worldly minded Cliiistians. The means 
 of overcoming is faitli in the Sou of 
 God. He writes in a very forcible 
 way, not saying that f'lith is the means 
 by which victory is secured, but faith 
 is the victory. Overcometh, rather, 
 hath overcome. The result is so as- 
 sured, so united with the permanent 
 victory won by Christ (John 16:33), tliat 
 it is spoken of as already past. The 
 Christian life is looked upon, for the 
 moment, not as a struggle, but as a 
 
92 
 
 I. JOHN 
 
 [Ch. V. 
 
 5 Who is he that overcometh the world, 
 but she that believeth that Jesus is the 
 Son of God ? 
 
 5 world, even our faith. And who is he 
 that overcomes the world, but he that 
 believes that Jesus Is the Son of God ? 
 
 4 : 15 ; 1 Cor. 15 : 
 
 victory. The stress is laid here, not 
 upon love, but upon faith by which 
 the power and victory of Clirist are 
 conceived of as united with each be- 
 liever. He thinks of all believers as 
 conquering, and makes no provision 
 for little faith or for a failing faith, 
 only for a conquering faith. The four 
 prominent terms are the world with 
 its pronounced antagonism, God with 
 his overcoming strength, faith Avhicli 
 unites the soul with God, victory as 
 the natural and consequent result. 
 
 5. This verse is explanatory of the 
 preceding, showing that faith has its 
 power to overcome because it is allied 
 with the life of the Son of God. In 
 ver. 1 it is stated that the one believing 
 that Jesus is the Christ is begotten of 
 God ; here the one believing that Jesus 
 is the Son of God overcomes the world. 
 Jesus overcame the world ; he alone 
 overcame the world in all its powers, 
 in the center of its being. There may 
 be reformations that are not accom- 
 panied with a belief in Jesus. A 
 heathen man, an agnostic, an atheist, 
 may be a lover of right-doing in a 
 large sense. But this right-doing may 
 be due to the unconscious work of 
 Christ upon the heart, even when he is 
 not known by name ( Jotn i : lo) ; it may 
 be owing to the development of a 
 moral power in the world wrought by 
 Christ, and having influence upon all 
 men in a Christian community. The 
 conquest of the world as a whole can 
 be accomplished only through Jesus. 
 No thorough reconstruction of a life 
 or of society can be wrought except 
 through the influence and power of 
 Jesus. Regeneration is a vastly larger 
 word, including a vastly larger work 
 than reformation. Regeneration will 
 lead to reformation, to self-dedication, 
 to sanctification, to a moral likeness to 
 God, to the conquest of all evil. 
 
 III. 6-13. The testimony by 
 
 WHICH THE BELIEVER IS ASSURED 
 THAT JeSUS IS THE SON OF GOD. We 
 have had Jesus presented to us as tlie 
 source of light, the fellowship with 
 him creating light in us. He is also 
 the source of righteousness in us inas- 
 
 much as he is righteous. In the entire 
 preceding part the discussion has cen- 
 tered about the person and work of 
 Jesus. There is now presented the 
 human and divine testimony to Jesus 
 Christ as the ground of our faith in 
 him. We have two sources of testi- 
 mony : first, that which arises from 
 history, the witnessing that can be ap- 
 pealed to on the part of eye and ear- 
 witnesses; secondly, the testimony of 
 the Spirit, the witness of the spiritual 
 life to its own reality, a witness that 
 must be true because the Spirit is the 
 truth itself. The religion of Jesus Christ 
 is not based on feelings or intuitions in- 
 capable of historical verification — it is 
 a religion of fact. This refers to the 
 person, Jesus Christ, of whom this 
 letter is full. Jesus came into the 
 world by an incarnation (John i = n), 
 but it is not to this coming that John 
 here refers. 
 
 Jesus came into his Messianic oflfice 
 by, through, or, by means of, the 
 water; at his baptism there was a 
 formal introduction to his public min- 
 istry. The water and the blood 
 stand for the terminal points of his 
 ministry, the opening and the closing 
 parts. Both of them bear witness to 
 his Sonship, and declare him to be 
 the Son of God. It may be assumed 
 that the terms water and blood refer to 
 some definite historical events in the 
 life of our Lord upon the earth. They 
 are, therefore, not to be interpreted in 
 a symbolic way. Many interpretations 
 of this passage are given. ( 1 ) Clement 
 of Alexandria, about A. D. 200, thought 
 that the water stood for regeneration 
 and faith, and the blood the public ac- 
 knowledgment of these. (2) Some have 
 thought that the terms here used de- 
 clare the one fact — that Jesus was a true 
 man in opposition to those who held 
 that his body Avas not a real body. In 
 this view the blood and Avater stand for 
 the constituents of a physical organiza- 
 tion. (3) Groti us and others hold that 
 the water stands for purity of life, in- 
 dicating thereby that Jesus lived a 
 spotless life. But inasmuch as the 
 blood represents literal blood, it can- 
 
Ch. v.] 
 
 I. JOHN 
 
 93 
 
 6 This is he that came i" by water and I 
 blood, even Jesus Christ ; not by water 
 only, but by water and blood. ' Aud it | 
 
 A Malt. 3 : 13-17 ■ J„hn 19 : 31, 35. 
 
 6 This is the one who came through 
 water and blood, Jesus Christ ; not in 
 the water only, but in the water and 
 
 i Johu 16 : 13; 1 Tim. 3 : 16. 
 
 not be supposed that the term water is 
 used in a symbolic way. (4) Calvin 
 and others understand by water the 
 ordinance of baptism which Jesus ap- 
 pointed as a perpetual ordinance. Ac- 
 cording to this view the water repre- 
 sents the cleansing of the heart, aud 
 the blood represents the ransom which 
 Jesus made. The two, therefore, stand 
 for the means by which salvation is 
 effected. But it is not probable that 
 Jesus would have joined the outward 
 ordinance of l)aptism, and put it on an 
 equality with the blood of reconcilia- 
 tion. The shedding of the blood was 
 essential to human salvation : baptism, 
 because appointed as a binding ordi- 
 nance, is essential to obedience, l)ut not 
 to salvation.- Iiiasiuucli also as tlie 
 blood pertains to something personal 
 to Christ himself^his own blood shed 
 for men — the water must also pertain to 
 something belonging to his own per- 
 sonal life. It cannot, therefore, refer 
 to a baptism appointed by him to be 
 observed by others. (5) Alford and 
 others think that the terms water and 
 blood refer to the incident mentioned 
 in John 19 : 34, 35, when water and 
 blood flowed from the pierced side of 
 Christ. It was John himself who alone 
 noticed the mysterious and miraculous 
 flow of water and blood from the Sa- 
 viour's aide. This indicates not only 
 the reality of his death, the material 
 character of his body, but also the re- 
 demptive character of his work. The 
 stream of water revealed the fountain 
 of life opened for us; it revealed also 
 the removal of guilt and condemnation 
 effected through the blood of sacrifice. 
 Against this view is the statement of 
 John that the water, the blood, the 
 Spirit, each bears its own distinct tes- 
 timony. In the stream flowing from 
 his side it was a united stream, tiiere 
 was no special significance of the water 
 as distinct from the blood. The water 
 and the blood are separate witnesses. 
 (G) The view having most to commend 
 it is that which refers the water to the 
 baptism of Jesus, the initial act in his 
 Messianic course, the blood referring 
 to the crucifixion, the termination of 
 
 his Messianic career. They unitedly 
 testify to his real manhood, his actual 
 death. 
 
 They bear witness also to his divine 
 nature, his Sonship, declaring that 
 Jesus is the Son of God. It was at his 
 baptism the Spirit rested on him, an(l 
 he was endowed with power from on 
 high (•loim 3 : 34). It was at his baptism 
 that John knew Jesus to be the Son of 
 God (John 1 : 34). Jesus came by water, 
 inasmuch as it was -by means of his 
 baptism that he entered on his work as 
 the Messiah. Here accompanying the 
 baptism were the descending dove, the 
 opened heavens, the uttered voice, the 
 convinced disciple, the public recog- 
 nition of his Sonship. Connected with 
 the baptism is the crucifixion of Jesus. 
 The one embraced the other. The 
 pouring out of the blood was the com- 
 pletion of the baptism which he had 
 to be baptized with (Mark lo : 38, 89), As 
 the baptism embraces all the surround- 
 ing incidents, the dove, the voice, in 
 like manner the blood, stands for all 
 the things that accompany the cru- 
 cifixion. Here was the voluntary 
 death, the mysterious flowing of the 
 mingled water and blood, the envelop- 
 ing darkness for three hours, the im- 
 press made on the dying robber, the 
 impress made on the Roman centurion 
 leading him to feel that there was 
 something supernatural about the suf- 
 ferer on the cross. These accompany- 
 ing things bore witness to the divinity 
 of the sufferer. Tlie.se two events, 
 marking the beginning and ending of 
 his ministrj', unite to .show the truth 
 of John's athrmation that Jesus is the 
 Son of God. Not by water only, 
 literally, in the water. The preposition 
 is here changed to one signifying the 
 element in wliich. The definite article 
 shows that these terms have been used 
 before, and gives a great solemnity and 
 empliasis to the statement. The errors 
 against which John is contending must 
 be borne in mind. There were those 
 who declared that it was impossible for 
 a divine being to .suflTer a death on the 
 cross. Inasmuch as Jesus suffered a 
 death on the cross, they said that he 
 
94 
 
 I. JOHN 
 
 [Ch. V. 
 
 is the Spirit that beareth witness, be- 
 
 7 cause the Spirit is truth. For there are 
 three that bear record [in heaven, J the 
 Father, ^the. Word, 'and the Holy 
 
 8 Ghost : " and these three are one. And 
 there are three that bear witness in 
 
 in the blood. And the Spirit is that 
 which testifies, because the Spirit is 
 
 7 the truth. For there are three that 
 testify ; the Spirit, and the water, and 
 
 8 the blood ; and the three agree in one. 
 
 j Matt. 3 : 17. h John 1 ; 1 ; Rev. 19 : 13. 1 Matt. 3 : 16. m Deut. 6:4; Matt. 28 : 19 ; John 10 : 30. 
 
 was not divine. John therefore sol- 
 emnly declares that Jesus, the Son of 
 God, came not only in baptism, dedi- 
 cating himself in a prophetic way to a 
 future dying, but also he came in 
 blood, in suffering. John declared the 
 essence of his own ministry to be a 
 baptism in water alone (Joi^n i ; 25). He 
 pointed to Jesus as the one taking 
 away the sin of the world, the Lamb 
 of God (John 1 : 29). By Water and 
 blood, rather, in the water and in 
 the blood. The Redeemer was iden- 
 tified and revealed as the Son of God 
 in the baptism, and also as the Lamb 
 of God on the cross; the one pointing 
 to the other, the one of no moral im- 
 port without the other. John protests 
 in this manner against those in his day 
 who united the Christ to Jesus at his 
 baptism, but separated them at the 
 cross. There is no direct reference in 
 ■water and blood to the baptism and 
 Lord's Supper of to-day, but it re- 
 mains true that the baptism and the 
 Supper show the death, the resurrec- 
 tion of Jesus, declare him to be living, 
 and to be remembered until he return. 
 These two ordinances, therefore, ex- 
 hibit Jesus as a divine being ; one who 
 rose from the dead, and who sustains 
 the spiritual life of men. They testify 
 to his divine nature, his Sonship. 
 
 Spirit refers to the Holy Spirit 
 though various other meanings have 
 been given to the term. The water 
 and the blood were facts, the Spirit is 
 a witness. Tlie Spirit descended on 
 Jesus at his baptism. The Spirit tes- 
 tifies of Christ (John 15 : 26), glorlfics 
 him, and shows of the things that be- 
 long to him (John 16 : 14). Through the 
 possession of the Spii-it we know that 
 we have Christ (!> : 24). 
 
 7, 8. All of ver. 7, after the word 
 record, must be omitted, and all the 
 words in ver. 8 up to and including the 
 word, earth. The two verses will 
 read, For there are three who bear wit- 
 ness, the Spirit, and the water, and the 
 blood ; and the three agree in one. The 
 
 omitted words are not found in any 
 Greek manuscript of the New Testa- 
 ment prior to the sixteenth century. It 
 is a thing incredible that a genuine pas- 
 sage should be wanting in all the early 
 Greek manuscripts. It is not found in 
 the early versions of the New Testa- 
 ment rendered into other languages. 
 It was never used by the fathers in the 
 Ariaii controversy, in the fourth cen- 
 tury, when the doctrine of the person 
 of Christ was under discussion. Had 
 it been in the original it is impossible 
 that it could have dropped out, for it 
 contains the clearest statement in the 
 New Testament of the doctrine of a 
 trinity in unity. The only traces of 
 this passage are in some of the Latin 
 Fathers. It first appears at the end of 
 the fifth century. It doubtless was first 
 written on the Margin as a comment, 
 and then by some copyist transferred 
 into the text. The Old Testament re- 
 quired that the testimony of two or 
 three witnesses should coincide (Deut. 
 i':6). Here three witnesses unite in 
 their testimony. In ver. 6 the Spirit 
 was named last ; here he stands first as 
 the abiding witness, the personal wit- 
 ness, one divine in character. The 
 Spirit testified at the bapti.sm of Jesus 
 (Matt. 3 : 16, 17) ; Chrlst was clothcd with 
 power by the Spirit (Luke 4 : is) ; the 
 Spirit bore witness to his Messiahship, 
 after his ascension, by endowing the 
 disciples with power and accompany- 
 ing their messages so that men were 
 won to Christ. He bears the same 
 testimony in every conversion when a 
 soul turns to Jesus, led thereto by a 
 .sense of sin. He is that same witness 
 to whom Jesus appeals in his last dis- 
 courses recorded by John. The tes- 
 timony of the blood is later in time 
 than that of the water, the testimony 
 of the Spirit accompanies the others, 
 and continues in an unbroken way 
 ever .since. In John's day the Spirit 
 gave extraordinary testimony. In all 
 the ages since, the Spirit has begotten 
 new agencies for work, has been chang- 
 
Ch. v.] 
 
 I. JOHN 
 
 95 
 
 earth), the spirit, and the water, and 
 the blood : and these three agree in 
 one. 
 9 If we receive "the witness of men, 
 the witness of Giod is greater : » for this 
 is the witness of God whicli he hath 
 10 testified of his Son. He that believeth 
 on the Son of God p hath the witness 
 in himself: he that believeth not God 
 
 9 If we receive the testimony of men, 
 
 the testimony of God is greater ; be- 
 cause this is the testimony o* God, that 
 he has testified concerning his Son. 
 10 He that believes on the Son of God has 
 the testimony in himself ; he that be- 
 
 n John 8 : 17, 18. 
 
 o Matt. 3 : 16, 17; 17 : 5. 
 
 p Ps. 25 : 14 ; Earn. 8 : 16 ; Gal. 4 : 6. 
 
 ing savage natures in the mission fields 
 into Christlikeness, has been creating 
 a Christian civilization, has raised up 
 martyrs who have sacrificed their lives 
 for the truth — in all these ways the 
 Spirit has been a living witness. Christ 
 must be a divine per.son in order to 
 work such changes in men and nations. 
 The water, the baptism of Christ and 
 its surroundings, bore witness to the 
 Sonship of Jesus (M«t. 3 : le, i7). The 
 voice from the skies was an incontest- 
 able proof to John that Jesus was the 
 Son of God. There may be also an 
 implied allusion to baptism as admin- 
 istered among us. The burial in water 
 is a reminiscence of the burial of Christ ; 
 the rising from the water is a symbolic 
 statement that Jesus rose from the 
 dead. The believer's burial and resur- 
 rection is the only symbolic act in the 
 world that speaks of the resurrection 
 of Jesus. In so far, therefore, may the 
 act of believer's baptism to-day be a 
 witness of the divinity of Jesus. In 
 every case where it is administered 
 there is the public declaration that 
 Jesus is believed to be the Son of God. 
 The blood. The allusion here is un- 
 doubtedly to the blood shed on the 
 cross, it also bears witness to the fact 
 that Jesus is the Son of God. All the 
 circumstances attending his death, the 
 rending of the veil, the supernatural 
 darkness can be explained only on the 
 supposition that the sufferer was a 
 divine person. The darkness in the 
 soul of the spotless Christ, tlie rent 
 veil of the temple, the willing submis- 
 sion to death, these unite to show that 
 he made an atonement for sin. This 
 also was a testimony to his divine char- 
 acter. There may also be a reference 
 to the Lord's Supper as celebrated to- 
 day, a memorial meal whose observ- 
 ance can be traced back to the first 
 century. Agree in one. The apostle 
 declares that the testimony of the three 
 
 witnesses converges to one truth. He 
 does not say that there are no other 
 witnesses. .John gives us, in a concise 
 way, a treatise on the evidences of 
 ChristianitJ^ 
 
 9. There is here a contrast between 
 the relative authority of human and 
 divine testimony. We are so made 
 that we rely on human testimony. A 
 large part of our knowledge is gained 
 thereby. Of God. If God speaks 
 there is no possible deception or partial 
 representation. For this . . . Son, 
 rather, for the tvitness of God is this, 
 that he hath borne witness concerning 
 his Son. In the Old Testament is an 
 entire series of attestations through 
 sacrifice and prophet concerning the 
 Son to be revealed. (See JuUn 5:46.) 
 In the New Testament the evangel- 
 ists and apostles give their testimony 
 concerning the Sou. This witness is 
 mainly through man, though it is 
 really God's testimony. Holy men 
 spake as they were moved by the Holy 
 Spirit (2 Peter 1 : 21). The testimony 
 especially spoken of here is thatdivine 
 teaching through the Holy Spirit. " We 
 are his witnesses of these things, and 
 so also is the Holy Spirit" (Acts 5 : 32). 
 We find in the next verse what the 
 testimony is. It is treating God with 
 contempt to receive and act on human 
 testimony, and yet disregard the tes- 
 timony of God concerning his Son, the 
 express image of himself. 
 
 10. This verse gives the testimony 
 concerning the Son. Witness in 
 himself. This witness is the fruit of 
 all evidence, the deep conviction that 
 ■lesns is the Son of God. The peace in 
 the heart, the new conceptions of life, 
 the overcoming strength in life, the 
 influence of the gospel in tlie life — these 
 show that the belief in Jesus is not a 
 delusion, but a source of strength.^ The 
 Sonship of Jesus is needed as a fitting 
 cause to efiect this result. The witness 
 
96 
 
 I. JOHN 
 
 [Ch. V. 
 
 hath made him a liar ; because he be- 
 lieveth not tlie record that God gave 
 
 11 of his Sou. And this is the record, 
 1 that God hath giveu to us eternal life, 
 
 12 and '•this life is in his Son. » He that 
 hath the Son hath life ; and he that 
 hath not the Son of God hath not life. 
 
 A reason for writing; faith in prayer. 
 
 13 'THESE things have I written unto 
 you that believe on the name of the 
 Son of God ; ^ that ye may know that 
 ye have eternal life, and that ye may 
 believe ou the name of the Son of 
 God. 
 
 14 » And this is the confidence that we 
 
 lieves not God has made him a liar; 
 because he has not believed in the tes- 
 timony which God has testified con- 
 
 11 ceruiug his Sou. And this is the tes- 
 timony, that God gave to us eternal 
 
 12 life, and this life is in his Son. He 
 that has the Son has the life ; he that 
 has not the Sou of God has not the 
 life. 
 
 13 These things have I written to you 
 who believe on the name of the Sou of 
 God, that ye may know that ye have 
 eternal life. 
 
 14 And this is the confidence that we 
 
 q John 5 ; 24. r 4 : 9 ; John 1:4. s John 3 : 36. t John 20 : 31. 
 
 u Ver. 10 ; Rom. 8 : 15-17 ; 2 Peter 1 : 10, 11. x 3 : 22 ; Eph. 3 : 12, 
 
 here is au internal testimony which is 
 produced by a conscious forgiveness 
 symbolized by the water of baptism, 
 the reconciliation through the blood, 
 the work of the Spirit in the heart, 
 these three agreeing in one to produce 
 a settled conviction in the heart. Be- 
 lieveth not. This is a distinct act of 
 the moral nature; it is resistance, un- 
 belief, rejection. Liar. Once before 
 has John made use of this strong term 
 (1 : 10). God hath borne witness con- 
 cerning his Son. To refuse the claim 
 of Jesus is to be in rebellion against 
 God. 
 
 11. We have here a completer defi- 
 nition of that to which God hath borne 
 witness. The end and aim of all that 
 God witnessed is that God'.s own life 
 might be given us through Jesus. In 
 his Son. Paul speaks of peace, for- 
 
 §iveness, reconciliation through the 
 on; John speaksof something deeper 
 — the possession of the very life of 
 the Son himself. An intellectual and 
 moral quickening must come from this 
 life imparted and dwelling in the heart. 
 
 (See John 1:4; 11 : 25 ; 14 : 6 ; Col. 3:3.) 
 
 12. Jesus has eternal life in himself. 
 Hath life, rather, the life. To be a 
 Christian is to have the Christ life 
 within and without. He gives the op- 
 posite — hath not life, rather, the 
 life. This verse is a repetition of .Tohn 
 5 : 24. He depicts, in an awful form, 
 the condition of the unbeliever. He 
 may have wealth, genius, power, pleas- 
 ure, but he does not have God's own 
 life. The doctrine of annihilation of 
 the unbeliever, the extinction of the 
 soul, the shriveling into nothingness, 
 does not follow from this statement. 
 
 Death does not mean extinction, but 
 the separation from the true and blessed 
 life. The man who walks in God's way 
 lives, the man who turns his back on 
 God, ignoring him or disobeying him, 
 is walking in the road of a present 
 death. 
 
 13. This verse corresponds with 1 : 4. 
 He refers to all that he has written, 
 not to the preceding verses only. The 
 Revised version reads. These things have 
 I written unto you that ye may know 
 that ye have eternal life, even unto you 
 that believe on the name of the Son of 
 God. It is a mes.sage to the believer, 
 not in any degree to the ungodly. 
 Name is equivalent to the person. 
 He is called Jesus because he saves 
 from sins. He is called Christ because 
 he is the fulfilment of the Old Testa- 
 ment prophecy, the anointed. Know- 
 ing of eternal life, of God's testimony 
 concerning the Son, having accepted 
 Christ as Saviour and Lord, they are 
 entitled to assurance. 
 
 IV. 14-17. Faith in the prom- 
 ises OF God LEADS TO PREVAILING 
 PRAYER. Possession of eternal life is 
 a safeguard against the allurements of 
 false teaching in all ages. God is not 
 merely a great sovereign, but a Father, 
 a counselor, a friend, a helper. Jolin 
 comes, in this passage, to a practical 
 help to them in their daily living, their 
 God is a prayer-hearing God. 
 
 14. Because we have a spiritual life 
 we have confidence in God. Paul de- 
 clares that we have not the spirit of 
 fear, but the spirit of adoption (Rom. 
 8 : 15). John delights to use the term 
 contidence, rather, boldness (2:28; 
 3 : 21 ; 4 : 17). One of the ways in which 
 
Ch. v.] 
 
 I. JOHN 
 
 97 
 
 have in him, that, if we ask any thing 
 according to his will, he heareth us : 
 
 15 and if we know that he hear us, what- 
 soever we ask, y we know that we have 
 the petitions that we desired of him. 
 
 16 If any man see his brother sin a sin 
 which is not unto death, he shall ask, 
 and 'he shall give him life for them 
 
 have toward him, that, if we ask any- 
 thing according to liis will, he hears 
 
 15 us. And if we know that he hears 
 us, whatever we ask. we know that we 
 have the requests which we have asked 
 of him. 
 
 16 If any one see his brother sinning a 
 sin not to death, he shall ask, and he 
 will give him life,— to those who sin 
 
 y Mark 11 . 2*. 
 
 z E.\od. 32 ; 10-U ; a Chrou. 30 i 18-20 . Job 42 : 7-9 . Janius 5 : 14-SO. 
 
 this boldness is expressed is in prayer. 
 Ask. Prayer is not simply desire un- 
 expressed, but petition embodied in a 
 request that comes before God. Ac- 
 cording to his will. In 3 : 22 it 
 was taught that prayers are answered 
 for those doing God's will. Not every 
 desire is prayer. All prayer, in John's 
 sense of this term, is answered. It is 
 to be made in the name of Christ (John 
 1* : 13), which does not mean that the 
 name of Christ is to be affixed to the 
 petition, i^iit that it is a prayer in ac- 
 cord with tlie nature of Christ, is formed 
 in accord with the mind of Christ. The 
 one so asking is guided by the Spirit of 
 Christ in the prayer (Rom. 8 : 26). Such 
 a prayer will, of necessity, be in ac- 
 cord with the will of God, because be- 
 gotten by the Spirit of God. He can, 
 with assurance, ask only for that which 
 the Spirit of Christ makes known to 
 him in prayer as corresponding to the 
 Father's will. Prayer cannot be con- 
 sidered as constraining the will of God, 
 but the bringing to pass of the divine 
 will does not exclude, but the rather 
 includes, all the intermediate and 
 secondary causes. Prominent among 
 these intermediate causes is prayer ; it 
 is one of the highest acts of a spirit 
 in relation to God. So certainly will 
 prayer be heard that Christians, while 
 they pray, should be inspired with the 
 assurance that what they ask will be 
 received. 
 
 15. This verse is intimately joined 
 with the pi'eceding. If we know. 
 The condition that we ask in accord 
 with his will is here omitted. We 
 know. This certainty arises from 
 our knowledge of God as a covenant- 
 keeping God, from his promise to hear 
 prayer, from the experience of the be- 
 liever. Desired. He implies that 
 not one petition has been wasted, all 
 have been heard. Compare the words 
 of Jesus (Mark 11 : 24). Pravcr is looked 
 upon as the central point of the Chiis- 
 
 G 
 
 tiau life. Prayers not answered, as 
 Paul's prayer in 2 Cor. 12 : 8, are found 
 to be reasons for thanksgiving. Prayers 
 are not commands to God, but requests 
 from God. Jesus prayed, subject to 
 this law. " Not my will, but thine be 
 done " (Jiatt. 26 : 39). The answer to the 
 prayer may be delayed, even if finally 
 granted. The delay may be for the 
 testing of the faith, or because its im- 
 mediate answer might involve a mira- 
 cle, or because the condition of the 
 petitioner might not warrant an im- 
 mediate answer. 
 
 16. From praying for one's self John 
 turns to praying for others — interces- 
 sory prayer. This springs from con- 
 fidence in God and a concern for the 
 erring brother. See indicates the 
 brotherly watchcare that should char- 
 acterize the Christian household. 
 Brother is to be taken in its strict 
 sense, limited to the fellow-disciple of 
 Christ. Sinning. This shows that 
 John's statement as to the life apart 
 from sin (3 : 6) must, in some way, be 
 qualified. He does not describe a .sin- 
 less Christian life. In the presence of 
 the sinning brother he will make re- 
 quest for him. The future tense im- 
 plies a certainty of so doing, involving 
 also the hint of a command. This 
 prayer will be for God's forgiveness, 
 for God's restraining grace that the sin 
 lead not to its logical result of complete 
 alienation from God. There are im- 
 plied the admonition, the penitence, 
 the joining of him in tlie prayer. There 
 is the same assurance here as in the 
 former case of forgiveness. Who shall 
 give life, the one who prays, as in 
 the Received version, or God, as in the 
 Revised version ? God alone can in 
 any proper sense bestow life. But 
 Joiin is speaking of the one praying 
 as the agent through whom God works, 
 he bestows life. In like manner James 
 speaks of one converting a soul, saving 
 it from death (James s : i9). Life means 
 
98 
 
 I. JOHN 
 
 [Ch. V. 
 
 that sin not unto death. » There is a 
 sin unto death : >> i do not say that he 
 17 shall pray for it. "All unrighteous- 
 ness is sin : and there is a sin not unto 
 death. 
 
 not to death. There is a sin to death '< 
 not concerning that do I say that he 
 17 shall make request. All unrighteous- 
 ness is sin ; and there is a sin not to 
 
 a Mark 3 : 29. 
 
 6 Jer. 7 : 16. U : 11. 
 
 the large spiritual life whose presence i 
 would fill the soul and restrain it from 
 a fatal sin ; it would repair the partial 
 death that had already exhibited itself 
 in the manifested sin. Sin unto 
 death. This means a sin that leads 
 toward death, that ends in death. 
 Two meanings may be given to the 
 term death. (1 ) It may refer to physical 
 death, in which case the sin committed 
 would lead to the penalty of death 
 upon the body. Such a case would 
 but rarely occur, so rare that it would 
 not be mentioned in a general discus- 
 sion such as is contained in this letter 
 (Eph. 2:2). It cannot mean dead in sin 
 here, for it would not be irnproper to 
 pray for a person dead in sin that he 
 might have life in the heart, nor would 
 it be assuredly known that he would 
 continue in this state of spiritual death. 
 (2) The term is sometimes made use of 
 to indicate the penalty that comes upon 
 the finally impenitent, called tlie second 
 death (^ev. 2 : 11). The reference is to 
 an act of sin, something definite, not 
 to a state of sin. This is evident from 
 the con,sideration that the sin that may 
 be forgiven is an act of sin. The two 
 stand in contrast with each other, an 
 act must correspond with an act. Jesus 
 alludes to a sin that is not forgiven, 
 here or hereafter, a sin unto death 
 (Matt, ij : 31, 32). If any one commit this 
 sin, done openly in the sight of all, a 
 sin whose nature is patent to all, for 
 this sin there is no forgiveness. For 
 such a sin no one need pray. This sin 
 cannot be regarded as some merely 
 atrocious sin like murder, but that 
 complete abandonment of life in Christ, 
 culminating in the act of apostasy 
 from Christ, the surrender of the inner 
 union with Christ. In Matt. 12 : .31 it 
 is the blasphemy against the Holy 
 Spirit, the open, slanderous attack on 
 the holiness of Christ's person and 
 work. In Ileb. 6:6 it is the act of 
 apostasy in turning finally and com- 
 pletely from the eternal life in Christ 
 obtained through the atonement, the 
 preference of the mere animal sacrifices 
 
 to the divine ofiering of the person of 
 Christ. John has dwelt upon the aw- 
 fulness of the antichristian doctrine 
 (2 : 22)^ the denial that Jesus Christ is 
 the Son of God come in the flesh. Life 
 is union with Christ (s : 12) ; death is 
 the separation from Christ. Eternal 
 death, a term not itself used in the 
 New Testament, but abundantly taught, 
 is that final and complete act of the 
 soul by which Christ is abjured, de- 
 nied, surrendered, the passing out of a 
 state of knowledge into the intelligent 
 denial of his person and of life through 
 him. John resolves sins into two 
 classes : the sin not unto death, the sin 
 unto death. What is to be the attitude 
 of the believer to the latter sin ; does 
 .lohn forbid prayer for such a person ? 
 There is a sin, positive, definite, that 
 yet belongs to the unrighteousness 
 spoken of in 1 : 9 for which is forgive- 
 ness through the blood, upon repent- 
 ance. Alford thinks that John intends 
 to prohibit prayer for such a person, 
 implying that it would be an act of 
 presumption, unduly interfering with 
 the exercise of God's judgment. Ne- 
 ander thinks that what John means is 
 expressed in the thought, that the 
 prayer for such a person finds no war- 
 rant for an answer as in the case of 
 prayer for the sin not unto death, 
 John changes the word used for prayer 
 from ask (aiteo) in the first case, to 
 request (erotau) in the second case. 
 The asking is the stronger term ; that 
 made use of by an inferior, and hence 
 never used by Christ in his petitions. 
 John says, concerning this sin I do not 
 speak in what I say about intercessory 
 prayer, implying the almost hope- 
 less result that must ensue if prayer 
 be offered. There is the widest oppor- 
 tunity for intercessory prayer, inas- 
 much as the case supposed would not 
 be found in one man in a million. 
 More persons will be lost by continuing 
 in unbelief; the persistent sinning with 
 the heart, even while the intellectual 
 judgment concerning Christ is correct ; 
 the sinning that leads inevitably to 
 
Ch. v.] 
 
 I. JOHN 
 
 99 
 
 77ie diMinciion betiveen God's children and 
 
 the wicked. 
 18 We know that ^ whosoever is born of 
 God sinneth not ; but he that is be- 
 
 18 death. We know that every one who 
 has been begotten ot God sins not; 
 
 d 3:9: 1 Petc-r 1 ; 23. 
 
 death, than by the specific sin spoken 
 of here by John. 
 
 Note.— Brotherly watchcare. 
 Intercessory prayer springs from the 
 nature of tlie Christian life ; tlie man 
 who loves his brother cannot cease to 
 pray for him (i sam. 7:8). The strong- 
 est characters in the Christian life have 
 felt the need of the prayers of others. 
 See the words of Paul (i Theas. 5 : 25). 
 John draws a dividing line between 
 the erring weak Christian who is yet a 
 Christian, and the perverse denier of 
 the fundamentals of the truth who had 
 joined the recognized antichristian 
 forces. For this one there is not much 
 encouragement to pray, though even 
 here, upon repentance, God grants for- 
 giveness. The reason why forgiveness 
 is not granted is not so much because 
 the sin itself puts one beyond the pale 
 of forgiveness, as that the hardeniiig 
 process in the heart steadily goes on 
 whereby it becomes impossible for ap- 
 peals to move it ; the man is self- 
 hardened, 80 that sin and guilt remain 
 supreme; he is joined to his sin (Hosea 
 * : IT). Jesus prayed for Peter (Luke 
 M : S2); Peter, when in jail, was prayed 
 for (Acts 12 : 5); Jesus yet prays for men, 
 it is a part of his work (Rom. 8 : 34) ; the 
 strong must bear the burdens of the 
 weak (Gal. 6:2). Jesus ^went after the 
 man who had been put out of the syna- 
 gogue (John 9 : 35). The Strength of 
 each Christian should be as the strength 
 of ten on account of the counsel, the 
 fellowship, the prayer of others. Ten- 
 nyson writes : 
 
 For what are men better than sheep or 
 goats 
 That nourish a blind life in the brain ; 
 If, knowing God, they lift not hands of 
 prayer 
 Both for themselves and those who call 
 them friend ? 
 
 V. 18-21. The assured beliefs 
 OF THE Christian. In this closing 
 section we have three statements made 
 by John, introduced by we know. 
 There is a true Gnosticism, a real Chris- 
 
 tian knowledge, as well as a false and 
 unreal Gnosticism. The.se sum up, as 
 it were, the great teachings of this 
 letter. In the tirst statement we have 
 the fundamental opposition between 
 life from God and sin, which is death 
 (ver. 18). We have, in the second, the 
 fundamental antagonism between the 
 regenerate and the world (ver. 19). \Ve 
 have in the third, the Christian decla- 
 ration concerning the divine nature of 
 Jesus and the relation to him of the 
 Christian as one abiding in him (ver. 
 20). There is a fellowship with God 
 in his life and holiness; there is a 
 fellowship with each other in the 
 church as against the world; there is 
 a conscious adoration of Jesus as the 
 Son of God, and the affirmation of life 
 in him. There is the final statement, 
 in the appeal, of the essential nature 
 of God as spirit, as light, as the abso- 
 lute one, of whom no representation 
 can be made. 
 
 18. Born, rather, begotten. The 
 knowledge here asserted arises from a 
 knowledge of God as holy. In the 
 moral as in the physical universe like 
 begets like. This same statement is 
 made in 3:9. Sinneth not. We 
 may not dilute this statement by say- 
 ing that the believer does not sin 
 habitually, or wilfully, or as in former 
 unregenerate times. The statement 
 stands out in its absoluteness as the 
 ideal of the Christian life. This is the 
 conception of every Christian life ; it 
 of necessity must be. The very nature 
 of the regenerate life as begotten of 
 God is to bo like God, and therefore 
 without sin. The regenerate life is 
 inconsistent with all sin— all kinds of 
 sin — both the sin unto death and the 
 sin not unto deatli. That there are sins 
 in the actual life is evident from the 
 confession made in 1 : 8, a confession 
 of sinning in which John joins himself. 
 In ver. 6 also he implies that many 
 will need the intercession of others. 
 The expression begotten is in the per- 
 fect tense, implying that one who 
 has been begotten retains the divine 
 life. When the work of Christ, begun 
 
100 
 
 I. JOHN 
 
 [Ch. V. 
 
 gotten of God «keepeth himself, and 
 
 that wicked one toucheth him not. 
 
 19 *And we know that we are of God, and 
 
 8 the whole world lieth in wickedness. 
 
 but he that was begotten of God keeps 
 
 himself, and the evil one touches him 
 
 19 not. We know that we are of God, and 
 
 the whole world is lying iu the evil 
 
 e 3 : 3 ; Ps. 39 : 1 ; Prov. 4 : 23-27 ; James 1 : 27 ; Jude 20, 21. 
 
 / Ver. 13 ; 3 : 14, 24. 
 
 g Rom. 3 : 9-19. 
 
 at regeneration, is complete, when the 
 actual gives way to the ideal, then the 
 sinning life will pass into the sinless 
 life. There remain in the believer the 
 traces of corruption which beget a 
 struggle and strife in the life. Siu 
 does not reign in the believer's heart, 
 but it fights. The concluding part of 
 the verse gives the reason for the state- 
 ment, but . . . self. Is begotten, 
 rather, was begotten, in the aorist tense 
 showing the definite time of turning to 
 Christ in the new life. There is the 
 divine life imparted in regeneration ; 
 there is the co-operating human spirit 
 by which the newly begun life is 
 watched over. In 3 : 3 the believer 
 purifies himself. Jude exhorts the be- 
 liever to keep himself in the love of 
 God (ver. 21). A man cannot save him- 
 self, but God does not save a man apart 
 from his own conscious effort. It is 
 not correct to render this as meaning 
 that regeneration keeps a man, or that 
 the Son of God keeps a man. John 
 emphasizes here the human .side of sal- 
 vation. God keeps the believer — the 
 believer also keeps himself. That 
 wicked one, rather, the evil one. 
 This refers to Satan, the evil one pre- 
 eminently who seduced Adam (Gen. 3 : 
 6); who tempted Jesus (Matt. 4: i) ; who 
 filled the heart of Judas (John is : 2) ; 
 who beguiled Peter for a time (Luke 
 22 : 31). The toucheth refers to a 
 touching that hurts, that seduces the 
 inner life, and breaks away a heart 
 from Christ. The man spoken of in 1 
 Cor. 5 : 1-5 ; Hymenteus and Philetus 
 
 (2 Tim 2 : 17) and DcmaS (2 Tim. 4 : 10) 
 
 were hurt by Satan. There will re- 
 main for the believer, as long as life 
 lasts, the assaults of Satan, which are 
 
 to be successfully resisted (l Peter 5:9); 
 
 Satan himself will, in time, be put 
 under the believer's feet (Rom le : 20). 
 Jesus could say, " He hath nothing in 
 me." The believer begotten into the 
 same mold as Christ may overcome 
 Satan, and in time will be developed a 
 nature in which will be nothing to 
 which Satan can appeal. God, Jesus 
 Christ, and the Holy Spirit are for 
 
 and in the believer ; against him is 
 tlie evil world, and evil heart, and 
 the evil one. 
 
 19. This verse declares the spiritual 
 state of John and his readers, and 
 therefore by necessity the unspiritual 
 state of the world which is under the 
 control of the evil one. y\e know 
 . . . God. This knowledge arises 
 from the conformity of the conduct to 
 the revealed will of God, their delight 
 in God. The Christian life may be 
 tested by standards given in this letter : 
 the love for the brethren, the over- 
 coming life, the life of righteousness, 
 the open confession of Christ. He 
 speaks in a tone of confidence as to 
 their spiritual condition. The Chris- 
 tian of to-day may have the same as- 
 surance, not from emotions or appari- 
 tions, but from the likeness of the 
 heart to God. By contrast the world 
 stands out of harmony with God, as 
 opposed to God, as lying iu the domain 
 and under the control of the evil one. 
 In wickedness, rather, in the evil 
 one, the one mentioned in the preced- 
 ing verse. God and Satan are the op- 
 posite spiritual and moral poles. It is 
 not said that the world is begotten of 
 the evil one, which would imply a 
 fixed moral condition, but it lieth in, 
 remains under the control of the evil 
 one, in a willing wa.y. It is possible 
 for one to pass out of the world into the 
 family of God, for Jesus is the propitia- 
 tion of the world (2:2: * : "). There 
 is a wide contrast in character between 
 the regenerate, finding their life in and 
 from God, and the unregeuerate, find- 
 ing all their life, in its nature and con- 
 duct, against God, in the evil one. 
 Jesus was in the world that his follow- 
 ers might be spiritually minded, for 
 worldly mindedness is the essence of 
 the unchristian life. It is implied that 
 tlie powers and tendencies of the pres- 
 ent age are largelj' under the control 
 of that evil being called the god of this 
 world. The kingdom of God is the 
 opposite of the world. Because Jesus 
 died for the entire world, every man is 
 savable through Christ. 
 
Ch. v.] 
 
 I. JOHN 
 
 101 
 
 20 ^ And we know that the Son of God is 
 come, and ' hath given us an under- 
 standing, ^ that we may know him that 
 is true, ' and we are la him tliat is true, 
 61)671 in his Sou Jesus Christ. ■>" xhis is 
 the true God, and eternal life. 
 
 20 one. And we know that the Son of 
 God is come, and has given us under- 
 standing, that we may know the True 
 One ; and we are in the True One, in 
 his Sou Jesus Christ. This is the true 
 God, and eternal life. 
 
 A 1 : 2, 14. i Matt. 13 : 11 ; Juba 17 : 25, 26; 2 Cor. 4:6. k Jobn 14 : 6; Bev. S : 7. 
 
 I John 14 : 20 ; 17 : 20-23. m Isa. 9:6; Johu 1:1-3; 20 : 28 •, Acts 20 : 28 ; Titas 2 : 13 ; Heb. 1 : 8. 
 
 Note. John's conception of 
 Satan. Everything that John says 
 conceruiug this subject is serious and 
 solemn iu tone. He lias nothing that is 
 merely poetical, and is at the farthest 
 remove from any grotesque conception 
 of him. Throughout this letter, as iu his 
 Gospel, is the dark background of a per- 
 sonal evil being. It is not evil in the 
 abstract, but evil embodied in a person. 
 He does nothing to clear up the mys- 
 tery of evil, its origin or its con- 
 tinuance in the government of a holy 
 and almighty God. He does not ex- 
 plain the origin of Satan. He simply 
 reveals Satan as a god of this world, 
 having a large controlling moral in- 
 fluence over the ungodly. John finds 
 no place iu his theology for any person 
 except iu allegiance to God or iu alle- 
 giance to Satan. To pass away from 
 God is to pass into the kingdom of the 
 evil one. Jesus is regarded as the 
 conquering Christ. He that is with 
 the believer is one miglitier thau all 
 the foes arrayed against him (* : *). In 
 great contrast with a modern light and 
 flippant way of speaking of Satan is 
 the impressive manner in which John 
 looks upon the invisible, but real and 
 terrible kingdom of darkness. In some 
 countries the heathen pray to the evil 
 spirits so that they may uot be harmed ; 
 in some countries a chief delusion of 
 Satan is the persuasion that he does not 
 exist; with Paul (Eph. 5 : u-is) John re- 
 gards, in a grave and serious way, the 
 unseen evil agencies that lay wait for 
 the souls of men. 
 
 20. A third we know is presented 
 to us. Under this general statement 
 we have grouped four assured beliefs. 
 (1) That the Son of God has come and 
 is present with us. (2) That he has 
 given an understanding heart by which 
 we know God. (3) That we have a 
 fellowship with God and jointly also 
 with the Son, Jesus Christ. (4) That 
 the God so revealed to us is the true 
 
 God, and the knowledge of him is true 
 and eternal blessedness. Is come. 
 John looks upon Jesus as a person 
 abiding in the world — one who came 
 and is now present. Jesus makes use 
 of the same expression coucerning him- 
 self in John 8 : 44. Uuderstandiug. 
 Through the Holy Spirit there had 
 been begotten au iutellectual and moral 
 apprehension of God, creating the 
 power by which believers judge aright 
 concerning spiritual things. Tliis in- 
 ner sense is predominantly spiritual 
 rather thau intellectual. Know him. 
 The result of this spiritual insight is 
 that we know God ariglit, have true 
 conceptions of him. John alludes here 
 to the many false conceptions of God 
 that were prevalent in the first century. 
 True is the opposite, not of false, but 
 of the unreal, the imaginary. In him. 
 There is a conscious fellowship with 
 this personal God, an indwelling in 
 him, a living under his control. In 
 God and hi the evil one are in con- 
 trast with each other. The dwelling 
 in God is the result of the indwelling 
 in Jesus, the Son. This. To whom 
 does this term apply, to the Son or to 
 God ? In favor of tlie reference to the 
 Son are the following considerations: 
 it is said (1) That the grammatical con- 
 stiTiction favors it, Christ being the 
 immediate antecedent of the pronoun, 
 this. (2) The expression eternal life 
 is naturally applied to Jesus Christ in 
 
 whom life dwells. (See John 1 : 4.) It is 
 
 said that eternal life was manifested to 
 us through .Jesus Christ (i : 2). Jesus 
 being the source of eternal life, he alone 
 can be referred to. (.3) The reference 
 of this to God would make the asser- 
 tion a mere truism, the declaration 
 that the true God is himself the true 
 God and eternal life. (4) This refer- 
 ence to the Son is in accord with tiie 
 teachings of .John in all his writings, 
 the oneness of .Tesus with the Father. 
 (.=5) The natural interpretation, that 
 which comes first to the mind of the 
 
102 
 
 I. JOHN 
 
 [Ch. V. 
 
 21 Little children, " keep yourselves 1 21 Little children, guard yourselves 
 from idols. Amen. | from idols. 
 
 n 1 Cor. 10 ; 7, 14 ; 2 Cor. 6 ; 16, 17. 
 
 ordinary reader, is that John is pred- 
 icating this statement of Jesus. But 
 against this view are the following 
 weightier considerations : (1) The main 
 thought of this passage is not Jesus 
 Christ; him that is true, that is 
 God himself. It is God who is kept 
 most prominently in mind. This refers 
 naturally back, not to the immediately 
 preceding word, but to the predominant 
 word of the passage, God. For in- 
 stances of this referring not to the im- 
 mediately preceding word, see 2 : 22 ; 
 2 John 7. (2) The expression, eternal 
 life, is in favor of the reference to 
 God. This life in its fulness, in its 
 primaiy sense, is found in God. (3) The 
 drift of the passage, the connection of 
 thought, is in favor of the reference to 
 God rather than to the Son. The 
 prominent tliought is this: this God, 
 with whom believers stand in fellow- 
 ship, is the only true God, and hence 
 is the primary source of eternal life ; 
 through him alone can we become par- 
 takers of eternal life, the highest of all 
 conceivable good. In closing this letter 
 John points to the primal source, to 
 Him who is himself tliat eternal life 
 which, from its source in God, was im- 
 parted to the Son that he might impart 
 it to us. In an impressive way. in 
 closing, John assures us that that one 
 manifested to us through the Son is the 
 true God in whom all blessedness re- 
 sides. That John is speaking of God 
 is also apparent from tlie appeal in the 
 last verse. It is the worship of God 
 himself that is always put in contrast 
 with the worship of idols. It is that 
 God who is presented to us as the clos- 
 ing thought of the letter. 
 
 31. Here is a parting warning against 
 idol worship. To hold fast this highest 
 possession believers must guard them- 
 selves from all contact with the idols 
 worshiped by a world lying in the 
 wicked one. In every town where had 
 been formed a church of Christ was 
 also the idol temple. Many doubtless 
 of John's readers had come from 
 heathenism ; for them to leave Christ 
 would be to fall again into the old life. 
 Little children, rather, my little 
 children. Thus affectionately does he 
 
 close his letter. Idols. This refers 
 to external images of imaginary deities 
 yet remaining in heathenism. John 
 had not alluded to these in his letter 
 before this, nor was the main danger 
 to his readers from this source. The 
 dangers alluded to were those arising 
 from philosophical speculations, Gnos- 
 tic errors, the denial that Christ had a 
 true human nature, which errors had a 
 close connection with sj'stems that 
 were at enmity with Christianity. The 
 term, idols, must therefore have a 
 large interpretation. It is a solemn 
 warning against everything that inter- 
 feres with the absolute supremacy and 
 sovereignty of God. John urges, there- 
 fore, that his readers abide in God, be- 
 cause to depart from God is to fall into 
 the kingdom of wickedness, under the 
 power of him that is the opposite of that 
 God who is the true one, the possessor 
 of the eternal blessedness. There may 
 be an idolatry begotten by a love of 
 the world, by an intellectual pride, 
 just as real as the idolatry in India or 
 Africa. Amen. This is to be omitted. 
 John begins his letter with the mani- 
 festing Christ, he ends his letter with 
 the manifested God. 
 
 Practical Remarks. 
 
 1. No one gets into God's kingdom with- 
 out a personal acceptance of Christ. No 
 birthright membership, no mechanical 
 methods, no churclily rites can effect an 
 entrance. Christ is the door, the Holy 
 Spirit is the agent (ver. 1). 
 
 2. We cannot love Christ, the head, 
 without loving Christians the members 
 of Christ's body. Love makes all things 
 easy. It is like wings that lift up, not 
 weigh down. When God's will becomes 
 our will, then the crosses of life disappear. 
 Commands that seem harsh and impos- 
 sible to the ungodly are pleasant and pos- 
 sible to the believer in Jesus (ver. 2, 3). 
 
 3. Hebrews gives a list of Old Testament 
 men who overcame through their belief 
 in God. Stephen (Acts 7 : 59), Antipas 
 (Rev. 2 : 13) killed by persecutors, were 
 also conquerors. It is better to overcome 
 through sufferings than to be overcome 
 
Ch. v.] 
 
 I. JOHN 
 
 108 
 
 by the world with its honors and pleasures 
 (ver. 4). 
 
 4. With the help of Christ all things 
 that ought to be done can be done. The 
 weakest saint plus the strong Saviour 
 can accomplish the ends of right living 
 (ver. 5). 
 
 5. For our sins it was needful that a 
 mighty and sinless being intervene in 
 our behalf to make for us an atonement 
 Jesus came not to be an example, though 
 he is that, but to be a Saviour through a 
 sacrifice. His baptism typified his bap- 
 tism of blood (ver. 6). 
 
 6. The New Testament suffers no loss in 
 having parts taken away that did not be- 
 long to the original text. The truth has 
 nothing to lose, but everything to gain, in 
 getting the very mind and words of the 
 Spirit. We may rest implicitly on the in- 
 tegrity of the text of the New Testament 
 (ver. 7). 
 
 7. We may not listen exclusively to the 
 words of John or Jesus, but we may have 
 the very facts before us which gave to 
 them an assurance of salvation. We 
 have also the abiding witness of the 
 Spirit promised by Christ as a teacher 
 (ver. 8). 
 
 8. It is unreasonable not to accept with 
 the mind Christ and Christianity. We 
 believe upon testimony and act in life 
 upon probability. We have assurance of 
 the facts that underlie the Christian sys- 
 tem, than which nothing can be more 
 sure. The unreasonableness of the un- 
 christian life is equaled only by its 
 wickedness (ver. 9). 
 
 9. Through the inner experience the 
 Christian is assured that Jesus is the Son 
 of God. It is the Spirit testifying in his 
 own heart. A Christian may not be wide- 
 ly read in the Christian evidences, but he 
 can say with the blind man, "One thing 
 I know ... I was blind, but now I .see " 
 (ver. 10). 
 
 10. Eternal life is obtained, not by the 
 acceptance of a creed or by an outward 
 reformation, but through the acceptance 
 of a person. 
 
 11. The believer already has eternal 
 life. He does not have it in its fulness as 
 
 he will have in heaven, but it is a life of 
 the same kind (ver. 11, 12). 
 
 12. There are gradations in the Christian 
 life. The larger the conceptions of the 
 Christian life, the fuller the realization of 
 the fellowship with Christ, the larger will 
 be the assurance (ver. 13). 
 
 13. The Christian may come to God in 
 boldness. Praying in confidence is not 
 demanding from God, but is the laying 
 of our requests before God in a suppliant 
 way The prayer that brings answer is 
 that prayer begotten by the Holy Spirit, 
 in accord with the will of God (ver. 14). 
 
 14. God is sometimes wise in refusing to 
 grant our requests. A saint of God said : 
 " I have lived long enough to thank God 
 for refusing to hear many of my prayers " 
 (ver. 15; Dan. 9 . 20). 
 
 15. No one should live for himself alone. 
 Each life should be a prayer meeting for 
 others. Jesus prayed for the disciples ; in 
 like manner should the Christian pray. 
 He who begins to care for others will end 
 by caring more for himself (ver. 16). 
 
 16 There are grades of sinning, but no 
 sin is a light sin. Each sin demands the 
 blood of the Son of God for forgiveness. 
 A little sin may lead to a larger sin. No 
 one should walk near the edge of a 
 precipice over which to fall is eternal 
 death (ver. 17). 
 
 17, The Scriptures reveal to us what 
 otherwise would be unknown to us— the 
 existence of a great, spiritual, malignant 
 being, who ha.s designs upon us. He 
 allures, tempts, deceives men. He can 
 really harm us only through our own 
 permission (ver. 18). 
 
 18 To abide in God is to abide in safety. 
 To have eternal blessedness is to be as- 
 sured against eternal death. If the heart 
 is full of God and life, there will be no 
 entrance for sin and death (ver. 20). 
 
 19. The progress of knowledge has 
 driven polytheism and outward idolatry 
 from civilized countries. But there is 
 danger in an advancing civilization that 
 the heart will be content with outward 
 things. Idolatry, to-day, is the alienation 
 of the heart from that life which finds its 
 true end in God (ver. 21). 
 
II. JOHN 
 
 1 THE elder unto the elect lady and 
 her children, • whom I love in >> the 
 
 1 THE elder to the elect lady, and to 
 her children, whom I love in truth,— 
 
 1 Johu 3 : 18 ; 3 John 1. 
 
 b John 8 : 32 ; Gal. 2 : U. 
 
 In this letter the aged Apostle John 
 sends words of affection, commenda- 
 tion, and counsel to some Christian 
 woman, living, doubtless, in Asia 
 Minor. He sends his greeting (ver. 
 1-3) ; expresses his joy over the con- 
 duct of her children (ver. 4); gives the 
 law of Christian love (ver. 5, 6) ; ad- 
 monishes her against false teachers 
 (ver. 7-9); shows how to deal with false 
 teachers (ver. 10) ; and expresses the 
 hope of seeing her soon (ver. 12, 13). 
 
 I. 1-3. Address and greeting. 
 We have iu this section the name of 
 the writer, the name of the person ad- 
 dressed, and the introduction. It is 
 constructed on the general plan of 
 Paul's introductions, incorporating the 
 two thoughts tliat make up the teach- 
 ing part of the letter, trutli and love. 
 The term truth occurs five times in this 
 short letter, and love four times. It is 
 a model Christian letter, uniting the 
 personal element with the utterance of 
 sound doctrinal teaching. 
 
 1. The elder. By this modest and 
 unassuming term John designates liim- 
 self. Peter, writing to the elders of the 
 churches, styles himself " their fellow- 
 elder" (1 Peter 5:1). This term, like 
 that of apostle, has several meanings. 
 It may he applied to one of tlie pastors 
 of the individual church (Titus i : 5); 
 to an older member of the church (1 
 Tim. 5:1); to onc who I)elonged to the 
 first generation of believers. When 
 used as here with the article, it is a 
 term of great significance, and would 
 accord with the modesty of character 
 habitual to John in the designation of 
 himself. It would not be needful, it 
 would seem violently out of place, for 
 the last survivor of the apostolic group 
 to assert his apostleship and authority 
 
 104 
 
 in a familiar personal letter, writing to 
 one who would never think of him but 
 with reverence. He is an elder iu an 
 especial sense, on account of age, rev- 
 erence, position ; the last one remain- 
 ing of the Twelve who had been with 
 the Lord Jesus. Elect lady. This 
 expression is capable of a number of 
 renderings, each of which is gram- 
 matically possible — to an elect lady ; 
 to the elect lady; to the elect Kuria; 
 to the lady Electa. The Revised ver- 
 sion adopts the second as the better ren- 
 dering. Paul writes, " Rufus elect in 
 the Lord" (Rom. le : 13); Peter writes to 
 the "elect who are sojourners" (i Peter 
 1:1). JJJlect is a term of Christian 
 courtesy. The writings of Clement of 
 Alexandria, A. D. 150-200, speak of 
 her as Electa ; but this cannot be the 
 correct rendering, for ver. 13 speaks 
 of her sister as " Electa." It is im- 
 probable that both women had the 
 same name. It is far more probable 
 that her name was Kuria, which name 
 has been found among the inscriptions 
 of the early Christians. Is John writ- 
 ing to a person or to a church ? Many 
 modern commentators think that the 
 reference is to a church, either the 
 church at large or some definite church. 
 It is true that in the letter to the Ephe- 
 sians, and in the book of Revelation, 
 the church is looked upon as a woman, 
 a bride. John apparently had met 
 some of her children either in his 
 visitation of the Asian churches, or in 
 their presence at his home. Noting 
 their Christian deportment he writes 
 to their mother. That John should 
 write to a Christian woman is not in 
 itself to be wondered at when we recall 
 how large a place women filled in the 
 New Testament churches. Whom I 
 
II. JOHN 
 
 105 
 
 truth ; and not I only, but also all they 
 
 2 that have known the truth ; for the 
 truth's sake, <= which dwelleth in us, 
 
 3 and shall be with us for ever, ■i Grace 
 be with you, mercy, and peace, from 
 God the Father, and from the Lord 
 Jesus Christ, the Sou of the Father, 
 •in truth and love. 
 
 4 I rejoiced greatly that I found of thy 
 children f walking in truth, as we have 
 received a commandment from the 
 Father. 
 
 and not I alone but also all that know 
 
 2 the truth,— for the sake of the truth, 
 which abides in us, and it will be with 
 
 3 us forever: Grace, mercy, peace, shall 
 be with us, from God the Father, and 
 from Jesus Christ, the Sou of the Father, 
 in truth and love. 
 
 4 I rejoiced greatly, that I have found 
 some of thy children walking in truth, 
 as we received commandment from the 
 
 c Col. 3 : 16. 
 
 d 1 Tim. 1 : 2. 
 
 / 1 Thess. 3:6-9; 3 John S, 4. 
 
 love. The whovi in the masculine 
 embraces all the members of the house- 
 hold. In the truth. This means not 
 merely in a genuine way, but implying 
 also that they are dwelling in the truth. 
 And not I only but all. This 
 Christian mother was well known 
 through the Christian community, both 
 at home and abroad. Have known 
 the truth, rather, know. This desig- 
 nates the Christian community as those 
 who have come into a personal ac- 
 quaintance with Christ who is the 
 truth. The introduction of the term 
 truth is preparatory to the censure of 
 those not holding the truth (ver. 7). 
 
 2. For the truth's sake. This 
 expres.ses the reason for the love to- 
 ward her. 
 
 3. Grace . . . peace, rather, grace, 
 mercy, peace shall be with us. This is 
 an apostolic desire with the assurance 
 that the desire will come true. This 
 group of words constitutes the apostolic 
 benediction, summing up in a few 
 words the essential contents of the 
 divine revelation. This combination 
 of words is found only in this passage 
 and 1 Tim. 1 : 1 ; 2 Tim. 1 : 2. Grace 
 refers to the favor of God, unmerited, 
 original, springing up not in ourselves, 
 but in God's gracious desires toward 
 us, revealed in Christ. It has special 
 reference to man's sin and guilt. The 
 word is rare in John's writings, found 
 only here and in John 1 : 14, 16, 17 ; 
 Rev. 1:4; 22 : 21. 3fercy has .special 
 reference to relieving the wretchedness 
 and misery of men that spring from a 
 guilty condition. It cannot therefore 
 logically come first in the benediction. 
 The order of the words is a statement 
 of the divine procedure. Peace is the 
 resultant of forgiveness, of regenera- 
 tion, of adoption, the summing up of 
 the possession of God. God's fellow- 
 
 ship brings God's own peace into the 
 
 soul (Rom. 5:1; John U : 27). FrOm 
 
 God . . . Christ, iather, from God 
 the Father, and from Jesus Christ, the 
 So7i of the Father. These all spring 
 from their fountain in God ; they are 
 mediated through Christ. John does 
 not think of God without also think- 
 ing of Jesus Christ, the two are in- 
 separable (see 1 John 5 : 12). In trUth 
 and love. This expression does not 
 declare that these blessings come upon 
 them on account of these indwelling 
 qualities, but in connection with them, 
 not apart from them. The .salvation 
 of Christ is not throngli character, 
 but always accompanies and creates 
 character. 
 
 II. 4-11. The body of the let- 
 ter. 4. John gives his unstinted praise 
 before he gives a word of warning. 
 John was inspired, he was also tactful. 
 I rejoiced. In the aorist tense; so 
 Bible Union version. This may refer 
 to some definite time in the past, when 
 he came upon her children and found 
 them walking in Christian truth. The 
 Revised version renders it in the pre- 
 sent. / rejoice. This reveals John's 
 Christian nature, sharing a joy with 
 the children in their holy walk and 
 desirous of contributing to the joy of the 
 mother in notifying her of their life. 
 John apparently came upon them in 
 his journeyings among the churches 
 and homes. He had the care of the 
 churches; he was also a shepherd of 
 persons one by one. Of thy chil- 
 dren. This does not assert or imply 
 that some of her children were not 
 walking in the truth. Those whom 
 he met were walking in the light of 
 the truth. In truth, which means 
 living in the domain of the Christian 
 religion, adorning tlie doctrines which 
 they profe.ssed (Tim. 2 ; 11). 
 
106 
 
 II. JOHN 
 
 5 And now I beseech thee, lady, e not 
 as though I wrote a new command- 
 ment unto thee, but that which we 
 had from the beginning, '' that we love 
 
 6 one another. And 'this is love, that 
 we walk after his commandments 
 This is the commandment, That, ^ as 
 ye have heard from the beginning, ye 
 should walk in it. 
 
 7 For ' many deceivers are entered into 
 the world, " who confess not that Jesus 
 Christ is come in the tlesh. "This is a 
 deceiver and an antichrist. 
 
 8 » Look to yourselves, p that we lose 
 not those things which we have 
 
 5 Father. And now I ask thee, lady, not 
 as writing to thee a new command- 
 ment, but that which we had from the 
 beginning, that we love one another. 
 
 6 And this is love, that we walk accord- 
 ing to his commandment ; this is the 
 commandment, that even as ye heard 
 from the beginning, ye should walk in 
 
 7 it. Because many deceivers have gone 
 out into the world, who confess not 
 Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. 
 This is the deceiver, and the anti- 
 christ. 
 
 8 Look to yourselves, that ye lose not 
 the things which we wrought, but that 
 
 g 1 John 2 : 7, 8 ; 3 : 11. h John 13 : 34 ; 1 Peter 4:8. ! John 14 : 15, 21 ; 15 : 10, 14 ; 1 John 5 : 3. 
 
 * 1 John 2 : 24. 11 John 2 : 18-22 ; 4 : 1. ml John 4:2,3. n 1 John 2 : 22 ; 4:3. 
 
 Matt. 24 : 4, 24, 25. J) Gal. 3 : 4 ; Phil. 2 : 15, 16 ; Heb. 10 : 32, 35. 
 
 5. We come now to the real motive 
 of the letter. And now I beseech. 
 
 As an apostle he might command (see 
 Phiiem. 8). Entreaty is oftentimes more 
 potent than a command. Tlie term 
 rendered beseech implies that he had a 
 right so to appeal to her. Walking in 
 trnth is walliing in love as he now 
 shows. New. See the same expres- 
 sion used 1 John 2 : 7. From the 
 beginning. Especially of the new 
 Christian era ; love is seen to be the 
 fulfilling of the law (Rom, 13 : 8). The 
 aim of this letter is, that we love 
 one another. Had John heard some- 
 thing which indicated a want of love, 
 or does he here make simply the ap- 
 peal which would be fitting even to 
 the angels? On this point we can 
 make no answer. 
 
 6. And this is love, rather, the 
 love, that is meant by the command 
 that we walk in God's ways. All 
 God's precepts are summed up in one 
 commandment. This ... it, rather, 
 This is the commandment, even as ye 
 heard it from the beainning, that ye 
 should walk in it. The it refers to 
 love. Beginning refers to the com- 
 mencement of the Christian era. From 
 the first there had been no deviation 
 from this teaching tlmt love must 
 characterize the entire life. 
 
 7. John now puts her on her guard 
 against false teachers. For shows the 
 need of walking in the love that is 
 founded on the truth. Deceivers 
 refers to the teachers of false doctrines, 
 centering mainly about the person of 
 Christ. The many shows how full 
 the first century was of defections from 
 
 the truth. It was more difficult to 
 maintain the truth then than now, inas- 
 much as there was for the church no 
 consensus of belief, embodied in creeds 
 sanctioned by the test of centuries. 
 Are entered, rather, gone forth, that 
 is, partly from the church (1 John 2 : 19), 
 partly from the world of darkness 
 under the control of a personal per- 
 verting agency. The errors centered 
 in the denial of an incarnation. Who 
 . . . flesh, rather, even they that con- 
 fess not Jesus Christ cometh in thejiesh. 
 Here the denial is not that an incarna- 
 tion has taken place, butaSirming that 
 it cannot take place, the impossibility 
 arising either from some limitation in 
 God's nature whereby he is restrained 
 from coming into a union with human 
 nature, or from the sinfulness of matter, 
 so that the Logos could not become 
 flesh (John 1:14). A deccivcr and 
 an antichrist, rather, the deceiver 
 and the antichrist (1 John 2 : 18-22). His 
 appearance is perilous to the church, 
 for he is the deceiver, the one foretold, 
 is opposed to Christ, is an antichrist, 
 the one most dangerous to the cause of 
 the Saviour. No reference is here 
 made to the second coming of Christ. 
 
 8. Look to yourselves. This is 
 an expression of rare occurrence, in- 
 dicating the serious matter here pre- 
 sented, also making manifest the dan- 
 ger incident to this false teaching. In 
 1 John 4 : 18 the believer is represented 
 as keeping himself, here also is por- 
 trayed the duty of personal vratchcare 
 over one's self The aim of looking at 
 themselves is that we lose not, rather, 
 ye. There is the prospect of loss, spir- 
 
II. JOHN 
 
 107 
 
 wrought, 9 but that we receive a full 
 reward. 
 
 9 ' Whosoever transgresseth, and abid- 
 eth not ' in the doctrine of Christ, hath 
 not God. He that abideth in the doc- 
 trine of Christ, he hath both the Father 
 and the Son. 
 10 If there come any unto you, and 
 bring not this doctrine, receive him 
 
 9 ye receive a full reward. Every one 
 who leads forward, and abides not iu 
 the teaching of Christ, has not God. 
 lie that abides in the teaching, he has 
 
 10 both the Father and the Son. If any 
 one comes to you, and brings not this 
 teaching, receive him not into your 
 
 q Dan. 12 : 3. 
 
 r 1 John 2 : 23. 
 
 » John 7 : 16, 17 ; Heb. 6 : 1. 
 
 itual and eternal, unless there is per- 
 sonal watchcare. Have wrought. 
 
 This refers to the Christian state into 
 which they had come, the Christian life 
 upon which they had entered through 
 the instruction of the apostles and 
 others, their fellow-laborers, repre- 
 sented by we. Christ was the efficient 
 agent of their salvation, but this was 
 mediated to them through John and 
 the apostles. Few or none of them 
 had seen Christ in the flesh. Full 
 reward. Believers are saved through 
 grace and are rewarded according to 
 their works. They are not saved on 
 account of their works, but they are 
 never saved apart from their works 
 
 (Matt. 16; 27; Rev. 22:12). Full shoWS the 
 
 varying rewards in the present and in 
 theheavenly life (Luke w -. 16-19). There 
 are large possibilities in the Cliristian 
 life, larger oftentimes than are realized. 
 Notice the dwindling spiritual life of 
 Heb. 5 : 11, 12, and the attainable 
 peace spoken of in Rom. 5 : 1, R. V. 
 
 9. John here indicates a peril ; that 
 of going beyond Christ's teachings and 
 incurring the loss of God's presence. 
 An important variation iu the text 
 occurs here. Whosoever . . . Christ, 
 rather, whosoever goeth onward anil 
 abideth not in the teaching of Christ. 
 Jesus claimed a supremacy in teach- 
 ing, claiming to be the truth itself and 
 allowing no one to take a position along- 
 side of himself. The Christian is one 
 who accepts Christ as supreme in the 
 example of living, in all matters of 
 faith and conduct. This is not to be 
 construed into a denial of progress in 
 Christian thought or the impo.ssibility 
 of clearer conceptions of the Christian 
 revelation in the ages to come. Almost 
 every age has added somewhat to the 
 stock of Christian doctrine. But always 
 there must be a subordination to the 
 completeness and supremacy of the 
 teachings of Christ and the apostles iu 
 
 the New Testament. Abideth in the 
 doctrine, teaching. This means to 
 hold it intellectually, and to put the 
 life under its control. Througli Jesus 
 God is known, but the name of the 
 Father stands first in the logical order 
 (Matt. 11 : 27). Jesus Christ is redeemer, 
 he is also teacher. We must trust to 
 him alone for salvation ; we must listen 
 to him alone for instruction on the path- 
 way of life, on the nature of the church, 
 on the ordinances of the New Testa- 
 ment. 
 
 10. What must be the attitude of the 
 believer toward false teachers? John 
 here answers tliat question. Doc- 
 trine, rather, teaching. John alludes 
 to the teaching of aud concerning 
 Christ. There was a general uniform- 
 ity among the early Christians as to 
 fundamental beliefs. Man.v of the 
 New Testament writings wci'e already 
 current (2 Peter 3 : 16). The words of 
 Jesus would be known among the 
 churches. By these the Christians 
 could test all teachings that came to 
 them. John does not allude to a mere 
 traveler coming in quest of a hospi- 
 table shelter, but to a teacher seeking 
 to disseminate radically wrong teach- 
 ing; an antichrist, denying the reality 
 of the incarnation and salvation 
 through Christ; this man seeking to 
 spread a fatal teaching, is not to be wel- 
 comed into the house. It is not the 
 man but the teacher that is to be thus 
 seriously dealt with. It is not bigotry 
 or intolerance or persecution that John 
 urges, but such a steadfast love for the 
 truth that his course may not indorse 
 the error. John was naturally im- 
 pulsive in character (''"k* 9 : s»), but 
 the command here rigiitly understood 
 is in accord Avith tlie spirit of love. 
 Without doubt many Christians have 
 taken these words in a bitter spirit, 
 and have treated errorists with cruelly, 
 not warranted. But we must guard 
 
108 
 
 II. JOHN 
 
 not into your house, 'neither bid him 
 
 11 God speed : « for he that biddeth him 
 God speed is partaker of his evil deeds. 
 
 12 » Having many things to write unto 
 you, I would not write with paper and 
 ink : but I trust to come unto you, and 
 speak face to face, y tliat our joy may 
 be full. 
 
 13 * The children of thy elect sister 
 greet thee. Amen. 
 
 11 house, and give him no greeting ; for 
 he that gives him greeting shares in 
 his evil works. 
 
 12 Having many things to write to you, 
 I was not willing to write with paper 
 and ink ; but I hope to come to you, 
 and to speak face to face, that our joy 
 
 13 may be made full. The children of 
 thy elect sister salute thee. 
 
 t Rom. 16 : 17 ; 1 Cor. 16 : 22 ; Gal. 1 : 8, 9. « Eph. 5 : 11 , I Tim. 5 : 22. 
 
 y John n : 13 ; Rom. 15 : 29, 30, 32 ; 1 John 1:4. z \ Peter 5 ; 
 
 against laxity on the other hand. In 
 Luke 9 : 50 Jesus reproves his disciples 
 for forbidding one to cast out demons 
 ■who did not outwardly move in Christ's 
 company. The two teachings found in 
 Luke 9 : 50 and in Matt. 12 : 30 must 
 be taken togetlier to get a full guidance 
 for life. Not only must the false teacher 
 not be received into the house, but be- 
 lievers are forbidden to bid him God 
 speed, rather, give him greeting. This 
 does not refer to the courtesy of the 
 formal Christian greeting, but to the 
 giving of such fellowship as shall im- 
 ply a community of doctrine. There 
 must be the garment free from the de- 
 filement of sin. The form of sound 
 words (2 Tim. 1 : 13) and the right atti- 
 tude toward the truth are essential, in 
 the long run, to the steadfast Christian 
 life and the supremacy of truth in the 
 world. 
 
 II. This verse explains ver. 10. 
 Biddeth him God speed, rather, 
 giveth him greeting. Every believer 
 must be a helper to the truth, not a 
 hinderer. The truth is strong, but it 
 must be witnessed to. Because Elijah 
 did not bow the knee to Baal, seven 
 thousand others were aided in their 
 steadfastness. It is implied here that 
 false teachers in the church must be 
 first kindly counseled, then put outside 
 of the church if they do not repent of 
 their errors. Evil deeds. It is im- 
 plied that false teachings lead to evil 
 deeds, bad conduct. The denial of a 
 fundamental belief will, in time, in- 
 jure the church, the truth, and indi- 
 vidual souls. 
 
 III. 12, 13. The conclusion. 12. 
 The apostle's heart and mind are 
 full of personal affection and of the 
 desire to help the cause of the truth. 
 Paper was made from the Egyptian 
 papyrus. Ink from soot, water, and 
 gum or resin. In 3 John 9 he mentions 
 
 the pen, made of a reed split. John 
 breaks off from the mechanical means 
 of communication becau.se he hopes 
 soon to see her. What he writes is of 
 equal importance with what he speaks ; 
 the Spirit may guide equally in both. 
 Our joy, rather, your. Christian fel- 
 lowship makes joy. (See i : *. ) Heaven, 
 involving personal fellowship -with 
 Jesus and fellow-saints, is complete 
 joy ; hell is joyless. For the present 
 the believer may know Christ largely 
 through the printed page and afar oflF ; 
 he, in time, will see him face to face 
 
 (1 John 3 : 2). 
 
 13. Children. It is implied that 
 the mother is dead or absent, and that 
 John is a guest in their house. There 
 was in the early centuries a t«nder 
 Christian fellowship arising from per- 
 secution, from sneers and scoffs, from 
 misunderstandings, and from a com- 
 mon hope in the Saviour. The mani- 
 fest love for each other was a sign of 
 the Christian life (Johh is : S5). Amen, 
 to be omitted. 
 
 Note I. The proper treatment 
 OF error. Elijah killed the false 
 prophets of Baal (i Kings is : 40). Paul 
 affirmed the truth of his own teachings, 
 putting the brand of condemnation upon 
 all false teachers (gui. 1 : 8). If any one 
 alters the teachings of the Revelation it 
 is said that a curse will rest upon him 
 (Rev. 22 : 19). Jamcs and John forbade 
 some persons from performing miracles 
 in the name of Je.sus because they were 
 not openly identified with him (Luke 
 9 : 50, 51). Jesus reproved them saying, 
 " He that is not against us is for us." 
 In an age when there are many varying 
 beliefs it becomes a question of impor- 
 tance to know what ought to be the 
 attitude of the believer toward error. 
 There must be kindness and love to- 
 ward those in error, commending the 
 
II. JOHN 
 
 lO'J 
 
 truth in love. Bitterness of spirit 
 awakens antagonism to the truth itself. 
 Discrimiratiou must be made between 
 the fundamentals of the faith and tlie 
 truths which are not of equal import. 
 Even among the apostles there are 
 varying aspects of the truth. In tlie 
 New Testament writings one can readily 
 distinguish between the views of the 
 truth presented by Paul, Peter, and 
 John. A person who is in doubt on 
 important points of doctrine must be 
 dealt with in a way different from the 
 one who has reached definite conclu- 
 sions. Jude presents different methods 
 of dealing with men in different stages 
 of eri'or (Jude 22. 23). Persecution is 
 never justifiable even for the most un- 
 scriptural teachings. The Baptists have 
 always maintained that men are an- 
 swerable to God for the truth of their 
 beliefs. The teachings of revelation 
 and the reason are to be employed to 
 overcome error. We must distinguish 
 between the teachings of the Bible and 
 the interpretations of them held by 
 men. The interpretations may be er- 
 roneous while the Bible teaching is ac- 
 cepted. The teaching of the trinity 
 must be held as against unitarianism ; 
 salvation by faith in Christ must be 
 held as against baptismal regeneration ; 
 the suflSciency of the Scriptures must 
 be held as against the demands of ra- 
 tionalism ; the equality of believers 
 must be held as against the claims of 
 a priesthood. Many doctrines in their 
 main outlines are to be regarded as 
 fixed and unchangeable. There must 
 never be opposition to the truth that is 
 contained in the erroneous teaching. 
 There must not be an indiscriminate 
 opposition. All errors derive their 
 power from the truth contained in 
 them. As against universalism, the 
 tenderness and mercy of God must not 
 be assailed ; as against unitarianism 
 the true humanity of Jesus must be 
 conceded; as against spiritualism the 
 existence of the soul after death must 
 be recognized. Bigotry is the bitter 
 holding of a pai-t of the truth ; indif- 
 ferentism as to the truth is worse than 
 bigotry. More danger is to be feared 
 in this age from sentimentalism, a 
 loose holding of the truth, than from 
 persecution. There must be a desire 
 to get to know all the truth of revela- 
 tion; the truth when seen must be 
 
 loved., not surrendered or compromised ; 
 the truth must l)e borne witness to in 
 all fitting ways. It requires great 
 wisdom to hold the truth in love, to 
 recognize truth wherever seen, to be a 
 witness for the truth, to condemn all 
 error, to think more of truth than of 
 pleasing others. 
 
 Note II. The place of woman 
 
 IN THE New TE.STAMENT CHURCHES. 
 Woman fills a large place in the annals 
 of the beginnings of Christianity. Siie 
 is a recognized New Testament force. 
 We find women among the personal 
 friends and helpers of Jesus, adding to 
 the comfort and efhciency of his life 
 (Luke 8 : 2, 3). In the home at Bethany 
 Jesus found a comforting and restful 
 love. It was a woman, Mary, who per- 
 ceived clearly the drift of his life to- 
 ward deatli, when the minds of the disci- 
 ples were blinded by their preconceived 
 notions of the Messiah (John 12 : 7). 
 Women were among the last at the 
 cross and were the first at the sepulchre. 
 It was a woman to whom the risen 
 Saviour revealed himself. Women be- 
 came thereby the first missionaries of 
 the risen Christ. In Rom. 16 we have 
 a luminous list of women who were 
 effective helpers in the Christian ac- 
 tivities of the first century. It was 
 Phoebe, a deacon of the Cenchrean 
 church, who was entrusted with tlie 
 mission of carrying the letter to the 
 Roman church (Rom. le : 1). It was 
 Priscilla M'ho became a theological 
 teacher, giving instruction to the elo- 
 quent Apollos, bringing him into a 
 larger light (Acts is : 2g). Dorcas was 
 the forerunner of many of the helpful 
 agencies by which a sad and suffering 
 world is made bearable (Acts 9:36). 
 The four daughters of Philip were 
 prophets, helping the believers by their 
 appeals and counsels (Acts 21 : 9). Paul 
 everywhere found coworkers among 
 the Christian women. In Philippi 
 the first convert in Europe was a 
 woman who became thereby the first- 
 fruits of that mighty movement that 
 we know as P^uropean civilization. 
 Two notable women were Paul's help- 
 ers at Philippi, Euodiasand Syntyehe 
 (Phil. 4:8). One of the converts at 
 Athens was a woman named Daniaris. 
 The chief women in the towns of Asia 
 Minor became centers of a new in- 
 
110 
 
 II. JOHN 
 
 fluence that gave birth to churches 
 and a Christian movement that in time 
 controlled things (Acts n -. *). lu this 
 letter we have a glimpse of two Chris- 
 tian women and two Christian homes. 
 The children of these homes were 
 tributes to the efficiency of the home 
 training. That the aged apostle should 
 send a letter to a Christian woman, and 
 that this letter should be preserved 
 Avhen some of Paul's writings have 
 perished, is a proof of the position and 
 recognized power of the Christian 
 woman in the first century. Jesus 
 Christ raised woman to a new height ; 
 and woman, in turn, gave Christianity 
 a wonderful impulse in the world. 
 Compare comments on 1 Cor. 14 : 35 ; 
 Kom. 16 : 1 ; and 1 Tim. 3 : 11. 
 
 Note 3. The errors of the first 
 CENTURY. It is sometimes mistakenly 
 thought that the first century was pe- 
 culiarly free from errors in doctrine 
 and looseness in life. It was, however, 
 a hard struggle for the truth to main- 
 tain itself. The New Testament letters 
 reveal a restless spirit and many per- 
 versions of the true teaching. The 
 letter to the Romans reveals a dormant, 
 spiritual life (Rom. is : ii). The letters 
 to the Corinthians show a divided 
 church, and a denial by some of the 
 resurrection. The letter to the Gala- 
 tians presents a widespread teaching 
 denying the foundation thoughts of 
 Chi'istianity. The letter to the Colos- 
 sians gives a glimpse of doctrines as- 
 sailing the nature of the person of 
 Christ. The letter to the Hebrews is 
 an exhortation not to go back to the 
 imperfect teachings of Judaism. Every 
 letter is a protest against false teaching 
 and living; an appeal to correct think- 
 ing, to sound doctrine, to holy living. 
 It is probable that no doctrinal error 
 of recent years has arisen, that did not, 
 in its essential features, spring up in 
 the early centuries. The great modern 
 errors are simply the old untruths under 
 new forms. The study of church his- 
 
 tory is valuable in that it shows us 
 how the early churches met and over- 
 came false and perverted teachings. 
 
 Pkactical Remarks. 
 
 1. A good Christian character will win 
 its way and command the respect of all. 
 The best wealth of a church is the fine 
 characters of its membership. 
 
 2. Peace can never come to the heart 
 except through God's forgiveness. The 
 world may get a peace through forget- 
 fulness. Jesus alone bestows a peace 
 that is restful, abiding, growing, holy 
 (ver. 3). 
 
 3. To rejoice in the spiritual welfare of 
 others is a mark of the Christian life. To 
 try to make others fall is Satanlike. Every 
 advance in the Redeemer's kingdom 
 should awaken rejoicing. The angels re- 
 joice when Jesus wins a lost man (ver. 4). 
 
 4. Mutual exhortation is helpful in the 
 Christian life. It is commanded in Heb. 
 10 : 25. The membership in the church is 
 almost a necessity for Christian living 
 (ver. 5). 
 
 5. The love that (Jod is pleased with is 
 that which leads to the doing of God's 
 will. The yoke of service is easy to wear 
 when it is lined with love (ver. 6). 
 
 6. God does not raise up deceivers, 
 but being raised up they become indi- 
 rectly a blessing, in that they cause a re- 
 newed examination of questions in dis- 
 cussion, and insure a more intelligent 
 defense of them. Attacks, in recent years, 
 upon the trustworthiness of the biblical 
 records have placed them on a firmer 
 foundation (ver. 6). 
 
 7. To be a Christian is to have forgive- 
 ness, guidance, blessings here and here- 
 after, the presence of God himself. No 
 one can know God, or possess God, ex- 
 cept through Jesus Christ (ver. 9). 
 
 8. What a man believes and teaches is 
 important. The beliefs of the heart will, 
 in time, control the life (ver. 10). 
 
III. JOHN 
 
 1 THE elder unto the wellbeloved 
 •Gaius, >> whom I love in the truth. 
 
 2 Beloved, I wish above all things that 
 thou mayest prosper and be in health, 
 
 3 even as thy soul prospereth. " For I 
 
 1 THE elder to Gaius the beloved, 
 whom I love in truth. 
 
 2 Beloved, I pray that in all things 
 thou mayest prosper and be in health, 
 
 3 as thy soul prospers. For I rejoiced 
 
 a Acts 19 : 29. 
 
 c 2 John 4. 
 
 This letter, doubtless coincident with 
 the second letter in order of time, re- 
 sembles it in its general structure and 
 style. All three letters revolve about 
 the kindred thoughts of truth and love. 
 
 John addresses Gaius, one of the 
 pillars of the church (ver. i); he prays 
 that he may be prospered in his spir- 
 itual life (ver. 2-1); praiscs him for his 
 hospitality toward missionaries (^er. 
 5-8) ; notices the hostility of Diotrephes, 
 a turbulent member (^er. 9, lo); men- 
 tions Demetrius as an illustration of 
 the good element in the church (ver. 
 11, 12); and sends greeting to Gaius, 
 whom he hopes to see soon (ver. i3, u). 
 
 I. 1. The address. The author of 
 this letter is the elder, the aged 
 
 Apostle John. (See 2 John, ver. 1.) He 
 
 modestly and invariably describes him- 
 self under some general or distinguish- 
 ing description, (see Jol^a l : 35; 21 : 20.) 
 
 In striking contrast to the claims made 
 and the terms used by the modern 
 popes and the bishops of Rome in 
 the early centuries is the modest de- 
 meanor of Peter and John. Gaius. 
 Three men of this name are mentioned 
 in the New Testament by Paul (Acts 
 
 19 : 29; 20 : 4 ; Rom. 16 : 23 ; 1 Cor. 1 : U). 
 
 As all these men perhaps lived at 
 an earlier age, it is probable that 
 John refers to another bearing the 
 same name. We are left in doubt as 
 to the man referred to and as to the 
 place of residence. It is not asserted 
 in the address that he held an office in 
 the church, but he was undoubtedly 
 one of the pillars of the church. In 
 the truth, rather, in truth, marks the 
 sphere in which the love takes place ; 
 it is not a mere personal love, but a 
 
 love that springs from mutual indwell- 
 ing in the truth of Christ; iu other 
 words a Christian love. 
 
 II. 2-12. The substance of the 
 LETTER. The letter centers about three 
 persons, Gaius, Diotrephes, and De- 
 metrius. There is a tribute to the char- 
 acter of Gaius, and praise for his hos- 
 pitality to Christ's messengers. 
 
 III. A prayer that Gaius may pros- 
 per in outward affairs as he does in 
 his spiritual life (ver. 2-4). 
 
 2. I wish . . . prosper, rather, I 
 pray that in all things thou mayest 
 prosper. This is an instance of inter- 
 cessory prayer. Health. The refer- 
 ence IS to bodily health, which is here 
 made a subject of prayer. It may be 
 that Gaius had been .sick, as had been 
 other servants of Christ, (see an instance 
 
 of Paul, 2 Cor. 12 : 7 ; of Timothy, 1 Tim. 6 : 25 ; of 
 
 Trophimus, 2 Tim. 4 : 20.) Gaius was a man 
 spiritually minded, growing in grace, 
 caring especially for the inner life. 
 Soul prospers. It is a curse to a 
 man when outward prosperity comes 
 with an impoverished spiritual life. 
 The soul is the standard of piety. Paul 
 looked upon the inner man as the true 
 man (2 Cor. 4 ; le). John's prayer is the 
 reverse of that which is usually made, 
 for generally the outward prosperity 
 exceeds the growth of tlie soul in piety. 
 A wealthy soul atones largely for a life 
 girt about with infirmities and obsta- 
 cles. Job is an example of incorrupti- 
 ble integrity in the midst of suffering. 
 
 3. For gives the proof of the pros- 
 perous soul of Gaius. John considers 
 first his general faithfulness in Chris- 
 tian work, and in ver. 5 mentions the 
 special cause of commendation. Re- 
 Ill 
 
112 
 
 III. JOHN 
 
 rejoiced greatly, when the brethren 
 came and testified of the truth that is 
 in thee, even as " thou vvalkest in the 
 
 4 truth. I have no greater joy than to 
 hear that «my children walk in the 
 truth. 
 
 5 Beloved, thou doest faithfully what- 
 soever thou doest to the brethren, and 
 
 greatly, when brethren came aud tes- 
 tified to thy truth, even as thou walkest 
 
 4 in the truth. I have no greater joy 
 than this, to hear of my children walk- 
 ing in the truth. 
 
 5 Beloved, thou doest a faithful work, 
 in whatever thou doest to the breth- 
 
 d I Cor. 4 ; 15 ; Gal. 4 : 19 ,■ Philem. 10. 
 
 joiced, in the aorist tense, points 
 out a definite time in the past when 
 John heard of Gaius's life. Brethren 
 came from Gaius's home and testified 
 publicly to his Christian life. Of the 
 truth that is in thee, rather, ttnto 
 thy truth. The t7'uth, the conformity 
 to the life and teachings of Christ, was 
 openly shown in his life. While errors 
 were abounding, Gaius maintained an 
 orthodox belief. His creed and his 
 conduct were such as to awaken the 
 praise of John. Walkest shows the 
 constantly maintained Christian life. 
 A man is responsible for his beliefs ; 
 they are his own. They both make 
 him and he makes them. The two 
 thoughts that control this letter are 
 truth and love. John joins them in- 
 dissolubly together. 
 
 4. This verse explains the "greatly 
 rejoiced" of ver. 3. I . . . truth, 
 rather. Greater joy have I none than 
 this, to hear of my children ivalking in 
 the truth. Gaius had, in all likelihood, 
 been won to Christ through John's 
 ministry, hence he calls him a child. 
 In like manner Paul speaks of Timothy 
 (2 Tim. 1 : 2). John was not simply a 
 preacher leading men to Christ, but 
 also a shepherd watching over them in 
 their life and development. Paul ex- 
 presses his grief over wayward dis- 
 ciples (Phil- 3 : 18). God's heart was cut 
 with grief at beholding the wicked- 
 ness of his creatures («en. 6:6). It is a 
 mark of true piety, of the Christian 
 man, of the good angel to rejoice in 
 well-being and in well-doing. The 
 Christian character of Gaius was the 
 source of John's Christian joy. Paul 
 counts the saved Thessalonian Chris- 
 tians his joy and crown at the last day 
 (1 Thess. 3:9). Evcn Jesus finds his 
 heaven more heavenly because his 
 people are with him (John 17 : 24). 
 
 IV. 5-8. Praise OF Gaius FOR HIS 
 
 HOSPITALITY ; SUCH HELPFULNESS 
 BRINGS INTO FELLOWSHIP WITH THE 
 TRUTH. 
 
 5. Beloved marks the introduc- 
 tion of a new thought. Four times in 
 this short letter John uses the term 
 (ver. 1, a, 8, 11). In the presence of op- 
 position and faction in the church his 
 love grows deeper toward the faithful 
 element in the church. Doest marks 
 the constant tenor of his life ; it was a 
 character fixed in helpfulness. Faith- 
 ful shows the conformity of the life to 
 the commandment of love. It was a 
 love not in word only, but revealed in 
 deed, in life ; a walk belonging only to 
 those who belong to the class of faith- 
 ful men (iJohns:i8). Whatsoever 
 marks the entire range of the treatment 
 of the Christian brother. A cup of 
 cold water will not be forgotten (Man. 
 10 : 42). Jesus makes use of the same 
 expression in Matt. 26 : 10, rendered, 
 " wrought a good work upon me." 
 To . . . strangers, rather, toward 
 them that are brethren and strangers 
 withal. The brethren here are those 
 who came to them as strangers, from 
 abroad. A hospitality to strangers was 
 an exhibition of Christian love. (s«e 
 
 Bom. 13 : IS ; 1 Tim 3:2; Titua 1:7; Heb. 18 : 
 
 2 ; 1 Peter 4:9.) Emphasls is laid in the 
 New Testament upon the practical 
 duty of hospitality in welcoming the 
 traveling preacher. The absence of 
 places of entertainment, the general 
 poverty of the preachers, the new sense 
 of a Christian brotherhood, made this 
 a test of Christian love. The "Teach- 
 ing of the Twelve Apostles," written 
 about A. D. 100, speaks of the duty of 
 giving a home to the traveling minister, 
 but not for any length of time, lest the 
 duty become burdensome. Jesus, in 
 sending out the Twelve, bade them find 
 a home with those who were found to 
 be worthy (Matt, lo : u). Jesus some- 
 times found no open door for himself 
 on his journeys (Luke 9:53). Chris- 
 tianity obtained its hold in the first 
 century through men who went out in 
 the manner here described, sometimes 
 driven out by persecution (Act* 8:4); 
 
III. JOHN 
 
 113 
 
 6 to strangers: which have borne wit- 
 ness of thy charity before the church : 
 whom if thou bring forward on their 
 journey after a godly sort, thou shalt 
 
 7 do well : because that = for his name's 
 sake they went forth, 'taking nothing 
 
 8 of the Gentiles. We therefore ought 
 to receive such, that we might be 
 fellowhelpers to the truth. 
 
 6 ren. and that to strangers, who testified 
 to thy love before tlie church ; whom 
 thou wilt do well to send forward on 
 
 7 their journey worthily of God ; for on 
 behalf of the NAME they went forth, 
 
 8 taking nothing from the Gentiles. We 
 therefore ought to sustain such per- 
 sons, that we may become fellow- 
 workers for the truth. 
 
 / 1 Cor. 9 : 12, 15. 
 
 sometimes impelled by an irrepressible 
 desire to save men. 
 
 6. The evangelists gave an account 
 of their journeys and triumphs before 
 the assembled church, where John was 
 at this time living. Which . . . 
 charity, rather, who bare witness to 
 thy love. In like manner Paul and 
 Barnabas gave an account of their 
 missionary journey before the church 
 at Autioch (Acts 11 : n). From a praise 
 of the past John turns to the future, 
 urging them to a like conduct when 
 the evangelist should return to his 
 community. Whom . . . well, rather, 
 whom thou wilt do well to send forivard 
 on their journey worthily of God. The 
 evangelists were engaged in God's 
 service, they were worthy therefore of 
 highest commendation. To help them 
 was, in reality, to help God in his work 
 upon the earth. In like manner Jesus 
 speaks of the reception that ought to 
 be accorded to his messengers (Matt, lo : 
 *•>). Jesus regards kindness shown to- 
 ward his disciples as displayed toward 
 himself (Acts 9:4; Matt. 25 : 40). Hos- 
 pitality when exercised with the right 
 motive becomes a godlike act. 
 
 7. This verse shows the high calling 
 of the work of the evangelists. For 
 his name's sake, rather, for the 
 sake of the name. The name stands 
 for the unseen person, by whose com- 
 mand and moved by whose love they 
 went out, here meaning the name of 
 Christ. James speaks of the name of 
 the Lord (5:u), meaning Jesus. To 
 the first-century Christians there was 
 no dividing line as to the divine nature 
 between Jesus and God ; Jesus was to 
 them the manifested God (John i : u). 
 In a natural manner John passes from 
 the thought of God, meaning theFather, 
 to Jesus, the Son of God, the head of the 
 church, in whose interests these men 
 went out. (See Col. 1 : 18.) They wciit 
 forth from the church into the world, 
 not to deceive, as the antichrists (i John 
 
 H 
 
 2 : 19). Taking nothings from the 
 Gentiles. Their sphere of lal)or was 
 evangelizing, giving the good news to 
 the heathen, those outside the Jewish 
 and Christian faith. To prevent mis- 
 conceptions of Christianity, that their 
 mission might not be regarded as mer- 
 cenary, they took nothing. Tlie words 
 in the Greek imply that this was their 
 deliberate purpose. Paul preached in 
 a like manner, refusing to take pay 
 from the newly formed churches (i cor. 
 
 9 : 18; 1 Cor. 11 : 7 ; 1 Theas. 2 : »). JeSUS 
 
 commanded a like course in Matt. 10 : 
 8. On the other hand, Paul insists on 
 his right and the right of the ministry 
 to a maintenance from the churches 
 when establifshed (i Cor 9 : u ; ii.b. i3 : le). 
 A first duty among tlie missionaries 
 to-day is the v/ork of bringing the 
 native churches to a self-support. For 
 the extent of correspondence and travel 
 in the fir.st century, consult the chapter 
 in Ramsay's "Letters to the Seven 
 Churches," entitled " Writing, Travel, 
 and Letters among the Early Chris- 
 tians." 
 
 8. This verse reveals the duty of the 
 Christian to the evangelist. It is a 
 matter of duty to receive, rather, 
 tvelcoyne, such persons. Their recep- 
 tion must be anticipated and provided 
 for by the Christian, not sought by the 
 missionary as if soliciting alms. Fel- 
 low-helpers to the truth, rather, 
 according to the best text, fellow- 
 workers for the truth. Those contrib- 
 uting of their means or their hospitality 
 become participants in the work of the 
 spiritual conquest of the world. Each 
 Christian, by virtue of his Christian 
 life, must be engaged in the missionary 
 enterprise. Jesus Christ was a mis- 
 sionary ; Chri.stianity is essentially a 
 missionary religion, it can live and 
 grow and keep pure only by spreading 
 it. Each believer must go or send. 
 There is, in reality, no dividing line 
 between the secular and the sacred ; 
 
114 
 
 III. JOHN 
 
 9 I wrote unto the church : but Diot- 
 rephes, ewbo loveth to have the pre- 
 eminence among them, receiveth us 
 10 not. Wherefore, if I come, I will re- 
 member his deeds which lie doeth, 
 prating against us with malicious 
 words. And not content therewith, 
 neither doth he himself receive the 
 brethren, and forbiddeth them that 
 
 9 I wrote somewhat to the church ; 
 but Diotrephes, who loves to have the 
 pre-eminence among them, receives us 
 10 not. Therefore, if I come, I will bring 
 to remembrauce his deeds which he 
 does, prating against us with evil 
 words. And not content therewith, 
 neither does he himself receive the 
 brethren, and those who wish to do so, 
 
 g Matt. 23 : 8, Mark 10 ; 44. 
 
 material things given for Christ, hos- 
 pitality toward the unknown workers, 
 are essentially spiritual acts. In the 
 original there is a play upon the words ; 
 the missionaries take nothing from the 
 Gentiles, therefore we ought to take 
 them up and help them. This verse 
 gives the spirit and method of giving 
 and working — not to please others, but 
 to help the cause of Christ. Each one 
 so participating becomes a partner 
 with God, with Jesus, with the Holy 
 Spirit in the great work of saving the 
 world. Helpfulness is a duty and a 
 privilege. 
 
 V. 9, 10. The hostility of Di- 
 otrephes. The early churches were 
 made up of imperfect men. All the 
 letters of the New Testament reveal 
 the mixed character of the member- 
 ship. There were quarrels among the 
 members (Ptii. 4:2); factions in the 
 church ( 1 Cor. i : h ) ; doctrinal errors 
 (1 Cor. 15 : 12) ; defections on the part of 
 teachers (i Tim. i : 20) ; a sluggish re- 
 ligious life { Heb. 5:12). Evcu the super- 
 vision of the apostles did not keep out 
 impurities. 
 
 9. John, though an apostle, did not 
 have the support and help of all the 
 members of the cliurch. Paul also 
 found a turbulent opposition, disputing 
 his authority (2 cor. 4 : lo). John had 
 •written a previous letter to the church 
 on this same subject doubtless, the 
 welcoming of the traveling preachers. 
 I wrote, rather, / wrote somewhat ; 
 not asserting that it was important or 
 unimportant, but simply stating the 
 fact of writing. This letter liad been 
 withheld, perliaps destroyed, by Diot- 
 rephes. In like manner, at least, one 
 of Paul's letters disappeared (1 Cor. 5:9). 
 It is a possibility tliat some of the lost 
 letters of apostolic times may yet be 
 recovered. The letter was sent to the 
 church, not as here to a person, of 
 which both Gains and Diotrephes were 
 members. Diotrephes gained nothing 
 
 by destroying the letter, for we have 
 in this letter, doubtless, a repetition of 
 its contents, with the added character- 
 ization of Diotrephes liimself. Diot- 
 rephes. We know nothing of him 
 except from this allusion. He was, 
 perhaps, one of the pastors of the 
 church, having gotten the church 
 largely under his influence. In the 
 same church, supporting the authority 
 of John, were Demetrius (>er. 12) and 
 Gains. Diotrephes rejected the au- 
 thority of John, and refused to receive 
 the messengers. He may have been a 
 Judaizer (Gai. 2:4) who did not sym- 
 pathize with the work among the Gen- 
 tiles, or it may have been simply the 
 desire to have the preeminence that 
 ruled him. He was a small-sized pope 
 in the church. The New Testament 
 church was democratic in its form of 
 government, according to which the 
 majority had the power of control. 
 See 1 Cor. 5:4; 2 Cor. 2 : 6, where 
 " many" should be rendered the many 
 or the more. Such a form of govern- 
 ment always gives opportunity for a 
 popular bad man to get an undue con- 
 trol ; but this is one of the peiils to 
 which every good institution is ex- 
 posed. 
 
 10. Here is shown tlie attitude of 
 John toward Diotrephes. See Paul's 
 words to the factious element of the 
 Corinthian church (2 cor. 10). Where- 
 fore, rather, therefore. If I come 
 refers to some intended journey of the 
 apostle, of which he doubtless made 
 many among the churches of Asia 
 Minor from Ephesus as a center. Will 
 remember, ratlier, will bring to re- 
 membrance. John would lay before 
 the church the works of Diotrephes, 
 not known perhaps to all, and not rea- 
 lized in their full enormity. He had 
 spoken publicly against the apostle, 
 prating with malicious words, 
 rather, wicked, implying tliat the as- 
 sertions of Diotrephes were of an un- 
 
III. JOHN 
 
 115 
 
 would, and casteth them out of the 
 
 11 church. Beloved, '^ follow uot that 
 which is evil, but that which is good. 
 ■ He that doeth good is of God : but he 
 that doeth evil huth not .seen God. 
 
 12 Demetrius '' hath good report of all 
 men, and of the truth itself : yeu, and 
 we also bear record ; ' and ye know 
 that our record is true. 
 
 he forbids, and casts them out of the 
 church. 
 
 11 Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, 
 but what is good. He that does good, 
 is of God ; he that does evil, has not 
 seen God. 
 
 12 To Demetrius, testimouy has been 
 borne by all, and by the truth itself ; 
 yea. we also testify, and thou knowest 
 that our testimony is true. 
 
 A Exod. 23 : 2 ; Ps. 37 : 27 ; Isa. 1 ; 16, 17; 1 Peter 3 : 10-13. 
 
 k I Tim. 3:7. I Johu 21 : 24. 
 
 1 JoUn 2 : 29 i 3 : 6-9. 
 
 worthy sort. Casteth. Through his 
 influence by a formal vote they were 
 put outside the pale of the church, 
 suffering loss in business and social 
 standing thereby. There was a legiti- 
 mate exclusion from the church for 
 unworthy conduct (i Cor. 5:5); here 
 the exclusion was for adherence to the 
 truth. John Huss, tied to the stake, 
 covered with a robe on which were pic- 
 tures of demons, a martyr for his love 
 of the truth, said, " I appeal from your 
 unjust judgment to the judgment seat 
 of Christ." Jesus sought out one ex- 
 communicated for his sake (John 9 : S5); 
 in like manner John here approves 
 the action of the excluded members. 
 One, Diotrephes, wealthy, intellectual, 
 with high social standing, with a repute 
 for piety, may suffice to ruin a church, 
 may prove stronger, for a time, than 
 the truth of Christ and the authority 
 of the apostles even. 
 VI. 11, 12. Fellowship must be 
 
 HAD WITH THE GOOD; OF THIS DEME- 
 TRIUS IS AN EXAMPLE. 
 
 11. John goes back from specific 
 examples to the large controlling prin- 
 ciples of the life, of which he sees only 
 two possible, the good, the evil. He 
 affirms of Diotrephes, because his ac- 
 tions are evil, that he has not seen God. 
 John goes back from men and their 
 individual lives to their sources; to 
 God who makes and maintains good- 
 ness ; to Satan who makes evil in the 
 heart. This verse is a reminiscence of 
 1 John 3 : 6. Diotrephes would lose his 
 hold upon the deluded good memliers 
 of the church if thej' could see his char- 
 acter in its true light. Through Gains 
 the opinion of John would probably be 
 made known to the church to some 
 extent. 
 
 12. The bad to be avoided finds il- 
 lustration in Diotrephes, the good to 
 be imitated finds expression in Deme- 
 
 trius, who is at the opposite remove 
 from Diotrephes. Good report, 
 
 rather, witness. The same persons 
 who brought an ill -report of Diot- 
 rephes, brought also a good report of 
 Demetrius. A threefold testimony is 
 borne concerning him ; first, those who 
 know him ; secondly, of the truth 
 itself. This means that his conform- 
 ity to the truth of the gospel, to Jesus 
 Christ, who is the truth, is so apparent 
 that it is as though the truth itself 
 bears witness to him. Thirdly, we 
 . . . record, rather, we also hear wit- 
 ness. It was of great importance for the 
 sake of the truth in this communitj', 
 and for the support of Demetrius in 
 his struggle for right doctrine and for 
 rightful government that Demetrius 
 should be strongly supported, hence 
 John adds his own apostolic authority. 
 Ye . . . true, rather, thou knowest 
 that our ivitness is true. The weight 
 of John's personal character and his 
 apostolic authority would have great 
 influence with Gaius and the right- 
 thinking part of the membership. John 
 was not a mild-thinking man, destitute 
 of force of character, when the truth 
 was at stake. He was a sturdy an- 
 tagonist for the truth, and for good 
 men in standing by the truth. Every 
 age needs its Demetrius and its Gains 
 in the contests that arise for maintain- 
 ing a correct mold of doctrine and a 
 right administration of Christ's au- 
 thority upon the earth. All good men 
 should stand openly for the truth, in 
 its advocacy and for its supremac>\ 
 What was the result of this admoni- 
 tion, whether the church was saved, 
 whether John's authority was resisted, 
 whether Diotrephes himself was ex- 
 cluded or won to the truth, these ques- 
 tions cannot be answered. Self-will 
 will ruin a church. Heresy, in its 
 primary import, means a division in 
 
116 
 
 111. JOHN 
 
 13 ° I had many things to write, but I 
 will not with ink and pen write unto 
 
 14 thee : but I trust I shall shortly see 
 thee, and we shall speak face to face. 
 
 Peace be to thee. Our friends salute 
 thee. Greet the friends by name. 
 
 13 I had many things to write to thee, 
 but I wish not to write to thee with 
 
 14 ink and pen ; but I hope straightway 
 to see thee, and we shall speak face to 
 face. 
 
 Peace be to thee. The friends salute 
 thee. Salute the friends by name. 
 
 m 2 John 12. 
 
 the church. Factiousness and wrong 
 teaching are both enemies of the wel- 
 fare and existence of the church. 
 VII. 13,14. Close OF THE LETTER. 
 
 13. Many things concerning their 
 personal relations, concerning the 
 teachings of revelation, concerning the 
 welfare of the church pressed upon 
 him while writing, but the circum- 
 stances of the case were too urgent for 
 delay. Write, rather, write unto thee. 
 The less occasion was there for him to 
 write much because he hoped soon to see 
 him. I will not, rather, lam uiunll- 
 ing. Ink and pen. (See 2 John 12.) 
 
 14. But introduces, on the other 
 hand, the proposal of a speedy visit. 
 I trust . . . thee, rather, / hope 
 shortly to see thee. There will then be 
 the unrestrained fellowship of Chris- 
 tian hearts and mutual converse. Near- 
 ness to a common Christ makes near- 
 ness to each other. Heaven will be 
 such personal fellowship entirely puri- 
 fied and perpetuated. Peace. This 
 is the only instance in the New Testa- 
 ment of this personal formula. Jesus 
 with this term greeted his disciples (John 
 20:19). Our. . . thee, rather, ^^e 
 friends salute thee. This is the only 
 New Testament instance of the Chris- 
 tian brethren being called friends. Sa- 
 lute. Tlie Christian salutation would 
 be the holy kiss, a method of greeting 
 yet preserved in the East (Rom. le : le). 
 The church as a social organization, a 
 family in Christ, must have the social 
 spirit. Even Paul was cheered by the 
 presence of a few friends with bright 
 words and faces (Acts 28 : is). John had 
 the names of many of the brethren in 
 his mind, as Paul also carried in his 
 memory the names of many faithful 
 men and women, (see Rom. le.) Jesus 
 knows the names of all his followers 
 (John 10 : 3). The personal character of 
 this letter addressed to a person, not to 
 a church, explains the use of the term 
 friends, rather than tlie more formal 
 term of brothers. Jesus himself had 
 hallowed this term friend in John 15 : 
 
 15. Such a letter received by a person 
 or by the church would be placed 
 among the archives of the church as a 
 part of its treasures ; would be read 
 before the church (see i Thess. 5-27); 
 would be copied and sent to other 
 churches, (see coi. * : i6.) In this way, 
 little by little, the writings of the New 
 Testament were gathered together and 
 formed one collection. 
 
 Note I. The church life as re- 
 vealed IN THESE LETTERS. In these 
 letters we see a membership nominally 
 Christian, but with much of an un- 
 christian spirit. This is true of all the 
 churches to which Paul sent his letters. 
 (See the letters to the churches at 
 Corinth, Galatia, Thessalonica. ) That 
 a spiritual regeneration was insisted 
 upon as a prerequisite for member.ship 
 is evident from the expressed teach- 
 ing everyAvhere in the New Testa- 
 ment. (See Acts 2:47.) But the cliurch 
 life, as manifest in the first century, 
 is very imperfect. There was in the 
 churches, as a rule, a plurality of 
 elders. (See thus i : 4.) There was also 
 a democratic church government, in 
 which the majority could receive or 
 exclude a member. (See2Cor. 2:6.) This 
 power could be used to keep in the un- 
 worthy member (i cor. 5 : 2)^ or drive 
 out the worthy, as in 3 John 9. A re- 
 generate church needs the spirit and 
 wisdom of Christ in order that unity 
 may be preserved and Christ's king- 
 dom advanced. Diotrephes, Deme- 
 trius, and Gains may all have been 
 elders in the church to which John 
 had written. The church had its own 
 independent life, it was a complete 
 church in itself. The church, as em- 
 bracing all the believers in a district, 
 liad not yet arisen. The church life 
 and procedure were very simple, 
 though the domineering spirit of Di- 
 otrephes was of precisely that kind 
 which gives birth to the papacy with 
 its grasping power. 
 
 In the "Teaching of the Twelve 
 
III. JOHN 
 
 117 
 
 Apostles " are the following words 
 which illustrate the nieaniug of ver. 7 : 
 "Let every apostle who cometh to you 
 be received as the Lord. He shall not 
 overstay one day, though if need be, 
 the next ; but if he remain three days 
 he is a false prophet. And let not the 
 apostle on departing take aught save 
 bread till he come to a stopping-place ; 
 and if he take money he is a false 
 prophet. And whoso saith, in the 
 Spirit, give me moneys or other things, 
 you shall not hearken to him." The 
 term, apostle, as used here, does not 
 refer to the Twelve, but to any one sent 
 out by the church. Those scattered 
 by persecution became missionaries, 
 spreading the word (Acts u : 19). It was 
 in this way, through personal and 
 church activity, that Christianity won 
 its way in the first centuries through 
 the entire Roman empire. 
 
 Note II. John's cse of the term, 
 TRUTH. John alone presents Jesus 
 Christ as himself the absolute truth 
 (John 14 : 6) . He uses this term five times 
 in 2 John, and six times in tliis letter, 
 two private letters. Bishop Alexander 
 notes the varying significations in 
 which John makes use of the term. 
 
 I. Truth as objectively presented. 
 
 1. As living and embodied in the 
 
 Son (John U : 6). 
 
 2. As living and embodied in the 
 Holy Spirit (l John 5 : 7). 
 
 3. As embodied in the sum total of 
 the revelation of Jesus, the absolute 
 
 truth (John 1 : 17 ; 8 : 32, 40 ; 16 ; 13 ; 17 : 17). 
 
 II. The truth received by us into the 
 heart and life becomes, subjectively, 
 
 the truth in us (l John l : 8 ; 2:4; 2 John 2 ; 
 I John 3), 
 
 1. Truth in thought (i John 2 : 21 ; 2 
 
 John 1). 
 
 2. Truth in action (1 John 1 : 6). 
 
 3. Truth in speech (John 8 : 45, 46). 
 
 4. Truth in actuality ; the fact as 
 opposed to that which is seeming (1 
 
 John 3 : 18 ; 2 John 1 ; 3 John 1). 
 
 The Christian, looked upon in the 
 ideal way, must be truthful in word, 
 must correspond in thought and char- 
 
 acter with Jesus Christ, the absolute 
 truth, must be real in nature, not a 
 mere seeming, or hypocrisy. As the 
 Christian grows into the likeness to 
 Christ there will be a growing purity 
 in thought, in conduct, and in doctrine. 
 John insists upon a correctness in doc- 
 trine as well as a correctness in life. 
 A falsity in one will naturally, in time, 
 beget a falsity in the other. 
 
 Practical Remarks. 
 
 1. The only thing about a man that 
 deserves and commands the respect of 
 others, in the long run, is personal char- 
 acter (ver. 1). 
 
 2. It indicates a high state of piety 
 when, to express our highest wishes for 
 friends, we hope that they may be as 
 much prospered in outward afTairs as 
 they are in tiieir inner life. Outward 
 prosperity ought always to promote piety; 
 frequently it hinders it and makes the life 
 material (ver. 2). 
 
 3. The great desire of Jesus for his dis- 
 ciples was that they might be kept from 
 evil (John 17 : 15). The great joy of 
 John's heart was that a man was living 
 in conformity with God's will (ver. 3). 
 
 4. The ingratitude of a child is sharper 
 than a serpent's tooth ; the beautiful life 
 of a child brings gladness to the parent, 
 the Christian teacher, the heart of Jesus 
 (ver. 4). 
 
 5. Jesus sometimes needed a home when 
 on his missionary journeys (Luke 9 : 54). 
 It is a mark of the Christian to be hospi- 
 table toward all who are trying to be 
 helpful to Christ (ver. 5 ; Acts 28 : 15). 
 
 6. It is possible to do a thing, very small 
 in itself, in a very worthy way (ver. 6). 
 
 7. The New Testament order is, first 
 Christ, then the church ; Christ saves, the 
 church helps (ver. 9). 
 
 8. To do wrong is a wicked thing; to 
 lead others to do wrong, to hinder other 
 people, is a more wicked thing. Diot- 
 rephes was a hinderer, a stumbling- 
 block in the way of others. It is more 
 natural to hiuder than to help (ver. 10). 
 
JUDE 
 
 1 »JUDE, the servant of Jesus Christ, 
 and •> brother of James, <^ to them that 
 are sanctified by God the Father, and 
 * preserved in Jesus Christ, and « called : 
 
 1 JDDE, a servant of Jesus Christ, and 
 brother of James, to the called, be- 
 loved in God the Father, and kept for 
 
 Matt. 10 : 3. b Luke 6 : 16; Acts 1 : 13, 
 
 d John 17 : 11, 12, 15; 1 Peter 1 : 5. 
 
 c John 17 : 17, 19. 
 e Rom. 8 : 30. 
 
 1,2. Salutation and prayer. 
 
 1. The author of this letter is Jude, 
 rather, Judas. The form is shortened 
 in the Received version, perhaps to dis- 
 tinguish him from .fudas the apostate. 
 This Judas is the same as the brother 
 of our Lord. (See Introduction.) He 
 does not give himself any official desig- 
 nation, but describes himself as a 
 servant, meaning a bond slave, of 
 Jesus Christ. Paul speaks of himself 
 in the same manner (Titus x ; i). Alford 
 thinks that this term has reference to 
 those who were especially engaged in 
 his service in spreading the gospel. 
 Brother of James. The James 
 here mentioned is a man of larger 
 prominence in the church than Judas 
 himself. He was not an apostle, but 
 one who, by his relationship to Jesus, 
 his position as pastor of the mother 
 church, his character of marked piety, 
 being known as James the Just, was 
 a man of commanding influence and 
 power in the first century. It would 
 be unfitting to claim relationship with 
 the glorified Christ, inasmuch as all 
 would feel that the ties which bound 
 him to an earthly Christ would all be 
 sundered by Christ's ascension and 
 glorification, (see Matt, la : «.) The 
 brothers of Jesus, including Judas and 
 James, did not at first accept the ilea- 
 siahship of Jesus ; it was only by the 
 stupendous fact of the resurrection 
 that they were won (John 7:5). Judas 
 would naturally appeal to the superior 
 authority of James, because he wrote 
 mainly for the same persons to whom 
 James wrote, that is, Jewish Christians. 
 To . . . called, rather, To them that 
 
 118 
 
 are called, beloved in God the Father, 
 and kejit for Jesus Christ. The readers 
 are defined in three ways, called, be- 
 loved, kept. Called has a general 
 New Testament meaning of, not invita- 
 tion merely, but of the acceptance of 
 God's grace. He writes to them as 
 bearing not merely the name of Chris- 
 tians, but as having Christian char- 
 acter, having come into the knowledge 
 of the Saviour. In Matt. 20 : 16 
 " called " stands in contrast with elect, 
 chosen. In other places, especially in 
 Paul's writings, it stands as the result 
 of a predetermining choice of God. 
 Beloved. The readers are bound to 
 Judas, not by ties of earthly kinship 
 or personal relationship, but from hav- 
 ing a common relation to God they 
 are all children of God. Having come 
 into a new life through the Holy Spirit, 
 having been adopted into the spiritual 
 household of God, being sons and 
 daughters in reality, they love each 
 other. The term Father implies sons 
 and daughters, and the family life 
 and love. Preserved in, or, kept 
 for, Jesus Christ. The tense of 
 the participle implies a completed 
 act, that continues in its results. This 
 is a favorite term in the later writ- 
 ings of the New Testament. Peter 
 uses it five times, John eight times in 
 1 John, Judas four times in this letter 
 (ver. 1, 6, 31, 24). The keeping power im- 
 plied is that of God alluded to in John 
 17 : 15. The time to which Judas refers 
 is that of the appearance of Jesus, the 
 day of his coming. Christ's people 
 were redeemed by himself, created 
 anew through the Holy Spirit, guarded 
 
JUDE 
 
 119 
 
 2 Mercy unto you, and f peace, and love, 
 be multiplied. 
 
 3 Beloved, when I gave all diligence 
 to write unto you sol the common sal- 
 vation, it was needful for me to write 
 unto you, and exhort you that >> ye 1 
 should earnestly contend for the faith 
 which was once delivered unto the i 
 
 2 Jesus Chri.-t : Mercy, and peace, and 
 love, be multiplied to you. 
 
 3 Beloved, while giving all diligence 
 to write to you coucerningourcommon 
 salvation, I found it necessary to write 
 to you exhorting you to contend ear- 
 nestly for the faith delivered once for 
 
 / 1 Peter 1 : 2 ; 2 Peter 1 : 2. 
 
 g Titus 1 : 4. 
 
 ft Phil. 1 ; 27 ; 1 Tim. 1 : 18 ; 6 ; 12 ; 2 Tim, 1 : 13. 
 
 by God ; they are finally presented to 
 himself as his own (Fph. 5:27). The 
 entire Godhead is concerned in the 
 saving and keeping of the believer. 
 
 2. In 1 and 2 Timothy we have grace, 
 mercy, peace. la 1 and 2 Peter we have 
 grace and peace. Judas gives mercy, 
 peace, love. Mercy expresses God's 
 feelings toward them as sinners, his 
 compas.siou ; peace is the result in the 
 heart, of God's mercj^, of a reconcilia- 
 tion effected; love may refer to tlieir 
 love for each other or to God's love for 
 them. It is used in the latter sense in 
 ver. 21 and in 2 Cor. 13 : 14. .Mul- 
 tiplied. The Christian life should 
 be an always enlarging life, it should 
 not be largest at the first. 'The Chris- 
 tian infancy should grow into a Chri.s- 
 tian maturity. If the Christian life 
 is not cultivated, it may become a 
 dwindling life (Heb. 5 : 12). 
 
 3, 4. Design of the letter; 
 reasons for writing. 
 
 3. Beloved indicates a reason for 
 writing, and tends to mitigate the 
 severity of the terms afterward used. 
 When . . . diligence, rather, while 
 I was giving all diligence. The ex- 
 pression diligence reveals an intensive 
 desire on the part of Judas. Com- 
 mon salvation. Compare a similar 
 expression in Titus 1 : 14, "common 
 faith." It is implied that he was 
 about to write, or was actually writing 
 to them concerning the fact of a com- 
 mon salvation, the great truths of the 
 gospel, the heritage of all believers. 
 It was needful, rather, / tvas con- 
 slrai)ied. The reason for the change 
 of purpose is found in the next verse. 
 There is a change here in the tense of 
 the verb, being in the present tense in 
 the first part, indicating a general pur- 
 pose, changing now to the aorist, point- 
 ing to an immediate and special act. 
 The letters of the New Testament 
 sprang from emergencies and neeils 
 calling them into existence. Con- 
 tend. Something of the same figure 
 
 is emphasized in Phil. 1 : 27, "striving 
 together for the faith." It is an appeal 
 to fight for, to defend, to stand over, the 
 truth committed to them. Tlie con- 
 tending for the truth must always be 
 in love. Nothing is more un.seemly 
 tlian a bitter spirit displayed in behalf 
 of Christ's teachings. Faith. This 
 does not refer to faith as that personal 
 dependence upon Clirist that brings 
 salvation, but to tiie substance of the 
 things believed by them, the gospel of 
 Clirist. Faith is used in the objective 
 sense. The passage in 1 Tim. 3 : 16 
 and the five faithful .sayings of Paul 
 found in 1 Tim. 1:15; 3:1; 4:9; 2 
 Tim. 2:21; Titus 3 : 11 may be pic- 
 tures of the first teachings given to be- 
 lievers, portions of the creeds of the 
 first century that have come down to 
 us. See reference to the same common 
 belief entrusted to them to be cared 
 for in 2 Tim. 1 : 13, 14. Once de- 
 livered, rather, once for all delivered. 
 This refers to the completeness and 
 unchangeableness of the truths given 
 to them. Jesus did not reveal all his 
 teachings to his disciples during his 
 earthly ministry (Jo^a i6:ij). There 
 is an enlarging knowledge of the New 
 Testament, of the doctrines and their 
 relations to each other. It has been 
 reserved to each period of church his- 
 tory to bring out some one doctrine 
 into a greater distinctness. Augustine 
 brought out the doctrine of human sin- 
 fulness, the council of Nicasa affirmed 
 clearly the divinity of Jesus as Son of 
 God ; the Heformation emphasized the 
 teaching of justification by faith. The 
 present century has developed the doc- 
 trines of the person of Christ and the 
 work of the Holy Spirit. There is no 
 limit to the development of the truth, 
 but no additions have been made or 
 can be made to that which we have 
 given to us through Jesus and the in- 
 spired writers. The mass, the doctrines 
 of purgatory, the celibacy of the clergy, 
 prayers for the dead, infant baptism, 
 
120 
 
 JUDE 
 
 4 saints. ' For there are certain men 
 crept in unawares, '' who were before 
 of old ordained to this coudemnatiou, 
 ungodly men, 'turning the grace of 
 
 4 all to the saints. For there crept in 
 stealthily some men, who uf old were 
 set forth beforehand to this condemna- 
 tion, ungodly men, changing the grace 
 
 i Gal. 2 : 4; 2 Peter i : 1. 
 
 k Eom. 9 . 21 22. 
 
 ( Rom. 6:1: Gal. 5 : 13 ; 2 Peter 2 . 10. 
 
 aspersion for baptism, the priesthood 
 as a sacerdotal order — all these, not 
 being contained in the New Testament, 
 explicitly or by implication, have no 
 warrant for their existence. Tradi- 
 tions and customs, however widely 
 practised and held, have no power as 
 against the New Testament teaching. 
 Errors of doctrine, heresies, corrup- 
 tions in teaching and life, call for a 
 defense of the faith. (se« gbi. i : 9.) It is 
 noticeable that the appeal here is sent 
 to all Christians to be zealous for the 
 truth, inasmuch as to them had been 
 committed the complete and unchang- 
 ing facts of the gospel. 
 
 4. We have here the occasion for the 
 letter. Certain men. There is a 
 tone of depreciation and contempt in 
 these words, as for men unknown and 
 insignificant in themselves. But they 
 created a great peril to the purity of 
 the church, inasmuch as they belonged 
 to that large class of teachers who were 
 introducing licentiousness under the 
 garb of religion. Crept in un- 
 awares, rather, privily. Paul speaks 
 in the same way in Gal. 2:4; "false 
 brethren privily brought in." Judas 
 condemns the secrecy, the false meth- 
 ods employed in their introduction 
 into the church. These teachers were 
 members of the church ; but it is as- 
 serted that there had been in them, at 
 their introduction into the church, 
 opinions and purposes so at variance 
 with Christian teachings that they 
 ought never to have come in. Even 
 the apostles did not have the power to 
 read the heart in the reception of mem- 
 bers. (See Acts 5 : 1, 2.) They camc in to 
 introduce a heathen license in the 
 matter of teachings and morals. Who 
 ... condemnation, rather, even 
 they who were of old set forth unto the 
 condemnation. We must not under- 
 stand this of any predestination to this 
 end, the allusion is rather to the de- 
 scription of the men in the Old Testa- 
 ment prophecies, and the utterances of 
 the New Testament teachers. The 
 word rendered ordained occurs five 
 times in the New Testament — Rom. 15 : 
 
 4 twice, Gal. 3 : 1, Eph. 3 : 3, and this 
 passage, and is twice rendered " written 
 before." The reference here must be 
 to some fact in time, not to any divine 
 purpose in eternity. The presence of 
 these teachers and their falsities ought 
 not to surprise them, for their origin 
 and method had been portrayed be- 
 forehand. The term rendered of old, 
 sometimes refers to things of recent 
 
 event (see Mark 15 : 44 ; 2 Peter 1 • 9)^ whcrC- 
 
 as the references to an eternal past are 
 designated by diflferent terms. (See Eph. 
 1:4; Acts 15 : 18.) The historical events 
 mentioned subsequently in this letter 
 may be regarded as prophetic warn- 
 ings. The Old Testament prophetic 
 writings, the apocryphal literature of 
 the times, and the prophecies of Enoch 
 alluded to in ver. 14, may be regarded 
 as definite .sources of prediction. To 
 be forewarned as to doctrinal errors is 
 to be armed against them. Condem- 
 nation. He refers here to the judg- 
 ment passed upon them in this letter, 
 (seerer. 11.) Ungodly. They are im- 
 pious in character, as is shown in the 
 following statement. Turning . . . 
 lasciviousness. Whether as teach- 
 ers or members they asserted that Chris- 
 tians were free to live lives of sensuality. 
 Having been called to a freedom in 
 Christ they assumed to make this free- 
 dom an occasion to the flesh (Gai. 6 : is). 
 This licentiousness may have arisen 
 from either of two sources. It may 
 have sprung from a distorted and false 
 notion of the position of Christians, 
 that they were free from the restraints 
 of the law so that what would be sin 
 for others would not be sin for them. 
 Or it may have come from the philo- 
 sophic system called gnosticism, ac- 
 cording to which all matter is evil in 
 nature, that the soul is too pure to be 
 corrupted, and the body too impure to 
 be capable of pollution. Therefore the 
 professing child of God might plunge 
 into all excesses without peril, might 
 do anything whereby the soul might 
 gain knowledge. Paul teaches that 
 the believer is freed from condemna- 
 tion, but thereby becomes a bondman 
 
JUDE 
 
 121 
 
 our God into lasciviousness, and " de- 
 nying the only Lord God, and our Lord 
 Jesus Christ. 
 5 I will therefore put you iu remem- 
 brance, though ye ouce knew this, 
 how that ° the Lord, having saved the 
 people out of the land of Egypt, after- 
 
 of our God into wantonness, and deny- 
 ing the only Master, and our Lord 
 Jesus Christ. 
 5 But I wish to remind you, though ye 
 know all things once for all, that 
 Jesus,' having saved the people out of 
 
 m Titus 1 : 16 ; 2 Peter 2 : 1 ; 1 Jotiu 2 : 22. 
 
 n 1 Cor. 10 : 1-12. 
 
 1 Or, the Lord. 
 
 to Christ (Rom. 6 : 14-23). The spirit of 
 licentiousness, under the garb of piety, 
 was everywhere prevalent, and was 
 combated by the apostles. See Paul's 
 teachings on this subject in 1 Cor. 6 : 
 9, 18 ; Rom. 6:1; also Peter's teach- 
 ings in 2 Peter 2 ; also John's teachings 
 in 1 John 3 : 7-10. Denying ... 
 Christ^rsither, denying our only Master 
 and Lord, Jesns Christ. The best MSS 
 omit the term, God. The terms ren- 
 dered Lord twice in the Received ver- 
 sion differ in the Greek ; the differences 
 are shown in the Revised version. 
 Both terms are to be applied to Christ, 
 though Alford contends that we must 
 refer 3Icister to God, inasmuch as the 
 constant usage of the New Testament, 
 except in 2 Peter 2 : 1, favors this. 
 That Jesus Christ was regarded as 
 divine by the New Testament writers 
 is evident from the manner in whicli 
 they everywhere speak of him. If 
 both these terms apply to Jesus, then 
 he is looked upon as God. If only the 
 latter term may be applied to Christ, 
 then it is evident, from the close asso- 
 ciation of Christ with God, that he is 
 regarded as one far beyond any mere 
 human being. It is possible tliat the 
 use of the term our, as applied to God 
 and to Christ, implies that there was a 
 wide divergence between these men and 
 the true believers; God and Christ did 
 not belong to them, but to the believers 
 only. The denial spoken of may refer 
 to a denial of the reality of the incar- 
 nation (1 Johu 2 : 22, 23)^ or to a denial 
 of tlie supremacy of Christ, or to a 
 virtual but real denial of Christ by an 
 unchristly life. When a creed speaks 
 in an orthodox way in one direction, 
 and an ungodly life speaks in another 
 direction, the life outweighs the creed. 
 5-7. Examples of God's puni- 
 tive justice. Judas turns now to the 
 Old Te-stament that he may present 
 instances of God's justice in punisliing 
 the ungodly, the impious, the licen- 
 tious. "These examples, revealing God's 
 essentially holy nature, are in them- 
 
 .selves prophecies of what will come to 
 tlie false members and teachers of his 
 day. They will serve as warnings to 
 the ungodly, and as encouragements to 
 the faithful part of the church. Three 
 examples are given. 
 
 5. (First example, the judgment 
 upon unl>elieving Israel.) I . . . re- 
 membrance^ rather, mno I desire to 
 put you in retnemhrance. It is implied 
 that the readers were already instructed 
 in the faith once delivered to the s-aiuts, 
 and needed to be reminded only of 
 their previous knowledge. (Comp. 2 Peier 
 3:1) Intellectual knowledge alone 
 will not purify the life, it needs to be 
 kindled with a moral enthusiasm. 
 Once knew this, rather, knew all 
 things once for all. Compare a similar 
 expression in 1 John 3 : 20. The ex- 
 pression must be limited to that of 
 which Judas is speaking — the essential 
 elements of the faith under considera- 
 tion. No large knowledge akin to om- 
 niscience, or a knowledge on general 
 subjects, or a knowledge imparted to 
 them apart from their intellectual and 
 moral standing, is or can be thought 
 of. There may be here a tacit rebuke 
 to the large claims made by the false 
 teachers that they had certain impor- 
 tant teachings which the believers did 
 not have, but had come to them through 
 special revelations. Lord. The MSS 
 here have varying readings, some giv- 
 ing Lord, some Jesus, some God. Al- 
 ford and the Cambridge Bible prefer 
 Jesus as the best supported, correspond- 
 ing to the use of Christ in 1 Cor. 10 : 4 
 as applied to Old Testament history. 
 The Revised version gives "Lord," 
 in which case the allusion is rather to 
 God the Father. It seems scarcely 
 po.ssible that the name .lesus, the hu- 
 man title of Christ, would be applied 
 to an incident of the Old Testament 
 history. On internal grounds this 
 would decide the question tliat what- 
 ever reading the MSS may give, tlie 
 name Jesus cannot be adopted. Saved 
 the people, rather, a people, allud- 
 
122 
 
 JUDE 
 
 ward "destroyed them that believed 
 6 not. And the augols which kept not 
 their first estate, but left their own 
 habitation, p he hath reserved in ever- 
 lasting chains under darkness unto 
 
 the laud of Egypt, afterward destroyed 
 6 those who believed not. And angels 
 who kept not their principality, but 
 left their own habitation, he has kept 
 in everlasting bonds under darkness, 
 
 Heb. 3: 17-19, 4 : 1, 2. 
 
 2 Peter 2:4; Rev. 20 : 10. 
 
 ing to his own people, the nation of 
 Israel. He saved his own people by 
 delivering them from Pharaoh, by the 
 passage through the Red Sea, and by 
 all the events that accompanied their 
 deliverance. Afterward destroyed. 
 This is to be understood of tlie destruc- 
 tion of the same people in the wilder- 
 ness. It embraces the catastrophe in 
 the matter of Korah (Num. le : 49), that 
 of Baal-peor (Num. 25), and the general 
 wasting away of the people, so that the 
 rebellious and unbelieving fell as car- 
 cases in the wilderness, (see Heb. 3 : 12-19. ) 
 We may not refer the afterward to 
 the captivity in Baljylon or to the de- 
 struction of Jerusalem. The gross dis- 
 obedience brought a speedy punish- 
 ment ; it may be inferred that God will 
 now speedily interfere on behalf of 
 righteousness aud truth. Two divine 
 acts are here mentioned: one act of 
 mercy — the saving his people, and one 
 act of judgment — the subsequent de- 
 struction of the same people. There 
 is manifest in this the unchangeably 
 holy nature of God ; he acts not accord- 
 ing to favoritism, but accordiug to 
 character. God's justice is conclu.sively 
 shown in that the retribution fell upon 
 them that believed not. In Judas' day 
 the same moral discrimination would 
 be shown. No deliverance would come 
 to the ungodly, even if they were num- 
 bered among tiie congregation of the 
 righteous. In the corresponding pas- 
 sage in Peter the destruction by the 
 flood is made vi.se of to illustrate the 
 same principle, (sce 2 Peter a.) 
 
 C. (A second example, the destruc- 
 tion of the disobedient angels.) The 
 author now selects an instance from 
 the unseen world, and from beings 
 higher ia order than men. This pas- 
 sage is common to Peter (a Peter 2). 
 And . • • habitation, rather, and 
 angels xoho kept not their own prin- 
 cipality, hut left their proper kabifa- 
 tion. For first estate we have the 
 preferable reading principality, in har- 
 mony with its rendering elsewhere 
 
 (Bom. 8 : 84 ; Eph. 8 : 10 ; 6 : 12 ; Col. 1 : 16 ; 3 : 
 
 10, 16). The reference is to their original 
 investiture as rulers under God, having 
 a high and noble rule ; but they left 
 their proper office, power, and relation 
 to God. Own habitation. It was 
 theirs by creation, through God's ap- 
 pointment ; this they left for a habita-: 
 tion not their own, not made for them. 
 They left a habitation of light, they 
 formed a kingdom, a power of dark- 
 ness (Col. 1 : 13). This IS the sin they 
 committed, leaving tlicir original con- 
 dition, rebelling thereby against God. 
 How many there were when the sin 
 was committed, in what the sin con- 
 sisted — these questions have been much 
 discussed. But they must ever remain 
 unanswered questions. It has been 
 assumed by many that the sin spoken 
 of is the same that is mentioned in 
 Gen. 6 : 2, 4. But against that view 
 are these considerations: The sons of 
 God there mentioned were not angels, 
 but the descendants of Seth, who in- 
 termarried with the children of Cain, 
 and it is impossible to conceive _ of 
 angels committing fleshly sins — sins 
 that cannot be reconciled with the 
 Saviour's teachings concerning the na- 
 ture of angels (Matt. 23 -. so). The book 
 of Enoch declares that the angels 
 sinned through their sensual nature. 
 The sin spoken of in the next verse is 
 one of sensuality ; it is not probable, 
 therefore, that the sin here mentioned 
 would be of the same character. The 
 passage here refers to the original re- 
 bellion of the angels, their fall from 
 being heavenly powers to becoming 
 spirits of evil and darkness. Re- 
 served, rather, kept. We cannot 
 escape noticing the play upon the 
 words used ; the angels kept not their 
 own principality, therefore they were 
 kept under everlasting chains 
 under darkness, rather, bonds. 
 Darkness is conceived of as holding 
 sway over them as a ruler. They are 
 held in captivity by their bonds. The 
 same thought is expressed in 2 Peter. 
 Judgment . . . day. There is a 
 perpetual ])!issing of God's judgments 
 
JUDE 
 
 123 
 
 7 the judgment of the great day. Even 
 as 1 Sodom and Gomon-ha, and the 
 cities about them in like manner, giv- 
 ing themselves over to fornication, and 
 going after strange flesh, are set forth 
 for an example, suffering the ven- 
 geance of eternal fire. 
 
 8 'Likewise also these fiUhy dreamers 
 
 7 to the judgment of the great day. As 
 Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities 
 about them, in like manner with these 
 giving themselves over to fornication, 
 and going away alter other flesh, are 
 set forth as an example, suffering the 
 
 8 vengeance of eternal tire. Yet, in like 
 manner, these also in their dreaming 
 
 q Gen. 19 : 24 ; Deut. 29 : 23 ; 2 Peter 2 : 6. 
 
 r Jer. 23 : 25-28 1 2 Peter 2 : 10. 
 
 upon men, but there remains a final 
 and formal day of trial at the end of 
 this era. This is spoken of by Je.sus 
 (.Matt. 13; 40), by Paul (Acts 17 : 31), by John 
 (1 John i ; 17). There is a conscious self- 
 condemnation which is a partial penalty 
 now ; but neither for believer nor 
 for the finally impenitent is there a 
 full recompense until the last day. 
 Paul alludes to a judgment to be passed 
 on angels (i Cor. s : »). The apocryphal 
 book of Enoch dwells much on the 
 punishment of the angels. 
 
 7. (A third example of judgment 
 upon heathen cities.) For a similar 
 account see 2 Peter 2 : 6. We have 
 had one instance of God's retributive 
 power, the punishment of the chosen 
 people ; a second instance of penalty 
 in the unseen spiritual world. We 
 now have an instance in the outside 
 world, the penalty that came upon the 
 heathen cities of Sodom and Gomorrali. 
 These two cities stand out preeminently 
 as examples of unbridled lust, of 
 animalism, as cities that invented new 
 and monstrous sins. They remain as 
 bywords of reproach and infamy. 
 The cities ... themselves, ratiier, 
 the cities about them, having in like 
 manner with these given themselves. 
 To what does these refer, to the angels, 
 to Sodom and Gomorrah, or to the 
 false teachers and members? Alford 
 and Farrar maintain that the refer- 
 ence is to the angels, but their view is 
 bound up with the unfounded notion 
 that the angels, spiritual in their na- 
 ture, committed fornication with the 
 daughters of men. The reference is 
 to Sodom and Gomorrah, which not 
 only themselves, but the towns also 
 that were corrupted by them, suffered 
 God's retribution. Strange flesh. 
 There were abominable sins committed 
 among the heathen. See Lev. 18 : 22- 
 25 ; Rom. 1 : 27, and the many refer- 
 ences in classic writers on the special 
 and unnatural sins practised even in 
 the days of the Greek and Roman 
 
 civilizations. It is said that the Nico- 
 laitans (kbv. i : 20) were guilty of the 
 sins of Sodom. In the poems of Casd- 
 mon and in Milton's "Paradise Lost," 
 pride chiefly was looked upon as the 
 sin of the angels, not sensuality. Set 
 forth . . . eternal fire, rather, set 
 forth as an example, suffering the pun- 
 ishment of eternal fire. This may refer 
 either to the cities which, destroyed by 
 fire, are yet looked upon as suflering 
 an everlasting punishment, inasmuch 
 as they have not been rebuilt, or it may 
 refer to the people of these cities, 
 whose destruction is typified by the 
 fate of the cities themselves, who are 
 regarded as sutt'ering the just punish- 
 ment of their sins. The latter view is 
 the better. Jesus speaks of Nineveh 
 as rising in the judgment, in which 
 case the reference is exclusively to the 
 people of that city (Matt. 12 : «). There 
 is an eternal punishment spoken of by 
 
 Jesus (Matt. 25: 46), by Paul (2 Thcss. 1 :9). 
 
 Both the angels and the Sodomites are 
 regarded as under punishment now. 
 Tiie unbelieving Jews, sinning in their 
 util)elief, the angels sinning through 
 their pride, the cities of the plain sin- 
 ning through their sensual appetites 
 perished irrevocably under the opera- 
 tion of God's holy laws. These several 
 instances of punishment might well, 
 therefore, serve for warnings to the 
 ungodly men of Judas' daj'. 
 
 8-19. The ungodly men ffi-ly 
 DESCRIBED. There is no part of the 
 New Testament, excepting Matt. 23, 
 containing the Saviour's manifold woes 
 upon his wicked opponents, equaling 
 this in its inlensity of expression and 
 invective. In their character, in their 
 operations, in the judgments coming 
 upon them, these men are fully de- 
 scribed. TJie sins of these men resem- 
 ble those just spoken of as sins against 
 nature; the men themselves resemble 
 tiie notably ungodly men of the olden 
 times («'• 8-11). 
 
 8. Likewise . . . dreamers, 
 
124 
 
 JUDE 
 
 defile the flesh, despise dominiou, and 
 ■speak evil of dignities. Yet 'Michael 
 the archangel, when contending with 
 the devil he disputed about the body 
 of Moses, "durst not bring against him 
 a railing accusation, but said, » The 
 
 defile the flesh, reject dominion, and 
 rail at dignities. But Michael the 
 archangel, when contending with the 
 devil he disputed concerning the body 
 of Moses, dared not bring against him 
 a railing judgment, but said, The Lord 
 
 t Dan. 10 : 13, 21 ; 12 : 
 X 1 Chron. 12: 17; 
 
 1 ; Ee?. U : 7. 
 Zech. 3 : 2. 
 
 2 Peter 2 : 11. 
 
 rather, yet in like manner, these also 
 in their dreamings. These men are 
 described as walking in the same de- 
 structive course as the persons upon 
 whom penalties had come, notwith- 
 standing these warnings. The par- 
 ticiple rendered in their dreamings 
 belongs equally to the three following 
 statements. It describes the character 
 of the men as visionary, as living in a 
 land of dreams, not realizing the true 
 condition of affairs as it really is in 
 God's sight. It may further describe 
 them as so fully set in their wicked- 
 ness that even in their dreams, as well 
 as in their waking moments, they 
 executed wickedness. Three things 
 are affirmed of them. They follow the 
 example of Sodom in its licentious- 
 ness, defile the flesh by unnatural 
 lust. The allusion is not to their own 
 flesh, but to flesh in a general way, to 
 our common human nature, which they 
 degraded. If the animal part of man 
 is not restrained by the commands of 
 the moral law, it is but a step to a sen- 
 sual life. That human nature in this 
 century needs the restraints of the high 
 moral commands of God is evident 
 from the rapid growth of Jlormonism, 
 and the presence of communistic so- 
 cieties with their sensual practices. 
 Despise • . . dignities, rather, and 
 set at naught dominion and rail at dig- 
 nities. Calvin understands these two 
 expressions to refer to their contempt 
 of the civil authorities, indicating 
 seditious and anarchistic men. Others 
 understand them to refer to the de- 
 fiance of the church authorities, to 
 presbyters who were set at naught by 
 these turbulent men. It is better, 
 however, to understand dominion as 
 standing for the headship of Christ 
 (ver. 4), which was utterly set at naught 
 by them, denying his sovereignty by 
 their disobedience to his commands. A 
 contempt for Christ would beget a con- 
 tempt for the civil laws and for tlie 
 church which represented Christ. The 
 dignities may refer also to the unseen 
 
 and .supernatural world, inasmuch as 
 they speak with irreverence of angels, 
 using mocking terms also concerning 
 Satan (ver. lo). If they were insubor- 
 dinate to God and the higher intelli- 
 gences, breaking over God's moral 
 laws, they would also be disobedient to 
 all other laws. A right relation to- 
 ward Christ means a church that is 
 loved and a citizenship that is regarded 
 as sacred. A good man cannot be a 
 bad church-member or a bad citizen. 
 
 9. Yet, rather, but. The name 
 Michael, meaning "who is like 
 God?" occurs elsewhere only in Dan. 
 10 : 13 ; Rev. 12 : 7. The term arch- 
 angel occurs elsewhere only in 1 
 Thess. 4 : 16 and in Dan. 12 : 1 in the 
 Septuagint. There is no allusion to 
 this event in the Old Testament Scrip- 
 tures nor in any extant book. Origen, 
 who died A. d. 254, says the reference 
 is taken from an apocryphal book 
 called " The Ascension of Moses." 
 The Bible account of the death of 
 Moses is very brief (neat. 3* : 5, 6), but 
 the Jews had many legends concerning 
 it. There was a prevalent tradition 
 that Michael had been appointed to 
 minister at the death of Moses, and 
 that Satan urged that his murder of 
 the Egyptian (Exod. 2 : 12) had deprived 
 him of the right of sepulture. Judas' 
 manner of Avriting makes it evident 
 that the event was well known to all 
 his readers. This could not have been 
 the case had this been made known to 
 him by a special revelation to himself, 
 for he takes it for granted that all are 
 familiar with it. Durst not. The 
 drift of the passage indicates that this 
 restraint arose from the former great- 
 ness of Satan. Even in speaking to 
 an evil angel there was a self-restraint 
 caused by the presence of greatness and 
 authority. Accusation, Y&ih&v, judg- 
 ment. The condemnation is referred 
 to the Almighty, to whom alone justice 
 and judgment ultimately belong. In 
 Peter's corresponding statement the 
 reference is to angels, not to Moses, and 
 
JUDE 
 
 125 
 
 10 Lord rebuke thee, y But these speak i 10 rebuke thee ' But these rail at vvhat- 
 evil of those things which they know ever things they know not ; but what 
 not: but what they kuow naturally, things naturally, as the irrational crea- 
 as brute beasts, in those things they 1 tures. they understood, in these they 
 
 V 2 Peter 2 : 12. 
 
 the Scripture allusion seems to be found 
 in Zech. 3 : 2. How did Jude become 
 acquainted with this incident ? It is not 
 found in the Scriptures ; it did not come 
 to him through any special revelation. 
 We are shut up to two sources, either 
 a trustworthy tradition not found in 
 the Scriptures, or a floating tradition 
 which he found ready to hand, and 
 popularly received. Plumptre thinks 
 that the presence of the trai^lition here 
 does not in itself declare its historic 
 character; it served merely as a fitting 
 illustration of the point he was urging, 
 the need of veneration for authority as 
 such, whether the incident was his- 
 torically true or not. Alford writes in 
 this way: ".Jude took the incident 
 from some primitive tradition, which 
 tradition, slightly modified, is also 
 given by the prophet Zechariah. That 
 the incident is related as a matter of 
 fact is evident on the very face of it. 
 That being thus related as a matter of 
 fact, it is a conclusion which will or 
 will not be made according as we are 
 or are not persuaded of the authority 
 of our epistle as a part of the canonical 
 Scripture." It is evident that if we 
 eliminate this incident from the Scrip- 
 tures as not worthy of credence, we 
 must also, on the same ground, refuse 
 to accept the like statement in Zech. 
 3 ; 2. That the incident took place in 
 the unseen world is no proof of its un- 
 worthiness, especially when we con- 
 sider that Christianity itself, in its 
 founding and in its preservation, is a 
 supernatural system. That there were 
 trustworthy traditions outside of the 
 written Scriptures is seen in Paul's 
 writings, in which he mentions the 
 names of the opponents of Moses (2 
 Tim. 3:8). It remains true, however, 
 that a person may regard this letter as 
 canonical and inspired, and yet regard 
 this incident as not neces.sarily his- 
 torical in character. It is conceivable 
 that Jude, finding this tradition known 
 to all, believed in, in a general way, l)y 
 all, made use of it in this manner 
 without considering whether it was 
 founded on fact. 
 
 "Have we any right to assume that 
 inspiration raises a writer to the in- 
 tellectual position of a critical historian 
 with power to discriminate between 
 legend and fact? St. Jude probably 
 believed the story about the dispute 
 between Michael and Satan to be true ; 
 but even if he knew it to be a myth, 
 he might nevertheless readily use it 
 as an illustrative argument, .seeing that 
 it was so familiar to his readers. If an 
 inspired writer were living now, would 
 it be quite incredible tliat he should 
 make use of Dante's ' Purgatory ' or 
 Shakespeare's ' King Lear'?" (Plum- 
 mer). 
 
 lU. But . . . themselves, rather, 
 but these rail at whatsoever things they 
 know not ; and what they understand 
 naturally like the creatures without 
 reason, in these things they are de- 
 stroyed. These implies a feeling of 
 contempt for them, and a surprise also 
 at their audacity. Know not. This 
 expression implies a certain knowledge, 
 not, however, complete and full, of the 
 higher order of beings, good and evil ; 
 at these beings they u.se only railing 
 terms. They fear them not ; they defy 
 them. INIistaken notions concerning 
 the angels had much to do with the 
 worship and thought of the first cen- 
 tury. (See Col. 1 : 18) Understand 
 naturally. This is a different term 
 from that rendered knoit\ applying 
 here to the knowledge gained only 
 from the physical and sensual side 
 of the nature. They perverted even 
 their animal appetites, going beyond 
 the beasts in their lusts. (Comp. Rom. 
 1 : 26. 27.) In the second century were 
 many unworthy and foul sects. In 
 these things. The reference is to the 
 elements of knowledge which they 
 possess in common with the irrational 
 creatures, through which al.so they 
 work out their physical and moral rijin. 
 
 (Read 2 Peter 2 : 12.) 
 
 11. As these ungodly men resembled 
 the disobedient .Jews and angels, and 
 the fleshly cities of Sodom and fio- 
 morrah. in like manner they resembled 
 three of the notably bad men of the 
 
126 
 
 JUDE 
 
 11 corrupt themselves. Woe unto them ! 
 for they have gone in the way '■ of Cain, 
 and 'ran greedily after the error of 
 Balaam for reward, and perished ''in 
 the gainsaying of Core. 
 
 12 "These are spots in your '* feasts of 
 
 11 are destroyed. Woe to them ! Because 
 they went in the way of Cain, and 
 rushed on in the error of Balaam for 
 wages, and perished in the gainsaying 
 of Korah. 
 
 12 These are the hidden rocks in your 
 
 z Gen. 4 ; 5-14; 1 John 3 ; 12. a Num. 22 : 7, 21 ; 2 Peter 2 ; 15. 
 
 2 Peter 2 : 13, U. d 1 Cor. 11 : 21. 
 
 6 Num. 16 : 1, etc. 
 
 Old Testament history. Woe. Jesus 
 used this term eight times in his ad- 
 dress in Matt. 23, indicative of the cor- 
 rupt condition and impending doom of 
 those thus addressed. As used by liim 
 there was a blended pity, tenderness, 
 and condemnation, in sight of their 
 present and future wretchedness. He 
 made use of heavy, condemning words 
 that through them they might see their 
 own moral condition and flee from it. 
 If these ungodly men had already 
 begun to suffer God's judgments, the 
 woe indicates his feelings of horror, 
 his reprobation of their course in life. 
 Have gone, rather, went. Cain. 
 He stands as a type of selfishness, self- 
 will, envy, hate, murder. These men 
 have lived selfi.sh lives, not concerned 
 about God's commands or the ruin of 
 others. See John's use of Cain's name, 
 1 John 3 : 12. Farrar and Plumptre 
 think that Judas, in his reference to 
 Cain, makes allusion to some of the 
 many Jewish traditions concerning him 
 and his impieties. These men were 
 traveling on the same road in which 
 Cain walked ; they were Cains in heart. 
 Ran ... reward, rather, ran vio- 
 lently in the error of Balaam for hire. 
 Balaam stands for a certain intellectual 
 keenness and power, for enlightenment 
 of mind in the knowledge of God's 
 will, for licentiousness, for avarice. 
 See the story of Balaam, Num. 22 to 
 24. Error refers to ihe moral de- 
 linquency of Balaam, his departure 
 from the truth. Ran violently. The 
 verb thus rendered means to pour out 
 one's self upon any course of life. It 
 was a life earnest in its badness. Hire. 
 This is the price paid for the imgodly 
 life of the Balaam kind, whether it be 
 money gotten by false teachings, the 
 influence gained by the departure from 
 the truth, or the pleasure enjoyed. 
 The wages of sin, in the end, is death 
 (Rom. 6 : 23). Core, rather, Korah. 
 For the Scripture incident, see Num. 
 16. Korah stands for the organized 
 
 opposition to the truth and authority 
 of God as manifested in the church. 
 He arrayed himself against Aaron and 
 the religious ordinances of his times. 
 The opening earth swallowed him, ex- 
 pressing God's utter disapproval of his 
 principles and methods. These un- 
 godly men were repeating in the first 
 century the wickedness and rebellion 
 of Korah in the olden times, Jude 
 speaks of a punishment that had 
 already overtaken them. This, how- 
 ever, might be his strong manner of 
 saying that a judgment would speedily 
 overtake them. It is implied here 
 that the believing part of the church 
 occupies the place filled by Moses, 
 Aaron, and their faithful followers. 
 Selfishness, licentiousness, and insub- 
 ordination are all portrayed here as 
 found in these ungodly men, and as 
 incurring a just penalty from the God 
 of truth and righteousness. The study 
 of church history is valuable in show- 
 ing that few fundamental errors arise 
 in the church, or assail it from with- 
 out, that have not in past centuries 
 arisen, done their work, and been con- 
 demned by God and the truth. The 
 ungodly teachers are described, not by 
 Avay of contrast with others, but as 
 they are in themselves (ver. 12, 13). The 
 sins of the teachers have been com- 
 pared with those of the unbelieving 
 Jews, the disobedient angels, the licen- 
 tious Sodomites. They have been com- 
 pared with the archangel Michael, to 
 their great disparagement. They have 
 been likened to a wicked trinity of 
 Old Testament men— Cain, Balaam, 
 Korah. These teachers are now por- 
 trayed as they are in themselves, their 
 own characters, by means of a number 
 of forcible illustrations. 
 
 12. An important variation in the 
 reading occurs here. These . . . 
 charity, rather, These are they who 
 are hidden rocks in your love feasts. 
 It is easy to see how, in a careless 
 transcribing, agapais, meaning love 
 
JUDE 
 
 127 
 
 charity, when they feast with you, 
 « feeding themselves without fear : 
 'clouds they are without water, e carried 
 about of winds ; trees wliose fruit 
 withereth, without fruit, ^ twice dead, 
 
 love-feasts, when they feast with you, 
 fearlessly shepherding themselves ; 
 waterless clouds swept along by winds ; 
 autumn trees, without fruit, twice 
 
 / ProT. 25 : 14 ; 2 Peter : 
 
 g Eph. i : U. 
 
 h 2 Pct«r 3 : 20. 
 
 feasts, might be changed into apatuis, 
 deceits. Hidden rocks. The meaning 
 of this is a rock, a reef nearing the 
 surface covered by the water, upon 
 which the vessel might easily be 
 wrecked. Judas describes the danger- 
 ous power of the teachers as consisting 
 in tlieir concealed wickedness. The 
 term occurs in this place only in the 
 New Testament, but it is frequent in 
 other writings. The word rendered 
 "spots" in 2 Peter 2 : 13 is a word 
 similar to this, a rock that appears 
 above the surface as a spot, a blot upon 
 the pure face of the waters. Love 
 feasls. These were social gatherings 
 of the Christian brotherhood springing 
 up in the first century, not commanded 
 as ordinances of tlie church, but aris- 
 ing as the expression of the new com- 
 munity of feeling for each other. They 
 were at the first a simple repast, chan- 
 ging in time into something more elab- 
 orate. They were at the first held in 
 connection with the Lord's Supper, 
 but distinct from it. Abuses liad begun 
 to spring up at these feasts even in the 
 days of the apostles. {See i Cor. ii : 21.) 
 Dangers lurk alongside of even the 
 best things, insomuch that these love 
 feasts that ought to have been the 
 means of making the church life a 
 real family fellowship, became often- 
 times a source of selfishness, gluttony, 
 class distinction, of scandal, and im- 
 morality. Feast with you sliows 
 that these false teachers had even yet 
 a membership in the churches. Feed- 
 ing . . . fear, rather, shepherds that 
 without fear feed themselves. The term 
 rendered feeding means feeding as a 
 shepherd, showing conclusively that 
 the ungodly persons here described 
 were men claiming to lie teachers. It 
 is the same word that is used in Acts 
 20 : 28; 1 Peter 5 : 2, meaning in both 
 passages the pastoral oflice. One who 
 IS a teacher has a far wider opportu- 
 nity for spreading error than one wlio 
 fills simply the place of a member. 
 These persons did not act as true sliep- 
 herds would, caring for others, watch- 
 
 ing over the flock, but were false shep- 
 herds, such as described by Isa. 4G : 11 ; 
 Ezek. 34 : 1, 2, 8, 10, indulging their 
 own lusts with impunity in defiance of 
 autliority. Tlie love feasts were turned 
 by them, and for them, into places of 
 excess and sensuality. Clouds . . . 
 Avinds, rather, clouds without water 
 carried along by winds. In the cor- 
 responding place in 2 Peter 2 : 17 we 
 have wells. The same figure is used 
 in Prov. 25 : 14. The clouds dropping 
 water bring refreshings and harvests; 
 without water they are a disappoint- 
 ment, a deception. These teachere 
 could not supplj' the real wants of their 
 followers, they were not in fellowship 
 with Christ, who is the truth. Jude 
 alludes to the light and frivolous char- 
 acter of these teachers, varying also in 
 their teaching. Carried along. See 
 also Eph. 4 : 14 for an illustration of 
 fickleness of belief. These teachers 
 were showy, attractive, but deceptive, 
 enslaving others to false notions and 
 false lives because themselves enslaved. 
 Trees . . . fruit, rather, autumii trees 
 ivithout fruit. They are like trees in 
 the late autumn, when there is nothing 
 but the withered and withering leaf. 
 The trees themselves aiv withered just 
 at that season when men are looking 
 for fruit. They have not lost their 
 strength through fruit-bearing, for they 
 are without fruit, implying also that 
 they have been fruitless all the time. 
 Jesus spoke frequentl v eoncerning fiuit 
 aTid fruit-bearing (m""'!- sio; 7:i6-2»; 
 Luke 13 : G-tf). Conii)are also barren fig 
 tree (•«»"• ^i ■■ w). Twice dead, utterly 
 dead. Jude does not intend to refer to 
 a twofold death that would come to 
 the teachers, a death here and a death 
 hereafter, but to the apparent dying of 
 the tree when the leaves fell and the 
 real dying that ensued. There is a 
 forcible climax in the terms used : 
 withering, fruitless, twice dead, rooted 
 up. As the dead trees naturally are 
 cut down or rooted up (»ec Matt, u : 10), 
 so will these teachers, deail morally 
 and spiritually, be destroyed. Com- 
 
128 
 
 JUDE 
 
 13 ' plucked up by the roots ; ^ raging 
 waves of the sea, foaming out their 
 own shame ; wandering stars, ' to whom 
 is reserved the blackuess of darkness 
 for ever. 
 
 14 And Enoch also, ^ the seventh from 
 Adam, prophesied of these, saying, 
 
 13 dead, rooted up; raging waves of the 
 sea, foaming out their own shame ; 
 wandering stars, for whom the black- 
 ness of darkness has been kept forever. 
 
 14 And to these also Enoch a seventh 
 from Adam prophesied, saying. Be- 
 hold, the Lord came, with his holy 
 
 i Ezek. 17 : 8-10 ; Matt. 15 : 13. 
 
 * Isa. 57 : 20. 
 
 I 2 Peter 2 : 17. 
 
 m Gen. 5 : 18. 
 
 pare passages which speak of being 
 rooted up as symbols of destruction, 
 Ps. 30 : 28 ; 52 : 5 ; Prov. 2 : 22. 
 
 13. In one sense the teachers are 
 protruding rocks, dangerous to the 
 mariner ; in another sen.se they are 
 raging seas. They furnish a picture 
 of violence, of recklessness, of dangers 
 to all who entrust themselves to their 
 
 care. (Comp. thewordaoflaa.57: 29.) ShaiHC. 
 
 The word is literally shames, as in- 
 dicating the manifold forms of decep- 
 tion, sensuality, and turbulence in their 
 teachers. Jude does not intend that 
 each figure employed should be taken 
 in its literalness, but he desires by the 
 heaping up of term upon term to ex- 
 press his utter abhorrence of their 
 deeds, their characters, their influence. 
 Wandering stars. The Greek term 
 here is that which means planets as 
 distinct from the fixed stars. Jude 
 here means comets, meteors, and such 
 kindred phenomena which flash out 
 for a time, are of no service for pur- 
 poses of light or guidance, and then dis- 
 appear in the darkness. In like man- 
 ner these men, flashing out with large 
 pretensions, will sink into destruction 
 utter and final. Jesus speaks of the 
 outer darkness («»". 22 : 13). Judas has 
 already spoken of the everlasting chains 
 (ver. 6); of eternal fire (ver. 7). The 
 rocks, the clouds, the twice-dead trees, 
 the raging waves, the meteors going 
 out into darkness, stand for what is 
 dangerous, deceptive, turbulent, mis- 
 chievous in sky and on earth and sea. 
 This passage is a commentary on his 
 words in ver. 9, urging men to con- 
 demn sparingly. He does not intend 
 that rank ungodliness and dangerous 
 teachings shall be tenderly dealt witli. 
 There are times when only stern words 
 and forcible figures can rightly ex- 
 press the attitude of the faithful proph- 
 et and teacher. These ungodly men 
 are compared in a sevenfold way to 
 natural objects ; they are like creatures 
 without reason (ver. 10) ; like hidden 
 •racks (ver. 12) j like shepherds caring 
 
 not for the flocks (ver. 12) ; like de- 
 ceptive clouds (ver. 12) ; like fruit trees 
 utterly dead eer. is) ; like raging M-aves 
 (ver. 13) ; like wandering stais (ver. is). 
 In no other place are so many figures 
 heaped upon one another. 
 14, 15. A PROPHECY OF Enoch 
 
 IS GIVEN, TESTIFYING AGAINST THE 
 UNGODLY. Judas has uttered words 
 of great severity against the false teach- 
 ers and ungodly people. He is not 
 without warrant in this, inasmuch as 
 old-time prophecies had been uttered 
 concerning men like these. To him, 
 as to all his Jewish readers alike, the 
 words of admitted prophecy would be 
 sure and unerring words. 
 
 14. Of these, rather, to these. The 
 term here used implies an utterance 
 concerning them as also in addition 
 an address to them in a direct way. 
 Enoch. See for all we know of him 
 Gen. 5 : 21-24; Heb. 11 : 5. Attempts 
 have been made to allegorize the name, 
 inasmuch as his age is stated as three 
 hundred and sixty-five years, but there 
 is no occasion to doubt his real exist- 
 ence. Many Jewish fal)les are gathered 
 around his name, such as his great 
 wisdom and skill in natural science. 
 Seventh. This number in the Old 
 Testament is full of significance, im- 
 plying completeness. Inasmuch as he 
 was the head of the seventh generation, 
 including Adam, this fact is stated as 
 adding, in a certain way, significance 
 and force to his prophecy. Jewish 
 writers are ever noting the occurrence 
 of this number, as that Moses was the 
 seventh from Abraham. See in the 
 Introduction the recurrence of the 
 number three in the structure of this 
 letter. Prophesied. This term has 
 a twofold meaning. It primarily 
 means a speaking for God and from 
 God. He was a true prophet who 
 spoke words for the times, denouncing 
 unrighteousness, revealing God's will, 
 encouraging right doing. Knowing 
 God's nature as one of holiness, .and 
 understanding thereby the principles 
 
JUDE 
 
 129 
 
 Behold, n the Lord cometh with ten 
 15 thousand of his saints, to execute 
 judgment upon all, and to convince 
 all that are ungodly anioug them of 
 all their ungodly deeds which they 
 have ungodly comuiitted, and of afl 
 their "hard speeches which ungodly 
 sinners have spoken against him. 
 
 15 myriads, to execute judgment on all, 
 and to convict all the luiKodly of all 
 their works of ungodliness which they 
 did, and of all the hard things which 
 ungodly sinners spoke against him. 
 
 n Deut. 33 : 2 ; Dan. 7 : 10 ; Zech. U : 5 ; Malt. 25 : 31 ; 2 Thess. 1:7; Rev. 1 : 7. 
 1 Sam. 2 : 3 ; Ps. 31 : 18 : 94 : 4 ; Mai. 3 : 13. 
 
 of the divine government in the world, 
 a religious teacher could foretell that 
 God would, in time, punish ungod- 
 liness. There could also be a definite 
 illumination of the mind whereby this 
 teaching would be clearly known. 
 There is also a place for predictive 
 prophecy. The coming of a deliverer 
 is first announced in Gen. 3 : 15. Sac- 
 rifices which were, in reality, a sym- 
 bolic prophecy were established, with- 
 out doubt, by a divine command. It 
 would be fitting in a time when wicked- 
 ness abounded, and to a man like 
 Enoch, living in fellowship with God, 
 that special revelations should be given. 
 This prediction has been fulfilled iu 
 manifold ways at diflerent times. God 
 came at the flood ; in the judgments 
 upon Israel and the surrounding na- 
 tions, at the fall of Jerusalem ; it will 
 be further fulfilled at the final personal 
 coming of Christ. This prophecy does 
 not refer to any definite time, but is a 
 general declaration that God will in- 
 tervene on behalf of righteousness upon 
 the earth. Lord. The term, Lord, 
 rau.st not be interpreted to mean that 
 Enoch had a full view of the person, 
 mission, and coming of the Lord Jesus. 
 In a general way the term here stands 
 for God in some of his manifestations. 
 We must not interpret into the knowl- 
 edge of the Old Testament saints the 
 full New Testament teaching. Com- 
 eth, rather, came. This is the historic 
 tense of prophecy, the prophet speak- 
 ing of a future era as if it already were 
 present or were past, he himself stand- 
 ing in the midst of it. No one can 
 rationally deny a predictive element 
 to prophecy if he admit the exi.stence 
 of an all-knowing God with whom the 
 prophet is in fellowship. Saints, 
 rather, ho/y ones. The reference here 
 is to angels as holy beings. (See Deut. 33 : 
 
 J; Zech. U : 5 ; Matt. 16 : 27.) God haS 
 
 myriads of holy angels and holy saintly 
 living ones from the earth in his service. 
 
 (SeeHeb 12:12.) For our knowledge ofan- 
 gels we are dependent upon revelation. 
 
 15. This verse gives the i)urpose of 
 the Lord's coming. Execute judg- 
 ment. Reference is here, not to a test 
 of all men, so much as the passing of 
 a righteous doom upon those deserving 
 punishment. Convince, rather, con- 
 vict. To convict is a far stronger word 
 than to convince, which usually means 
 to persuade a man of the reasonable- 
 ness of a certain cour.se of action. 
 Here it means to pass sentence upon 
 the ungodly as the result of their evi- 
 dent guilt. The characteristic feature 
 of the antediluvian world was its un- 
 godliness, the term ungodly occurring 
 four times in this verse. There was a 
 depravity of heart that came out in a 
 depraved life. (See Oeu. e ; 5.) It is po.s- 
 sible that in these words we have the 
 substance of the teachings given by 
 Enoch, his denunciations of the un- 
 godly men of his age. Some think 
 that the style here is diflerent from 
 that of Jude, and favors the view that 
 this is a direct quotation from Enoch. 
 Hard. Nothing would be more natural 
 than that in such an age filled with 
 impiety, rough and abusive words 
 would be uttered concerning him and 
 concerning God's government. In say- 
 ing that God does not notice the deeds 
 of men, that he does not care, that he 
 makes no moral discriminations, that 
 wickedness will not be punished, that 
 piety is not profitable — these state- 
 ments, in reality, revile God and his 
 government. Byron's portrait of Cain 
 reveals such a man saying hard things 
 against God. 
 
 16-19. The ungodly te.\chers 
 ark described as mockers, sen- 
 SUAL, SCHISMATIC. Having given the 
 quotation from Enoch in which the 
 ungodly are described as speaking hard 
 things against God, Jude now justifies 
 that statement by a furtlier description 
 of them. They are portrayed as per- 
 
130 
 
 JUDE 
 
 16 These are murmurers, complainers, 
 walking after their own lusts ; and 
 p their mouth speaketh great swelling 
 words, 1 having men's persons in ad- 
 miration because of advantage. 
 
 17 "■ But, beloved, remember ye the words 
 which were spoken before of the 
 apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ ; 
 
 16 These are murmurers, complaining of 
 their lot, walking according to their 
 desires ; and their mouth speaks swell- 
 ing words ; admiring men's persons, 
 for the sake of profit. 
 
 17 But do ye, beloved, remember the 
 words which vvere before spoken by the 
 apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ ; 
 
 p 2 Peter 2 : 18. 
 
 q ProT. 2U : 21 ; James 2 : 1-9. 
 
 r 2 Peter 3 : 2. 
 
 sons in revolt against God, against the 
 present order of things, as mockers to 
 whom holy things count nothing, as 
 destitute of the highest life, as destroy- 
 ing the unity of the church. 
 
 16. These men so described in proph- 
 ecy, men pointed out and condemned by 
 Jude, are murmurers, complain- 
 ers, the words occurring here only in 
 the New Testament. They murmur 
 against God's decrees, and find fault 
 with his providence. They blame God 
 for their condition in life, and for the 
 moral restrictions which he had im- 
 
 Eosed upon them. They are out of 
 armony with God. There is prob- 
 ably also a spirit of insubordination 
 against the constraints of society and 
 the church, especially against the 
 church if discipline had been exer- 
 cised against them. The moderm term 
 pessimism reveals the state of mind 
 indicated, a view which regards all 
 things as in disorder, which finds no 
 source of happiness or hope ; an utter 
 extreme from the view of Paul, who 
 placed God in the center of the moral 
 universe, and looked upon all things 
 as working for good to those in har- 
 mony with God. Walking . . • lusts. 
 This course of life is a result of their 
 character. Throwing off the restraints 
 of the law and love of God, self-willed, 
 they would naturally walk after their 
 own passions, which would be as gods 
 to them. Living this kind of a life 
 they would naturally grow discon- 
 tented. A selfisii life is an unsatisfying 
 life. Swelling words. This may 
 refer to the claims of wisdom made by 
 them, to tlie large knowledge assumed. 
 They boasted of their knowledge, far 
 surpassing that of the common people, 
 affirming tlieir superiority to all the 
 laws and restraints of God. Their 
 Christian liberty included the right to 
 be free from all God's commands, other- 
 wise their liberty itself would be a de- 
 lusion. Paul speaks of being made 
 free from the law of .sin, but made cap- 
 
 tive to the law of Christ. No heresy 
 of the New Testament times was more 
 dangerous or more seductive than the 
 teaching that the Christian life is free 
 from the binding power of the moral 
 law. It introduced licentiousness, not 
 in an open way, but under the guise of 
 religion. It was in reference to such 
 knowledge that Paul said, "Knowl- 
 edge puffeth up" (1 Cor. 8:1). Their 
 assumed knowledge was not a real 
 knowledge, but one falsely so called (i 
 Tim. 6:20). It is eternal life to know 
 God and Jesus Christ, having the char- 
 acter that naturally comes from this 
 knowledge within the heart (John i7 : s). 
 Paul counted all things but loss that 
 he might know Christ (pwi. s : 8). 
 Having ... advantage, rather, 
 shotring respect of persons for the sake 
 of advantage. This is an accurate de- 
 scription of Balaam, who sold his powers 
 for the reward that he hoped to gain 
 from Balak. These men formed their 
 beliefs on mercenary plans. They re- 
 belled against God, but they were ser- 
 vile toward men for the sake of posi- 
 tion, pleasure, profit. Many references 
 are made in the New Testament to 
 teachers who taught for the sake of 
 money (Titns i : i, u). See Paul's words 
 and example in refusing to take money 
 for his teaching (Acts 20 : 33, 34). James 
 forbids the spirit manifested by these 
 men (James 2 : 1-3). The Spirit of Jesus 
 Chri.st does not create or foster a social 
 caste in the church ; it rather makes a 
 holy society, a brotherhood, a reason- 
 able communism. Tiie teacher must 
 not teach, courting popularity. He 
 must speak what God bids him, whether 
 men will hear or forbear. 
 
 17. Believers ought not to be sur- 
 prised that mockers arise. But be- 
 loved, rather, bid ye, beloved. The j/e 
 is emphatic, in contrast with the un- 
 godly element in the church. As in 
 ver. 5, Jude recalls their former knowl- 
 edge and remembrance. Spoken be- 
 fore. The tense is imperfect, which 
 
JUDE 
 
 131 
 
 18 how that they told you 'there should 
 be mockers in the last time, who should 
 walk after their own ungodly lusts. 
 
 19 These be they 'who separate them- 
 
 18 that they said to you, in the last time 
 there will be scoffers, walking after 
 
 19 tlieirown ungodly desires. These are 
 they who make separations; natural, 
 
 s Acts 20 : 29; 1 Tim. 4: 1, 2; 2 Tim. 3:1; 2 Peter 3 : 3. 
 ( Isa. 65 : 5 ; Ezek. U : J ; Hosea 4 : H ; 9 : 10 ; Heb. 10 : 25 ; 1 John 2 : 19. 
 
 often means a repeated doing, as if Jude 
 or if the apostles had been accustomed 
 to forewarn them. The reference may 
 be either to oral teachings or to their 
 writings. For a long time there was a 
 .set, formal round of teachings before 
 the Gospels took their present shape. 
 It is implied here that his readers were 
 fully acquainted with the apostolic 
 teaching, so that they would at once ac- 
 cept his statement as in accord with 
 their own knowledge. It is implied 
 also that the teaching of the apostles 
 was authoritative, so that if anything 
 had been taught by them, it ought to 
 be accepted by the church as an article 
 of belief or rule of conduct. As the 
 teachings of Jesus were incomplete 
 (joho 16 : 12) J he made provision for the 
 enlargement of the truth through the 
 Holy Spirit promised to them (J"hn le : 
 IS); the formal teachings of the apostles 
 are to be accepted as of equal authority 
 as if spoken by Christ himself. In tiie 
 corresponding place in 2 Peter 3 : 2 
 allusion is made to the prophets as 
 foretelling the coming of false teachers. 
 In this passage Jude alludes to the 
 apostles as announcing their coming. 
 
 (See Aot» 20 : 29, 30 ; 1 Tim. 4:1.) AH the 
 
 Epistles reveal the presence of false 
 teachers and false teachings, sometimes 
 almost crowding the truth out of its 
 place (G«i- 8:1). That Jude does not 
 put himself among the apostles is an 
 indication that he does not regard him- 
 self as one. This expression would 
 not, in itself, make it certain that he 
 was not an apostle ; but taken in con- 
 nection with other incidents makes it 
 one of the certainties that he was not 
 one of the Twelve. This letter would 
 not thereby lose its power as a part of 
 the Scriptures, for other writers, as 
 Mark and Luke, were not of the apos- 
 tolic body. The expression spoken be- 
 fore does not assert that a long period 
 had elapsed since these warnings were 
 given, though if this letter was written 
 about A. D. 75, most of the apostolic 
 body were already dead. 
 
 18. Told . . . timC) rather, said to 
 
 you, hi the last time. This is the sub- 
 stance of the announcement by the 
 apostles. Last time. Thisisnot Jude's 
 expression, but that of the apostles. 
 They did not mean an age far distant 
 from their own. The last lime was 
 that era which began with the coming 
 of Christ, so that they were already in 
 that period. See instances of a like 
 use of this term in 2 Tim. 3:1,2; 1 
 John 2 : 18 ; 1 Peter 1 : 20. The same 
 word for mockers is used here as in 
 2 Peter 3 : 3. Inasmuch as Peter was 
 an apostle, and Jude speaks of the 
 warnings given by the apostles, it is 
 probable the passage in this letter is a 
 quotation from Peter's writings. The 
 word is an unusual one, occurring only 
 here and in Peter. The mockers, in 
 Peter's day, made sport of the predic- 
 tions concerning the return of Jesus. 
 Jude does not specify in what partic- 
 ulars this mockery consisted. Mockery 
 is more difficult to meet than argu- 
 ment; it is also harder to reach such 
 men and bring them under the power 
 of the truth. A spirit thoughtful and 
 reverent, that questions even the fun- 
 damentals of the faith, may be reasoned 
 with and convinced, but a spirit that 
 treats the most serious questions in a 
 light and flippant way cannot be 
 reached. Who should walk, rather, 
 walking. Ungodly lusts, literally, 
 lusts of ■ungodlinesses, meaning that 
 these unholy desires arise from the 
 various forms of impiety. In the 
 prophecy from Enoch, ver. 15, the 
 word ungodly occurs in an emphatic 
 manner. 
 
 19. Again .Tude returns to a descrip- 
 tion of the false teachers, describing 
 them, not as realizing the prophetic 
 announcement (ver. n, is), but as they 
 reveal themselves in the church life 
 and in their own personal lives. Three 
 thingsareasserteaof them. Separate 
 themselves, rather, causing divisions. 
 This word occurs only here in the New 
 Testament. The author does not mean 
 tliat they separate themselves from the 
 church, becoming thereby schismatics, 
 
132 
 
 JUDE 
 
 selves, "sensual, having not the Spirit. I 20 having not the Spirit. But ye, be- 
 20 But ye, beloved, ^ building up your- | loved, building up yourselves on your 
 
 u 1 Cor. 2 : 14; James 3 : 15. x Col. 2 : 7. 
 
 for they belong to the church and at- 
 tend the love feasts. These men had 
 departed from the practice of piety, 
 and were walking in the ways of un- 
 godliness. They were men having the 
 spirit of Korah, leading to separation 
 in the church. These were persons 
 who would despise the poorer mem- 
 bers, associating with the wealthy, 
 making divisions on social lines. They 
 laid claims to a large knowledge and a 
 spiritual enlightenment, holding ordi- 
 nary believers in contempt. They were 
 selfish at feasts, and had a domineering 
 spirit like Diotrephes (3 John 9). Paul 
 writes of members causing divisions 
 (Eom. 16 : 17, 18) ; of members who make 
 a god of their passions {F^n. s -. is, 19). 
 The present participle shows their 
 habit to be that of making separations 
 in the membership. A factious person 
 is as dangerous to a church as one hold- 
 ing unsound views. The etymological 
 meaning of heretic is that of one ma- 
 king divisions (thus 3 : 10). Sensual. 
 This does not mean licentious, de- 
 praved, which is the usual meaniug of 
 the term to-day. The term is that em- 
 ployed by Paul in 1 Cor. 3 : 14 in de- 
 scribing the natural man as distinct 
 from the spiritual man ; it is also used 
 in 1 Cor. 15 : 44, where the natural 
 body is distinguished from the spiritual 
 body. Jude means that the man lives 
 in the domain of his emotional and 
 perceptive faculties, and is not under 
 the control of the moral nature, the 
 enlightened reason, the conscience 
 which forms a part of his spiritual 
 nature. Paul, at times, separates man 
 into three parts — body, soul, spirit (1 
 Theso. 6 : 23). The word here rendered 
 sensual is the translation of soul, hence 
 a psychical man, not so low as the fleshly 
 man, but not identical with the spir- 
 itual man. Lying between the two 
 terms, body and spirit, it is regarded 
 as in alliance with the flesh and under 
 its control. Not having the Spirit. 
 The article is not found before spirit, 
 so that it is a matter of doubt whether 
 the Holy Spirit is meant or not. It is 
 usually the case that the term .spirit, 
 without any modifying term, refers to 
 man's spirit only. It is better to re- 
 
 gard Jude as referring here to man's 
 spirit. So supreme has the lower part 
 of man's nature become, so selfish 
 and self-indulgent has been the life, 
 that the spiritual element in them had 
 become almost extirpated ; they were 
 as men having no spirit upon which 
 the Holy Spirit could work. In all 
 probability these godless teachers hcd 
 claimed to be especially spiritual poi- 
 sons, to whom special revelations had 
 come through the Spirit insomuch that 
 thej' were above the commands of the 
 moral law, and could indulge in fleshly 
 passions without injury. Jude declares 
 that not only are they not under the 
 control of the Spirit, but that there is 
 nothing in them to which the Holy 
 Spirit can appeal. It is the severest 
 indictment that can be brought against 
 men : that through disuse and misuse 
 the highest faculty in their nature, 
 that through which they may become 
 the children of God, has become almost 
 extinct, so that even God cannot reach 
 them. They have become intellectual 
 animals. 
 
 20-23. Words of counsel fob 
 the believing element in the 
 CHURCH. In contrast with the im- 
 passioned invective used concerning 
 the sensual, licentious, and heretical 
 teachers, extenduig from ver. 10 to ver. 
 19, Jude now turns in calm exhorta- 
 tion to the holy element of the church. 
 As destructive errors were rife among 
 them, assailing the truth even within 
 the church, it was needful for them to 
 be especially on their guard. A growth 
 in the spiritual life is urged upon them 
 
 (ver 20, 21). 
 
 20. The best safeguard against error, 
 in doctrine or life, is a rich and full 
 spiritual life. This verse is a resump- 
 tion of the exhortation beginning in 
 ver. 17. But ye. These words are em- 
 phatic, in contrast with the pestilential 
 men described above. Building 
 up. The false teachers were making 
 divisions, thereby rending the church 
 into factions, destro.v'ing its unity and 
 power. These are exhorted to build 
 tliemselves up. The foundation on 
 which this believing structure is to rest 
 is faith, looked upon here not as the 
 
JUDE 
 
 133 
 
 selves on your most holy faith, J pray- I most holy faith, praying in the Holy 
 21 iugin the Holy Ghost, ^ keep yourselves 21 Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of 
 in the love of God, "looking for the God, looking for the mercy of our Lord 
 mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ uuto | 
 
 y Eph. 6 : 18. z John 15 : 9, 10; Acts 11 : 23 ; 1 JuUn 5 : 18, 21. 
 
 a Lam. 3 : 25, 26; Titus 2 : 13 ; 2 Peter 3 : 12. 
 
 internal belief in God, the saving faith, 
 but faith in its objective sense, with the 
 meaning of belief, creed. (Seever. 3.) It 
 is a most holy faith in contrast witli 
 the unholy and foul teachings of the 
 errorists. The appeal is not to the 
 building of the individual spiritual 
 life, but of the organized body, looked 
 upon as a temple of God. (see 1 cor. s) 
 It is the growth in godliness, in holy 
 living, in clear intellectual perception 
 of the truth, in right views of Scrip- 
 ture teachings, a growth that depends 
 upon their own co-operation. It is a 
 divine-human growth in knowledge 
 and clearness insisted upon. In this 
 growth three things are essential, 
 pras'er, a sense of God's love, an ex- 
 pectancy of Christ's mercy. Praying 
 . . . Ghost, rather. Spirit. The term 
 Ghost should always be displaced by 
 that of Spirit, inasmuch as the term 
 ghost has become associated with tlie 
 disembodied human spirit. This ex- 
 pression occurs nowhere else in the 
 New Testament, but its teaching is in 
 correspondence with other New Testa- 
 ment teachings. See the expression 
 "speaking in the spirit" (i Cor. 12 ; .s). 
 Compare also the expression in Rom. 
 8 : 26. In order to pray aright there 
 must be the guidance of the Holy Spirit 
 in the suggestions in the creation of the 
 prayer. The Spirit knows what is the 
 mind of God (i Cor. 2 : u) ; the Spirit 
 can therefore effectively help iii prayer. 
 Some would join the expression, "in 
 the Holy Spirit," to the preceding part 
 of this passage, but it is better to join 
 it with the praying. The false teach- 
 er.s were destitute of the Spirit ; the be- 
 lievers live, as it were, in the domain 
 of the Holy Spirit; they pray in the 
 Spirit. The life of prayer will beget 
 in them a spiritual clearness whereby 
 they will be kept free from destructive 
 errors. 
 
 21. Keep. This verb is in the 
 aorist tense, implying thus one com- 
 plete act of their life, an act t« be con- 
 tinued through their upbuilding and 
 their praying. Love of God. Tliis 
 
 may refer to their love for God or to 
 God's love for them. It is more in ac- 
 cord wiih the New Testament usage to 
 regard tliis as God's love to them ; they 
 were to keep themselves witliiu the 
 limit of God's favoring and approving 
 love, manifested by their continued 
 growth in the Christian character and 
 in their devout spiritual life (-Joim is : 
 
 9; Rom. 8 : 39 , 2 Cor. 5 : U). LookiUg 
 
 for, in the present tense, expresses the 
 attitude of the life, revealing a con- 
 fident expectancy of receiving the 
 
 mercy spoken of. (See Titus 2 : 13 ; Heb. 10 : 
 
 34; 11 : 35.) Tliis mcrcy, which is con- 
 stantly manife.st in his treatment of 
 the penitent, guilty man, issues in its 
 fulness in tlie eternal life, which is 
 revealed at the second coming of Christ. 
 There is an eternal life now (J«hu i7 ; 3); 
 its full power and glory will be realized 
 only in the after life (^att. 19 : 2»). Some 
 join the expression unto eternal life 
 with both preceding statements, keep- 
 ing yourselves and receiving and wait- 
 ing for the Saviour's mercy, both of 
 which united will form such a char- 
 acter as will ripen unto eternal bless- 
 edness. Without any formal teaching 
 concerning the Trinity, Jude gives full 
 expression to the distinctions in the 
 Godhead, Father, Christ, Spirit. This 
 incidental allusion to the Trinity is, in 
 reality, a strong proof that this doc- 
 trine was accepted by all in the first 
 centurj'. It is noticeable that the 
 mercy is here attributed, notas usually 
 to God, but to the Father and to the 
 Son, as is the case in the pastoral 
 Epistles. The entire Godhead is con- 
 cerned directly in the salvation of the 
 soul. 
 
 The attitude of believeks to- 
 ward PERSONS WHO HAVE BEEN LED 
 INTO ERROR. These must be dealt 
 with according to their special char- 
 acteristics, with a greater or less .sever- 
 ity. Jude has previously exhorted them 
 to contend for the completed faith de- 
 livered to them (ver. 3). Concerning 
 the false teachers themselves, he lias 
 expres.sed himself as having no hope 
 
134 
 
 JUDE 
 
 22 eternal life. ^ And of some have com- 
 
 23 passion, making a difEerence: and 
 others save with fear, « pulling than 
 out of the tire ; hating even ^ the gar- 
 ment spotted by the flesh. 
 
 22 Jesus Christ, to eternal life. And 
 some refute when they are contend- 
 ing ; and some save, snatching them 
 
 23 out of the lire ; and some compas- 
 sionate with fear, hating even the gar- 
 ment spotted by the flesh. 
 
 c Amos 4:11; Zech. 3 : 2. 
 
 d Lev. 13 : 47-59; Zeoh. 3 : 4, 5; 1 Cor. 5 : 9-11. 
 
 for them (ver. 12). But many of the 
 members had been exposed to their 
 disastrous influences; these must, if 
 possible, be rescued from the error. 
 Tiiree kinds of men are described. He 
 displays great wisdom in classifying 
 
 them (ver. 22, 23). 
 
 22. And . . . difference, tlie Ee- 
 vised version reads, A7id on some have 
 mercy, who are in doubt. But the Bible 
 Union version renders : And some refute 
 when they are contending. The MSS 
 here vary exceedingly. The Exposi- 
 tor's Bible says : " The Greek text here 
 is in so corrupt a state that the original 
 cannot be restored with certainty." In 
 half a score of places in the New Tes- 
 tament there is doubt concerning the 
 original text, but on no one of these 
 does any important teaching rest. Al- 
 ford reads, And some indeed convict 
 when C07itending with you. The word 
 refute or convict is the same word as 
 used in John 16 : 8; Eph. 5 : 11. So 
 also Plumptre. The older manuscripts 
 adopt this reading. For who are in 
 doubt, the Eevised version reads in the 
 margin, " when they are disputing with 
 you." According to one reading, the 
 meaning seems to be, those professing 
 Christians who were honestly in the 
 darkness and in doubt must be tenderly 
 dealt with. They must not be up- 
 braided or unduly censured ; they must 
 be led into the larger truth by a ^yise 
 presentation of right views. It requires 
 great wisdom to deal with the doubts 
 and perplexities of men. According to 
 the older reading, the meaning seems 
 to be, those teachers who are given to 
 disputing should be severely dealt with. 
 "There is more point in the contrast 
 between the teachers who need a severe 
 rebuke and those who may be saved 
 with fear, than in the two degrees of 
 pity presented by the Received text" 
 (Plumptre). 
 
 23. And others . . . fire, rather, 
 and some save, snatching them out .0/ 
 the fire. These persons have gone 
 farther on the road to error than the 
 first class. Partly through their own 
 
 low spiritual condition, partly through 
 diflerent temperaments, partly through 
 stronger seductions, these are nearly 
 swept into the doctrines and life of the 
 licentious teachers. There seems to 
 be here a reminiscence of the words in : 
 Zech. 3 : 1, "a brand plucked from the '. 
 fire"; see also Amos 4 : 11; Gen. 19 : 
 16, 17. These persons need a more 
 rigorous and severe treatment than the 
 first class; they were in greater peril. 
 Their feet had almost slipped (ps- '3 : 2). 
 The third class is not mentioned at all 
 in the Received version, and on some 
 have mercy with fear. These persons 
 also require a tender concern for them 
 and a sympathetic treatment. They 
 are to have consideration and mercy 
 shown to them. The expression with 
 fear may have reference to the person 
 in error ; the result of the eflbrt to save 
 him is in great doubt. Or it may mean 
 that the eSbrt to save brings a danger 
 to the believer, the evil may be so con- 
 tagious that it may contaminate the 
 one attempting the rescue. Persons 
 associated closely with evil and evil 
 persons are in great peril themselves. 
 One may mingle intimately with error 
 only by keeping close to Him who is 
 the truth and holiness. There must be 
 a love for the errorist, but a hatred for 
 the error. Hating . . . flesh. The 
 garment spoken of is that which is 
 worn next to the body. If the body 
 were unclean or leprous, the garment 
 would contaminate any person touch- 
 ing it. James speaks of a moral de- 
 filement, using the word here rendered 
 spotted (James 3 : 6). Zcchariah also 
 speaks of foul garments (zech. 3 : 1-3). 
 The garment stands for anything in the 
 outward life that becomes an occasion 
 of sinfulness. In the Old Testament 
 times there was a ceremonial unclean- 
 ness that belonged to outward things; 
 in all this was the effort on the part of 
 God to awaken in them the sense of 
 moral uncleanness. It will be noticed 
 that Jude discriminates between the 
 one who seduced into error and the 
 various kinds of men who were led 
 
JUDE 
 
 135 
 
 24 'Now unto him that is able to keep 
 you from falling, and 'to present you 
 faultless K before the presence of his 
 
 25 glory with exceeding joy, '■ to the only 
 wise God our Saviour, be glory and 
 majesty, dominion and power, both 
 now and ever. Amen. 
 
 24 Now to him who is able to guard you 
 from falling, and to set you without 
 blemish in gladness before the presence 
 
 25 of his glory ; to the only God our Sa- 
 vior, through Jesus Ciirist our Lord, 
 be glory, majesty, might, and au- 
 thority, before all time, and now, and 
 forever. Amen. 
 
 « John 10 : 29, 30 ; Rom. 16 : 25 ; Eph. 3 : 20. / Eph. 5 : 27 ; Cul. 1 : 22 ; Rer. 14 : 1-5. 
 
 g Matt. 25 : 31 ; 1 Peter i : 13. A Rom. 16 : 27 ; 1 Tim. 1 : 17 ; 2:3: 2 Peter 1 : 1. 
 
 astray, adjusting his treatment to the 
 standing of each chiss. The wi.se 
 teacher must rightly divide the word 
 of truth (2 Tim. 2 : 15). A recklcss and 
 unwise coutention for the truth, and the 
 indiscriminate condemnatiou of all who 
 do not have right conceptions of the 
 truth, may work great disaster to the 
 cause of ChrLst. 
 
 24, 25. The doxology. In ver. 
 21 Jude had exhorted them to keep 
 themselves in the love of God. He 
 now lifts up their heart to that same 
 God whose grace can keep them unto 
 eternal life hereafter, and from stum- 
 blings in the present life. False tea,ch- 
 ers abound, errors arise on every side, 
 many believers are entangled in the 
 enticing errors, but above all remains 
 God in his almightiness, his serenity, 
 in his ultimate supremacy over all men 
 and all beliefs. To this God the writer 
 now turns their attention. 
 
 24, 25. Able. God is that one who 
 is almighty, and his almightiness is 
 under the control of wisdom and love. 
 In John 10 : 29 Jesus spoke of the 
 ability of God his_ Father to guard 
 them. Keep. This is not the same 
 word that is used in ver. 21, but is a 
 term that means placing a _ military 
 guard around one for protection. See 
 the same word u.sed by the Saviour in 
 John 17 : 12. Falling, rather, stum- 
 bling. The word stwnibiing is less 
 serious than falling, so that one ni;iy 
 stumble and yet not fall, in the full 
 sense of the word. (Sue Rom. u : ii.) 
 Through God's grace and the enlight- 
 enment of the Ploly Spirit they will be 
 kept not only from apostasy, but from 
 the grievous errors contended against 
 
 in this letter, (see the same word in James 2 : 
 
 10; 2 Peter 1:10.) The Holy Spirit is 
 given for the purpose of leading the 
 believer into the truth (Joi"> is : is). If 
 the Scriptures alone were followed, if 
 traditions and cu.stoms were to lose 
 their power when not supported by the 
 
 inspired writings, many doctrines and 
 practices now held erroneously would 
 lose their power. Infant baj>tism, as- 
 persion, baptismal regeneration, pray- 
 ers for the dead, the mass, an uncon- 
 verted church -membership would 
 speedily disappear. There is no prom- 
 ise here of a personal life that would 
 be without sin. There is no life higher 
 than the Christian life, but in this life 
 there are all gradations. No holy man 
 of God has ever yet shown how much 
 of God's keeping power he may appro- 
 priate, keeping from personal defile- 
 ment and from docfrinal deviations. 
 To present ... joy, rather, to set 
 you, before the presence of his glory with- 
 out blemish in exceeding joy. Without 
 blemish expresses the ultimate condi- 
 tion of God's people. They are fre- 
 quently so described (Eph. 1:4; 5:J7; 
 Phil. 2:15; Col. 1:22). They wjll be SpOt- 
 
 less because Christ is spotless (Heb, 9 : u ; 
 1 Peter 1 : 19). Glory stauds for the mani- 
 festations of Christ in his splendor. 
 When here on the earth his condition 
 was one of humiliation. It is now a 
 condition in glory (John n : 24). lie 
 will appear in glory (Matt. i6 : 27). It is 
 natural tiiat a spotless life in the pres- 
 ence of a glorified Christ will create 
 joy, exceeding joy, represented by one 
 
 word in the Greek (Luke 1 : 14, 44; Acts 2 : 
 
 «). Only wise God, omit wise. 
 This doxology is similar to that in 1 
 Tim. 1 : 17. No verb is expressed ; it 
 may, therefore, be a statement or a 
 prayer. God is, or let God be. God 
 our Saviour . . . ever, rather, God 
 our Saviour, thro^igh Jesus Christ otir 
 Lord, be qlory, majesty, dominion, and 
 power before all time and now and for- 
 evermore. God is called our Saviour 
 as in 1 Tim. 2 : .S, inasmuch as God's love 
 is the originating cause of salvation. 
 (See John 3 : 16.) But God's loveis mani- 
 fested, and salvation is secured through 
 Jesus Christ. That Jude accepted the 
 divinity of Jesus Christ cannot be 
 
136 
 
 JUDE 
 
 doubted, for he so closely joins Jesus 
 with the Father. It would be impos- 
 sible for one born a Jew to join the 
 name of a created being with the name 
 of the uncreated God. These four terms, 
 glory . . . power, sum up God's 
 greatness, glory, and omnipotence. All 
 of these are for the believer and against 
 the false teacher and the life in sin. 
 Compare the various doxologies in the 
 New Testament to see in what varied 
 ways the writers portray and praise 
 God. Before all time expresses the 
 past eternity. This, with the and now 
 and the /orewermore, joins all the eter- 
 nities together in their fitting adora- 
 tion of God. This letter contains no 
 special salutations as do so many of 
 the New Testament letters. (Comp. Rom 
 16.) It is so far a letter of universal 
 application. Amen, so let it be, or so 
 in truth it is. The Expositor's Bible 
 presents the closing doxology in the 
 form of Hebrew poetry : 
 
 Now unto Him that is able to guard you 
 
 from stumbling, 
 And to set you before the presence of his 
 glory without blemish and in exceeding 
 joy. 
 To the only God our Saviour, 
 Through Jesus Christ our Lord, 
 Glorv, majesty, dominion, and power. 
 Before all time, and now, and forever- 
 more. Amen. 
 
 In this beautiful way this letter, deal- 
 ing with tempestuous times and deadly 
 errors, ends. We see no longer the felse 
 teacher, the fatal error, the devastating 
 justice of God bringing penalty; we 
 have a vision of God only; a vision 
 fitted to comfort the distressed, to awe 
 the wicked, to inspire with fresh cour- 
 age the faithful. 
 
 Note I. 
 The Love Feasts. There are but 
 two New Testament ordinances rest- 
 ing on divine command — baptism and 
 the Lord's Supper. In the first cen- 
 tury, without any divine command, 
 but prompted by a desire to show their 
 true brotherly love, they established 
 the love feast. It was held in connec- 
 tion with the Supper, but forming no 
 part of it. The term love feast occurs 
 here only in the New Testament, but 
 in 1 Cor. 11 we have a description of it 
 when observed in a perverted way. It 
 was intended to be a social meal, in 
 
 which the church-members would take 
 part. Very soon corruption destroyed 
 its power. It became an occasion for 
 feasting, for the creation and manifest- 
 ing of social ranks within the church. 
 In time they became entertainments 
 for the rich. In Alexandria, in spite 
 of the protest of Clement, the flute, the 
 harp, the lyre, made the occasion one 
 of mere entertainment. In other places 
 the rich I'etired altogether from the 
 love feasts, and the institution became 
 a kind of poorhouse institution. In 
 A. D. 112, when Ignatius wrote his 
 epistle, the love feast was yet united to 
 the Supper. When Justin Martyr 
 wrote his " First Apology " (a. d. 140), 
 the love feast had become separated 
 from the Supper. In 391 the Cduncil 
 of Carthage decreed that the Supper 
 should be taken while fasting, which 
 involved, of necessity, the absolute 
 and permanent separation of the two. 
 After the close of the fourth century 
 they entirely disappeared. Some Ger- 
 man Baptist churches have something 
 akin to these old-time feasts, a simple 
 meal of which the members partake, the 
 design being to unite the church-mem- 
 bers into one true family life. It is 
 needful, however, jealously to guard 
 everything in and about the church 
 lest it become an occasion of weakness, 
 and be invested with something of a 
 sacred character. As baptism became 
 to many a means of regeneration, and 
 the Lord's Supper became a sacrifice, 
 so the love feast became an agency for 
 disintegrating the onenessof the church, 
 and introducing feasting and sensu- 
 ality. There is a danger that even 
 good institutions may be perverted into 
 agencies for evil. Compare comment 
 on 1 Cor. 11 : 21. 
 
 Note II. 
 Relation of Jude to the book 
 OF Enoch. The prophecy of Enoch 
 in ver. 15 agrees in the main with a 
 passage found in the book of Enoch. 
 This work was known only by frag- 
 ments, for centuries. In 1773 Bruce, 
 the explorer, found an entire copy of 
 the work in Abyssinia in an Ethiopic 
 translation. It was translated and be- 
 came the property of the world in 1821. 
 Opinions vary widely as to the age of 
 the book. Dorner attributes it to the 
 first century after Christ. Dillmann, 
 
JUDE 
 
 137 
 
 who edited the work, places it in the 
 first ceutury before Christ, making it 
 current before the days of the New 
 Testament. If it was not written until 
 the first century after Christ, then the 
 passage in this letter cannot he a quo- 
 totiou from the book; but, on the otlier 
 hand, the book may have quoted from 
 the letter. That the statements in the 
 letter and in the book of Enoch are 
 almost parallel to each other is evident 
 when the two passages are placed side 
 by side. 
 
 Farrar contends earnestly that Jude 
 quotes from this apocryphal book, but 
 without thereby declaring the trust- 
 worthiness of the entire book, but him- 
 self doubtless accepting parts of the 
 book as trustworthy. TertuUian alone 
 of the early church teachers advocated 
 the book as worthy of being placed 
 alongside of the canonical writers. 
 Plummer thinks it possible, though 
 not prol)able, that both Jude and the 
 book of Enoch made use of old-time 
 traditions coining down to them and 
 accepted as trustworthy, believing 
 them to be genuine propheciesof Enoch. 
 He thinks that Jude may have quoted 
 from the book, even if he recognized 
 the general apocryphal character of 
 the work, but accepting this passage as 
 a geiuiine prophecy. He, with other 
 writers, holds that Jude might be in- 
 spired, and yet quote from the book 
 while in ignorance of its apocryphal 
 character. It would be ditficult to 
 hold this view and at the same time 
 give any force to the teachings and 
 promises of Christ in reference to a 
 divine guidance, (see John le : i3.) In the 
 conflict of opinions, it is possible to 
 maintain the following statements: (1) 
 It has not been proved to the satisfac- 
 tion of all scholars that the book was 
 in existence before the time of Christ. 
 Gieseler, Wieseler, and Volkmar main- 
 tain that it is a composition of the first 
 century. (2) It cannot be proved that 
 both the letter and the book do not 
 quote from a preceding and trustworthy 
 tradition. (.3) There is nothing in the 
 passage in Jude or in tlie book that 
 cannot be sustained by plain teachings 
 of the Old Testament. There is ab- 
 solutely nothing new in this passage, 
 but the one statement that it was a 
 
 Erophecy of Enoch. (4) If it should 
 e proved, in any way, that the pas- 
 
 sage is a quotation from the book, it 
 cannot be proved that it was not a 
 trustworthy tradition that found its 
 way into a book in many respects un- 
 worthy of confidence. (5) A quotation 
 of a true statement, even from a heatlieu 
 author, is not in conflict with the cus- 
 tom of other inspired writers. Paul 
 quotes from heathen poetry with ap- 
 proval (Acis 17:28). Of the book of 
 Enoch in its entirety, it may be said 
 that it belongs to that class of writings 
 which were produced in large numbers 
 in the decaying days of Judaism, con- 
 cerning which Paul speaks asold wives' 
 
 fables (1 Tim. 4:7). 
 
 Note III. 
 
 The teachings of this letter 
 con'cerning sin. 1. its manifold 
 FORMS. Few writings in so short a 
 compass have more allusions to sin in 
 its practical outcome. Nowhere defi- 
 ning sin or treating it in a formal way 
 as Paul and John do, to some extent, 
 it yet reveals sin as working its way 
 into life inmany forms. Especially 
 does the writer describe sins in their 
 grosser and more outbreaking forms. 
 Like James, the author treats sin and 
 piety on their practical side. It turns 
 the grace of God into licentiousness 
 (ver. 4); leads to a denial of Christ's 
 lordship (ver. 4); leads to abominable 
 sins (ver. 7); to unnatural sins (™f- 8); 
 sets at naught authority and rails at 
 the higher orders of being (ver. 8); con- 
 tributes to the excesses of wickedness 
 (ver. 10); to hatred and murder (^er. ii); 
 to a wrong-doing for the sake of hire 
 (ver. 11); causcs rebellion against re- 
 cognized authority (ver. ii); creates un- 
 godliness ('■er. 15)' makes murraurers 
 and complainers (ver. i6); makes lust- 
 ful lives (ver. 16, 18); leads to pride and 
 favoritism (ver. i6); induces mockery 
 and divisions in the church (ver. ly); 
 takes away the presence of the Spirit 
 and makes an animal life (ver. 19 ). 
 
 2. The penalty of sin. Jude is 
 a mes.sengcr of doom for the persist- 
 ently ungodly. Sometimes the penalty 
 comes in the present life as in the case 
 of Sodom. It a.ssuredly will come in 
 time. God's justice and God's mercy 
 dwell side by side in this letter. The 
 moral universe is built up on the plan 
 of righteousness; sin unforgiven must 
 be sin punished. He reveals a great 
 
138 
 
 JUDE 
 
 white throue for the ungodly, a throne 
 of grace for the believer. He declares 
 that sin leads to condemnation (>er. 4) ; 
 destruction comes to the disobedient 
 (ver. 5) ; the wicked will be kept under 
 darkness, will suffer eternal fire, will 
 inherit the blackness of darkness for- 
 ever (ver. 6, 7, 13) ; judgment wiU come 
 on them for their ungodliness (ver 15) ; 
 they will be separated from God's love, 
 cannot look for the mercy of the Sa- 
 viour, will not inherit eternal life, 
 will not dwell in the presence of God, 
 will not own eternal joy (ver. 21, 24. 25). 
 He reveals God as a God of holiness, 
 of righteousness, of inflexible justice ; 
 a God who sees the heart, who has no 
 fellowship with sin ; who, at the same 
 time, has mercy in store for the sup- 
 pliant, and delights to keep men even 
 from the stumblings of life. 
 
 Note IV. 
 Jude's treatment of error. 
 Jude sent out words that were like a 
 flame of fire in denouncing all un- 
 cleanness. He made no compromise 
 with falsehood or false teachers. He 
 denounced openly the teachings that 
 took away the foundations from re- 
 ligion and morality alike. To him the 
 words of the Old Testament Scriptures 
 and of the apostles were the standards 
 of right teaching and believing. At 
 the same time he exhibits great tender- 
 ness in dealing with persons led astray, 
 with the weak in the faith, with doubt- 
 ing Christians. Sometimes persons are 
 led astray more by intellectual miscon- 
 ceptions than by badness of heart. 
 Jude urges considerateness, discrimina- 
 tion in dealing with errorists; whole- 
 sale denunciation, a bitterness of spirit, 
 a lack of judiciousness may fix a per- 
 son more deeply in his error. Con- 
 viction, tenderness of spirit, a love for 
 the truth, and tact are needful in deal- 
 ing with perverted teachings. 
 
 Note V. 
 God's sovereignty and man's 
 FREE agency. There is a peril that 
 God's purposes shall be held in so 
 exclusive and one-sided way that a 
 modified fatalism shall prevail and 
 no room be found for man's freedom. 
 High Calvinism, as illustrated in the 
 old school Baptists, is one extreme ; 
 on the other hand, some theological 
 
 systems emphasize man's freedom in 
 such a way as to eliminate largely 
 God's sovereignty. The universe de- 
 mands an intelligent and holy God 
 who has plans, a Father wise and con- 
 trolling things in the interests of his 
 kingdom, and at the same time men 
 who are not machines, but consciously 
 free, governed by motives. The letter 
 of Jude presents, in a balanced way, 
 both sides of this belief. In ver. 21 be- 
 lievers are urged "to keep themselves 
 in the love of God." It is a salvation, 
 not of simple almightiness, but through 
 watchcare. In ver. 24 is the aftirma- 
 mation of God's sovereignty, his keep- 
 ing power ; either half of this teaching, 
 taken by itself, becomes a practical 
 falsehood ; taken together they form 
 a large and necessary and comforting 
 teaching. 
 
 Practical Remarks. 
 
 1. What the Christian has received of 
 God's spiritual blessings is small com- 
 pared with the full measure that God has 
 in store. It is a great mistake when the 
 Christian life is largest at the first, shriv- 
 eling instead of growing (Heb. 5:12; 
 ver. 1, 2). 
 
 2. Indifference to the teachings of the 
 gospel is the mark of a sluggish life. A 
 so-called liberality, which consists in 
 holding lightly the teachings of Christ, 
 is against Christ, who is the truth (ver. 3). 
 
 3. Holy teachings ought to lead to holy 
 living, Anything that conduces to un- 
 clean or selfish living, to the denial of 
 Jesus Christ, to forgetfulness of the moral 
 law, cannot be from God (ver. 4). 
 
 4. A good beginning may make a bad 
 ending. A good beginning needs a good 
 continuance. An open Red Sea may be 
 followed by a grave in the wilderness 
 (ver. 5). 
 
 5. Sin everywhere leads to disaster. A 
 sin even in heaven among the angels 
 brought destruction and death to them, 
 for whom God provided no redemption 
 (ver. 6). 
 
 6. The great day ought to be a source of 
 alarm to the ungodly. It has a promise 
 of punishment only (ver. 7). 
 
 7. The flesh gives an open door to temp- 
 tation, and is a source of peril to the soul. 
 Fleshly lusts war against the soul (1 Peter 
 
JUDE 
 
 139 
 
 2 : 11). The body needs to be kept under 
 (1 Cor. 9 : 27 ; ver. 7). 
 
 8. God's moral laws are undeviating in 
 their results. The same God who smote 
 Sodom, who sent the deluge, who de 
 stroyed the angels, will not to-day look 
 lightly upon sin. What a man or angel 
 sows that shall he reap (ver. 8). 
 
 9. An ungoverned tongue soon becomes 
 an ungovernable tongue. The habit of 
 censoriousness, of fault-finding, of con- 
 demnation grows by use ; we should judge 
 ourselves severely, others in moderation 
 (ver. 9). 
 
 10. It is a growing habit of this age to 
 speak in a light and trifling way about 
 Satan. Pictures are made of Satan that 
 laughter may be created. How different 
 Is the serious and earnest tone of the New 
 Testament writers ! He is a being to be 
 feared and guarded against, full of evil, 
 the god of this world (ver. 10). 
 
 11. It is possible for men, made in God's 
 image, to sink lower than the beasts. To 
 live for to-day only is to live like the ani- 
 mals ; to live sensual lives is to go lower 
 than the beasts, for they do not violate 
 the laws made for them (ver. 10). 
 
 12. Bad people often live most after they 
 are dead, influencing others to walk in 
 the ways of evil. Every Cain, Balaam, 
 Korah, should be a beacon light to warn 
 us of danger (ver. 11). 
 
 13. No persons are so dangerous to others 
 as professing Christians without any spir- 
 itual life. It is easier to convert a heathen 
 man than to reclaim an apostate, or one 
 confessing Christ but not knowing the 
 power of a saved life (ver. 12, 13). 
 
 14. Christianity centers about Jesus 
 Christ. His first coming established 
 Christianity. His personal presence in 
 heaven secures the salvation of the be- 
 
 liever and the increase of his kingdom. 
 His second coming insures a righteous 
 administration of awards and penalties. 
 This coming will be in great power and 
 glory (ver. 14, 15). 
 
 15. Men must make their choice be- 
 tween God's will and their own lusts and 
 desires. To be self-willed menus selfish- 
 ness, sinfulness, destruction. A person 
 may be lost a.s effectively through pride ot 
 heart as through sensuality (ver. 16). 
 
 16. Arguments may be met by argu- 
 ments. Mockings, taunts, and sneers can 
 be answered only by patient endurance. 
 It is harder for a Christian to withstand a 
 sneer or ridicule than to suffer losses and 
 persecutions. Satan has many methods 
 of waging his warfare. The Christian 
 has a complete armor furnished him by 
 his God (Eph. 6 : 10-18; ver. 18. 19). 
 
 17. The Christian life is begun at con- 
 version. It is built up gradually through 
 patient continuance in well-doing. As 
 in all departments of life and work, God 
 does nothing apart from the man's own 
 choice and will (ver. 20). 
 
 18. The greatest blessing in the world is 
 God's love to us. It devised the way of 
 salvation, sent Jesus as Saviour, promised 
 help, and prepared heaven (ver. 21). 
 
 19. The man in doubt needs not so much 
 censure as wise counsel. Timid hearts 
 nwy be driven into Infidelity by unwi.se 
 condemnation, instead of tender guid- 
 ance (ver. 22, 23). 
 
 20. God in heaven is concerned about 
 each one of his followers. He is con- 
 cerned about the little things of life, the 
 stumblings as well as the falls. Jesus 
 prayed for Peter that he might not fall. 
 He lifts up his children when they do fall. 
 Both Jude and Luther sing, " A mighty 
 fortress is our God " (ver. 24, 25). 
 
REVELATION 
 
 The Revelation of Jesus Christ— salutation. 
 
 1 »THE Revelation of Jesus Christ, 
 *wliich God gave unto him, to show 
 unto his servants things which "must 
 shortly come to pass. 
 
 THE Revelation of Jesus Christ, 
 which God gave him, to shew to his 
 servants the things which must shortly 
 come to pass ; and he sent and signified 
 through his angel to his servant John ; 
 
 a Gal. 1 : 12. 
 
 h John 5 : 20 ; 8 : 26. 
 
 CHAPTEE I. 
 
 In this chapter we have the prologue 
 embracing the title and description of 
 the Revelation (ver. i-s), the salutation 
 to the seven churches of Asia (ver. 4-8), 
 and a vision of the Lord Jesus in his 
 present glorified state (ver. 9-20). John's 
 Gospel has a prologue, 1 : 1-14. The 
 Revelation has a similar introduction. 
 This is incidental evidence that the 
 author of both is the same person. 
 
 1-3. The TITLE and de.scription 
 OF the Revelation. We have in 
 this opening passage the original source 
 of the Revelation — God; the divine 
 medium through whom it comes — Jesus 
 Christ ; the human agency — John. We 
 have the message defined as a Revela- 
 tion, an unfolding, an uncovering of 
 things otherwise hidden. John tes- 
 tifies of three tilings — the word of God, 
 the testimony of Jesus, and of things 
 seen by him. A threefold blessing is 
 given. The revelation is concerning 
 things soon to come to pass. 
 
 1. Revelation (^apokalypse) means 
 an uncovering of things hidden. Only 
 here is this word found in this book. 
 In the Epistles we have teaching ; in 
 the Gospels we have a life presented ; 
 here we have a revealing of the future. 
 It reveals by means of symbols^ and 
 figures which are thouglit of as intel- 
 ligible to the reader. The author im- 
 plies that his book will be made more 
 plain and impressive by reason of this 
 peculiar method of revelation. It is 
 not meant to be mysterious to darken 
 the future, but to throw light upon it. 
 
 140 
 
 It is a revelation of Jesus Christ; 
 
 that is, not concerning Christ so much 
 as from Jesus Christ. As this revela- 
 tion is concerning the church, the prog- 
 ress and destiny of Christ's cause on 
 the earth, it is fitting that Christ should 
 give it. He is the founder of the church 
 (Matt. 16:18), the head of the church 
 (Kph. 1 : 21). It is his body, he loves it; 
 he, therefore, reveals its difiiculties, its 
 course, its triumph. It is a revelation 
 through Christ from God. On earth 
 Jesus revealed what had been given 
 him from the Father ( Johu 6 : 16 ; u : 10), 
 In tlie upper life where he has fi.iller 
 
 knowledge (Mark is : 32; Phil. 2:7), the 
 
 Father is regarded as the final source 
 of knowledge. What God has given 
 to Jesus, he does not withhold from his 
 people. Jesus, in this book, stands 
 joined with the Father as a joint object 
 of worship, not in any way as a crea- 
 turely subject (5 : is). Jesus reveals to 
 his servants . . . pass, rather, eveyi 
 the things which must shortly come to 
 pass. This expresses the subject of the 
 revelation. It is not concerning a far- 
 distant future, but what is shortly to 
 come to pass. This phrase "must be 
 interpreted here and in 22 : 6 relatively 
 to Divine measurements of time " 
 (Swete). In many places allusion is 
 made to the speediness of the coming 
 
 (2 : 16 ; S : 30 ; 17 : 10 ; 22 ; 20). At ICQSt in 
 
 the beginning of the events here spoken 
 of they were shortly to come to pass. 
 The book of Revelation is for the coun- 
 sel, the upbuilding of the Christians of 
 that day. Must expresses the Divine 
 mind tl'iat made the things necessary. 
 
Ch. I.] 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 141 
 
 2 And* he sent and siprnified it by his 
 angel unto his servant John: 'who 
 bare record of the word of God, and 
 of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and 
 of all things 'that he saw. 
 
 3 s Blessed is he that readeth, and they 
 that hear the words of this prophecy, 
 and keep thosethings which are written 
 therein : for ^ the time is at hand. 
 
 2 who testified the word of God and the 
 testimony of Jesus Christ, whatever 
 
 3 things he saw. Happy he that reads, 
 and they that hear the words of the 
 prophecy, and keep the things that are 
 written therein ; for the time is at 
 hand. 
 
 (i 22: 16; Acts 12 :.ll. 
 
 e 6 : 9 : John 19 : 35 ; 21 : 24 ; 1 Cor. 1 : 6. 
 (/ 22 : 7 ; Luke 11 : 28. A Phil. 4 : 5. 
 
 / 1 John I : 1-J. 
 
 Behind history and providence is a 
 
 Eersonal God. In Jonah 3 : 10 we see 
 ow the repentance of the people made 
 God's punishment of the citj^ needless 
 and impossible. In 2 Peter 2:8,9 we 
 see God delaying punishment that re- 
 pentance may come. In Matt. 24 : 34 
 Jesus announces that the sufferings de- 
 scribed would soon begin to come upon 
 them; in their full accomplishment 
 they would not come to pass for ages 
 hence. This revelation is of the same 
 kind. Unless the things spoken of 
 would soon come to pass, they would 
 be of no use to that generation. God's 
 unfoldings of the truth are always for 
 the age to which the truth is given. 
 Prophecy is for present use. Mere 
 prediction, that would not ripen for 
 centuries afterward, would stimulate 
 curiosity, but would help no one. Jesus 
 sent the message through his angel 
 (17 : 1 ; 19 : 9) to his Servant John. Paul 
 designates himself as a servant of Je.sus 
 (Rom. 1:1). The order of the revelation 
 is from the Father, through the Son, 
 through the angel, through John to his 
 servants. A revelation is possible, 
 probable, and reasonable if God is a 
 Father, concerned for us and for his 
 cause, especially if his people are in 
 need of help for to-day and light for 
 the future. 
 
 2. Who bare record, rather, %vi(- 
 ness. The ^ntness is that which John 
 bears in this book. This witness is of 
 three kinds; the word of God, not 
 referring to the person of Christ, the 
 incarnate Word of John 1:1; Rev. 19 : 
 13, but to the utterances of God ; the 
 testimony of Jesus (comp. 22 ; le), the 
 utterances of a present living Jesus to 
 and for his people; and . . . saw, 
 rather, even of all things that he saw. 
 This embraces the utterances of God 
 and Jesus, also the symbolic represen- 
 tations shown to him, expressing God's 
 
 pui-poses. John heard God's words and 
 saw God's symbols. What John saw 
 and heard he recorded for the instruc- 
 tion and guidance of Christ's people. 
 The recorded revelation makes a per- 
 manent revelation. 
 
 3. The worth of the revelation given 
 is shown in this, verse. John supposes 
 that this book will be read publicly in 
 Christian assemblies and by the dis- 
 ciples of Christ. He thinks of the 
 person who will read the me.'jsage in 
 the churches, before the days when 
 
 grinting had scattered the leaves of the 
 criptures. Blessed is he that 
 readeth. The New Testament writ- 
 ings were read in the churches (1 Thess. 
 5 : 27). He places a blessing on the 
 congregation hearing it read, and 
 . . 4 prophecy. "The writer claims 
 for his book that it shall take rank 
 with the prophetic books of the Old 
 Testament. . . The claim is repeated 
 in22 : 7, 10, 18f'; (SWETE). The de- 
 sign of the reading and the hearing 
 is that the heart may be touched, 
 and keep (Matt. 7:24). Mere intel- 
 lectual knowledge is worthless. The 
 Scriptures were given for moral up- 
 building. The knowledge of the truth 
 may prove a curse, if its teaching is 
 not heeded. For shows why there 
 should be a reading and hearing of 
 the message. The time is at hand 
 shows an immediateness in the de- 
 velopment of the things revealed. 
 They are worthy of diligent attention 
 in the age of John. If they are not 
 entirely "fulfilled, they are worthy of 
 the attention of every age until the 
 complete fulfilment comes. To be at 
 havd might mean, in God's mind, 
 centuries hence. Evidently here it is 
 a nearness according to human appre- 
 hension, the nearness is emphasized. 
 
 4-8. The salutation. Naturally 
 follows, as in the Old Testament proph- 
 
142 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 [Ch. I. 
 
 4 JOHN to the seven churches which 4 John to the seven churches which 
 
 are in Asia: 'Grace be unto you, and 
 peace, from Him ^ which is, and ' which 
 was, and which is to come ; ™ and from 
 the seven Spirits which are before 
 
 are in Asia : Grace to you, and peace, 
 from him who is, and who was, and 
 who is to come ; and from the seven 
 
 ft Ver. 8 i Exod. 3 : 17. 
 
 m 1 : 5 ,- 5 : 6 ; Zech. 4 : 10 ; 1 Cor.l2 : 4-13. 
 
 ecies, the announcement of the person 
 who received from God the message for 
 men. So high was the standing of 
 John, especially in Asia Minor, where 
 he made his home, that his name would 
 commend the book and give it au- 
 thority. His tender concern for them 
 is shown in invoking upon them the 
 blessing of the Triune God. 
 
 4. As this book deals much in sym- 
 I)ols, after the manner of the Old Tes- 
 tament prophecies (Jer. i : i) the author 
 gives his name. As there were many 
 books of this general kind in the first 
 centuries, dealing in the unfolding of 
 the future, everything depended on the 
 source from which they came. The 
 name of John would carry, among all 
 the disciples of Christ, great weight. 
 Seven churches. " The Apocalypse 
 is, in fact, a letter from 1 : 4 onward, 
 though we are not reminded of the fact 
 till we reach the closing benediction 
 (22 : 21); it might havc borne the title 
 'To the Seven Churches'" (Swete). 
 The number seven is used here in a 
 symbolic sense. There were more than 
 seven churches in the province of Asia. 
 Having the center of his work at Ephe- 
 sus John would know them all inti- 
 mately and care for all. Colosse and 
 Hierapolis (Coi. 4 : is) were in this prov- 
 ince. Throughout the entire book, 
 seven stands for completeness rather 
 than for the actual number. The seven 
 churches named have, therefore, been 
 selected because they were represen- 
 tatives of all the churches of that 
 day, and easy of communication. They 
 were actual churches. They were 
 also types of the churches of that 
 age. In writing to the seven, he is 
 virtually writing to all. Whether the 
 condition of these churches, as unfolded 
 from the first to the last, is intended to 
 give the portrait of the churches from 
 that era to the close cannot be decided. 
 Asia does not mean the continent of 
 Asia, nor all Asia Minor, but the Pro- 
 consular Province, embracing Phrygia, 
 Mysia, Lydia, Caria, and the islands 
 in the neighboring iEgeau Sea. Ram- 
 
 say points out that the seven cities 
 named were the best points of com- 
 munication with the seven districts. 
 In his ' ' Letters to the Seven Churches " 
 Ramsay shows special knowledge of 
 the province of Asia, and gives valu- 
 able suggestions for understanding these 
 letters. He bestows his blessing, grace 
 . . . peace. This blessing has the 
 Pauline thought in it. God's grace 
 must first come, bringing harmony with 
 God. After grace follows peace with 
 God and with man. There can be no 
 peace without a reconciliation. Peace 
 is a child of reconciliation. John in- 
 vokes peace, Jesus brings peace (John 
 14 : 27). John indicates the source of 
 the blessing, coming from Him who is 
 a trinity in being. The Father is de- 
 fined in a threefold way, which is 
 . . . come, rather, who. This is a 
 paraphrase of the unpronounceable 
 name revealed to Moses (Exod. 3 .- 14)^ 
 written in the Old Testament, Jeho- 
 vah, and pronounced, LORD, God is, 
 God was; he has the springs of an 
 eternal self-existence within himself. 
 God is to come, alluding to his future, 
 eternal duration. This expression has 
 no reference to the future coming of 
 Jesus. It may be that John's mind 
 was so full of the coming of Jesus that 
 it unconsciously influenced his style in 
 describing the Father. The expres- 
 sion, He that is to come, is often used 
 in the New Testament of Christ (Matt. 
 
 10 : 3 ; 21 : 9 ; John 6 : 14), He UCXt men- 
 tions the Holy Spirit, seven Spirits 
 
 (3:1; 4:5; 5:6). He mcaUS the OUC 
 
 personal Holy Spirit under the figure 
 of seven spirits, a complete number 
 showing the manifoldness of his work 
 in the heart and in the church and 
 world. Representing, as he now does, 
 the glorified Redeemer, the Spirit car- 
 ries on a perfect work. John alludes, 
 by anticipation, to the vision in 4 : 5. 
 There is a visible representation of 
 the Spirit and of the Saviour ; but, by 
 necessity, none of the Father. 
 
 5. Jesus Christ is mentioned last be- 
 cause it is John's purpose to dwell in 
 
Ch. I.] 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 143 
 
 5 his throne ; and from Jesus Christ, 
 •^who is the faithful witness, a7itf the 
 « first begotten of the dead, and Pthe 
 prince of the kings of the earth. 
 
 6 Unto him that loved us, i and washed 
 us from our sins in his own blood, and 
 hath 'made us kings and priests unto 
 God and his Father ; • to him he glory 
 and dominion for ever and ever. 
 Amen. 
 
 7 'Behold, he cometh with clouds; 
 
 5 spirits that are before his throne ; and 
 from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, 
 the first-born of the dead, and the 
 ruler of the kings of the earth. To 
 him who loves us, and loosed us from 
 
 6 our sins in his blood, and he made ua 
 a kingdom, priests to God and his 
 Father ; to him be the glory and the 
 
 7 might, forever and ever. Amen. Be- 
 hold, he comes with the clouds ; and 
 
 n Isa. 55 : 4 ; John 8 : 14 ; 1 Tim. 6 : 13. o 1 Cor. 15 : 20 ; Col. 1 : 18. 
 
 y 11 : 15 ; 17 : 14 ; Ps. 72 : 11 ; Eph. 1 : 20. 9 7 : 14 ; Zech. 13 : 1 ; John IS : 8 ; Eiod. 19 : 6. 
 
 r Exod. 19 : 6. « Heb. 13 : 21 ; 1 Peter 4 : 11. t Zech. 14 : 5 ; Acts 1 : 9, 11. 
 
 the following verses on him exclusively. 
 It is Jesus who reveals God and who 
 sends the Holy Spirit. He is defined 
 in a threefold way : faithful witness 
 (1 Tim. 6 : 13). Jesus was a martyr, but 
 far more. He bore witness to God, to 
 the truth (John is : 37). The character 
 here ascribed to Christ is used by John 
 as an indirect appeal in urging them to 
 faithfulness. The first begotten, 
 rather, firstborn. The allu.sion is to 
 the Saviour's resurrection (1 cor. 15 : jo; 
 Col. 1:20). Prince, rather, »'M?er. (Comp. 
 
 Matt. 28 : 18 ; 1 Peter 3 : 22.) On earth, SOme 
 
 to whom John wrote had seen Jesus in 
 his humiliation. Now he is seated on 
 the heavenly throne, clothed in glory. 
 Loved, rather, loveth. It is the un- 
 changed and unchangeable nature of 
 Jesus to love his people (John is:i). 
 The Christian must not look back to a 
 Christ who did love, but up to a Christ 
 who does love. Out of his love comes 
 redemption. Washed, rather, loosed. 
 Both ideas are employed in the Scrip- 
 tures, cleansing and freeing from bond- 
 age. Matt. 20 : 28 ; 1 Peter 1 : 18 speak 
 of a purchase, a ransom given to de- 
 liver from the bondage of sin. Je.sus 
 confers more than pardon of sin, he 
 delivers from its power. In his own 
 blood expresses the means by which 
 Jesus delivers us. Through the entire 
 book salvation through the .sacrifice of 
 Jesus is prominent. On earth and in 
 heaven the saint will not forget the 
 Eedeemer or the means of redemption 
 
 (6:9). 
 
 6. The redeemed Christian is a reign- 
 ing Christian. Hath made . . . 
 kings and priests, rather, a king- 
 dom. The Christian is a royal man, 
 overcoming all foes and adverse agen- 
 cies. Great prominence is given in 
 this book to the reigning of the saints 
 
 (5 : 10 ; 20 : 4 ; 22 : 5). PrieStS CXpreSSeS 
 
 their relation to God. In the Old Tes- 
 tament times they could not draw near 
 to God except through a priesthood. 
 Now they may all draw- near, even into 
 the holiest of all, since the veil is rent 
 in twain (Matt. 27 : 6i). All believers 
 con.stitutea priesthood. The universal 
 priesthood of the believer is one of the 
 essential features of New Testament 
 Christianity. Unto God, rather, vnto 
 his God. Paul speaks of tlie God and 
 Father of our Lord Jesus Christ (Kph- 
 1 : 3). There is a close relationship be- 
 tween the saved sinner and his Saviour, 
 they have a common God and Father 
 (John 20 : 17). Such a pcrsou is entitled 
 to glory and dominion, rather, the 
 glory and the dominion. Each pious 
 heart joins in the prayer. The book is 
 designed to show that he will finally 
 receive them. 
 
 7. Tlie Christ who had been hidden 
 from men will come again in glory. 
 It is the personal Jesus who will come 
 again. This furnished an important 
 part of Christ's own teaching (w»tt. 24). 
 These words are, in fact, founded upon 
 that discourse. With clouds, rather, 
 with the clouds, is a reminiscence of the 
 
 Saviour's words (Matt. 24 : 3O; comp. Dan. 
 
 7 : 13). The coming with clouds refers 
 to the swiftness of his coming, and also 
 implies a coming to judgment. Tlie 
 clouds are a symbol for the trouble and 
 anguisli of that day. The tenor of the 
 entire passage is tliat of puni.shment 
 and alarm. The coming is not that of 
 one for whom all look with eagerness, 
 and before whom all bow in submission. 
 Rather it is the coming of a judge to 
 meet those who are consciously guilly 
 and alienated in mind. John alone 
 notices in his Gospel the fact that his 
 side was pierced (John 19 : 37). Those 
 
144 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 [Ch. I. 
 
 "and every eye shall see him, "and 
 » they aiso which pierced him:" yaud 
 all kindreds of the earth "shall wail 
 because of liim" [Zech. 12 : 10] . Even 
 so, Amen. 
 
 8 ^ I am Alpha and Omega, the begin- 
 ning and the ending, saith the Lord, 
 » which is, and which was, and which 
 is to come, >> the Almighty. 
 
 The vision of Christ. 
 
 9 I JOHN, who also am your brother, 
 
 every eye shall see him, and they who 
 pierced him ; and all the tribes of the 
 earth shall wail over him. Even so. 
 Amen. 
 8 I am the Alpha and the Omega, saith 
 the Lord God, he who is, and who was, 
 and who is to come, the Almighty. 
 
 9 I, John, your brother, and partaker 
 
 u Num. 24 : 17 ; Job 19 : 25-27 ; Matt. 26 : 64. 
 z Ver. 11, 17 ; 21 : 6 ; Isa. 44 : 6 ; Micah 5 : 2. 
 
 X Zech. 12 : 10. 
 a Ver. 4 ; 4:8. 
 
 y 6 : 15-17. 
 h Gen. 17 : 1. 
 
 who thus pierced him will be utterly 
 overwhelmed to see him returning as 
 supreme judge. Ail kindreds, rather, 
 all the tribes. John is here looking 
 upon a guilty, not a penitent, world. 
 Jesus is the ruler of the kings of the 
 earth (ver. 5), When guilty Babylon 
 falls (18 : 9), a wicked world beholding 
 it mourns. When Jesus came at first 
 it was, not to condemn, but to save 
 (John 3 : 17). Wheu he comes again it 
 will be, not to save the guilty, but to 
 condemn. Shall wail because of 
 him, rather, shall mourn over him. 
 At his presence, at sight of him, men 
 will mourn. Mourning now will bring 
 comfort (Matt. 5 : 4). Mourning then is 
 the outgrowth of penalty, guUt, de- 
 spair. Even so, Amen. The same 
 two words, one Greek, one Hebrew, 
 occur together in 2 Cor. 1 : 20, They 
 form a double confirmation of the cer- 
 tainty of the impending coming with 
 its judgments. Tlie amen is rendered 
 " verily " in its frequent use by Christ 
 
 (John 3 : 3). 
 
 8. We have here the voice of God 
 the Father, wlio breaks in upon the 
 thought with the declaration of his 
 own infinite nature. Alpha and 
 Omega, rather, the Alpha and the 
 Omega. Tlie first and the last letters 
 of the Greek alphabet express the 
 eternal nature of God. Omit the be- 
 ginning and the ending. Genera- 
 tions pass away, he abides forever. 
 The speaker is defined in a threefold 
 way; Lord, that is, Jehovah; the 
 Almighty, because he has all power. 
 As God he is defined in a threefold 
 way as in ver. 4. While speaking ex- 
 pressly of the Father, John has doubt- 
 less the Son in mind, as the revelation 
 of the Father, Immediately preced- 
 ing, John speaks of the redemption of 
 
 Jesus, and at once follows a vision of 
 Jesus. The same divine attributes 
 that dwell in the Father dwell in the 
 
 Son (John 6 : 19). 
 
 Section 1. 9-20. The vision 
 
 OP THE Son of man. As John is to 
 bear witness of the testimony of Jesus, 
 fittingly now comes a vision of the 
 Lord himself with his message. It is 
 the first of many visions of the book, 
 laying a foundation for them all. The 
 key that unlocks its meaning will help 
 to explain all. This is the first vision 
 in the book, hence its importance. It 
 reveals a present Christ ; without this 
 as a foundation thought the entire book 
 is meaningless. It reveals him in close 
 connection with his churches ; he walks 
 among them, to counsel, to warn, to 
 defend them. Tliey are his churches. 
 In his life in heaven he cares for the 
 churches on the earth. There is an 
 evident conflict between the reigning 
 Christ and his foes. He is not now the 
 peaceful Christ, but Christ tlie warrior 
 king. To him the words of Ps. 45 : 3-5 
 may well be applied. This vision fur- 
 nishes the foundation for tlie letters to 
 the seven churches, each of which con- 
 tains some reference to this vision. As 
 Christ and his people are one, it will be 
 understood also that his people will 
 have conflicts to undergo. We may 
 therefore expect tlie book to be full of 
 conflict between the church and the 
 world, and that Christ and his church 
 will, in the end, achieve a great and 
 final victory ; Christ means conquest, 
 
 9. I John. The style here is in 
 imitation of Dan. 7 : 28, Daniel in 
 the Old Testament, and Revelation in 
 the New Testament, have many points 
 of resemblance. Who also . . . 
 
Ch. I.] 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 145 
 
 and "companion in tribulation, and 
 ■•iu tlie kingdom and patience of Jesus 
 Clirist, was iu the isle that is called 
 Patmos, *for the word of God, and for 
 
 10 the testimony uf Jesus Christ. 'I was 
 in the Spirit on ethe Lord's day, and 
 heard behind me ""a great voice, as of 
 
 11 a trumpet, saying, I am Alpha and 
 Omega, the first and the last: and. 
 What thou seest, ' write in a book, and 
 send it unto the seven churches which 
 are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto 
 
 with you in the afUiction, and king- 
 dom, and patience in Jesus, was in the 
 island called Patmos, on account of 
 the word of God and the testimony of 
 
 10 Jesus. 1 was in the Spirit on the Lord's 
 day; and I heard behind me a great 
 
 11 voice, as of a trumpet, saying, Wliat 
 tliou seest, write in a book, and send 
 to the seven churches ; to Ephesus, and 
 
 c Phil. 1 : 7 ; 2 Tim. 1:8. d Rom. 8 : 17 ; 2 Thess. 3:5; Heb. 10 : 12, 13. 
 
 / 4 : 1, 2 ; Ezck. 2:2; Acts 10 : 10 ; 2 Cor. 12 ; 1-4. g Joho 20 : 26 ; Acts 20 : 
 
 ft 10 ; 8 ; Ps. 68 : 33 ; Ezek. 1 : 28. t Jer. 30 : 2 : Hab. 2 : 2. 
 
 e 12: 11; 20: 
 7 ; 1 Cor. 16 : i 
 
 Christ, rather, your brother, and par- 
 taker with you in the tribulation and 
 kingdom and patience which are in- 
 Jesus. John joins himself with the 
 humblest of his readers as a brother, 
 although an apostle, and the one 
 through whom the revelation comes. 
 (Comp. the brotherhood of Jesus, Heb. 
 2 : 11.) It is part of his power that he 
 identifies himself with them. Par- 
 taker shows that John was^atthistime, 
 passing through persecutions. He is 
 writing from an inner experience of 
 their sufferings, described in a threefold 
 way. Tribulation involves persecu- 
 tion, loss of property, position, the social 
 ostracism that for centuries was the lot 
 of all Christians. Jesus had foretold 
 this time (John i6 : 2). Kiiigdom and 
 patience which are in Jesus shows 
 that their sufferings belong to the essence 
 of the Christian life ; that Jesus shared 
 in them all ; that they, with Jesus, are 
 joint sharers in them now. (comp. Matt. 
 25 : 45 ; Col. 1 : 24. ) Thosc who are in the 
 kingdom of Christ must suffer tribula- 
 tion and bear it bravely. Was . . . 
 Patmos. This island, now called 
 Patino or Patmosa, is one of the Spor- 
 ades in the Icarian Sea, about forty 
 miles southwest of Miletus, a rocky, 
 barren place, twenty-five miles in cir- 
 cumference. The cave is still shown 
 where, according to the tradition, John 
 had his visions. It is implied that he 
 was banished to this place for Christ's 
 sake. According to one tradition, he 
 was sentenced to work in the quarries. 
 Driven away from his friends, Jesus 
 Christ came to him. This book, written 
 by one passing through persecution, to 
 those who also were suffering, has 
 always been a comfort in all subsequent 
 dark times. 
 
 K 
 
 10. John describes the condition 
 under which the vision came. In the 
 Spirit does not mean that this vision 
 came through the Spirit, or that he 
 Avas spiritually minded on that day, 
 but that he was in the state described 
 by Paul iu 2 Cor. 12 : 2, 3. While 
 meditating, perhaps, on the future of 
 Christ's cause he was caught up into a 
 
 spiritual ecstasy. (Comp. l Klugs is : 12 ; Ezek. 
 
 3 : 12, u.) While preserving his mental 
 clearness, he Mas, as it were, outside of 
 his body. Lord's day. Jewish be- 
 lievers, at first, worshiped on the Sab- 
 bath, and also on the first day of the 
 week. Gradually they came to observe 
 the first day exclusively (iCor. i6:2; 
 Acta 20 : 7). Whether John fir.st used 
 this term, in this place, or whether it 
 was an expression current at the time, 
 cannot be known. The expression is 
 used in writings about A. D. 100. The 
 allusion is to the first day of the week. 
 It is the Lord's day — dedicated to him, 
 because Jesus rose on this day, because 
 it testifies of him, because he owns it 
 in a peculiar sense. (See on Murk le : 2. ) 
 Fittingly Jesus came to John, in his 
 loneliness, on this sacred day to testify 
 concerning his church and its future. 
 Heard . . . trumpet. Inhisexalted 
 spiritual condition John heard a voice 
 real, clear, loud, like a trumpet sound. 
 
 11. Omit I am Alpha and Ome- 
 ga, the first and the last, and, 
 Avhich are in Asia. These words 
 are not found in the best MSB. The 
 vision is not for John onlj% but for 
 the churches of that day. The vision 
 and teachings were to be put in a 
 permanent form, written in a book. 
 They became thus a part of the Scrip- 
 turestothcm. Ephesus isfirstnamed, 
 being the center of John's labors. They 
 
146 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 [Ch. I. 
 
 Smyrna, and uuto Pergamos, and unto 
 Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto 
 Philadelphia, •' and unto Laodicea. 
 
 12 'And I turned to see the voice that 
 spake with me. And being turned, " 1 
 
 13 saw seven golden candlesticks; "and 
 in the midst of the seven candle- 
 sticks "one like uuto the Son of man, 
 p clothed with a garment down to the 
 foot, and igirt about the paps with a 
 
 14 golden girdle. His head and ^his hairs 
 were white like wool, as white as snow; 
 and » his eyes mere as a flame of fire ; 
 
 to Smyrna, and to Pergamus, and to 
 Thyatira, and to Sardis, and to Phila- 
 
 12 delphia, and to Laodicea. And I turned 
 to see the voice that was speaking with 
 me. And having tuined, 1 saw seven 
 
 13 golden lamp-stands ; and in the midst 
 of the lamp-stands one like ' the Son of 
 Man, clothed with a garment falling 
 down to his feet, and girded round at 
 
 14 the breasts with a golden girdle. But 
 his head and his hairs were white, as 
 white wool, as snow; and his eyes 
 
 k Col. 4 : 15, 16. 
 p Dan. 10 : 5. 6. 
 
 I Exoa. 3 : 2-6. 
 q Exod. 28 ; 6-8. 
 
 m E.xod. 25 : 37 ; Zech. 4:2. ji 2 : 1 o Dan. 7 : 13 
 
 r Dan. 7 ; 9. « 2 : 18 ; Dan. 10 ; 6. 1 Or, a Son. 
 
 occur in the order in which a person 
 starting from Ephesus and making a 
 circuit would naturally visit them : 
 Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, 
 rather, Pergamum; then inland, Thy- 
 atira, Sardis, Philadelphia, 
 Laodicea, due east from Ephesus. 
 The mes.sage has a meaning to us 
 also. " He that hath an ear let him 
 hear" (3 ; 22). He is to write not 
 only what he hears but what he sees 
 
 (ver. 19). 
 
 12. The voice attracts attention from 
 its trumpet-like nature. Golden can- 
 dlesticks, rather, lampstands. In 
 the tabernacle and in the temple was a 
 golden lampstand with seven branches 
 (Exod. 25 : 31) standing in the holy place. 
 The Old Testament figure furnished a 
 foundation for this vision. Here the 
 lampstands are distinct from each other. 
 The Jewi-sli commonwealth was one 
 nation, the churches of Christ are dis- 
 tinct organizations. The seven here, 
 as in the case of the churches, stands for 
 completeness. These seven lampstands 
 represent the nature of all churches in 
 their ideal, being made of gold ; they 
 represent their office, to help in the 
 scattering of the light ; they show their 
 relation to each other as distinct; their 
 one common relation to Christ as their 
 guardian and keeper. Ideally the 
 churches are divine in their origin 
 and holy in character. Their real 
 nature, with their defects, falling far 
 short of the divine conception, appears 
 in the two following chapters. 
 
 13. A vision greater than the lamp- 
 stands now is seen, one like unto 
 the Son of man, rather, a Son. The 
 article is omitted in one other New 
 Testament passage (Joim 5 : 27)^ where 
 Jesus is evidently meant. John does 
 
 not intend merely to say that he saw a 
 human figure, but from the use of this 
 expression, without the article in Dan. 
 7 : 13 and its constant use in the New 
 Testament with the article, he certainly 
 intends to indicate the person of Jesus. 
 He presents him as glorified, yet as 
 one with us in having a human nature. 
 Every part of his person and clothing 
 has a symbolic meaning. Clothed 
 with a garment down to the foot 
 indicates his dignity, and perhaps also 
 his priestly character (Dun. 10 : 5; Lev. 
 16 : 4). Girt about the paps, rather, 
 breasts — not at the waist, shows that he 
 is engaged in the active service of the 
 upper sanctuary. Jesus is an ever- 
 living intercessor, our heavenly high 
 
 priest (Heb. T : 25). 
 
 14. His eternal duration and the 
 majesty and splendor of his character, 
 are shown in his whiteness of head and 
 liair. White . . . snow, rather, white 
 as white wool — ivhite as snow. With 
 us whiteness of hair implies age and 
 venerableness. In Dan. 7 : 9 is a vision 
 of the ancient of days, God the Father. 
 In the New Testament we see God re- 
 vealed through Christ. Eternity with 
 God does not weaken his powers. Jesus 
 is eternal in duration, supremely holy 
 in character, full of an indescribable 
 majesty of person. His intuitive, 
 penetrating, omniscient knowledge is 
 shown by his eyes. Nothing is hidden 
 from him. The eyes see, the flame of 
 fire burns up, consumes, the evil that 
 is discovered. On the mount of Trans- 
 figuration John saw the person of Jesus, 
 white and glistering (Luke 9 : 29). As 
 an artistic figure to be portrayed on 
 canvas, the burning eye would not be 
 beautiful, but as a moral conception, 
 considered by the mind only, it is im- 
 
Ch. I.] 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 147 
 
 15 'and his feet like unto flue brass, as if 
 they burned iu a furnace; and "his 
 voice as the sound of many waters. 
 
 16 »And he had in his right hand seven 
 stars: and 'out of his mouth went a 
 sharp twoedged sword : •■ and his coun- 
 tenance was as the sun shinetli in liis 
 strength. 
 
 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 
 
 1.') were as a flame of fire ; and his feet like 
 burnished brass, as if it were glowing 
 in a furnace ; and his voice as the voice 
 
 10 of many waters. And he had in his 
 right hand seven stars ; and out of liis 
 mouth went forth a sharp two-edged 
 sword ; and his countenance was as 
 
 17 the sun shining in bis power. And 
 when I saw him, I fell at his feet as 
 dead. And he laid bis right band on 
 
 t Ezek. 1 : 
 z\0:l; Mai. ^ : 
 
 Dau. 10 : 6. 
 Matt. 17 ; 2; 
 
 u Ezek. 43 : 
 Acts 26 : 13. 
 
 3. X 2:1; 3:1. |/ Isa. 49 : 2 ; Epb. 6 : 17. 
 
 a Ezek. 1 : 28 ; Dan. 10 : 17. b Dan. 8 : 18 ; 10 : 10, 12. 
 
 pressive. On earth the eye of Je.sus 
 pierced the thoughts of men ; how much 
 more in the glorified state ! The same 
 representation of Christ occurs when 
 he comes forth in conquest as a man of 
 war in 19 : 11, 12. 
 
 15. His kingly power is expressed 
 in this passage. His feet are like 
 unto fine brass . . . furnace, rather, 
 burnished brass, as if it had been re- 
 fined in a furnace. They are fitted to 
 tread upon the foe and consume them 
 in anger. The brass is shining from 
 its being refined, perhaps white from 
 heat. The voice is majestic, loud, 
 alarming, like the beating of the ocean 
 wave. (Comp. the trumpet voice of 
 ver. 10.) His voice as Saviour is ten- 
 der, he will not break the bruised reed 
 (Matt. 12:20). On earth he could utter 
 terrible woes (Matt, 23)^ so now, in the 
 upper life, he can speak words that 
 will overwhelm the enemy. 
 
 " He is clothed in a garment that in- 
 dicates priestly functions, but the other 
 attributes assigned to him are rather 
 those of royalty. His white hair shi- 
 ning like wool or snow, signifying that 
 in him are hid all the treasures of 
 knowledge and of wisdom ; eyes whose 
 burning glances penetrate through the 
 secrets of men's inmost hearts; bis 
 feet, glowing as in the white heat of a 
 furnace, ready to consume the enemies 
 on whom he treads ; the two-edged 
 sword going out of his mouth, a figure 
 of the judicial and destroying power 
 of the Word of God ; the face shining 
 like the tropical sun, from whose dead- 
 ly rays man and beast alike tiee for 
 shelter; the voice, powerful as the surf 
 booming on the snores of Patmos — 
 these are marks of royal majesty and 
 power. It is Je.sus whom John sees, 
 but Jesus the high priest of his people 
 and king of all the earth" (H. C. 
 
 Vedder, d. d., in "The Watchman," 
 July 12, 190C). 
 
 IG. In his right hand, out- 
 stretched, were seven stars. The 
 
 right hand could defend and guard. 
 Jesus speaks of the believer in his own 
 hand and in the hand of his Father 
 (John 10 : 28. 29). The seven is again the 
 complete number. The kingly Christ 
 is represented as having in his mouth 
 a two-edged sword. The words 
 of Jesus will be like a sword that will 
 smite the foe utterly. (Comp. 2 Thes.. 2:8; 
 Heb. 4 : 12.) No ouc Can escape its power 
 and destruction. The words of Jesus 
 are not empty words or threats, but 
 they accomplish his purpose. Who 
 can successfully fight against the strong 
 Son of God? Who can be defeated if 
 he fights for them? The face, the 
 countenance, was like the sun shi- 
 ning in its transcendent brightness — 
 unclouded. John chose the brightest 
 conceivable thing to represent the ap- 
 pearance of tlie glorified Lord. 
 
 17, 18. If the image of Jesus here 
 portrayed were outwardly represented 
 it would be unattractive, but if looked 
 upon with the mind only it is signifi- 
 cant and full of meaning. Jesus is 
 the eternal, all-searching, majestic, 
 priestly king, whose words are con- 
 quests, whose foot treads down the 
 enemy. I fell at his feet as dead. 
 John had lain on his bosom when 
 on the earth. But the vision of the 
 glorified Lord, appearing in splendor, 
 the conqueror of death, the king 
 of the rulers of the earth, over- 
 whelmed him, lowly and sinful as he 
 was (Dau. 7 : 17 ; 10 : 8, 9, 15). There is 
 always with God, glory, tenderness, 
 
 and grace (Isa. 6:15; Lute 24 : S7). TllC 
 
 touch of Jesus brought reassurance. 
 His words are a reminiscence of his 
 earthly ministry : Fear not («»"• 
 
148 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 [Ch. I. 
 
 18 not ; " I am the first and the last : * I 
 am he that liveth, « and was dead ; and, 
 behold, 'I am alive for evermore, 
 Amen ; and s have the keys of hell and 
 
 19 of death. Write ^ the things which 
 thou hast seen, 'and the things which 
 are, ■'and the things which shall be 
 
 20 hereafter; the mystery 'of the seven 
 stars which thou sawest in my right 
 hand, m and the seven golden candle- 
 sticks. The seven stars are " the angels 
 of the seven churches : and ° the seven 
 candlesticks which thou sawest are 
 the seven churches. 
 
 18 me, saying. Fear not ; I am the first 
 and the last, and the living one ; and 
 I became dead, and behold 1 am alive 
 forevermore ; and I have the keys of 
 
 19 death and of Hades. Write therefore 
 the things which thou sawest, and 
 the things which are, and the things 
 which are about to take place after 
 
 20 these ; the mystery of the seven stars 
 which thou sawest on my right hand, 
 and the seven golden lamp-stands. 
 The seven stars are angels of the seven 
 churches; and the seven lamp-stands 
 are the seven churches. 
 
 c Ver. 8. d Rom. 6:9; Heb. 7 : 25. e John 19 : 30 ; 1 Cor. 15 : 3. 
 
 / 4 : 9 ; 5 : 14. jr 3 : T ; Ps. 68 : 20 ; Isa. 22 : 22 ; Acts 2 : 31. ft Ver. 14, etc. 
 
 ! 2 : 1, etc. »; 4 : 1, etc. I Ver. 16. m Ver. 12. 
 
 o Matt. 5 : 15 ; Phil. 2 : 15. n 2 : 1 ; Mai. 2 : 7. 
 
 17 : 7). The saved sinner need not be 
 afraid of Jesus. Jesus makes a three- 
 fold declaration, revealing his own 
 eternal existence, his triumph over 
 death, and his consequent power over 
 death. I am . . . liveth, rather, / 
 am the first and the last and the Living 
 One. He proclaims his possession of 
 life in and through himself in like 
 manner as Jehovah in the Old Testa- 
 ment (Isa- « : 10-13). He therefore had 
 no beginning of days, and will have 
 no end of days. Was dead, rather, 
 became. There is the implication that 
 he voluntarily subjected himself to 
 death (John lo : 18). in joyous tones he 
 claims now an ever-living life. He is 
 the Living One ; not only one who lives, 
 but he has the springs of life in him- 
 self. He calls attention to it: be- 
 hold. The resurrection of the Lord 
 Jesus was a wonderful event. It se- 
 cured the salvation of tlie soul, it es- 
 tablished his divinity, and gave a 
 foundation for his universal rulership. 
 Omit Amen. Jesus has the keys of 
 hell and of death, rather, of death 
 and of Hades. No one will enter into 
 the grave unless Jesus opens the door. 
 (Comp. John 5 : 28.) Those ill the un- 
 seen life are safe, because he has the 
 keys. They will come out at the 
 resurrection, for he will open the door. 
 To have the keys of a house is to 
 have the control of the house. Hades 
 stands here, not for hell, the place 
 of the punishment of the wicked, but 
 the realm of the dead. It is usually 
 personified in this book, as in 6 : 8. 
 Jesus claims a sovereignty over his 
 saints, over the wicked waiting to be 
 
 punished, over the dead of all classes. 
 This power he secured through his 
 own sufferings and death. A dis- 
 tinction must be made between Ge- 
 henna, rendered hell, the abode of the 
 finally impenitent, and hades, often 
 wrongly rendered hell in the Common 
 version. Hades means the realm of 
 the dead. 
 
 19. Write, rather, write therefore. 
 Because Christ is such a person as here 
 described, so exalted, it is fitting that 
 all should thus recognize him. Jesus 
 desires to be known in his real char- 
 acter. He becomes a permanent reve- 
 lation when the vision is written. 
 Three things are contained in the di- 
 rection to write what he had seen. 
 First, the vision of the Son of man, 
 revealing a knowledge of his incarna- 
 tion, his resurrection, his consequent 
 ascension and glorification. Secondly, 
 the things which are, perhaps alluding 
 to the message to the churches express- 
 ing their present state. Thirdly, the 
 things which shall be, the vision be- 
 ginning Avith chap. 4. Not all the 
 future is revealed, but only a part, 
 which concerns the progress of his 
 kingdom ; not as hi.story in all its de- 
 tails, but in outlines, and expressed in 
 symbol. 
 
 20. Mystery means that which is 
 in itself hidden from human sight and 
 knowledge, but is revealed through 
 God's' Spirit to God's children, (see 
 Eph. 3 : 3-12.) Jesus liiniself acts as in- 
 terpreter here. He aims not to be- 
 wilder, but to make clear. The stars 
 are the angels of the churches. The 
 lampstands are the churches. They 
 
Ch. I.] 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 149 
 
 are golden, signifying their exalted 
 character. They exist for the one pur- 
 pose of helping Christ to throw light 
 into the world. When on earth Jesus 
 explained his first paraljle that thus 
 they might get the clue for understand- 
 ing all the parables (Matt, n ; i8-2i). He 
 has the same spirit of helpfulness in 
 his life on high. 
 
 Note 1. Hades. This word means 
 that which is unseen, referring to 
 the world of spirits. It occurs ten 
 times in the New Testament (Matt, u : 
 
 23 ; 16 : 18 ; Luke 1 : 15 ; 16 : 23 ; Acts 2 : 27, 31 ; 
 
 Rev. 1:8; 6:8; 20 : 13, u). In the Re- 
 ceived version it is rendered, hell, 
 grave ; in the Revised version it is 
 uniformly rendered hades. It is the 
 translation of the Hebrew term sheol, 
 used in the Old Testament sixty-five 
 times. The parable in Luke 16 : 19-31, 
 taken in connection with Luke 23 : 43 
 and Acts 2 : 24-32, shows that hades 
 was a world into which the souls of all 
 entered, having two divisions. One 
 was that of joy and comfort, paradise ; 
 the other of misery and penalty, sep- 
 arated by an impassable gulf. Hades 
 nowhere can be rendered grave, nor 
 does it correspond with hell, gehenna, 
 regarded as the place of final punish- 
 ment. Gehenna, rightly rendered hell, 
 occurs in the New Testament twelve 
 
 times (Matt. 5 : 22, 29, 30 ; 10 : 28 ; 18 : 9 ; 23 : 
 15, 23 ; Mark 9 : 43, 45, 47 ; Luke 12 : 5 ; James 
 
 3 : 6). This describes the place where 
 the wicked, with body and soul united, 
 after the j udgraent will suffer everlast- 
 ing punishment. The ungodly at pres- 
 ent are in hades, but tJiey are not yet 
 in hell, the place of final punishment. 
 The New Testament teaches, however, 
 that the souls of believers enter at 
 once into heaven to be with Christ. 
 
 (See John 17 : 24 ; 2 Cor. 5 : 6, 7 ; Phil. 1 : 23.) 
 
 That the souls of believers enter im- 
 mediately into God's presence is im- 
 plied in Rev. 6 : 9-11 ; 7 : 9-17. It 
 may be conceded that even believers 
 do not receive their full blessedness 
 until after the resurrection. The souls 
 of unbelievers are under penalty until 
 the day of judgment (2 Peter 2:9); while 
 the souls of the righteous are with 
 Christ. Until the resurrection of Christ 
 hades appears to have been the com- 
 mon home of all the dead ; since that 
 time the wicked alone are in hades, 
 
 the righteous are with Christ. Com- 
 pare note on Luke 16 : 22 and Practical 
 Remark 25. 
 Note 2. The meaning of the 
 
 TERM ANGEL OF THE CHURCH. The 
 angel of each church is addressed. 
 Three views are held as to the mean- 
 ing of this term. Whoever he was or 
 whatever it means, the angel represents 
 the church. 
 
 1. The most commonly received view 
 is that it refers to the bishop or chief 
 pastor of the church. In Haggai (» : ") 
 the prophet, and in Malachi (2 7) the 
 priest is the angel of Jehovah. But 
 against this view are two objections. 
 First, it assumes that, at the writing of 
 these messages, of the plurality of 
 elders in the church, one had gained 
 such a leadership that he was recog- 
 nized as the bishop. Of this there is no 
 proof. Each church had a plurality 
 of elders, called bishops from the Greek 
 point of view (piiH- 1 = 1), known as 
 elders from the Hebrew point of view. 
 Among these was a parity of authority. 
 In the Epistles of Paul, there is no 
 trace of the rise of the bishop or chief 
 pa.stor. The letter to the Philippian 
 church puts the pastors on an equality 
 (Phil. 1:1). In the pastoral Epistles, 
 written several years later, there is yet 
 no hint of the precedence of one elder 
 over the others. It is against the teach- 
 ing and facts contained in the Acts 
 and the Pauline Epistles to concede 
 thus early the rise of tlie bishop as the 
 governing idea in the church. It is 
 an undoubted fact that in the second 
 century there arose the beginning of 
 tliat vast fabric of church government 
 embracing the idea of the local bishop 
 in each church, then the bishop of a 
 province, the system culminating at 
 fast in the papacy. But of this system 
 we find no trace in the New Testament. 
 It is probable that there was in the 
 synagogue service an inferior officer 
 known as the angel or messenger. But 
 it was an inferior position, having 
 nothing whatever of the authority here 
 possessed. Secondly, the angel and 
 the church are .so thoroughly identified 
 in these letters tliat it is impossible to 
 conceive of the angel being a human 
 bishop or cliief pastor. In the con- 
 demnatory messages to Sardis and Lao- 
 dicea is it possible to think that the 
 pastor and the church had precisely 
 
150 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 [Ch. I. 
 
 the same fault and in the same degree, 
 so that both are equally blameworthy ? 
 In the declining devotion of the church 
 at Ephesus, is it possible that the de- 
 votion in the pastor and people declined 
 equally at the same time ? The com- 
 mendations and condemnations of Jesus 
 pass interchangeably from one to the 
 other, showing that botli must be in 
 some sense one. In the message to the 
 church at Ephesus, the augel is charged 
 with having left the first love. Natu- 
 rally the penalty would be a removal 
 from his position. But the penalty 
 comes upon the church ; the church it- 
 self must perish unless there come back 
 a quickened spiritual life. This is a 
 decisive proof that, in some way, the 
 angel and the church are inseparably 
 wrought into each other's life, so that 
 what is true of the one is true of the 
 other. But nowhere is it true that 
 prophet and people, or pastor and 
 church, are so identified, and so reflect 
 the spiritual life of the other, that the 
 word of praise or censure may be be- 
 stowed equally upon either. 
 
 2. Another view is that the angel is 
 a superhuman being, having a watch- 
 care over the church. The word angel 
 is generally used of a superhuman be- 
 ing in this book after the first three 
 chapters. But it seems unfitting thus 
 to identify a perfect angel with the im- 
 perfect church life here described. An 
 angel can scarcely be called upon to 
 repent (2:5). There is no proof what- 
 ever that the early Christians regarded 
 their churches as under angelic con- 
 trol. Jesus speaks of angels who have 
 an especial care for little children 
 
 (See note on Matt. 18 : 10, in Clarke " Peoples Com- 
 mentary'). Daniel speaks (lo : is) of the 
 prince of Persia, where the reference 
 IS, perhaps, to a higher order of beings 
 exercising control over the national 
 life. Undoubtedly angels may have a 
 watchcare over Christ's saints on the 
 earth, inasmuch as he is the head of the 
 church. But there is no warrant for be- 
 lieving that the angel here spoken of 
 is a superhuman person. 
 
 3. The angel of the church is the 
 spirit, the genius, the spiritual char- 
 acteristic of the church personified. 
 It does not differ from the church itself. 
 Every church has its own peculiar, 
 distinguishing characteristic ; this con- 
 stituted its angel. In this book, all 
 
 through, each object described has its 
 angel. The fire has its augel, its own 
 nature representing it, showing what 
 it is (u : 8) ; the abyss has its angel 
 (9 : 11) ; the wind has its angel, dift"er- 
 ing in nothing from the wind itself 
 (6:1). In like manner the churches 
 have their angels, each church having 
 its own angel. And this explains how 
 the messages, the words of censure, of 
 counsel, of praise, can be addressed 
 equally to the angel or to the church. 
 If the love of the angel declines (2 : *), 
 it is the love of the church that is de- 
 clining. And, therefore, Jesus declares 
 that if the angel repent not, the church 
 itself must perish. If the angel is 
 faithful the church is faithful ; if the 
 augel is overcome by the world, the 
 church is, at the same time, overcome 
 by the world. There is here a twofold 
 description of the church. It is de- 
 scribed under the figure of a star and 
 a lampstand. Both of them suggest 
 the light-giving power of the church. 
 The star shines in the firmament. The 
 lampstand, in the tabernacle and in 
 the temple, shone in a more hidden 
 way. The double figure employed em- 
 phasizes the truth taught, the church 
 must be pure and light giving. The 
 angel of the church is the church itself 
 viewed in its essence and spirit, reveal- 
 ing itself to the gaze of the ascended 
 Christ, and to the gaze of the onlooker 
 upon the earth. The seven churches 
 represent the one, universal church of 
 Christ upon the earth. The seven an- 
 gels represent, in a symbolic way, the 
 genius and distinguishing spirit of this 
 one universal church. While favoring 
 the preceding view Swete adds: " But 
 in this symbolical book the angel of a 
 church may be simply an expression 
 for its prevailing spirit and thus be 
 identical with the church itself." 
 
 Practical Remarks. 
 1. The Revelation is not given to satisfy 
 curiosity, but to develop and encourage 
 the church. It was designed to be useful 
 to the Christians of the first age, when 
 they were, of necessity, unlearned and 
 plain people. It implies an unfolding of 
 God's will in such a way as to be compre- 
 hended by them. God tenderly accom- 
 modates his revelation to the capacity of 
 his people. God does not reveal all the 
 
Ch. II.] 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 151 
 
 future, which would be a hindrance to 
 us. He makes known some things that 
 they may be a lielp to us (ver. 1). 
 
 2. Jesus is one with the Father (John 
 10 : 30), but there is a certain subordina- 
 tion in position whereby the Father gives 
 to the Son. We may not understand com- 
 pletely the inner relations of the God- 
 head, but we may notice certain facts. 
 Both are concerned for the welfare of 
 the churches on the earth. Througli 
 Jesus we know God, his nature and will 
 (ver. 1). 
 
 3. The highest honor is to be a servant 
 of Jesus. Paul, James, and Jude, all de- 
 lighted to call themselves the bondmen 
 of Jesus. It is the highest freedom to 
 enter willingly into subjection to Christ 
 (ver. 1). 
 
 4. John wrote the word of God and the 
 testimony of Jesus, in his earthly min- 
 istry, in the Gospels. He writes the after 
 ministry of Jesus in the Revelation. God 
 and Jesus are still active workers in and 
 for the church. The unseen Christ is an 
 ever-active Christ (ver. 2). 
 
 5. In former centuries the Scriptures 
 were scarce and costly. Now every one 
 may read for himself. With the larger 
 knowledge comes a larger responsibility. 
 There is blessing for all those, in all ages, 
 who search the Scriptures, know God's 
 will that it may be done. A teachable 
 mind and a teaching Spirit can make the 
 word plain (ver. 3). 
 
 6. With God a thousand years are but 
 as one day. Having eternity for his work- 
 ing time God need not hasten. What is 
 long to us, is but a moment to God. We 
 should not be impatient when God seem- 
 ingly delays (ver. 3). 
 
 7. God the Father can be seen only 
 through Jesus the revealer. The Holy 
 Spirit, being pure spirit, can be seen only 
 in a symbolic way. The ever-living God 
 and the Holy Spirit, perfect in his nature 
 and operations, alone can best give grace 
 and peace (ver. 4). 
 
 8. Jesus Christ is the center of Chris- 
 tianity. He witnesses for God ; he has 
 power over death ; he is a ruler with com- 
 plete power. A ruling Christ could over- 
 come his enemies ; an interceding Christ 
 is a helper for his friends (ver. 13). 
 
 9. Christ is spotless in nature and ma- 
 
 jestic in his person. His majesty of per^ 
 son is the outward representation of the 
 moral grandeur of his character. The 
 chief beauty in Christ is his moral love- 
 liness (ver. 14, 15). 
 
 10. Jesus is the creator of peace in the 
 soul and in the world. But he lias a 
 sword. His words reveal the heart— con- 
 vict, reprove, condemn. He is patient, 
 but he can and will destroy the obdurate 
 in heart. It is a mistake to think of Jesus 
 as only the tender-hearted. He is judge, 
 ruler, conqueror (ver. Ifi). 
 
 11. The splendor of Christ makes him 
 an overpowering Christ. The weakness 
 and sinfulness of human nature combine 
 to prostrate man in his presence. The 
 tenderness of Christ is united to his 
 grandeur. On earth and in heaven he 
 cares for his weak but true disciples 
 (ver. 17). 
 
 12. Death seemed to overcome Jesus. 
 It held him in its prison for a time. Com- 
 ing out of it, he destroyed it. He now has 
 complete power over death and all the 
 regions of the unseen beyond. No Chris- 
 tian need be afraid to die. Persecution, 
 killing the Christian, cannot drive a man 
 away from the personal presence and 
 watchcare of Jesus (ver. 18). 
 
 13. Tlie past, the present, the future- 
 all equally lie open before tlie mind of 
 Jesus. A God who can reveal the future 
 must be a God indeed. God reveals the 
 future only so far as it concerns his king- 
 dom—more in principles than in detail. 
 Prophecy is not the writing of history 
 beforehand (ver. 19). 
 
 14. Jesus holds the stars, the represen- 
 tations of the churches, in his right hand 
 for protection. Christ shines through the 
 churches; they should shine for him. 
 They are of use only wlien they are of 
 gold, and when they are of service to 
 Christ (ver. 20). 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 The two following chapters give the 
 messages to the seven churches. Jesus 
 stands among them, not with a critical 
 eye, but with the eye of a holy and 
 watchful Saviour and guardian. The 
 message is adapted to eadi one, to its 
 peculiar conditions and .surroundings. 
 This chapter contains the letters to tlie 
 
152 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 [Ch. II. 
 
 Epistles to the seven churches of Asia. 
 
 3 UNTO the angel of the church of 
 Ephesus write ; These things saith Phe 
 that holdeth the seven stars in his 
 right hand, i who walketh in the midst 
 of the seven golden candlesticks. 
 
 2 '1 know thy works, and thy labour, 
 and thy patience, »and how thou canst 
 not bear them which are evil : and 
 *thou hast tried them " which say they 
 are apostles, and are not, and hast 
 
 p 1 : 16, 20. 
 
 9 1: 
 
 I Ver. 6. 
 
 13; 
 
 Matt. 28 : 20. 
 t 1 John 4 : 1. 
 
 2 TO the angel of the church in Ephe- 
 sus write: These things says he who 
 holds the seven stars in his right hand, 
 he who walks in the midst of the seven 
 
 2 golden lamp-stands. I know thy 
 works, and thy labor and thy patience, 
 and that thou canst not bear evil men ; 
 and didst try those who call them- 
 selves apostles, and they are not, and 
 
 r Ver. 13 ; Ps. 1 : 6 ; 139 : 1-4 ; 2 Tim. 2 : 19. 
 « 2 Cor. 11 : 13 ; 2 Peter 2 : 1. 
 
 churches at Ephesus, Smyrna, Perga- 
 mum, and Thyatira. 
 
 1-7. Letter to the chuech at 
 Ephesus. These letters, as noticed 
 above, are constructed in a symmetrical 
 way. Tlie letters and the book itself 
 reveal much of care in the formation. 
 
 1. On the term, augel, see note at 
 the end of chap. I. On the theory that 
 the angel was the chief pastor some 
 find an allusion to Timothy who labored 
 here, or to some one appointed by 
 Timothy or John. 
 
 Ephesus was the most important city 
 in the province. Swete, in his critical 
 commentary, says: "Ephesus stands 
 first among the cities to which ad- 
 dresses are sent. Thither the messenger 
 from Patmos would sail by an easy 
 course of sixty miles. Moreover, on 
 many grounds, this city took first 
 rank. . . Its commercial prosperity 
 kept pace with its political impor- 
 tance. The great road which brought 
 the trade of the East from the Eu- 
 phrates to the .iEgean reached the sea 
 at Ephesus. . . The city was a hotbed 
 of cults and superstitions, a meeting- 
 place of East and West, where Greeks, 
 Romans, Asiatics, jostled one another 
 in the streets." See Clark's " Peoples 
 Commentary" on Acts 19 : 1, 19, 27, 
 35, 38. The name of John is insepa- 
 rably associated, in all tradition, with 
 the pastorate of this church in his 
 later years. It was the scene of Paul's 
 labors for three years (Acts 20 : si). We 
 have also the letter written to this 
 church, the most lofty and spiritual of 
 all Paul's writings. It was a wealthy 
 and prosperous city, the seat of the 
 worship of Diana, whose temple was 
 one of the world's seven wonders. It 
 had been a center of large religious 
 activity. Here had labored Timothy, 
 
 Priscilla, Aquila, Apollos, and Tychi- 
 cus. Jesus, the sender of the message, 
 is described in words taken from 1 : 13, 
 16. He holds, stronger than the word 
 had in 1 : 16, the stars. He guides, 
 protects, and punishes with his strong 
 right hand. It is a word of comfort 
 for tempted people, the assertion of his 
 sovereignty. Jesus watches over, not 
 simply Ephesus, but over all the 
 churches. He holds its star and all 
 the stars in his hand. (Comp. isa. 49 : le ; 
 John 10 : 28.) He is not only in the midst 
 of the churches (i = i3), he walks in the 
 midst of them. He is an active Christ, 
 superintending, counseling, reproving, 
 warning. In the message to the first 
 church is the expression of the Lord's 
 relation to all the churches as that of 
 guardianship and watchcare. 
 
 2. Jesus here declares his penetra- 
 ting and comprehensive knowledge. I 
 know thy Avorks. This is a general 
 characteristic of all the letters, his 
 thorough knowledge. This is the 
 foundation for his condemnation, re- 
 proof, affording a means of counsel 
 and help. Works refers not simply to 
 the outward movements of the church, 
 but to the entire life — inner and outer. 
 Labour, rather, toil, a stronger word. 
 There had been not only activity, but 
 an intensive and thorough service. 
 Patience denotes endurance under 
 the opposing ills and hindrances that 
 beset them. Jesus commends them for 
 two reasons. First, he approves their 
 separateness from moral evil. Thou 
 canst not . . . evil, rather, evil men. 
 There was a persistent love for holi- 
 ness, good things, and good men. The 
 church did not hate bad men, but it 
 could not tolerate them in membership, 
 nor condone their evil deeds. Second- 
 ly, he approves their love for right 
 
Ch. II.] 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 153 
 
 3 found them liars : » and hast borne, 
 and hast patience, and for ray name's 
 sake hast laboured, and hast t not 
 fainted. 
 
 4 Nevertheless I have soinewhat against 
 thee, 'because thou hast left thy first 
 
 5 love. Remember therefore from 
 whence thou art fallen, and "repent, 
 and do the first works: ti or else I will 
 come unto thee quickly, and will re- 
 move thy candlestick out of liis place, 
 
 6 except "thou repent. But this thou 
 
 3 didst find them liars; and thou hast 
 patience, and didst bear for my name's 
 
 4 sake, and hast not grown weary. But 
 I have this against thee, tliat thou 
 
 5 didst leave thy first love. Remember 
 therefore wlieiice thou hast fallen, and 
 repent, and do the first works ; or else, 
 I am coming to thee, and will remove 
 thy lamp-stand out of its place, if thou 
 
 6 repent not. But this thou hast, that 
 
 Matt. 10 : 22 i Phil. 1 : 29. y Gal. 6:9; Heb. 12 : 3. z Jer. 2:2; Matt. 24 : 12. 
 
 a Ezek. 18 : 30-32. b Matt. 21 : 41, 43. 
 
 thinking and teaching, orthodoxy in 
 doctrine. Paul declared tliat false 
 teachers would rise up among them 
 (Acta 20 : 29). Thcse false teachers claim- 
 ing, perhaps, to have seen Jesus (Acta 
 1 : 21, 22), or preaching other doctrines 
 than those recognized (Gai. i : a), were 
 tried by .standards given in the words 
 of Christ and the apo.stles. Jesus 
 taught that bad fruits indicate a bad 
 heart (Ma"- f : le). John declared that 
 a denial of Christ coming in the flesh 
 was a mark of the antichrist (i John 4 : 
 1, 2). Trying their claims they found 
 them false teachers. Their orthodoxy 
 met the approval of Jesus. All un- 
 tnithfulness in teaching will, in time, 
 produce incorrectness in life. 
 
 3. The commendation is continued. 
 And hast borne . . . fainted, rather, 
 And thou hast patience, and didst bear 
 for my name's sake, and hast not grown 
 weary. Four qualities are here men- 
 tioned with approval. There is a stead- 
 fastness in working and suffering that 
 has grown into a settled principle, 
 shown by the present tense ; there was 
 a bearing, as of a load, all duties ; this 
 was done from a personal love for the 
 Lord Jesus, my name's sake ; it 
 was a trial that did not beget weari- 
 ness, there was a persistent freshness 
 in service. The yoke of Jesus made 
 an easy service. 
 
 4, 5. A rebuke follows. It is a 
 mark of the divine tenderness that the 
 prai-se is first given, then the reproof 
 The general charge is, I have some- 
 what against thee, rather, / have 
 against thee, or, I have this against 
 thee. The Authorized version creates 
 the impression that there was only a 
 slight deviation from the church's right 
 attitude. It was rather a grievous fault. 
 Thy first love indicates a brightness 
 
 at the beginning of the Christian life 
 that was now dimme.d. Zeal had taken 
 the place of love. Jesus takes cog- 
 nizance, not of tlie quantity but of 
 the quality of tlie work done, depend- 
 ing on the motive. The exhortation 
 embraces three tilings : a remembrance 
 of the former love and life, a repent- 
 ance, a recovery of the lost life. It 
 was not an apostasy like tliat described 
 in Heb. 6 : 6, but a grievous back- 
 sliding (Jer. 2 : 13). There must be, as 
 in Peter's case, a conversion (i.uke 22 : 
 32). The first love, if watched over, 
 will preserve the renewed life, and tlie 
 old life taken up again will keep the 
 love fresh. The life and the love will 
 mutually afiect each other. A threat 
 follows, I will come . . . quickly, 
 rather, / am coming. If there is no 
 repentance the church itself will be 
 destroyed. It would naturally be de- 
 stroyed by the slow death that would 
 follow the decay of the spiritual life. 
 Some judgments, such as pestilence or 
 persecution, might hasten the death of 
 the church, the removal of the lamp- 
 stand. In this pas.sage is a proof that 
 the angel of the church is not different 
 from the church itself, but is the church 
 itself under another aspect. If the 
 angel does not repent, the result will 
 be, not that the angel will be removed, 
 Ijut that the lampstand will be re- 
 moved. The church for a long time 
 retained its vitality. It finally fell, 
 in the fourteenth century, under the 
 power of the Turks. A traveler visit- 
 ing the place in 1860 found only three 
 nominal Christians. The threat of 
 Christ may have helped to restore the 
 former spiritual condition, and keep 
 its light shining, to some extent, for 
 centuries. 
 6. A return is again made to con- 
 
154 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 [Ch. II. 
 
 hast, that thou hatest the deeds of <= the 
 Nicolaitanes, which I also hate. 
 
 7 a 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 8 the tree of life, which is in 
 the midst of the paradise of God. 
 
 8 And unto the angel of the church in 
 Smyrna write ; These things saith ^ the 
 
 thou hatest the works of the Nico- 
 
 7 laitans, which I also hate. He that 
 has au ear, let him hear what the 
 Spirit says to the churches. To him 
 that overcomes, to him I will give to 
 eat of the tree of life, which is in the 
 paradise of God. 
 
 8 And to the angel of the church in 
 Smyrna write: These things says the 
 
 c Ver. 15. d Ver. 11 ; 3 : 6, 13 ; Matt. 11 : 15 ; Luke 8 : 8. 
 
 e 1 Kings 20 : 11 ; Rom. 8 : 35-39 ; Eph. 6 : 10-12 ; James 1 : 12 ; 1 John 5 : i, 5. 
 
 / 22 : 2, U. g Gen. 2:9. ft 1 : 8, 17, 18. 
 
 demnation. The Ni co 1 ait an e s, 
 
 rather, Nicolaitans, are spoken of as a 
 sect or party hated by the Ephesian 
 Christians as well as by Christ himself. 
 The errorists may have been loved and 
 sought after for right ends, but their 
 evil teachings and deeds were hated. 
 There is no doubt as to the character 
 of this sect, spoken of in ver. 16 also. 
 It was an organized licentiousness, 
 holding that the moral law did not 
 apply to Christians, or that the flesh, 
 being evil in itself, the Christian need 
 not try to subdue it. Men with such 
 corrupt beliefs appear in many places 
 in the New Testament (Rom. 2 : 8; s Peter 
 2 : u; Jude i), John frequently alludes 
 to schisms and factions (i John 2 : is-^* ; * : 
 1-6) . Two theories exist as to the origin 
 of the name. One is that it arose from 
 Nicolas, one of the seven chosen in 
 Acts 6. Another theory is that no sect 
 of this name really existed, at this 
 time, but that Nicolas, a Greek word, 
 and Balaam, a Hebrew word, having 
 the same meaning, "destroyer of the 
 people," it came to pass that the entire 
 organized licentious influence was 
 called by this name, Nicolaitanism. 
 According to this theory there was an 
 actually existing sensual party, cor- 
 rupt and corrupting, and figuratively 
 it is calle<l the party of Nicolas, or 
 Balaam. This last theory is more in 
 accord with the general symbolic char- 
 acter of the entire book. In the church 
 at Pergamos or Pergamum there were 
 followers of Balaam (2 : u). In the 
 church of Thyatira Jezebel teaches 
 (2 : 20). 
 
 7. Now follows a call to hear and a 
 promise. We have a reminiscence of 
 the Saviour's earthly ministry in the 
 words. He that . . . hear (Matt. 11 ; 15). 
 The Saviour's teachings are worthy of 
 the utmost attention. Spirit refers to 
 the Holy Spirit. Jesus spoke to John 
 
 when in the Spirit (1 : 10). The Lord 
 Jesus speaks, but he speaks through 
 the Spirit (John lo : 7). The entire Trin- 
 ity is concerned in the spiritual welfare 
 and upbuilding of the church. The 
 overcometh shows that the Christian 
 life and the church life is a struggle. 
 There are foes, a conflict, a helper, a 
 splendid issue through Christ's help. 
 There was a fall in the first Eden ( Gen. 
 2 : 9). There is here a promise of res- 
 toration in a new Eden (22 : 2, 14, 19). 
 The promised life is life in all its ful- 
 ness. The first Adam fell, the last 
 Adam gives life (1 cor. le : 45). To eat 
 of the tree of life is to share in the 
 blessedness of Christ, his salvation and 
 glory. In the midst of the para- 
 dise of God, rather, in the paradise 
 of God. Paradise is a Persian word, 
 meaning a park. It is used in Luke 
 23 : 43 of the place of the blessed dead. 
 (See Clark's " Peoples Commentary," 
 2 Cor. 12 : 4.) The reward promised, the 
 eating of the fruit of blessedness, stands 
 in contrast with the peril of being over- 
 come, that of eating things ofi'ered to 
 idols (ver. 14) J au exprcssiou indicating 
 licentious living. True living in 
 Ephesus involves, at the end, a blessed 
 living with God in his abode. A keep- 
 ing of the first love, living an over- 
 coming life, will make Ephesus ripen 
 into paradise. 
 
 8-11. Letter TO the church at 
 Smyrna. 
 
 8. For definition of angel, see note 
 above. On the theory that the term 
 angel refers to the chief pastor, the 
 early writers thought that the allusion 
 might be to Polycarp. Ignatius, visit- 
 ing Smyrna A. V>. 108, states that he 
 was then pastor. TertuUian, about 
 A. D. 200, states that John placed Poly- 
 carp in charge of the church at Smyrna, 
 On this theory, however, the allusion 
 could not be to Polycarp if the letter 
 
Ch. II.] 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 155 
 
 first and the last, which was dead, and 
 is alive. 
 9 'I know thy works, and tribulation, 
 and jwverty, (but thou art "rich,) and 
 I know the blasphemy of 'them which 
 say they are Jews, and are not, ™ but 
 10 are the synagogue of Satan. » Fear 
 none of those things which thou shalt 
 
 first and the last, who became dead, 
 9 and lived again. I know thy afflic- 
 tion, and thy poverty, (but thou art 
 rich,) and I know the blasphemy of 
 those wtio say they are Jews, and they 
 are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. 
 10 Fear not the things which thou art 
 about to suSer. Behold, the Devil is 
 
 I Ezod. S : T ; Heb. i : 15. k 2 Cor. 6 : 
 
 m 3 : 9 ; John S : U. 
 
 10 ; James 2:5. ( laa. 4S : I, 2 ; Rom. 2 : 17, 28, 29 ; 9 : 
 
 n Matt. 10 : 22, 26, 28 ; Luke 12 : 1-7. 
 
 was written before A. D. 70. Smyrna 
 is now a large city, with two hundred 
 thousand inhabitants, largely nominal 
 Christians. The description of the 
 Saviour is taken from the vision in 1 : 
 18. There is always a congruity be- 
 tween the aspect of the Saviour pre- 
 sented and the condition of the church 
 to which it is sent. The Smyrna cliurch 
 was passing through a period of dis- 
 aster and persecution, and yet deeper 
 distress was about to come. Reviling 
 would give way to the prison and pos- 
 sible death. For such a time as this 
 Jesus reveals himself as one Avho him- 
 self had suffered and died, and had 
 overcome death. Jesus has in himself 
 endless life ; therefore since he and his 
 people are one, they cannot be de- 
 stroyed, but will live on. The Smyr- 
 nean Christians may perhaps be killed, 
 but Jesus is that one who was dead 
 and is alive, rather, lived again. 
 They, in like manner, will live again. 
 9. Here are the words of commen- 
 dation. Omit I know thy works, 
 found in all the letters except in this 
 and the following message. Tribu- 
 lation embraces the persecutions of 
 all kinds that came upon them — the 
 loss of property, the loss of social po- 
 sition, the danger to personal safety. 
 Poverty, doubtless to be taken in a 
 literal sense, would naturally follow 
 persecution. The Christians sometimes 
 suflfered the loss of property (Heb. lo : 34). 
 Then too, as a rule, the Christians were 
 usually of the poorer classes (i cor- 1 : 
 26). Rich expresses their spiritual 
 condition. Outwardly poor, inwardly 
 they were rich. They were rich in 
 character, rich in hope, in the unseen 
 reward, in treasure laid up in heaven 
 
 (M»U. 6:30; James 2:5). The blas- 
 phemy may refer to the calumny 
 heaped upon the name of the Lord 
 Jesus, which was in effect, though, a 
 calumny heaped upon God. It may 
 
 be restricted to a reviling of the Chris- 
 tians, charging them with criuies of 
 which they were not guilty, charging 
 tlieni also with being traitors to the 
 Jewish faith, or with following a man 
 who had suffered an ignominiousdeath. 
 The opposers here were not heathen, 
 but Jews, as in 1 Thess. 2 : 14. In the 
 persecution in A. D. 115, when Poly- 
 carp was destroyed, the Jews were 
 especially bitter, demanding his death. 
 Tliey were real Jews by birth and be- 
 lief, but in persecuting the followers of 
 the Messiah they were, in effect, deny- 
 ing their right to be called Jews. Paul 
 distinguishes l)etween Jews according 
 to the flesh and Jews according to the 
 spirit (Kom. 2 : 29). To bc a Jew was to 
 have an honoralile name. Abraham 
 and Jesus were Jews. To persecute a 
 follower of Jesus who is him.self the 
 revelation of God, the fulfilment of the 
 Old Testament Scriptures, was to bring 
 dishonor upon the worthy name of 
 Jew. And are not shows that they 
 have forfeited their right to wear this 
 name. These Jews met in their ap- 
 pointed worship in the synagogue, 
 forming, as they thought, a congrega- 
 tion of Jehovah (Num 27 : n). But in 
 God's sight it was a synagogue of 
 Satan, in that Satan controlled their 
 thoughts in reference to Jesus. Kot 
 all seeming worship and prayer are 
 real worship and prayer acceptable to 
 God. Jesus had uttered similar words 
 in his earthly ministry (John 8 : u). 
 Synagogue is used once of the Chris- 
 tian place of worship (James 2 : 2). .lesus 
 promised to meet with his people, a.s- 
 sembled in his name (««"• >8 : 20). Satan 
 also meets with his people. 
 
 10. Words of help are found in this 
 passage. F'ear . . . suffer, rather, 
 Fear not the things ichich thou art about 
 to suffer. Jesus announces sufferings 
 yet to come. He does not promi.se ex- 
 emption from persecution, but he prom- 
 
156 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 [Ch. II. 
 
 suffer. Behold, the devil shall cast 
 some of you into prison, " that ye may 
 be tried : aud ye shall have tribulation 
 ten days. pBb thou faithful unto 
 death, and I will give thee i a crown 
 of life. 
 
 11 ■■ He that hath an ear, let him hear 
 what the Spirit saith unto the churches. 
 He that overcometh shall not be hurt 
 of »the second death. 
 
 12 And to the angel of the church in 
 Pergamos write ; These things saith 
 « he which hath the sharp sword with 
 two edges. 
 
 about to cast some of you into prison, 
 that ye may be tried, and ye will have 
 affliction ten days. Be thou faithful 
 unto death, and I will give thee the 
 
 11 crown of life. He that has an ear, let 
 him hear what the Spirit says to the 
 churches. He that overcomes shall 
 not be hurt by the second death. 
 
 12 And to the angel of the church in 
 Pergamus write : These things says he 
 •who has the sharp two-edged sword. 
 
 1 Peter 1 : 6, 7. 
 r Ver. 7, 17 ; 13 : 9. 
 
 pU-.ll; Matt. 24 : 13 ; Acts 20 ; 24. 
 s 20 : 6, 14 ; 21 : 8 ; Matt. 10 : 38. 
 
 q James 1:12; 1 Peter 5 : 
 t 1 : 16 ; 19 : 15, 21 ; Heb. 4 : 
 
 ises his help to bear them in a victo- 
 rious way. The reference is apparently 
 to a trial just about to come upon them, 
 in what year it is not known. The 
 devil worked through men. False 
 charges would beget the prison. The 
 tried refers not so much to God's pur- 
 pose in testing them to show the reality 
 of their faith, as to the devil's purpose 
 in tempting them that they might 
 abandon their faith. Through God's 
 upholding care the persecution might 
 result in a blessing to the church. 
 Satan, all through the New Testament, 
 is a very real person, active, powerful, 
 malicious, but to be resisted by the be- 
 liever (1 Peter 5 : 9)^ and to be overcome 
 finally (20 : 3). Having great influence, 
 so that he is called the god of this 
 world (2 Cor. *■■*), he is not omnipotent. 
 The time of the persecution is ten 
 days, wliich is not to be interpreted 
 as ten literal days or ten years (as 
 though a day stands for a year) or ten 
 persecutions about to come upon them. 
 It stands here for a short and definite 
 period of time. That it is a short time 
 is in harmony with the generally con- 
 solatory spirit of the passage. (Comp. 1 
 Peter 1:6.) There is a limit seen by the 
 Saviour's mind, and fixed by the di- 
 vine purpose. The one spirit needed 
 by them is faithfulness, not implying 
 that they had been unfaithful. The 
 limit is unto death, the spirit that 
 will not turn aside even if death should 
 be the result of their steadfastness. 
 Jesus endured unto death in his faith- 
 ful witnessing. The Christ who suf- 
 fered, met reviling, died and lived 
 again, is fitted to grant large encour- 
 agement to the saints at Smyrna. He 
 knows the meaning of reproach, dan- 
 
 ger, abandonment by friends, death, 
 resurrection, the life in glory, A 
 crown of life, rather, the croivn, will 
 be given to the faithful, enduring wit- 
 ness for Clirist. The crown will be 
 eternal life itself in all its fulness, a 
 life that is life indeed (i Tim. e : 19, r. v.). 
 It is elsewhere called a crown of glory 
 (1 Peter 5:4); a crown of riglitcousness 
 (2 Tim. 4 : 8). As Johu's Writings are 
 full of allu.sions to the Old Testament 
 Scriptures, it is probable that he refers, 
 not to the civic crown, but to the kingly 
 crown. The redeemed will be kings 
 
 (5:12). 
 
 11. The call to hear, as in ver. 7, is 
 the appeal to listen to the ascended 
 Christ. The promise accords with the 
 special dangers confronting them. They 
 might be hurt by the power of perse- 
 cution and death, but the second 
 death, described in 20 : 14, would not 
 hurt them. They would share in 
 eternal life, not in eternal death. The 
 second death is not annihilation (Matt. 
 25 : 46), but a permanent and conscious 
 separation from the joys of God's pres- 
 ence (Rom. 6 : 23). Tlic .sccoud death 
 will hurt the soul ; the first death is but 
 momentary, and usually not involving 
 much suffering. He that is born twice 
 will die but once ; he that is bom only 
 once will die twice. The sufferings of 
 the present may be the better endured 
 aud the sooner forgotten if the joys of 
 the future be kept well in mind. Jesus, 
 in this way, sustained his own life 
 
 (Heb. 12 : 2). 
 
 12-17. The letter to the 
 CHURCH AT Pergamos. 
 
 13. Pergamos, rather, Perqamum, 
 is to-daj; a city of twenty thousand 
 people, situated on the .^geau Sea. It 
 
Ch. II.] 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 157 
 
 13 "I know thy works, and where thou 
 dwellest, eveii » where Sutau's seat is : 
 and thou hoklest fast my name, aid 
 hast not denied my faith, even in those 
 days wherein Antipas xvas my faitliful 
 martyr, who was slaiu among you, 
 wliere Satan dwelletii. 
 
 14 But I have a few tilings against thee, 
 because tliou hast tiiere tliem that hold 
 the doctrine of J Balaam, who taught 
 Balac to cast a stumblingblock before 
 the children of Israel, ' to eat things 
 sacrificed unto idols, > and to commit 
 
 13 I know where thou dwellest, where 
 the throne of Satan is ; and thou hold- 
 est fast my name, and didst not deny 
 my faith, oven in the days of Antipas, 
 my faithful witness, who was killed 
 
 1-1 among you, where Satan dwells. But 
 I have a few things against thee, be- 
 cause thou hast there men holding the 
 teaching of Balaam, wlio taught Balak 
 to cast a stumbling-block before tlie 
 sons of Israel, to eat things offered to 
 
 u Ver. 2, 9, 19, 23 ; 3:1, 8, 15. x Ver. 9. ]/ Num. 24 : 14 ; 25 ; 1-3 ; 31 : 16 ; 2 Peter 2 : 15 ; Jude 11. 
 
 z Ver. 20 ; Acts 15 : 29 ; 1 Cor. 8 : 4-13 ; 10 : 19, 20. a 1 Cor. 6 : 13, etc. 
 
 ■was famed for its large and valuable 
 library, for its worship of vEsculapius, 
 the god of medicine, the remains of 
 whose temple are still found near the 
 city. Here also were other noted tem- 
 ples. It was noted for its manufacture 
 of parchment, which obtained its name 
 from this city. Several thousand of 
 the present population are nominal 
 Christians. Jesus is described a.s a 
 warrior Christ, the description being 
 taken from 1 : 16. He is fittingly so 
 described because be plans to make 
 war upon a church indifferent to the 
 maintenance of right teaching. His 
 sword is for use, not for ornament. 
 Jesus is tender in heart to the penitent 
 (Matt. 12 ; 20). He can be severe in all 
 holy severity to the ungodly and in- 
 different. 
 
 13. Here are words of praise. Omit 
 I knoAV thy works. Satan's seat, 
 rather. Safari's throne. As God has his 
 throne (^ : i), so Satan, as if in mock- 
 ery, also has his throne, his place of 
 authority. For some reason that is 
 not stated Pergamos is designated as 
 the center of Satan's influence and 
 power. Satan worked in Smyrna (2 : 
 10), but here he has his throne. It was 
 a head center of the influences and the 
 men opposing Christianity. Its wealth, 
 its culture, its social life, its attractive 
 worship, may have contributed to the 
 dangers to the Christian life. The 
 church, as a whole, was faithful, de- 
 voted, holy, as is shown in the two 
 tilings praised — holding my name, in 
 the present ; not denying my faith, in 
 the past. Jesus, in glory, had noted 
 the (leath of a faithful martyr, rather, 
 wifiifsft, Antipas. Of him we know 
 nothing but tliis. His biography is 
 summed up in one sentence. He was 
 
 a witness for Christ, he was faithful, 
 he was used by Christ. A tradition 
 declaring him to be the chief pastor at 
 Pergamos can be traced back to the 
 fifth or sixth century, but it is not 
 capable of proof. Fanciful attempts 
 have been made to identify him with 
 dift'erent names, as Timothy. By some 
 the name is taken, not as that of a real 
 person, but as indicating his character. 
 It is safest to regard the name as that 
 of a real man who, at a definite time, 
 lived and died with his face toward 
 Christ. In such a place, and at such a 
 time, many would naturally, like Peter, 
 turn their backs upon the faith. The 
 Pergamos Christians were faithful even 
 in a place where Satan dwelt. Christ 
 also came to dwell there, enabling his 
 people even then to live faithful lives. 
 A martyr is a witness sealing his tes- 
 timony with his blood. In the Greek, 
 martyr means witness. 
 
 14. Jesus now passes to reproof. A 
 few things against thee indicates 
 that the main life of the church was 
 right, meeting the approval of Jesus. 
 The blameworthy feature of the church 
 life was the tolerance of evil persons in 
 the membership. The church must 
 stand as a defense of orthodoxy in 
 teaching and holiness in living. The 
 church at Corinth was blamed by Paul 
 for keeping an unclean man in the 
 membership (1 Cor. 5 : 5). The church 
 must be considerate toward the teacli- 
 ahle, even if they are in error (Jude 22). 
 Corrupt men, in teaching or in life, 
 must be on the outside of the church. 
 The historic allusion is found in Num. 
 2.5 and 31 : 16. In the first passage is 
 noted the lewdness between Israel and 
 Moab. In the second the uncleanne.ss 
 is ascribed to the counsel given by 
 
158 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 [Ch. II. 
 
 15 fornication. So hast thou also them 
 that hold the doctrine ''of the Nico- 
 
 16 laitanes; which thing I hate. Re- 
 pent ; or else I will come unto thee 
 quickly, and " will light against them 
 with the sword of my mouth. 
 
 17 "1 lie 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 hidden 'manna; and 
 will give him a white stone, and in 
 
 15 idols, and to commit fornication. Thus 
 thou also hast men holding the teach- 
 ing of the Nicolaitans. in like manner. 
 
 16 Repent therefore; orel.se, I am coming 
 to thee quickly, and will make war 
 with them with the sword of my 
 
 17 mouth. He that has an ear, let him 
 hear what the Spirit says to the 
 churches. To him that overcomes, to 
 him I will give of the hidden manna; 
 and I will give him a white stone, and 
 
 4 Ver. 6. 
 
 c Ver. 12 ; Isa. 11:4; 2 Thess. 2:8. d Ver. 7, 11, 29. 
 
 / Exod. 16 : 33, 34 ; John 6 : 31-35, 49-51. 
 
 Balaam to Balak, king of Moab. Two 
 charges are brought against Balaam, 
 the incitement to engage in idolatrous 
 worship, and the consequent participa- 
 tion iu uncleanuess. The same Balaam- 
 like spirit prevailed in Pergamos. The 
 mingling in social life and idolatrous 
 worship would lead to a relapse into 
 idolatry on the part of those rescued 
 from heathenism, and would insensibly 
 lead to fornication usually connected 
 with idolatrous worship. In India, to- 
 day, licentiousness is an organized part 
 of the worsliip in some temples. A 
 little leaven like this might soon cor- 
 rupt an entire church. 
 
 15. This verse is naturally joined, 
 iu thought, to the preceding. So 
 hast ... hate, rather, So hast thou 
 aho some that hold the teaching of the 
 Nicolaitans in like manner. We are 
 not to infer that two distinct evil sects 
 are here tolerated ; two descriptions are 
 given of one sect. The sense is, as 
 Balaam, in the olden times, taught the 
 people to engage in idolatry and to 
 commit uncleanness, so also do the 
 Nicolaitans. The old error is repro- 
 duced in a new form, under a new 
 name. That the church, in its cor- 
 porate capacity, had not been won over 
 to uncleanness is evident from the 
 words used. Jesus does not charge 
 this upon the church, as such, l)ut 
 upon some iu the church. There was 
 a church within the church; this inner 
 body was faithful. 
 
 16. A call to repent is made. A 
 holy Christ demands a holy church. 
 The angel, that is the entire church, 
 must repent. The evil-doers in the 
 church must repent of their wicked- 
 ness. The clean part of the church 
 must repent for tolerating the grievous 
 error. He praLsed Ephesus for sound- 
 ness of teaching; he condemns Per- 
 
 gamos for lacking in the steadfast de- 
 fense of the truth. Looseness in the 
 maintenance of the truth comes from a 
 lack of conviction and from a lack of 
 Scripture knowledge. A distinction is 
 drawn between the faithful and the 
 unfaithful part of the church. This 
 is shown by the expressions, come 
 unto thee and fight against them. 
 The true words of Christ's mouth are 
 against the words of the false teachers' 
 mouths. 
 
 17. The overcoming man, the one 
 not eating at the idolatrous worship 
 (1 Cor. 10 : 21)^ -will liavc givcu him to 
 eat the hidden manna, the bread of 
 God (John 6 : 32) . The exprcssiou carries 
 the miud back to the wonderful supply 
 in the desert, to the pot of manna in 
 
 the holy of holies (Exod. 16 : 34; Heb. 9 : 
 
 *). The faithful man will be a real 
 high priest, having access even to the 
 holiest place, and partaking of the 
 manna stored there. These men in 
 Pergamos, tried and conquering, would 
 share in God's hidden treasures, enter- 
 ing where God dwells, having fellow- 
 ship with him. The overcoming may 
 be mainly the entering into heaven's 
 final blessedness, but there must be a 
 constant, daily overcoming life. The 
 partaking of the manna will give 
 strength in the daily struggles of life. 
 God never places a duty without giving 
 the manna, the strength. The Avhite 
 stone must refer to some Old Testa- 
 ment event, for the entire book is cast 
 in a Hebrew mold. White, in general, 
 is the symbol of purity, joy, blessed- 
 ness. (See S:5; 7:9; 14:14; 19:11,14; 
 
 20 : 11.) The mention of the manna, 
 with the entrance into the holiest place, 
 suggests another allusion to the high 
 priest, the sacred stone worn by him 
 in the breastplate, on which was en- 
 graved the sacred name of Jehovah. 
 
Ch. II.] 
 
 KEVELATION 
 
 159 
 
 the stone e a new name written, i" which 
 no man knoweth saving he that re- 
 ceiveth it. 
 
 18 And unto the angel of the church in 
 Thyatira write ; These things saith 
 'the Son of God, ''who hatli his eyes 
 like unto a flame of tire, and his feet 
 are like fine brass. 
 
 19 ' I know thy works, and clmrity, and 
 service, and faith, and thy patience, 
 and thy works ; ™ and the last to be 
 more than the first. 
 
 on the stone a new name written, 
 which no one knows but he that re- 
 ceives it. 
 
 18 And to the angel of the church in 
 Thyatira write : These things says the 
 Son of God, who has his eyes as a flame 
 of fire, and his feet are like burnished 
 
 19 brass. I know thy works, and thy 
 love, and faith, and ministry, and 
 patience ; and thy last works more 
 
 ff 3 : 12 ; Isa. 62 : 2 ; Rom. 8 : 14-17. ft 10 ; 
 
 i Ps. 2 : 7; Rom. 1:4. * 1 : 14, 15. 
 
 .2 ; Ps. 25 : 
 I Vet. 2. 
 
 Matt. 11 : 25-27 ; 1 Cor. 2 : 
 m Job 17 : 9 I Prov. 4 : 18. 
 
 This stone and this sacred name could 
 be seen by no human eye except that 
 of the one receiving it — the high priest. 
 Every believer as a priest stands in a 
 personal relation to God, has entrance 
 into the holiest of all, the immediate 
 presence of God, has fellowship with 
 him in thought and life, shares in 
 God's character. God was manifested 
 in the olden time by the name Jeho- 
 vah. He is revealed now in the person 
 of Jesus. This name Je.sus becomes 
 the badge and the glory of all his ac- 
 cepted people. His name is called 
 upon them (James 2:7). Written on 
 the stone is, not the name of the be- 
 liever, but the new name of Christ 
 (3 : 12)^ by which is meant that some 
 new and more glorious manifestation 
 of Christ is given. The name stands 
 for the person, reveals the person. A 
 new name means a new revelation of 
 a person. For the significance of new 
 see3:12; 5:9; 21 :1,5. The promise 
 is a very gracious one: "I will make 
 him a priest, he shall have access into 
 God's immediate presence, he shall be 
 clothed with a priest's dress. I will 
 make communications of myself to 
 him." 
 
 18-29. Letter to the church 
 AT Thyatira. The three churches, 
 whose letters have been examined, have 
 about them a spiritual life and char- 
 acter that is not found in the four 
 whose letters are yet to be studied. 
 The spirit of worldliness has already 
 gotten a large hold upon these 
 churches. 
 
 18. Thyatira is a city of Asia Minor 
 on the northern border of Lydia, near 
 the road from Pergamos to Sardis. The 
 river — Lycus — flows near it. The 
 modern city, Al Hissar, has about 
 twenty thousand inhabitants, Jesus, 
 
 the .sender of the message, is described 
 as the Son of God, having previously 
 been revealed as the Son of man (i : is). 
 As he reveals himself in this message 
 he is the ruling and conquering Christ 
 (ver. 27). The title is drawn from Ps. 2, 
 to which several allusions are made iu 
 this letter. Jesus is not man alone, 
 nor God alone, but the God-man in 
 the one person. He is further described 
 in terms taken from 1 : 14, 1.5. Who 
 . . . brass, rather, burniis/ied brass. 
 There is a fitness between tlie descrip- 
 tion here given and the character of 
 his work, searching out and punishing 
 evil. The flaming eyes pierce through 
 the heart and consume the evil, while 
 the feet of brass crush down all oppo- 
 sition. He rules as one clothed with 
 almightiness. At the close of the 
 letter the enemies are broken in 
 pieces, 
 
 19. The Saviour finds many things 
 to commend. The eyes stand for his 
 omniscience. I know thy works. 
 The knowledge is thorough, personal, 
 all-comprehensive, intuitive. He com- 
 mends five things : thy charity, 
 rather, love; faith; service, rather, 
 ministry; patience, rather, eitdiir- 
 ance; last Avorks more than the 
 first, which declares a growing Chris- 
 tian life. Ephesus had a waning love 
 (2 : 4). He notices first the inner life, 
 love and faith; then the outward life, 
 to which they give birth, the ministry 
 and endurance. The real inner Hie 
 must always create an outward spiritual 
 life. High praise is given for a faith- 
 ful service. There was no stagnation 
 in the life as in Heb. 5 : 12, nor a 
 shrinkage as in 2 Peter 2 : 20, but 
 growth. 
 
 20, Alongside of the praise is the 
 blame. The eyes of fire recognize a 
 
160 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 [Ch. II. 
 
 20 Notwithstanding I have a few things 
 against thee, because thou sulferest that 
 woman "Jezebel, which calleth lierself 
 a prophetess, to teach aud to seduce my 
 servants "to commit fornication, and 
 to eat things sacriflced unto idols. 
 
 21 And I gave her space Pto repent of her 
 fornication ; and she repented not. 
 
 22 Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and 
 them that commit adultery with her 
 into great tribulation, except they re- 
 
 20 than the first. But I have against 
 thee, that thou sufferest the woman 
 Jezebel, who calls herself a proph- 
 etess; and she teaches and seduces 
 my servants to commit fornication, 
 and to eat things offered to idols. 
 
 21 And I gave her time to repent ; and 
 she is not willing to repent of her 
 
 22 fornication. Behold, I cast her into a 
 bed, and those who commit adultery 
 with her, into great affliction, if they 
 
 n 1 Kiugs 16 : 31 ; 21 : 25 ; 2 King.? 9:7. o Ver. 14 ; E.xod. 34 : 15 ; Acts 15 : 20, 29 ; 1 Cor. 10 : 19, 20. 
 
 p 9 ■.20; Kom. 2 : 4, 5 ; 9 : 22 ; 2 Peter 3 : 9. 
 
 large element of guilt. NotAvith- 
 standing, rather, But I have this 
 against thee. A definite charge i.s 
 brought; when Jesus rebukes he re- 
 bukes openly. Here also, as in the 
 church at Pergamos (2 : 14, 15), was a 
 tolerance of false teaching and false 
 living. Sufferest shows that the 
 church permitted, endured false teach- 
 ing. In this respect it was in contrast 
 with the Ephesian church which would 
 not tolerate impure teaching (2 : 2). 
 The church, like Christ, must carry a 
 sword, not for persecution, but for ex- 
 pulsion from membership (1 Cor. 5:5). 
 At Ephesus was a declining love but an 
 earnest orthodoxy ; here is a growing 
 love but a weak maintenance of the 
 truth. The historical reference to Jeze- 
 bel is found in 1 Kings 16 : 1.3. She was 
 tlie wife of Ahab, a daughter of the king 
 of Sidon ; a heathen woman, bitterly 
 hostile to tlie worship of Jehovah ; a 
 persecutor of Elijah. Through her in- 
 fluence upon Ahab the true worship of 
 Jehovah was almost obliterated. It is 
 taught in 2 Kings 9 : 22 that she was 
 guilty of inciting to adulteries, which 
 may be taken in a figurative sense as 
 meaning inciting to idolatries, and also 
 in its literal .sense, as urging to uu- 
 cleanness. She was also, perhaps, a 
 priestess of this impure worship. It 
 is not to be inferred that there was a 
 person named Jezebel in Thyatira, at 
 this time, but that some person in the 
 spirit of this bad woman was here ex- 
 erting her influence, laying claims to 
 prophecy, an inspiration from on liigh. 
 Some ancient MSS, as also the R. V. 
 in the Margin read, thy wife, instead of 
 that woman. It cannot be known 
 wlio she was, but an actual person 
 must be understood, representing also a 
 party under her influence. The first 
 convert in Europe was Lydia, from 
 
 Thyatira (Acts 16 : u, 15). It cannot be 
 known whether she had anything to 
 do with the formation of this church, 
 or had any influence in it, or contrib- 
 uted to any predominant influence of 
 woman in it. The terms Balaam, Nico- 
 laitans, and Jezebel, all refer substan- 
 tially to one sect, licentious in its na- 
 ture, throwing aside the restraints of 
 the moral law, regarding it as not ap- 
 plicable to Christians. They repre- 
 sented some form of gnosticism, deny- 
 ing that Jesus had a real manhood (i 
 John 4 : 8)j and therefore denying that 
 man, in his fleshly nature, is called 
 upon to be holy. 
 
 21. Jesus refers to the personal ef- 
 forts, made by him, to vnn the false 
 teacher to the ways of truth. I gave 
 . . . not, rather, I gave her time that 
 she should repent, and she ivilleth not 
 to repent of her fornication. The pa- 
 tience of Jesus in not punishing, and 
 in bringing moral influences to bear 
 upon her through his Spirit and through 
 the teachings of the true teachers in 
 Thyatira, was for her repentance (Rom. 
 2:4; 2 Peter 3: 9). She misinterpreted 
 his patience, so that she became fixed 
 in her fornications (ecoi. 8:i). A sin- 
 ful human will may convert God's 
 offered blessings into curses. 
 
 23. Behold calls attention to his 
 holiness and power that will bring 
 fitting penalty. I will cast, rather, 
 / do, or, / am about to cast, implies a 
 speedy punishment. Je.sus threatens 
 to bring upon her and her followers a 
 great punishment under the figure of a 
 bed, not of pleasure, but of .sickness 
 and torture. The commit adultery 
 with her refers to the spiritual adul- 
 tery into which they had been led by 
 her (Ezek. 23 : 37), implying also the un- 
 cleanne.ss connected with impure wor- 
 ship. Spiritual and sensual defilement 
 
Ch. II.] 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 161 
 
 23 pent of their deeds : and I will kill her 
 children with death. lAnd all the 
 churches shall know that 'I am he 
 which searcheth the reins and hearts. 
 And ' I will give unto every one of you 
 according to your works. 
 
 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 ; 
 
 23 repent not of her works. And her 
 children I will kill with death ; and 
 all the churches shall know that I am 
 he who searches reins and hearts : and 
 I will give to you every one according 
 
 24 to your works. But to you I say, the 
 rest who are in Thyatira, as many as 
 have not this teaching, who knew not 
 the deep things of Satan, as they say. 
 
 q Deut. 13 : U. 
 
 r Jer. 11 : 20 ; 17 : 10 ; John 2 : 24, 25. « Job 34 : 11 ; Isa. 3 : 10, 11. 
 t 2 Cor. 2 : 11 J Eph. 6 : 11, 12 ; 2 Thess. 2 : 9-12. 
 
 ■went hand iu hand. Their deeds, 
 
 rather, her works. They must repent 
 of their own lives that had been cor- 
 rupted by association with her. The 
 bed of adultery gives way to the bed 
 of penalty and retribution. The first 
 bed Jezebel made ; the latter, tlie holy 
 and ruling Clirist makes. It is also 
 true that Jezeljel made her own bed of 
 punishment, for God never punishes in 
 an accidental or fortuitous way. Pun- 
 ishment follows impenitent wicked- 
 ness. 
 
 33. The threatening here continues, 
 is closely connected with the preceding 
 verse. The kill . . . Avith death, 
 rather, pestilence, as in the Margin, 
 implies a judgment coming upon them. 
 Her children does not differ in mean- 
 ing from the followers and assistants 
 spoken of in the preceding verse. They 
 were her followers in the false teach- 
 ing ; they were also looked upon as her 
 children because begotten by her, as 
 Paul speaks of Timothy as begotten by 
 him, because by him led into the Chris- 
 tian life (1 Tim. 1:2). God has all things 
 under his control, so that he can make 
 pestilence follow false teaching and 
 unholy living. For an Old Testament 
 instance see 1 Cor. 10 : 9 ; for a New 
 Testament instance of this see 1 Cor. 
 11 : 30. The punishment here has a 
 twofold meaning ; upon them it would 
 be a just penalty for wrong living; it 
 would also have a constraining and 
 disciplinaryeffectupon all tlie churches. 
 They would see, in the light of the 
 penalty, that God makes a distinction 
 between truth and unrighteousness ; 
 the wavering iu mind would be aided 
 in resisting temptation ; tlie bad would 
 be restrained ; the good would be en- 
 couraged. Reins and hearts em- 
 brace the whole of the man's inner 
 life, open to the gaze of the eyes of 
 fire. All the churches refers as- 
 
 suredly to the seven churches, to all 
 churches everywhere and always, in 
 all likelihood, in so far as these general 
 principles are concerned — that Jesus 
 looks for holiness iu his churches, that 
 truth and righteousness must be main- 
 tained, that penalty must come, in 
 time, to all violations of Christ's plans 
 for the Christian and the church life. 
 Churches must hold allegiance, not to 
 Confessions of Faith, or the decrees of 
 councils, but to the revealed will of the 
 Lord Jesus. It is noticeable that Jesus 
 passes from the address to tlie angel to 
 the appeal to the individual members 
 of the church. This is an indication 
 that the angel of the church does not 
 differ from the church itself. The 
 angel of the church is the personified 
 spirit of the church. 
 
 24, 25. Here are words of counsel 
 in view of the perils and penalties 
 spoken of. Jesus speaks to the faith- 
 ful part of the church ; for worldliness 
 had come into the church, dividing it 
 into two parts, tlie Christly part and 
 the worldly part. But . . . Thya- 
 tira, rather. But to you, I say, to the 
 rest that are in Thyatira. The faithful 
 members are spoken of as the 7-est, im- 
 plying that the worldly spirit had 
 gotten hold of the larger part of the 
 membership. Their faithfulness is 
 shown in this, they had not received 
 this teaching. Jezebel and her follow- 
 ers boasted of their knowledge of the 
 deep things of revelation, knowing all 
 the mysteries of the faith (comp. i Cor. 
 2 : 10) in contrast with the simplicity of 
 the faith and the teaching of the Chris- 
 tian teachers. The expression, as they 
 speak, refers to their boastings as to 
 their deep knowledge of God and his 
 teachings, but in reality they were 
 depths of Satan, masterpieces of 
 Satan's art in seducing men. It must 
 be understood that Jezebel was a mem- 
 
162 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 [Ch. II. 
 
 "I will put upou you none other bur- 
 
 25 den. But ^ that which ye have already 
 hold fast till I come. 
 
 26 And he that overcometh, and keep- 
 eth y my works unto the end, ^ to him 
 will I "give power over the nations: " 
 
 27 ""and he shall rule them with a rod 
 of iron ; as the vessels of a potter shall 
 they be broken to shivers" [Ps. 2 : 8, 
 9] : even as I received of my Father. 
 
 28 And I will give him •> the morning star. 
 
 25 I cast on you no other burden ; but 
 that which" ye have, hold fast until I 
 
 26 come. And he that overcomes, and 
 he that keeps my works until the end, 
 to him I will give authority over the 
 
 27 nations; and he shall shepherd them 
 with a rod of iron, as the vessels of a 
 potter are dashed in pieces, as I also 
 
 28 have received from my Father ; and I 
 
 u Acts 15 : 28. x 1 : 7 ; 3 : 11. y Matt. 24 : 13 ; John 6 : 29 ; Heb. 10 : 38, 39. 
 
 z Dan. 7 : 18 ; Matt. 19 : 28. o Ps. 2 : 8, 9 ; 49 : 14 ; Dan. 7 : 22. 6 22 : 16 ; 2 Peter 1 : 
 
 ber of the church, having made con- 
 fession of Christ. In reality her life, 
 influence, and teachings were of the 
 Satanic kind. This licentiousness in 
 practice was founded upon a doctrine 
 that seemingly explained and justified 
 it. Satan never lacks the ingenuity to 
 find a justification for the greatest ex- 
 cesses in doctrine and conduct. Jesus, 
 who is the truth itself, must be loved 
 both as to his person, his conduct, and 
 his teachings. Burden here means 
 injunction or command. (Comp. the 
 same word in the Greek, Acts 15 : 28, 
 29. ) Jesus gives the counsel that they 
 abide where they are, in faithful Chris- 
 tian teaching and living. They must 
 hold fast to their present sound beliefs 
 and holy living, not allowing them- 
 selves to be seduced by false teach- 
 ings (Phil. 3 : 16). The struggle would 
 end in time; till I come, meaning 
 the second and final coming, or such a 
 coming in judgment upon Jezebel as 
 will, through her removal, make life 
 easier for them by removing their 
 temptations. To hold fast is as essen- 
 tial as to begin the life in a right way. 
 No beliefs or manner of life should be 
 discarded until something better has 
 been secured. No person or church 
 should ever turn the back upon Christ, 
 truth, or continuance in well-doing. 
 
 26, 27. There were great struggles, 
 there is now a great promise. The one 
 who overcometh is defined in a twofold 
 way. He is one who does Christ's 
 works — works like Christ's, works done 
 through his help (John u : 12). He is 
 also one who keeps on unto the end, 
 not led astray bj^ falsity in teaching or 
 life. Jezebel, while nominally a Chris- 
 tian, was in reality introducing heathen 
 teacliings and practices into the church. 
 This suggests the reference to the Mes- 
 siah's dealings with all heathenish op- 
 
 position. The quotation is taken, not 
 from this book, as is usually the case, 
 but from Ps. 2 : 9. The faithful man 
 shall be joined with Christ in his 
 triumph over all opposition. The 
 power over the nations, rather, 
 authority, which the Son received from 
 the Father, that same authority the 
 Son confers upon all believers by join- 
 ing them with himself in the acknowl- 
 edged final victory over opposition of 
 all kinds. All things will in the end 
 be under his feet (i Cor. is : 25). Jesus, 
 with his might, will crush Jezebel. In 
 like manner, with a rod of iron, he 
 will subdue all enemies. Shall ... be 
 broken, rather, are broken. For the 
 present, Jezebel may seemingly tri- 
 umph over Christ and his cause, but 
 at the last, all opposition will be like 
 the shivers of the broken pottery. 
 Jesus will not be a defeated Christ. 
 Even as I, rather, as I also. Re- 
 ceived of my Father introduces us 
 into the interior relations of the God- 
 head. In something the same manner 
 Jesus joins his people with himself, 
 and confers upon them kingly privi- 
 leges. What was originally given to 
 him alone (p»- 2 : 9) is given by him to 
 his own. The destruction of Jezebel 
 is a prophecy and assurance that all 
 enemies will be destroyed (Luke 22 .■ 29). 
 The scepter of Jesus is now one of 
 mercy to the penitent (Heb. 4 : 15, le). It 
 will, in time, be a rod of iron for 
 crushing his enemies. Whether the 
 shepherd's crook shall help us, or the 
 rod of iron shall crush us, depends on 
 the choice of the heart. In so far as 
 the Lord breaks down the error of 
 false teachers, this is done through the 
 wisdom of his true teachers. But 
 judgments from God are symbolized by 
 the feet of brass and the rod of iron. 
 28. In 22 : 16 Jesus says : *' I am 
 
Ch. II.] 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 163 
 
 29 °He that hath an ear, let him hear I 29 will give him the morning star. He 
 what the Spirit saithuuto the churches. that has an ear, let him hear what the 
 
 I Spirit says to tiie churches. 
 
 the bright and morning star." In 
 1 Peter 2 : 19 the apostle speaks of tlie 
 day star, the harbinger of the bright- 
 ness of day. In Dan. 12 : 3 the faith- 
 ful man shines out as the star. Jesus 
 compares himself to the brightness of 
 the morning star, ushering in the full 
 light. He here identifies himself, the 
 morning star, with his people. He 
 will share with them his own glory by 
 conferring upon them authority, the 
 blessedness of reigning with him. In 
 a highly poetical way he teaches again 
 the thoughts of ver. 27. The star, in 
 the Old Testament, is the symbol of 
 royalty (sum. 24 : n). The faithful 
 Christian will shine out with the bril- 
 liancy of the glorified Lord. 
 
 29. In the first group of three 
 churches the call stands before the 
 promise. In the last four letters, con- 
 stituting a second group, the call to 
 the churches stands last. In this is an 
 indication that, in some respect, there 
 is a difference between the two groups. 
 The spiritual standing of the second 
 group is far lower than that in the first 
 group. 
 
 Note upon the lettebs to the 
 CHURCHES. 1. The letters are all con- 
 structed in the same general way, con- 
 sisting of seven parts : ( 1 ) The name 
 of the church addressed; (2) Some 
 special aspect of the Saviour who sends 
 the letter; (3) An account of the spir- 
 itual condition of the church; (4) 
 AVords of commendation or reproof; 
 (5) Exhortation to the church accord- 
 ing to its condition ; (6) Promise to 
 him that overcometh ; (7) A call to 
 every one to hear. In the first three 
 letters the parts 6 and 7 change 
 places. 
 
 2. The aspect of the Saviour in each 
 of the letters is taken from the descrip- 
 tion of the Son of man in the vision in 
 chap. 1. The delineation of the Saviour 
 in the vision is repeated, in a fuller 
 manner, in the letters. Thus in the 
 letter to the church at Ephesus the por- 
 trait of the Saviour is taken from 1 : 
 12, 13, 16 : " He that holdeth the seven 
 stars in his right hand, who walketh in 
 
 the midst of the seven golden lamp- 
 stands." 
 
 0. Some allusions in the letter can 
 be explained only by a reference to 
 tlie afterparts of the book. Thus the 
 tree of life (2:i); the second death 
 (2 : 11) can be understood only by ta- 
 king the book as a whole. 
 
 4. There is a universal character at- 
 tributed to the seven churches. This 
 is evident from tlie number itself, 
 seven, which always stands for com- 
 pleteness. At this time there were 
 other churches in the province of Asia, 
 not included in the messages. It is 
 evident also from the oft-recurring 
 phrase, the call to listen to the voice 
 of the Spirit speaking to the churches 
 (2 ; 7). The design of these letters ex- 
 tends beyond these specific churches. 
 AVhile each church letter contains a true 
 portrayal of each one of the churches, 
 it has also a wider meaning, whereby 
 the seven churches represent the uni- 
 versal church. The seven stands for 
 all. 
 
 5. There is also within the seven 
 churches a distinction whereby the 
 first three form one group, the second 
 four another group. In the first group 
 there is a finer spiritual life than in the 
 second group. There are imperfections 
 manifest in the church life, but there 
 has been no surrender to the world. 
 The churches are not perfect, but they 
 are not faithless. There is a trueness 
 to tlie divine conception of the church 
 life in the first group that is wanting 
 in the second. In the last four the 
 world begins to gain power over the 
 churches. It is only a remnant, a 
 small part of the church, that is true 
 to Christ. It cannot be decided whether 
 it is the divine intention thus to show 
 that in this manner the churches will 
 gradually lose their Christly character. 
 There is a wonderful and sad descent 
 from Ephesus to Laodicea. 
 
 Pkactical Remarks. 
 
 1. Jesus, unseen by us, is at the right 
 hand of God, having all authority (1 
 Peter 3 : 22), for the sake of his cause on 
 earth (ver. 1). 
 
164 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 [Ch. II. 
 
 2. The Christian and the church are to 
 test the claims of all teachers and all 
 teachings. Nothing can be true that un- 
 dermines the authority of Christ, or denies 
 the reality of salvation through him, or 
 does not imitate the example set by him 
 (ver. 2). 
 
 3. The entire Christian life is love for a 
 person, doing things for his sake, repeat- 
 ing his life in ours, and striving to please 
 him (ver. 3, 4). 
 
 4. To decline in love is to decline in the 
 entire life. To please Christ there must 
 not be the outward life only, but the right 
 spirit. The question of Jesus to Peter 
 was : " Do you love me? " (ver. 4) 
 
 5. A dying church is a sad sight. A 
 church must die that loses its love and 
 will not do Christ's work. Jesus has 
 great use for a shining and holy church, 
 but an unholy and useless church is a 
 great hindrance (ver. 5). 
 
 6. God loves all men, but he hates 
 wickedness and all teachings that destroy 
 men. It is an utter falsity that it makes 
 no difference what a man believes. Be- 
 liefs save or destroy. A man is what he 
 really believes (ver. 6). 
 
 7. Jesus makes a new Eden for his 
 people, and gives not only an endless 
 existence, but an ever-blessed life. Life 
 means far more than a mere existence 
 (ver. 7). 
 
 8. Because Jesus died and lives again 
 he is able to sympathize with the suffer- 
 ing and dying. His resurrection gives 
 him the consciousness of power. He is, 
 therefore, able to rescue his own people 
 from the power of the grave (ver. 8). 
 
 9. Poverty, shame, reviling are often 
 the heritage of Christ's people ; but pov- 
 erty may be a school for the development 
 of a rich character. No one may covet 
 persecutions and martyrdoms, but when 
 they come they must be patiently borne 
 and blessings will come out of them (ver. 
 9; Matt. 5: 11). 
 
 10. An elegant place of worship, with a 
 fine ritual, may be a synagogue of Satan. 
 The right relation of the heart to Christ 
 is essential to right worship. The Christly 
 heart will make an acceptable worship 
 (ver. 9). 
 
 11. There is an unseen evil power war- 
 ring against us (Eph. 6 : 12). But there is 
 
 also an unseen but real Christ working 
 for us (Rom. 8 : 34 ; Acts 16 : 25, 26). Jesus 
 rewards his servants, not for success, but 
 for fidelity (ver. 10; Matt. 24:45; Acts 
 16 : 25). 
 
 12. The ear must be kept open to listen 
 to Jesus. What rests upon the church 
 must rest on each member. The church 
 is nothing apart from the members (ver. 
 11). 
 
 13. Jesus can use his sword for the de- 
 struction of his enemies as well as for the 
 defense of his friends. If he condemn, 
 no one may approve. If he approve, no 
 one may condemn. Jesus is not all ten- 
 derness, he is justice and holiness also 
 (ver. 12). 
 
 14. It was more difficult to live in Per- 
 gamos, where Satan's seat was, than in 
 other places. The weakest believer, with 
 God's help, can live an overcoming life 
 even in the worst surroundings. The 
 finest Christians will grow where there 
 are most dangers. But no one may seek 
 perils in order that strength of character 
 may come thereby (ver. 13). 
 
 15. Jesus remembers any faithful man 
 like Antipas. One human life stands out 
 in great splendor when its memory is 
 treasured up by Jesus. A faithful life is 
 made np of little things done in a spirit 
 of faithfulness (ver. 13). 
 
 16. Jesus dislikes impurity in the church, 
 which is his body. All errors are hurtful. 
 A bad man will live long after he is dead. 
 Balaam had a disastrous influence cen- 
 turies after his death (ver. 11). 
 
 17. God shares his glory with his people 
 so that the believer has access even into 
 the innermost holy place. The believer 
 needs no one to stand between himself 
 and the Saviour. For the daily dithcul- 
 ties there will be the daily supply of 
 manna. In fellowship with Christ is all 
 needful strength (ver. 15-17). 
 
 18. Jesus appears as a mauy-sided Christ. 
 To the penitent he is a tender Saviour. 
 To the impenitent wrong-doer he appears 
 as a kingly Christ prepared to crush out 
 all opposition. Christ will be to us a 
 Christ according to our character (ver. 
 18). 
 
 19. It is more in accord with the nature 
 of Jesus to see the good traits of his peo- 
 ple tbau the bad traits. He praises before 
 
Ch. III.] 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 165 
 
 3 AND unto the angel of the church iu 
 Sardis write ; These things saith he 
 d that hath the seven Spirits of God, 
 and the seven stars. 
 
 e 1 know thy works, that thou hast a 
 name that thou livest, 'aud art dead. 
 
 3 AND to the angel of the church in 
 Sardis write : These things says he 
 who has the seven spirits of God, and 
 the seven stars. I know thy works, 
 that thou hast a name that thou livest, 
 
 d 1 : 4. « 2 : 2. / Eph. 2 : 1 ; 1 Tim. 5 : 6. 
 
 he blames. There are many sides to the 
 Christian character. Jesus notes them 
 all (ver. 19). 
 
 20. All Christians and churches are im- 
 7)erfect in the eyes of Christ. It is wicked 
 to teach error, to lead men away from 
 Christ. It is weakness to permit others to 
 teach or do wrong without remonstrance. 
 Weak good men and weak churches hurt 
 Christ's cause (ver. 20). 
 
 21. Jesus is patient that men may re- 
 pent. He came not to destroy, but to 
 save. Jerusalem and Jezebel may resist 
 his appeals and his tears. We should use 
 God's delay, not for abusing his patience, 
 but for salvation and service (ver. 21). 
 
 22. God's judgments indicate God's 
 righteousness. The time will come when 
 all will know that God is just and right- 
 eous. His seeming delays sometimes ob- 
 scure right views of God. His penalties 
 are never the result of caprice (ver. 22, 23). 
 
 23. There are gradations in badness so 
 that, at times, Satan makes fuller revela- 
 tions of himself. The bad man may grow 
 worse. This will be true when all good 
 influences of restraint are taken away. 
 No one ever will reach the limit of the 
 badness that may be evolved from a bad 
 heart (ver. 24). 
 
 24. Jesus is a reigning king to-day. The 
 humble Christian, walking in faithful- 
 ness, will also be a king. He may be 
 trampled upon to-day, but authority will 
 be conferred upon him by Christ. The 
 future belongs to Christ and the Chris- 
 tian (ver. 26). 
 
 25. If men fall in with Christ, he will 
 be to them a protecting Shepherd. If men 
 resist Christ, he will be to them a crush- 
 ing Lord. Jesus speaks of a rod of iron. 
 The tender Christ can be severe (ver. 27). 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 This chapter contains the letters to 
 the churches in Sardis (ver. i-6), Phila- 
 delphia (^er. 7-13), and Laodicca (ver. 
 
 14-22). It is unfortunate that these 
 letters are broken into two sections by 
 the chapter division. They form one 
 connected group. 
 
 1-6. Letter to the church in 
 Sardis. Jesus is described as having 
 the Holy Spirit iu his control (ver. i); 
 the church is almost dead (ver. i, 2, *)• 
 it i.s counseled to be watchful (ver. 2, 3); 
 a threat of judgment is made (ver. 3); 
 the overcoming men will be greatly 
 rewarded (ver. *, 5). 
 
 1. In this verse is the name of the 
 church addre.ssed, and also its spiritual 
 condition. Sardis, now Sart, was situ- 
 ated on the river Pactolus, the former 
 splendid capital of the kingdom of 
 Lydia, the home of Croesus, fabled for 
 his wealth. It was a famous city long 
 before the days of Christ, retaining its 
 strength into the first century of the 
 Christian era. It was largely destroyed 
 by an earthquake in the first century. 
 It is now a heap of ruins. It was a 
 commercial center, noted for its splen- 
 dor and power. Jesus is described in 
 words taken from 1 : 4 and 1 : 16. 
 There is, as in all the letters, a har- 
 mony between the parts of the descrip- 
 tion made use of and the spiritual con- 
 dition of the church. The seven 
 Spirits are the one Holy Spirit. In 
 1 : 4 they are said to belong to God. 
 Here, they are said to belong to Christ. 
 Everywhere, in this book, the deitj' of 
 Jesus is emphasized. Hath shows 
 that the relation of Jesus to the Holy 
 Spirit is one of possession ; the Spirit 
 works in his interest. Inasmuch as 
 the church is almost dead, it is fitting 
 tliat the one having the control of the 
 Spirit, the source of life and holiness, 
 should appeal to them. He alone can 
 revive them. Jesus taught, iu his 
 earthly ministry, that he would send 
 the Spirit to do his work (John le : 6-14). 
 A second title is here given, and the 
 seven stars. The stars are the angels 
 (1 : 20) which under another form, rep- 
 resent the spirit of the churches. Christ, 
 who has the Spirit under his control. 
 
166 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 [Ch. III. 
 
 2 8 Be watchful, i>and strengthen the 
 things which remain, that are ready 
 to die : for I have not found ■ thy wurlis 
 
 3 perfect before God. " Remember there- 
 fore how thou liast received and lieard, 
 and hold fast, and repent. • If there- 
 fore thou Shalt uot watch, I will come 
 on thee " as a thief, and tliou .shall not 
 know what hour I will come upon 
 
 2 and thou art dead. Become watchful, 
 and strengthen the remaining things 
 that were about to die ; for I have 
 found uo works of thine complete be- 
 
 3 fore my God. Remember therefore 
 how thou hast received, and heard, 
 and keep, and repent. If therefore 
 thou Shalt not watch, I will come as a 
 thief, and thou shalt uot know what 
 
 g 1 Peter 4 : 7 ; 5 : 8. h Col. 3 : 16 ; Heb. 3 : 13 ; 12 : 1-3. j Dan. 5 : 27. 
 
 k Ver. 11 ; 2 Thess. 2 : 15 ; 1 Tim. 6 : 20 ; 2 Tim. 1 ; 13. I Matt. 21 : 42, 43. ml Thess. 5 : 2-4. 
 
 also has the church for his possession. 
 The churches need not fear that they 
 will lack the ministry, the power, and 
 the blessedness of the Spirit, for both 
 are his. He holds them in his hand 
 (2 : 1); here a further thought is given, 
 he hath them, owns them. Sardis had 
 a name ; was well thought of ; was per- 
 haps rich and prosperous, .sharing in 
 the wealth of the city. Name here is 
 equivalent to reputation. There was 
 no tribulation as in Smyrna (2 : 10); no 
 fierce opposition, no false teaching, no 
 heresy, as in Ephesus (2:2); no licen- 
 tious living, as in Thyatira (2 = 'O); all 
 was quiet about them, it had a name 
 for orthodoxy, right thinking, but it 
 was in reality destitute of spiritual 
 life. There were ordinances, organiza- 
 tion, orthodoxy; but love, and the life 
 which comes from full fellowship with 
 Christ, were wanting. ( comp. 1 Tim. 5:6.) 
 In its own judgment, and in the judg- 
 ment of others, the church at Sardis 
 was a veritable church of Christ. But, 
 taken as a whole, the church was not 
 alive in Christ. Jesus does uot regard 
 baptism and the Lord's Supper and 
 church-membership as saving, other- 
 wise these all would have been spoken 
 of as Christians. 
 
 2. Here is Christ's counsel. Be 
 watchful, rather, become. There 
 must be an awakening from spiritual 
 lethargy. It is a frequent New Testa- 
 ment injunction (Matt. 21 : 42 ; Rom. 13 ; U). 
 
 The things which remain refers, 
 in reality, to the persons in whom the 
 spiritual life was not extinct, equivalent 
 to the rest of 2 : 24 ; those yet some- 
 what in love with Christ. The remain- 
 ing .spiritual life must be cultivated. 
 In trying to rescue others their own 
 life would be quickened. Are ready 
 to die, rather, were ready. Looked 
 at from an afterpoint of view, they 
 were regarded us dying, were almost 
 
 dead. It cannot be known what effect 
 this injunction had upon them. For 
 confirms the justice of the judgment 
 passed upon them. I have . • . God, 
 
 rather, / Iiave found no u'orks of thine 
 fulfilled before my God. An examina- 
 tion of the life of the church shows 
 that it had fallen far short of its ap- 
 pointed work; none of its work satisfied 
 Jesus. The expression does not mean 
 that it was found not perfect, in an ab- 
 solute sense, for nothing human is, but 
 that everything was defective — less than 
 ought to be expected from it. It ap- 
 proved itself, others approved it; but 
 the real test of its standing and worth 
 is God's judgment, before my God. My 
 God shows that Jesus, in passing judg- 
 ment, is a representative of God the 
 Father; it is, hence, a just judgment. 
 The work of each man and each church, 
 in its collective capacity, is constantly 
 tested by Christ. If a church, to-day, 
 lives a Sardis kind of life, this same 
 judgment is rendered. Every church 
 needs to have a constant vision of the 
 glorified Lord Jesus. 
 
 3. Counsel and threatening are here 
 united. Three things are enjoined, a 
 remembrance of the former church life, 
 a holding fast that there be no further 
 backsliding, a godly sorrow, and hence 
 a new mind toward God. They must 
 remember how they received their 
 first spiritual blessings through repent- 
 ance, belief, and faithful obedience. 
 They received the word in joy and 
 gladness. In the same way they must 
 again receive God's blessings. The 
 joy and earnestness of their first life 
 should be an incentive to them now. 
 It must hold fast (present tense) the 
 little life and love left. A little love 
 is vastly better than no love. It must 
 repent (aorist tense, signifying tliat it 
 must be done at once) instantly of its 
 guilt, and seek spiritual blessings. If 
 
Ch. III.] 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 167 
 
 4 thee. Thou hast " a few names even 
 in Sardis which have not "defiled their 
 garments; and they shall walk with 
 me Pin white : for they are worthy. 
 
 5 He that overcometh, i the same shall 
 be clothed in white raiment; and I 
 will not ■• blot out liis name out of tlie 
 • book of life, but 'I will confess his 
 name before my Father, and before 
 
 6 his angels. "He that hath an ear, let 
 him hear what the Spirit saith unto 
 the churches. 
 
 4 hour I will come upon thee. But thou 
 hast a few names in Sardis, which did 
 not defile their garments; and they 
 shall walk with me in white, because 
 
 5 they are worthy. He that overcomes 
 shall thus be clothed in white gar- 
 ments ; and I will not blot out his 
 name out of the book of life, and I 
 will confess his name before my Father, 
 
 6 and before his angels. He that has an 
 ear, let him hear what the Spirit says 
 to the cliurches. 
 
 n 1 Kings 19 : 18. o Jude 23. p 4 ; 4 ; 6 : 11 ; 1 John 3 : 2, 3. j 19 : 8 ; Isa. 61 : 10 ; Zech. 3 : 4, 5. 
 
 r Exod. 32 : 32, 33. « 20 : 12 ; Isa. 4:3; Dan. 12 : 1 ; Luke 10 : 20. 
 
 t Mai. 3 : 17 ; Luke 12 ; 8. u Ver. 13 ; 2 : 7. 
 
 the warnings are not heeded Jesus will 
 come; in judgment speedily and un- 
 looked for. (Comp. the figure of the 
 thief in Matt. 24 : 43 ; Luke 12 : 39 ; 1 
 Thess. 5 : 2, 4.) The coming referred to 
 is not the second and final coming, but 
 an intermediate, yet real, coming in 
 judgment through pestilence (2 : 22) or 
 otlier visitation. Jesus can send judg- 
 ments in the life that now is ; he assur- 
 edly will in the existence beyond. We 
 may not infer that all physical ills are 
 judgments sent from God (John 9 : 3). It 
 is equally unwise to infer that God can 
 send no judgments now, expressive of 
 his will. 
 
 4. Here the words of praise come 
 after the censure. In Sardis the pre- 
 dominant element in the church was 
 displeasing to Christ. Thou . . . 
 Sardis, rather, But thou hast a few 
 names in Sardis. But shows the con- 
 trast between the many who were dead 
 and the few who were living. Sodom 
 had a few good men ; Sardis had a few 
 who were uncontaminated by their sur- 
 roundings. The expression in Sardis, 
 implies that the city was extremely 
 wicked and unfavorable to the Chris- 
 tian life. Jesus knowing all men, 
 knew who those were that lived a true 
 life. On the church register were 
 many names; on the heavenly register 
 were not so many (Luke 10 ; 20). Not 
 defiled their garments expresses 
 the moral cleanness of these men. The 
 white garments mean the pure, devoted 
 life (1 John 1:6). Jesus has a gracious 
 promise for these men whose lives were 
 wliite in the midst of a city of moral 
 defilement. Tiny lived for him, lived 
 largely like him"; they shall walk 
 with me. The white in heaven is 
 perfect. Worthy does not mean that 
 
 they are saved apart from Christ. They 
 are .saved through him, walk after him, 
 live fitting lives, and shall receive 
 what is becoming and right (Matt. 20 : 23), 
 Jesus alone saves, but he rewards ac- 
 cording to character. 
 
 5. A threefold promi.se is given to 
 the overcoming man. He shall have 
 white raiment (7 : la, u); they shall 
 be clothed, rather, they shall be ar- 
 rayed, in a garment like the one just 
 described ; his name shall not be erased 
 from the heavenly register, not blot 
 out, rather, in no wise; the man will 
 be confessed before the Father and his 
 angels. (Comp. the words of Jesus in 
 Matt. 10 : 32. ) The faithful Sardis 
 Christians walked in white, and had 
 tiieir names on the church register. 
 Heaven will be the Sardis life enlarged. 
 The white will be whiter, and the names 
 will be on the heavenly roll, held in 
 everlasting remembrance. (For the 
 book of life comp. Exod. 32 ; 32 ; Dan. 
 12 ; 1 ; Luke 10 : 20 ; Phil 4 ; 3 ; Heb. 
 12 : 23 ; Rev. 13 ; 8 ; 20 : 1.5 ; 21 : 27.) 
 The words of Jesus spoken from heaven 
 have many reminiscences of the words 
 spoken on the earth. He is the same 
 Jesus. He would speak, to-day, no 
 words not in harmony with his re- 
 corded teachings. 
 
 6. This verse repeats the solemn em- 
 phasis upon the duty of hearing what 
 Jesus says. Compare the same duty 
 enjoined in his earthly ministry (Matt. 
 
 11 : 15 ; 13 : 9, 45 ; Mark 4:9, 23 ; T : 16, 33 ; 
 
 Luke 8:8; 19 : 35). The Christian life is 
 made up of two parts — the command 
 of Jesus, the doing by the Christian. 
 
 7-13. Letter to the church in 
 PriiLAnELPHiA. Jesus is described 
 as the holy and true one (™f- ') ; the 
 church is commended for faithfulness 
 
168 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 [Ch. III. 
 
 7 Aud to the angel of the church in 
 Philadelphia write ; Tliese things saith 
 ^he that is holy, yhe that is true, he 
 that hath ' the key of David, » he that 
 openeth, and no man shutteth ; aud 
 •> shutteth, and no man opeueth. 
 
 8 I know thy works. Behold, I have 
 set before thee " an opeu door, and no 
 man can shut it : for thou hast a little 
 strength, * and hast kept my word, aud 
 
 9 hast not denied my name. Behold, I 
 
 7 And to the angel of the church in 
 Philadelphia write : These things says 
 the Holy, the True, he who has the 
 key of David, he who opens, and no 
 one shall shut, aud shuts, and no one 
 
 8 opens. I know thy works. Behold, I 
 have set before thee a door opened, 
 which no one can shut ; because thou 
 hast a little power and didst keep my 
 word, and didst not deny my name. 
 
 z 4 : 8 ; Isa. 49 : 7 ; Luke 1 : 35 ; Acts 3 : 14. y 1 : 5 ; 19 : 11 ; John 14 : 6 ; 1 John 5 : 
 
 z Isa. 22 : 22 ; Luke 1 : 32. a Matt. 16 : 19 ; 28 : 18. h Job 11 : 10 ; 12 : 14. 
 
 c 1 Cor. 16 ; 9 ; 2 Cor. 2:12; Col. 4:3. 6, John 14 : 21-24 ; 17 : 6. 
 
 (ver. 8); a promise of support is given 
 (ver. 9, 10); through faithfuhiess a crown 
 may be won (ver. ii); the overcoming 
 man shall be a pillar in God's house 
 
 (ver. 12). 
 
 7. Philadelphia was of old the sec- 
 ond city of Lydia, twenty-five miles 
 southeast from Sardis, built 138 B. c, 
 often injured by earthquakes, captured 
 by the Turks, now having a population 
 of ten thousand — mostly Turks ; known 
 now as Allali Shehr, the city of God. 
 The tone of the Saviour's words is very 
 different from that in the preceding 
 letter to Sardis, and in the following 
 letter to Laodicea. It was situated 
 near these cliurches in territory, but 
 was at a vast remove from them mor- 
 ally. Here the letter is, as a whole, 
 commendatory. The description of 
 Jesus is found in no definite statement 
 in the vision in chap. I, but is given 
 as the impress of the entire revelation. 
 He is defined, as to character, in a 
 twofold way — the holy, the true. 
 Men are holy in part. Jesus is, by 
 preeminence, the Holy One, apart from 
 all evil, having a positive and perfect 
 moral character. In the Old Testa- 
 ment God assumes to himself the title 
 of the Holy One of Israel (isa. 40 : 25). 
 In making this claim here Jesus asserts 
 his right to be regarded as divine. He 
 is true, not as opposed to false, but is op- 
 posed to imperfection. ( Comp. the same 
 word in John 6 : 32.) As to authority 
 he is described as having the key 
 of David. For tlie historical allusion, 
 see Isa. 22 : 12. _ Ellakim, in that place, 
 is made the chief minister of the king- 
 dom ; his rule is supreme. Figuratively, 
 Jesus is an Ellakim ; having complete 
 control in the Father's kingdom, his 
 will is supreme. What he wills, no 
 one may oppose. He is not an autocrat 
 
 with power used simply for the sake 
 of display, but he is a wise and reason- 
 able Christ. As head of the church he 
 entrusted his work among men to 
 apostles and others (Matt, le : 19 ; is : is). 
 But no one has any power, apart from 
 Christ's revealed will, to open or shut 
 the door. The ministry, the church, 
 the ordinances are servants of Christ, 
 not his masters. In his ministry on 
 earth Jesus was called the Son of 
 
 David (Matt. 20 : 31). 
 
 8. Here are words of commenda- 
 tion. The expression, Behold . . . 
 shut it, is parenthetical. The state- 
 ment in the preceding verse that Jesus 
 has control of the door, lays the founda- 
 tion for this statement that an open 
 door is made for them. This may re- 
 fer to an open door of opportunity and 
 effectiveness in service here in this 
 life (comp. 1 Cor. 16 : 9), or it may refer to 
 the open door into glory in the next, 
 inasmuch as the Jews spoken of after- 
 ward in ver. 9 may have declared that 
 there could be no salvation for them. 
 The following verse indicates that the 
 reference is mainly to the open door of 
 opportunity for labor. Jesus recog- 
 nizes their humble position ; I know 
 thy works . . . for thou hast, 
 rather, that thou hast. A little 
 strength, rather, little strength, shows 
 smallness in numbers — their few ad- 
 vantages, the little that could naturally 
 be expected of them. But their little- 
 ness Avas combined with faithfulness. 
 Their life is defined on the positive 
 side — kept ; on the negative side — not 
 denied. They loved the words of 
 .Jesus, therefore they kept them ; they 
 loved the person of Jesus — my name. 
 At critical times in the past they iiad 
 stood fast by Christ and his truth. 
 Jesus could depend on them. In his 
 
Ch. III.] 
 
 EEVELATION 
 
 169 
 
 will make 'them of the synagogue of 
 Satan, which say they are Jews, and 
 are not, but do lie; behold, 'I will 
 make thera to come and worship before 
 thy feet, and to know that I have loved 
 
 10 thee. 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, 
 1 to try them tliat dwell upon the earth. 
 
 11 Behold, '' I come quickly. ' Hold that 
 
 9 Behold, I give those of the synagogue 
 of Satan, who say they are Jews, and 
 they are not, but do lie,— behold, I will 
 make them to come and worship before 
 thy feet, and to know that I loved thee. 
 
 10 Because thou didst keep the word of 
 my patience, I also will keep thee from 
 the hour of trial, which is about to 
 come on the whole habitable earth, to 
 
 11 try those who dwell on the earth. I 
 come quickly ; hold fast that which 
 
 2:9. / Isa. 49 : 2.1 ; 60 : 14 ; Acts 16 : 37-39. g U : 12. ft Dan. 12 : 1 ; 1 Cor. 10 : 13 ; 2 Peter 2 : 
 t Dan. 12 ; 10 ; Zcch. 13 : 9 ; 1 Peter * ; 12. fc 22 : 7, 12, 20 ; Phil. 4:5. J 2 : 25 ; Jamei 1 : 12. 
 
 earthly ministry Jesus spoke comfort- 
 ing words to his little flock (Luke 
 
 12 : 32). 
 
 9. Here is the Saviour's promise. 
 The passage is irregular in its gram- 
 matical construction. As in Smyrna, 
 the church met with much opposition 
 from unbelieving Jews. They were 
 often more violent in disposition than 
 the heathen (i THess. 2 : u-ie). The letters 
 of Paul to the Galatians and to the 
 Romaus, the Council at Jerusalem (Acts 
 15) show how strong was the conflict 
 between Judaism and Christianity. 
 Having a form of godliness and the 
 holy Scriptures they were, in reality, 
 the allies of Satan. Satan has a throne 
 (2:13); a syuagoguc (2:9); doctrines 
 (2 : 24). I will make, rather, / give, 
 a common Hebrew expression (isa- eo : 
 14). Through their faithfulness in liv- 
 ing and explaining the Scriptures Jesus 
 will cause it to come to pass that, not 
 all, but some of their avowed oppo- 
 nents, will have a changed mind, will 
 recognize God in Christ, and will wor- 
 ship ; that is, pay them honor and re- 
 spect, as representatives of God's cause. 
 It is a greater triumph to see the op- 
 ponents of Christ converted than to see 
 them punished for their disobedience 
 and obduracy. lu time the veil will 
 be taken from tlie mind of the Jewish 
 people as a whole, and they will recog- 
 nize Christ (Rom, 9 : 27). "To kuow 
 that I have loved thee. The world 
 usually sees Christ through Christ's 
 churcli and Christ's people. They are 
 his best interpreters. 
 
 10. The Saviour's promise is con- 
 tinued. A faithful people will always 
 fiml a covenant-keeping Christ. The 
 word of my patience means tiie 
 command of Christ to endure .sufler- 
 ings patiently, to bear up without 
 wavering. Sufierings belong to the 
 
 Christian life (John is : 2 ; 2 Tim. 3 : 12) ; 
 
 patient endurance is frequently urged 
 
 (Lake 8 : 15 ; Matt. 10 : 22 ; 24 : 13). They 
 
 would receive from Christ, I will 
 keep, what they give to Christ, thou 
 hast kept. The hour of tempta- 
 tion reveals a storm of persecution 
 that will speedily come upon them ; a 
 storm not centuries hence, but some- 
 thing impending in actual sufierings, 
 in losses of property, who.se tendency 
 would be to beget a loss of faith. Jesus 
 does not promise to keep them from 
 persecution, but to preserve them in it 
 so that they would be aided and kept 
 from falling. (Comp. 2 cor. 12 : 9.) The 
 trials would become temptations, but 
 the temptations would not be seduc- 
 tions leading them astray. Jesus prayed 
 not for exemption from suff^erings for his 
 followers, but for freedom from evil (John 
 17 : 15). Those who dwell upon the 
 earth are here the ungodly as distinct 
 from the saved. (Comp. the same ex- 
 pressions in 6 : 10 ; 11 : 10. ) Tlie saved, 
 while on the earth, have their home in 
 heaven ; they are in the world, but not 
 of it (John 17 : 14). The tlmcs of trial for 
 the ungodly decide whether they will 
 turn to the Lord in repentance, or will 
 continue in ungodliness. 
 
 11. Here are words of counsel. 
 Omit Behold. The coming referred 
 to is not the second, final coming, but 
 some intermediate coming in judgment 
 upon his enemies (ver. 10); in supporting 
 his people in persecutions ; in bringing 
 converts from the Jews by the work of 
 the Holy Spirit. Jesus, in his earthly 
 ministry, spoke of comings other than 
 his final coming (Matt, le : 28). The 
 quickly must refer'to .something hap- 
 pening in the near future. Tliose who 
 place the composition of the book be- 
 fore A. D. 70, refer this to the destruc- 
 tion of Jerusalem. Those holding to a 
 
170 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 [Ch. III. 
 
 fast which thou hast, that no man take 
 thy crowu. 
 
 12 Him that overcometh will I make " a 
 pillar in the temple of my God ; and 
 he shall go no more out : and " 1 will 
 write upon him the name of my God, 
 and tie name of the city of my God, 
 w/iicA is » New Jerusalem, which cometh 
 down out of heaven from my God 
 pand 1 will write upon him my new 
 
 13 name. He that hatli an ear, let him 
 hear what the Spirit saith unto the 
 chnrcliGS. 
 
 14 And unto the angel of the church of 
 the Laodiceana write; <i These things 
 
 thou hast, that uo one may take thy 
 
 12 crown. He that overcomes, I will 
 make him a pillar in the temple of my 
 God, and he shall go out no more ; and 
 I will write on him the name of my 
 God, and the name of the city of my 
 God, the new Jerusalem, which comes 
 dowi out of heaven from my God, and 
 
 13 my new name. He that has an ear, 
 let him hear what the Spirit says to 
 the churches. 
 
 14 And to the angel of the church in 
 Laodicea write : These things says the 
 
 TO 1 Kings 7 : 21 ; Gal. 2 : 9 Eph. J : 19-22 ; 1 Peter 2 ; 4-6. n 2 : 17 ; 14 : 1. 
 
 21 ; 2, 10 ; Gal. 4 : 26 . Heb. 12 : 22. p 22 : 4 ; Isa. 62 ; 2. j 2 Cor. 1 ; 20. 
 
 later date refer to his interpcsition in 
 providence, in punishment, without 
 particularly defining any event. Re- 
 garding all the ages and all the world 
 as under the providential control of 
 Christ, for the sake of his church, 
 many turning-points in history may 
 be regarded as comings of the Lord 
 Jesus. Hold that fast. (comp. 2 : 6, 
 2.5.) No man take thy crown. The 
 crown refers to tliat which will come 
 as the reward of faithfulness, not a 
 present possession. No one could take 
 it away for himself; but a person might 
 beguile him (Coi. 2 : is), might seduce 
 him from tlie way, and thus his crown 
 would be taken away. No man can 
 really be injured save by himself. If a 
 crown is given it is Christ who gives 
 it. If a crown is lost it is the man 
 who causes its loss. Jesus appeals to 
 faithfulness. 
 
 12. Here is the closing promise. 
 The conquering man will be a pillar 
 in God's temple, in the upper and after 
 life. Two ideas are suggested — that of 
 permanence as a reward of faithful- 
 ness here, and that of l)eauty. There 
 will be no possilnlity of falling through 
 temptation. Every overcoming one is 
 a pillar. Upon him, or upon the pillar 
 representing him, will be written three 
 names. My God. For instances of 
 writing God's name upon the forehead 
 see 7 : 3; 14 : 1 ; 22 : 4. This signifies 
 that he belongs to God in an openly 
 
 recognized way. (Comp. 11 : 5; Jer. 23 : 6; 
 
 33:16.) The New Jerusalem, hea- 
 venly, divine in its origin, signifies the 
 completion of the Christian life, tlie 
 time when the earthly becomes the 
 heavenly, (see chap, xxi.) He is u mem- 
 
 ber of the heavenly city, a partaker of 
 the heavenly life. The neAV name of 
 .Jesus is that of redeemer, conqueror. 
 The name stands for the real man him- 
 self. A new name signifies some new 
 disclosure of the per.son. Here Jesus 
 is revealed in a new and larger way. 
 The work of Jesus was not completed 
 on the earth ; there were required the 
 entrance into the holiest of all above, 
 and the acquirement of the Holy Spirit 
 for his people. 
 
 13. The Spirit speaks of very large 
 and precious promises. The ear should 
 be attentive to these large promises. 
 Christians need to listen to the promises 
 so that fill til may be encouraged, and 
 the steps strengthened. Even Jesus was 
 helped by the consideration of the prom- 
 ises made to struggling men (Heb. 12 : 2). 
 
 14-22. Letter to the church 
 AT Laodicea. Jesus is described as 
 the faithful witness (^er. u); the church 
 is in a neutral spiritual condition ("r. 
 15, 17); a threat of rejection is made 
 
 (ver. 16); gracioUS COUnSCl is given (ver. 
 
 18-20); the overcoming man will reign 
 with Christ (ver. 21). 
 
 14. The church of the Laodi- 
 ceans, rather, in Laodicea. This 
 town, Laodicea, was on the Lycus, the 
 capital of Phrygia, a commercial cen- 
 ter, subject to earthquakes, finally de- 
 stroyed by the Turks, and now in ruins. 
 Paul alludes to the church here in Col. 
 4 : 1.5. An important church council 
 was held here in the fourth century. 
 In this letter Jesus is described as the 
 Amen. Some think that in this is a 
 reference to the fact that this is the 
 last message of Jesus, in some sense 
 confirmatory of them all. It is better 
 
Ch. III.] 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 171 
 
 saith the Amen, ' the faithful and true 
 witness, 'the begiuuiog of the creation 
 of God. 
 
 15 I know thy works, 'that thou ait 
 neither cold nor hot. " 1 would thou 
 
 16 wert cold or hot. So then because 
 thou art lukewarm, and neither cold 
 nor hot, » 1 will spue thee out of my 
 
 Amen, the faithful and true witness, 
 the begiuuiug of the creation of God. 
 
 15 I know thy works, that thou art neither 
 cold nor hot. 1 would thou wert cold or 
 
 16 hot. So, because thou art lukewarm, 
 and neither hot nor cold, I am about 
 
 r Ver. 7. » JoIiq 1:3; Col. 1 : 15. « 2 : 4 ; Hosea 10 ; 2. 
 
 « Josh. 24 : 15-24 ; 1 Kings 18 : 21 ; Matt. 12 : 30. x 2 : 5. 
 
 to take it as the assertion of liis truth- 
 fulness. In Isa. 65 : 16 Jehovah is 
 called the God of truth, literally the 
 God of amen. Jesus assumes to him- 
 self this attribute of deity, claiming 
 for himself a nature of absolute truth- 
 fulness. This is explained by the 
 further claim to be the faithful and 
 true witness. He witnesses for God 
 to men, revealing in utmost truthful- 
 ness the nature, the will, the desires of 
 God. He reveals him fully and faith- 
 fully. This should lead them to be 
 faithful witnesses in the presence of 
 errors and dangers. A witnessing 
 Christ should beget witnessing Chris- 
 tians. Beginning means,_ not the 
 first one of created things, which would 
 rank Christ among created beings, but 
 source, origin. Compare Col. 1 : 18, 
 where the same word is used as here. 
 Jesus is not a part of creation, but the 
 head of creation. It is by way of con- 
 trast with the unfaithful witnessing of 
 the Laodicean church that Jesus is 
 called the faithful, true one. They 
 needed to get a right view of Christ as 
 the true and mighty one. 
 
 15. Jesus describes their spiritual 
 condition. He begins in the severest 
 tones. Cold describes the condition 
 of those untouched by regenerating 
 grace, tho.se in heathenism, the unbe- 
 lieving Jews. Hot expresses the con- 
 dition of the highest kind of the Chris- 
 tian life, the fervent spiritual tempera- 
 ture of a Paul, consumed with a holy 
 zeal (Rom, 12 : u). This ought to be the 
 normal condition of the Christian life. 
 Cold is used by Jesus in Matt. 24 : 12 
 in a modified sense as indicating a 
 lower stage in the Christian life. The 
 Laodicean church was in a neutral 
 spiritual condition, it had neither life 
 in its fulness of joy and peace, nor 
 death with its entire absence of love. 
 Jesus says, I would . . . cold. In 
 tills is apparent the danger of an in- 
 
 different spiritual condition. It is not 
 heresy that is condemned, nor licen- 
 tiousness, but a religious torpor, slug- 
 gishness, an utter indifference to the 
 claims of duty, the love of Jesus, the 
 opportunities for service, the influences 
 of the unseen life. Does Jesus intend 
 to declare that it is better to be in an 
 unsaved condition, unregeuerate, than 
 in a Christian life characterized by 
 great moderation ? This ought not to 
 Ije a deduction from his words. If a 
 person is lukewarm in love there is 
 room for enlargement in love. It is 
 better to be a Christian, even in the 
 lower stages, than in a uon-christian 
 state. What he means is to express in 
 a very strong way the feeling: "I 
 could wish that you were in any state 
 but this." A person unsaved may 
 freely admit his own peril of soul, 
 while the man with the name of Christ 
 upon him may make this an excuse for 
 a careless life. It is often more difficult 
 to awaken a backsliding Christian than 
 to reach a man who never has known 
 Christ. Peter declares that a man 
 apostatizing from Christ has a worse 
 fate than if he had never known the 
 
 Saviour (2 Peter 2 : 20). 
 
 16. A threat is here made by Jesus. 
 It is a physical efl'ect of warm water 
 to produce a tendency to vomiting. 
 Jesus wishes to show his utter dislike 
 of their spiritual condition. I Avill 
 spew, rather, I am about to spiic. 
 It is not a final decision to throw 
 them away, but there is revealed 
 the imminent danger. We must not 
 infer that Jesus places his highest re- 
 gard upon the fervent heart, and his 
 next highest regard upon the man 
 utterly insensible in mind. This is 
 not in accord with what we know of 
 God, and it is to press a figure too far 
 to make it teach this. What is here 
 condemned is the proud self-conceit of 
 the Laodiceans imagining themselves 
 
172 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 [Ch. III. 
 
 17 mouth. Because thou sayest, J I am 
 rich, and increased with goods, »aud 
 have need of nothing ; and knowest 
 not that thou art wretched, and miser- 
 able, and poor, ''and blind, and naked ; 
 
 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 ; <iand anoint 
 thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou 
 
 19 mayest see. «As many as I love, I 
 
 17 to vomit thee out of my mouth. Be- 
 cause thou sayest, I am rich, and have 
 gotten riches, and have need of noth- 
 ing, and knowest not that thou art the 
 wretched one, and pitiable, and poor, 
 
 18 and blind, and naked ; I counsel thee 
 to buy of me gold refined by fire, that 
 thou mayest be rich, and white gar- 
 ments, that thou mayest clothe thyself 
 and that the shame of thy nakedness 
 may not be made manifest, and eye- 
 salve to anoint thine eyes that thou 
 
 19 mayest see. As many as I love, I re- 
 
 y Prov. 13 : 7 ; Hosca 12 : 8 ; Luke 18 : 11, 12 ; 1 Cor. 4:8. z Deut. 8 : 11-14. 
 
 a John 9 : <0, 41 ; 2 Peter 1 : 8, 9. 5 Isa. 55 : 1 ; Matt. 13 : 44. 
 
 4, 5 ; 7 : 13 ; Isa. 61 : 10 ; Phil. 3:9. d John 8:12; 1 John 2 : 20, 27. e Job 5 : 17. 
 
 to be ricli in heart when they were 
 utterly poor. This state of soul Jesus 
 declares is nauseating to him. 
 
 17. This verse reveals their mistaken 
 estimate of themselves. The higher 
 the spiritual condition, the more con- 
 scious is the soul of its deficiencies. It 
 is the mark of a growing life to have a 
 completer knowledge of the meaning 
 of the Christian life, and to be aware of 
 shortcomings. As Paul grew in holi- 
 ness he grew in sensitiveness as to the 
 remaining sin in his heart. The Lao- 
 diceans said of themselves, they were 
 rich, increased in goods, have 
 need of nothing. These refer, not 
 to material things, but to their assumed 
 spiritual riches, though it may be that 
 a growing wealth in material things 
 contributed to their spiritual pride, 
 thinking that this was a testimony to 
 them of God's approval. The estimate 
 of their condition is given by Jesus in 
 five descriptive phrases, Avretched, 
 rather, the icretched one; miserable, 
 not a state of conscious misery, but a 
 state deserving of pity ; poor, in a 
 real sense before God; blind as to 
 their own condition and God's require- 
 ments ; naiied, exposed to God's 
 anger, living in a shameful condition. 
 We can never know what a man really 
 is until we get to know what God 
 thinks of him. 
 
 18. Here is the counsel of the rich 
 and enriching Christ. He counsels 
 three things: getting the true riches, 
 covering the soul with the white robe 
 of forgiveness, obtaining the spiritual 
 eyesight. Then, of necessity, the 
 misery and wretchedness would pass 
 away. To buy of Christ is to receive 
 from Christ for the asking. There is 
 
 need of repentance, the throwing aside 
 of human merit as the ground of sal- 
 vation, the right estimate of ourselves, 
 the earnest petition (Matt, is : 44, 46; isa. 
 55 : 1). A man buys of Christ with 
 poverty of soul. Emptiness of self 
 means fulness of Christ. The gold 
 tried in the fire, rather, refined by 
 the fire, is the true spiritual wealth, 
 freed from imperfections. The white 
 raiment is the forgiveness granted by 
 Christ, the holiness inwrought by the 
 Spirit (^er. 4, 5). An unforgiven soul 
 is unlovely to holy beings. Moral evil 
 is the only thing that the holy God 
 hates. Physical deformities may be 
 pitied ; moral deformities must be con- 
 demned (i6: is). And anoint . . . eye- 
 salve, rather, and eyesalve to anoint 
 their eyes. The Holy Spirit convicts the 
 soul, opening the inner eyes, showing 
 a man to himself (Luke i6 : n), that he 
 may be led to see Jesus (John 12: 21). 
 Their case was not hopeless if they 
 would but dismiss their mistaken , 
 thoughts of them.selves and begin the 
 life of right thinking in God's sight. 
 Open eyes are essential to safe walking. 
 Satan, as a blind teacher, blinds the 
 eyes of men (2 Cor. 4:4). Jesus en- 
 riches, covers with a garment of beauty, 
 restores sight. 
 
 19. In the first four letters Jesus 
 praises before he blames. In the letter 
 to Sardis he blames before he praises. 
 Here he blames and gives not a word 
 of praise. He found the entire church 
 apparently sunk in spiritual lethargy. 
 In this verse is shown the tender side 
 of the Saviour. He shows them that 
 it is his love for them that leads him to 
 expose their real condition. The word, 
 I, is emphatic iu the Greek. He ia- 
 
Ch. III.] 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 173 
 
 rebuke and chasten. 'Be zealous 
 therefore, and repent. Beliold, s I 
 
 20 stand at the door, and knock : >> if any 
 man hearmy voice, and open the door, 
 'I will come in to him, j and will sup 
 with him, and he with me. 
 
 21 To him that overcometh ^ will I grant 
 to sit with me in my throne, 'even as 
 I also overcame, " and am set down 
 
 22 with my Father in his throne. " He 
 that hath an ear, let him hear what 
 the Spirit saith unto the churches. 
 
 prove and chasten. Be zealous there- 
 
 20 fore, and repent. Behold, I stand at 
 the door, and knock ; if any one hear 
 my voice, and open the door, I will 
 come in to him, and I will sup with 
 
 21 him, and he with me. He that over- 
 comes, I will give to him to sit down 
 with me in my throne, as I also over- 
 came, and sat down with my Father in 
 
 22 his throne. He that has an ear, let 
 him hear what the Spirit says to the 
 churches. 
 
 / i Cor. 7 : 11. g Song of Sol. 5 ; 2-4 ; Matt. H : 28 ; 2 Cor. 5 : 20. h Luke 12 : 37 ; John 6 : 37. 
 
 i John 14 : 21-23. j 19 : 9. As 1 : 6 ; Matt. 19 : 28. I John 16 : 33 ; Heb. 12 : i. 
 
 m Ps. 110 : 1 ; Dan. 7 : 13, 14 ; Matt. 28 : 18. » 2 : 7 
 
 form.s them that he loves them, and 
 therefore rebukes, rather, reproves, 
 and chastens. He censures severely 
 that he may save completely. Two 
 duties are enjoined ; their lukewarm- 
 ness must give way to a zealous spirit, 
 and repentance must arise for their 
 grievous falling away. Then the right- 
 eous and holy life will dwell in them 
 richly, Jesus can counsel, but they 
 alone can con.sent and repent. It 
 requires the union of Christ and the 
 Laodiceans to make a good church in 
 Laodicea. 
 
 20. This verse is an expansion and 
 enforcement of the preceding.^ It is 
 one of the tenderest passages in the 
 entire revelation of Christ. To the 
 Laodiceans, or any member of the 
 church, sunk in conceit, ignorant of 
 God, with mistaken conceptions, Jesus 
 comes with blessing. He is the crea- 
 ting Christ, the visiting Christ, the 
 waiting Christ, the knocking Christ, 
 the beseeching Christ. It is implied 
 that eveiy one Avill hear his voice. 
 Not every one will inquire. Who is 
 there? not everyone hearing will bid 
 him enter. The divine and the human 
 are united in the salvation of the soul. 
 No one but the one on the inside can 
 say, Come in. No heart is too small 
 to be large enough for the Saviour. 
 Jesus will change a humble heart into 
 a palace. 
 
 21. Herefollowsthepromi.se. These 
 statements Jesus makes concerning his 
 own life ; he entered into a thoroughly 
 human life; he met with difficulties of 
 all kinds; he overcame them with the 
 help of the Father, who is also their 
 Father; he is with the Father on his 
 throne. Jesus lived a life that can be 
 imitated. He had struggles, met with 
 
 temptations, overcame them (John le : 
 33). As a reward he is now on an ex- 
 alted throne (Phii. 2 : 9-u). He urges 
 on them the duty of overcoming, in 
 this case overcoming sluggishness and 
 indifference. There will be for them 
 the reward of reigning with Christ, a 
 joint heirship with Christ (Rom. 5 : 17). 
 The same relation that Jesus bears to 
 the Father, the believer bears to Christ 
 (1 Cor. 2 : 23). Jesus could not give a 
 larger promise than that here given, 
 that of heirship with God through him- 
 self. The promise is a wonderful in- 
 spiration to repentance, zeal, faithful- 
 ness. 
 
 22. God made the ear that it might 
 listen to him. He that hath an 
 ear, etc. This exhortation follows 
 each epistle. Wider than the churches 
 — all who have ears to hear are ad- 
 dressed — not only the letters, but the 
 revelation that follows. 
 
 Note. A general view of the 
 CHURCHES. 1. As to church gov- 
 ernment. While nothing is said di- 
 rectly on the form of church govern- 
 ment, yet incidental hints are given, 
 throwing light on that of the first cen- 
 tury. Each church is seen to be inde- 
 pendent of all others. There is no 
 common church occupying an entire 
 district, no individual church losing 
 its identity in that of others. Each 
 church is addressed as a church dis- 
 tinct from others. Each church is also 
 held responsible for permitting errors 
 to be taught within tlie limits of the 
 membership (2 : 20). The church, as 
 a church, is charged with the main- 
 tenance of sound doctrine. This, of 
 course, carries with it the right of ex- 
 clusion from the church for wrong 
 
174 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 [Ch. III. 
 
 teaching and wrong living. There is 
 no shadow of the papacy or any gov- 
 erning power outside of or above tlie 
 individual church. There is no bishop, 
 in any modern use of that terra. So 
 far as we see the church life of tliis 
 early century it is tliat of au inde- 
 pendent, self-governing body. 
 
 2. As to heresies in the church. In 
 the letter to the Ephesians, allusion is 
 made to some who claimed to be apos- 
 tles (2:2). No indication is given as 
 to the character of their teachings. 
 These teachers may have been Judaizers 
 affirming that to be a Christian one 
 must first be a Jew, or Antinomians, 
 declaring that the moral law has no 
 claims upon Christians, leading di- 
 rectly, on the part of most, to licen- 
 tiousness. At Smyrna (2:9) and at 
 Philadelphia (3 : ») are those claiming 
 to be Jews, but are not in reality. The 
 Jews here spoken of may have been in 
 the church, destroying its peace by 
 unduly exalting Moses; or Jews on 
 the outside disturbing it by opposition. 
 The existence of false teachers in Ephe- 
 sus was foretold by Paul (Acts 20 ; 29). 
 Their existence there is asserted in 2 
 Tim. 1 : 15. We find evidence also of 
 Gnostic elements in the churches. 
 These declared that matter was not the 
 creation of God, that matter is sinful, 
 that Jesus had no real fleshly body, 
 associated almost always with licen- 
 tiousness in life. Teaching that matter 
 is of necessity sinful, it declared that 
 it was useless to try to keep it under 
 control or subdue it. In two churches 
 licentiousness is found in connection 
 with idolatrous worship (2 : ", 20). 
 Such uncleanness came in all prob- 
 ability from Gnosticism. As to the 
 method of testing false teachei's (2 : 2), 
 the churches had tlie presence of men 
 who had known the apostles, the apos- 
 tolic traditions, a part of the New Tes- 
 tament writings, the guidance of the 
 Holy Spirit. 
 
 3. As to persecution. Persecutions 
 had taken place, to which allusion is 
 made in 2 : 13. Persecution was every- 
 where associated with the early New 
 Testament church life. Sometimes it 
 was widespread, sometimes merely 
 local. It arose sometimes from Jew- 
 ish, sometimes from heathen, sources. 
 In many places allusion is made to 
 the endurance needed. Every letter 
 
 bears witness to the life of constant 
 struggle. Each letter closes with the 
 promise to the overcoming man. Tlie 
 poverty of the Smyrna church (2 : ») 
 may have been due to social and busi- 
 ness ostracism or to persecution. The 
 letters breathe the spirit of a time of 
 tribulation and martyrdom. 
 
 4. The ideal of the church. Christ's 
 conception of the church is every- 
 where apparent — a body of holy peo- 
 ple, overcoming in life, patient, en- 
 during, full of love and helpfulness. 
 He desires a church growing in all 
 forms of church life, maintaining 
 soundness of teaching, apart from all 
 moral evil. Jesus rejoices with the 
 churches in their holy life, counsels 
 them in their infirmity, upbraids them 
 in their weak conformity with the 
 world. Nothing will satisfy Jesus but 
 such a church life as will manifest him 
 to the world in the fulness of his 
 purity, power, life, and teaching. A 
 regenerate membership is assumed. 
 These letters know nothing of any 
 sacramental power in the church itself 
 or in the ordinances. Christ alone can 
 save. 
 
 5. Individual characteristics. Each 
 church has a life of its own. Ephesus 
 was sound in faith, active in service, 
 but lacking in love. Smyrna was full 
 of service, suifering, persecution. No 
 censure is passed on this church. Per- 
 gamos is, in part, faithful ; in part lax 
 in discipline, having licentiousness in 
 the church. Thyatira is active with a 
 growing love, but lax in discipline in 
 permitting a false teacher to remain in 
 the church. Worldliuess has largely 
 come into the church. Sardis was 
 living on its past. It has a dead pres- 
 ent. It is deficient in all respects, only 
 a few holding the faith. Philadelphia 
 is faithful, limited in resources, meet- 
 ing with opposition. Laodicea is luke- 
 warm in affection and service, mistaken 
 as to its own condition. Its condition 
 is the worst of the seven. 
 
 These cuurches are looked upon as 
 real churches, in each of which Christ 
 has a real interest. Very defective some 
 are, yet regarded as churches. They 
 fall very far short, taken as a whole, 
 from the ideal of the church as pre- 
 sented in the vision (1 : 12). In some 
 one or more of these churches every 
 church will find its own counterpart. 
 
Ch. III. 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 175 
 
 For a helpful work on the letters to 
 the churches read Trench's " Letters 
 to the Seven Churches." Also Ram- 
 say's. 
 
 Practical Remarks. 
 
 1. The Holy Spirit is essential to the 
 eflBciency of Christ's work. Without his 
 work, no one would feel his sin, be led to 
 Christ, be renewed in heart, be built up 
 in holiness. Jesus has the Spirit, and 
 sends the Spirit to carry on his work in 
 the heart. Jesus is the intercessor on 
 high with God ; the Holy Spirit is the in- 
 tercessor in the heart with man (ver. 1). 
 
 2. What a thing really is depends on 
 wliat God thinks of it. Jesus compares 
 man's works with God's requirements. 
 Weighed and found wanting will be 
 written on every man's life, apart from 
 the forgiveness of Jesus and the help of 
 God (ver. 2). 
 
 3. Backsliding will be remedied by a 
 remembrance of the first love, by an 
 earnest repentance, by a closer walk with 
 God. No one who wishes to get back to 
 God is too far away. The cure for back- 
 sliding is not remorse, but repentance 
 (ver. 3). 
 
 4. Truth does not always lie with major- 
 ities. Few, comparatively, were in the 
 church ; lew in the church, compara- 
 tively, were real Christians. We must 
 not walk with the multitude, but with 
 truth (ver. 4). 
 
 5. Association with wealth, fashion, 
 worldliness takes away the spirituality of 
 the life. Only in a separation is safety. 
 It is possible to be in the world, but not 
 of it. In the worst places the best Chris- 
 tian lives may be formed. Association 
 with Christ here involves walking with 
 Christ hereafter (ver. 4, 5). 
 
 6. Even the whitest garments here are 
 defiled. The best man has flaws in char- 
 acter. Jesus will give a growing white- 
 ness here, and a complete whiteness here- 
 after (ver. 5. 6). 
 
 7. It is well that no man or church has 
 power to shut out of heaven or to ad- 
 mit. Stephen was stoned as unworthy to 
 live, but Jesus opened the door for him 
 (ver. 7). 
 
 8. When Jesus makes an open door for 
 service, it should be entered. Paul had 
 
 the open door, and entered it (ver. 8 ; 1 
 Cor. 16 : 9). 
 
 9. Jesus notices, and rewards faithful- 
 ness on the part of his servants. Carey 
 worked seven years before one convert 
 came. God gave him this reward that 
 even his enemies were led to honor him 
 and cherish his memory (ver. 9). 
 
 10. Jesus has a wonderful keeping 
 power. Man needs a keeping Saviour, for 
 he cannot keep himself (ver. 10). 
 
 11. If a man is faithful, Christ will 
 crown him ; if he is faithless, he throws 
 his crown away. If a man crowns Christ 
 as his king, Jesus will crown him as 
 friend and victor (ver. 11). 
 
 12. To belong to God is a high honor, a 
 pledge of safety, and an incentive to 
 holiness and devotion. Every believer 
 ought to write Christ's name on his 
 business and life (ver. 12). 
 
 13. Jesus is the head of creation, and 
 bears it up. He is faithful in maintaining 
 the laws of nature ; in keeping his prom- 
 ises. More fixed than nature's laws are 
 his words to his people (ver. 11). 
 
 14. The tendency of days of prosperity, 
 when Christianity is accepted in a general 
 way by all, is to a state of indifference. 
 The heart begins with earnestness, then 
 loses its warmth and settles down into 
 inactivity. It sometimes is easier to bring 
 a soul to Christ than to arouse and revive 
 a dwindling life (ver. 15). 
 
 15. Jesus can do nothing with luke- 
 warm people while lukewarm. He loves 
 outspokenness, decision, whole-hearted- 
 ness. An outspoken life, like Saul's, be- 
 comes the whole-hearted Paul when 
 Christ comes in. It is better for a life to 
 burn out tnnn to freeze out (ver. 16). 
 
 16. To deceive one's self is easy. A 
 wrong standard of judging, the overlook- 
 ing of our faults, with Satan's blinding, 
 will lead astray. It is a wise prayer: 
 " Show me myself." Ps. 139 : 23, 24 is a 
 good prayer for all (ver. 17). 
 
 17. Jesus has all things needful for ma- 
 king a rich and beautiful life. Spiritual 
 blessings, golden hopes, the blessedness 
 of forgiveness, the right view of things, 
 all come from Christ to enrich each man 
 who is willing to receive them. The 
 poor in spirit alone can buy from Jesus 
 (ver. 18). 
 
176 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 [Ch. III. 
 
 18. Jesus sees the heart that he may 
 make it right. His love is an incentive 
 to repentance (ver. 11)). 
 
 19. Jesus should be treated as well as 
 an earthly friend. Many are good Sa- 
 maritans to their neighbors who vriU 
 not permit Jesus a place in their hearts 
 (ver. 20) . 
 
 20. It will help the struggling Christian 
 to remember that Jesus passed over the 
 same road He knows the meaning of 
 life in all its fulness ; its temptations and 
 perils. He, having overcome them, knows 
 how to help his followers to overcome 
 (ver. 21). 
 
 21. The same perils confront the 
 churches to-day that met them in the 
 first century. If Je.sus were here to-day 
 in person he would speak to his churches 
 vrords of approval, of counsel, of censure, 
 of threatening. He has the same mind 
 to-day that is revealed in these letters. 
 If the churches belong to Christ they 
 must listen to Christ (ver. 22). 
 
 Section III. Chapters IV, V. 
 The vision of God and of the 
 Lamb. The.se chapters, which form 
 part of one whole, are introductory to 
 the main contents of the book. With- 
 out them the remaining parts would 
 be unintelligible. We have had a 
 vision of the Lord .Tesus as a present, 
 ever-living, conquering Chri.st, having 
 in mind his churches for their upbuild- 
 ing in faith and the subjection of their 
 foes. We have seen the churches in 
 their actual life, their corruptions in 
 doctrine, the opposition of Satan, the se- 
 ductions of worldliness. The churches 
 are partly conquering, partly con- 
 quered. Before the future is revealed, 
 the struggles yet to come, the new 
 forms of evil that should arise with 
 the growing corruption in the church, 
 there is first l)rought to view a sight of 
 the glorious Father in whom all power 
 resides. Back of and above all nature, 
 history, all the forces about us, is the 
 great God. We see in this vision how 
 God's thoughts and plans concern the 
 churches on the earth. We see the 
 churches, not exi.sting apart from his 
 control, but under his control. The 
 churches engaged in struggles on the 
 earth may well feel encouraged when 
 they know that this great God is in- 
 
 terested in them. The same one who 
 is worshiped by the angels, and by the 
 saved of all ages, is their friend. There 
 is also a vision of Jesus, the conquer- 
 ing Christ, conquering because a cru- 
 cified Saviour. The church is his, 
 bought with his blood ; it is his to-day. 
 No one apart from revelation may even 
 guess what its future shall be. Its his- 
 tory is a sealed book. But Jesus fore- 
 tells it in a highly figurative way, 
 unfolds it not for the gratification of 
 curiosity, not as mere history with its 
 definite dates, but in a large and gen- 
 eral way gives its outlines. It is not a 
 history written beforehand. But the 
 future is revealed, as it were, in the 
 form of parables. Jesus is the founder 
 of the church, he is also its prophet, 
 making known the general course of 
 its struggles and its triumphs. He is 
 also that mighty one who brings the 
 things thus foretold to pass. The history 
 of the church is not an accident. Jesus 
 is .seen as the center of an admiring 
 worship on the part of the redeemed, 
 of all the creation, because it is seen 
 that the unfolding of the church's his- 
 tory is under his control. Before John 
 and the struggling churches of that 
 day, before us in this day, is the sight 
 of the Almighty God caring for the 
 churches ; the sight of Jesus, the Lamb 
 of God, having their safety, their prog- 
 ress and development, their outcome in 
 glory under his own personal control. 
 We have in chapter V a sealed book, 
 the history of God's cause on the earth. 
 We then have an unsealing Saviour. 
 The remaining chapters of this book 
 give the contents of that unsealed 
 book. 
 
 The Lord Jesus stands forth as God's 
 great agent, not simply as unfolding 
 what is to be, but as the one bringing 
 it to pass. Nothing less than this could 
 have presented so great a difficulty — a 
 difficulty too great to be removed by 
 the assembled holy intelligences. It 
 was a work of opposition, of war, of 
 conquest, as is evident from the term 
 applied to Jesus, " the Lion of the tribe 
 of Judah." The work before Jesus 
 Christ is the universal po.s.session and 
 sovereignty of the earth, (see Matt. 28 .- 
 is) The book is therefore the book of 
 the inheritance, laying open the way 
 in which the earth is to be placed under 
 subjection to Christ, It is sealed com- 
 
Ch. IV.] 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 177 
 
 Vision of God and his throne; the worship 
 in heaven. 
 
 4 AFTER this I looked, and, behold, 
 oa door ivas opened in heaven: and 
 Pthe first voice which I heard wot as it 
 were of a trumpet talking with me ; 
 which said, iCouie up hither, 'and I 
 
 4 AFTER these things I saw, and, 
 behold, a door set open in heaven, 
 and that first voice wnich I beard at 
 of a trumpet speaking with me, say- 
 ing, Come up hither, and I will show 
 
 o Ezek. 1:1. p 1 : 10. j 11 : IS ; comp. Kiek. 3 : 12 ; 8 : S ; 2 Cor. 12 : 1, 
 
 r 1 : 19 ; M : «. 
 
 pletely, a complicated mystery. It is 
 as redeemer that Jesus is seen ap- 
 proaching the book, to disclose and 
 fulfil its burden. The method by 
 which Jesus is to enter upon his right- 
 ful possession is through his media- 
 torial work, through his cross, and 
 all the spiritual agencies that spring 
 from the cross. (se« Joho h :sj.) There 
 must first be the gathering of a people 
 to be the agent and helper of Christ, 
 and then the putting down of all oppo- 
 sition. From the nature of the case 
 this work will embrace a wide terri- 
 tory, many centuries, many agencies, 
 but of the issue there can be no doubt. 
 We have here the marshaling of the 
 moral and spiritual forces — the Al- 
 mighty God, the Redeemer, the Holy 
 Spirit, good angels, the powers and 
 activities of nature under the control 
 of God. Again and again in this book, 
 at the end of each section, there is the 
 assurance or statement of the final 
 triumph. This section is therefore a 
 general one, preparatory to the details 
 of the varying forms of the opposition, 
 the conflict, and the victory. Having 
 seen the church as it actually is in the 
 world in chapters II, III, the seer now 
 gives us a representation of the vic- 
 torious progress that awaits her in her 
 future and impending conflicts. If the 
 book of Revelation were to close at the 
 end of this section, we would be aware 
 of an intense opposition to the Christly 
 reign, of a long series of events before 
 the final consummation, of mighty 
 forces to be engaged on both sides, and 
 of a great and abiding victory for the 
 Redeemer at the close. Heaven is jubi- 
 lant as it beholds the issue of the strug- 
 gle. Compare Porter, "The Messages 
 of the Apocalyptical Writers," on these 
 chapters. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Here is a vision of the Almighty 
 Father upon the throne. A view is 
 given of the very center and source of 
 
 M 
 
 all power. God is the holy and 
 almightj^ God — a ruler. Unseen by 
 men his plans and power extend 
 through the universe. Fittingly in 
 this chapter we get, first, a sight of 
 God. In the next chapter is a sight of 
 Jesus, through whom God works. The 
 book unfolds, in an orderly way, the 
 development of Christ's cause upon 
 the earth. Back of the church and its 
 progress on the earth is Christ, its head 
 and ruler. Back of Christ is God the 
 Father. John shows to us God. 
 
 1. An open door. We have a door 
 opened into heaven, through which 
 John gets a view of God and his wor- 
 ship. It is a heavenly portraiture of 
 what will soon take place upon the 
 earth. He is called hither by the 
 voice heard in 1 : 10. 
 
 After this means soon after, in 
 close connection with the vision which 
 precedes in 1 : 19. Looked, rather, 
 saw. Door Avas opened, rather, a 
 door opened. He saw the door stand- 
 ing open, he did not see it when opened. 
 Through this opened door he looked 
 into heaven. The scene is placed in 
 the upper sanctuary, not upon the 
 earth. It is in wisdom and mercy that 
 a door is opened so that men may know 
 what God is and does and plans to do. 
 Apart from revelation we may only 
 guess what shall be in after ages, and 
 what the upper life is. The first 
 voice alludes to the voice heard in 
 1 : 19. He does not mean the first 
 voice as distinguished from the many 
 voices afterward heard in this book, 
 but the first voice heard. Omit was. 
 Which said, rather, one saying. In 
 the opened heaven he saw the vision 
 of things to occur on the earth. He 
 saw history in the making. The vision 
 is also for us that we may look through 
 the opened door with John. 
 
 2, 3. A SIGHT OF God. We have 
 a statement of what John saw. Natu- 
 rally he would see first that great Being 
 without whom creation and redemption 
 
178 
 
 EEVELATIO^ 
 
 [Ch. IV. 
 
 will show thee things which must be 
 hereafter. 
 
 2 And immediately » I was in the spirit. 
 And, behold, 'a tlirone was set in 
 heaven, and one sat on the throne : 
 
 3 and he that sat was to look upon like 
 a jasper and a sardine stone. "And 
 there tvas a riiinbow round about the 
 throne, in siglit like unto au emerald. 
 
 thee the things which must take place 
 after these. 
 
 2 Straightway I was in the Spirit ; and, 
 behold, there was a throne set iu 
 heaven, and one sitting on the throne ; 
 
 3 and he who sat was in appearance like 
 a jasper stone and a sardius ; and there 
 was a rainbow round the throne, in 
 
 » 1 : 10 ; 17 : 3 ; 21 : 10. 
 
 t Isa. 6:1; Jer. 17 : 12 ; Ezek. 1 : 26-28 ; 10 : 1 ; Dan. 7 : 9. 
 
 Ezek. 1 : 28. 
 
 and providence could not be. John I 
 first sees God. No description of him 
 is here given in a di.stinct way. He 
 is revealed, in a general way, as a 
 being of holiness and majesty com- 
 bined with grace. The jasper reveals 
 his holiness ; the sardius his righteous- 
 ness ; the rainbow his gracious dis- 
 position. 
 
 2. It is better to join hereafter, 
 which is, literally, after these things, 
 with this verse, reading as in the 
 Margin of the Revised version, After 
 these things immediately I Avas 
 in the spirit. As in 1 : 10 he sees 
 this heavenly vision as with outward 
 eyes, but really in an uplifted spiritual 
 state. Paul speaks of his heavenly 
 vision in the same way (2 cor. 12 : 2). 
 The expression, in the spirit, is always 
 used without the article, literally, in 
 spirit. This does not mean in the dis- 
 embodied state, nor under the influence 
 of the Spirit, nor in a state of holiness, 
 but in a state of spiritual ecstasy, in a 
 special relation to him who is Spirit. 
 A throne was set in heaven, 
 rather, there was a throne set in heaven. 
 He did not see it placed there. Look- 
 ing through the door he saw it already 
 
 located. (Comp. Ezek. l; Dan. 7 : 9.) OUB 
 
 sat on the throne, rather, one sitting. 
 This is intended to represent the Father. 
 The Holy Spirit is spoken of in ver. 5 ; 
 Jesus is introduced in 5:6. Moses 
 ?Exod. S3 : 23), Isaiah (na. 6), Ezekiel 
 (Ezek. 1 : 26), all had manifestations of 
 the Godhead. No attempt is made to 
 describe him in a definite and detailed 
 way. It is intimated, though in an in- 
 definite way, that the divine person is 
 shadowed forth in a human form, as in 
 Isa. 6:1,5; Ezek. 1 : 26 ; Dan. 7 : 19 ; 
 Exod. 33 : 23 ; comp. Deut. 4:12. God 
 is spirit (John 4 : 24), hencc no repre- 
 sentation of him can be made. His 
 moral nature is revealed in a clear and 
 distinct way. John makes no attempt 
 to describe the unspeakable glory of 
 
 the person of the Father, though he 
 speaks of his hand in 5:1. Art has 
 never undertaken to describe the per- 
 son of the Father or Spirit, reserving 
 its powers to describe the person of 
 Jesus, who had a real human form. 
 The vision guards us against material- 
 istic and debasing conceptions of God. 
 We see God through Jesus Christ. 
 
 3. We now have the character of 
 God described in highly figurative ex- 
 pressions. He is like jasper, a pre- 
 cious stone described as red, green, 
 yellow. By a comparison with 21 : 11 
 it must be understood here as having a 
 pure whiteness. The Father is a God 
 of utter holiness of character. Sar- 
 dine, rather, sardius, is a sparkling 
 red stone. This signifies God's right- 
 eousness that comes out in punishment, 
 that can tread down the oppressor, that 
 can punish the ungodly. God is not 
 this only ; if he were, there would be 
 no hope for us. To be holy and right- 
 eous would mean heaven for the holy 
 and hell for the ungodly, but no salva- 
 tion for sinful men. The rainbow is 
 significant of mercy, of hope. The 
 rainbow is the emblem of God's cove- 
 nant of grace (Gen. 9:13). Whether 
 the rainbow was all green, emerald, 
 or Avhether it was restful to the eye as 
 this color, cannot be determined. John 
 sees and describes God as a holy, right- 
 eous, and merciful being. Such a God 
 may be loved, admired, sought after. 
 Such a God can welcome pardoned sin- 
 ners to heaven. Tenderness and holi- 
 ness are united in a glorious way la 
 
 God (1 P«^'" a : 6, 8 ; Heb. 12 : 28). 
 
 4-8. The attendants of God: 
 the elders, the holy spirit, the 
 LIVING CREATURES. John next sees 
 the representatives of the redeemed 
 church above. It would be a great 
 encouragement to John and his fellow- 
 Christians, suffering distress, to know 
 that their brothers are in heaven, shar- 
 ing its joy and power. It is a prophecy 
 
Ch. IV.] 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 179 
 
 4 * And round about the throne tvere 
 four and twenty seats: and upon the 
 seats I saw four and twenty elders sit- 
 ting, y clothed in white raiment: 'and 
 they had on t.ieir heads crowns of 
 
 5 gold. And out of the throne proceeded 
 » lightnings and thunderings and 
 voices; ^and there were seven lamps of 
 fire burning before the throne, which 
 
 4 appearance like an emerald ; and 
 around the throne were twenty-four 
 thrones ; and on the thrones t\\ enty- 
 four elders sitting, clothed in white 
 garments, and on their heads crowns 
 
 5 of gold. And out of the throne come 
 forth lightnings, and voices, and thun- 
 ders ; and there were seven lamps of 
 fire burning before the throne, which. 
 
 X 11 : 16 ; Dan. T : 22 ; Matt. 19 : 28 ; Luke 22 : 30. 
 
 a a : S ; 16 : 18 ; Exod. 19 : 16 ; Ps. 18 . 13, 14. 
 
 y 3 : *, 5; 19 :8, 14. 
 
 s Ver. 10. 
 
 5 Ezek. 1 : 13; Zech. 4 : 2. 
 
 that they, through faithfulness, may 
 dwell in God's presence. 
 
 (1) The elders. About the throne 
 are twenty-four elders representing 
 the redeemed of both dispensations. 
 They delight to be near God, pure in 
 heart, crowned as kings (ver. 4). 
 
 (2) The Holy Spirit. As indicative 
 of the judgments about to come upon 
 the earth lightnings proceed from the 
 throne. Seven bright burning lights 
 stand for the Holy Spirit in the com- 
 pleteness of his work, lighting up God's 
 providences, always accompanying his 
 works. The Spirit throws light upon 
 God and his ways (ver. 5). 
 
 (3) The four living creatures. Before 
 the throne is a glassy sea adding to the 
 majesty of the scene. Four creatures, 
 full of life, are seen, one on each side 
 of the throne. They are nearest God 
 in their approach. They are full of 
 intelligence and activity, of holiness 
 and praise. _ Unceasingly they attribute 
 to the Almighty the possession of com- 
 plete holiness of character. They begin 
 the praise that fills the heavenly tem- 
 ple (ver. 6-8). 
 
 4. Seats, rather, thrones. These 
 are subordinate to the great central 
 throne. The elders are spoken of in 
 many places in this book (i : 10, 11 ; 5 : 
 
 5, 6, 8-11, 14; 7 : 11, 13-17; 11 : 16-18; 14 : 3 ; 
 
 i» : *). They represent the redeemed 
 people from the earth, both the Old 
 and New Testament saints. There 
 were twelve tribes, representing God's 
 people of the olden times. There were 
 twelve apostles, representing the New 
 Testament followers of God. For allu- 
 sions to the twelve apostles see Matt. 
 19 : 28 ; Luke 22 : 30 ; Rev. 21 : 12, 14. 
 The elders stand for conscious persons, 
 for they ofi'er voluntary worship ; they 
 display intelligence and sympathy 
 (7 : 13). They represent the redeemed 
 from the earth, for they ascribe salva- 
 
 tion to Christ (5 : 8-11). They act in a 
 priestly way (5 ; 8). The vision reveals 
 to John that the godly are not lost, but 
 possess a personal life. They worship 
 God, they have sympathy with their 
 struggling brothers, they have power 
 with God. They are pure, clothed in 
 white raiment; they are kings, they 
 have golden crowns. 
 
 5. There is now a revelation of 
 another person of the Godhead, the 
 Holy Spirit. Naturally, in order of 
 thought, Jesus would next be presented. 
 When he appears it is in close connec- 
 tion with the history and development 
 of the church that belongs to him. 
 Proceeded, rather, proceed. John, 
 in vision, beholds and hears light- 
 nings, thunderings, and voices. 
 They awaken awe, reveal God's power, 
 show the terribleness of his dealings. 
 They reveal nothing of special sig- 
 nificance, but they make a deep im- 
 pression upon the mind of John. They 
 show the severer side of God's nature, 
 and prepare the way for his heavy 
 punishments upon the wicked, as shown 
 in this book. In whatever way God is 
 revealed, it must be through symbols, 
 whose meaning will be plain to us. The 
 Holy Spirit is now revealed to us under 
 the figure of seven lamps of fire 
 burning before the throne. In 
 the tabernacle was the seven-branched 
 candlestick. The churches are repre- 
 sented by the seven lampstands (i : 20). 
 In Zech. 4 the seven-branched candle- 
 stick represents the Holy Spirit. These 
 lights irradiate the throne of God. The 
 great mission and purpose of the Spirit 
 is to reveal the character of God, to 
 make known his will to men. As the 
 Spirit has no bodily shape, it is fitting 
 that the fire, bright, consuming, ir- 
 radiating, should stand for his work. 
 The Spirit is an eternal person, revealed 
 especially in the New Testament, after 
 
180 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 [Ch. IV. 
 
 6 are "^the seven Spirits of God. And 
 before the throne Ihere was "i a sea of 
 glass like unto crj-stal. 'And in the 
 midst of the throne, and round about 
 the throne, were four beasts full of eyes 
 
 7 before and behind, f And the first 
 beast xuas like a lion, and the second 
 beast like a calf, and the third beast 
 had a face as a man, and the fourth 
 
 6 are the seven spirits of God ; and be- 
 fore the throne as it were a glassy sea 
 like crystal ; and in the midst of the 
 throne, aud around the throne, four 
 living creatures full of eyes before and 
 
 7 behind. And the first creature was 
 like a lion, and the second creature 
 like a calf, and the third creature 
 having the face as of a man, and the 
 
 C 1 :4; Zech. 4 : 10; Matt. 3 ^ H. 
 
 d 15 : 2 ; Exod. 24 : 
 / Ezek. 10 : 14, 20-22. 
 
 e Isa. 6:1-3; Ezek. 1 : 5-10. 
 
 the ascension of Christ. Where God 
 is, the Spirit is. The Spirit opens the 
 works and words of God to us ; at tlie 
 same time he opens our hearts to re- 
 ceive them and understand them. 
 
 6. We here meet witli four myste- 
 rious representations, with forms unlike 
 anytliing in actual life. If they were 
 portrayed on canvas they would be 
 grotesque and repulsive. But taken as 
 representations of moral ideas, they 
 are highly suggestive. These are most 
 mysterious of all the attendants upon 
 the Almighty. They are nearest in 
 their approach to God ; they lead in 
 the worship of God as Creator. All 
 the surroundings of the throne are 
 beautiful, instructive, pleasing to the 
 eye. And . . . crystal, rather, ^>kZ 
 before the throne as it were a glassy sea, 
 like crystal. Before the temple was a 
 sea, the brazen vessel, full of water (i 
 Kings 7 : 23). In frout of the upper tem- 
 ple is this glassy sea, perhaps solid 
 (15 : 2) J giving the idea of calmness, of 
 repose, as when the sea is quiet. In 
 all likelihood the figure of the brazen 
 laver on the earth suggested the glassy 
 sea in the upper life. No unclean man 
 could enter the earthly temple; he 
 must remove all defilement in the 
 laver. No uncleanness can enter the 
 upper sanctuary ; all is moral clean- 
 ness there. The glassy sea suggests 
 and declares holiness as an essential of 
 heaven. In the midst of the throne. 
 This does not mean that they supported 
 the throne or formed a part of it, but 
 suggests their nearness to it, their iden- 
 tification with the life and plans of 
 God. Each one may have stood at the 
 middle part of one side of the throne. 
 Round about, on each side. Beasts, 
 rather, living creatures. Nothing is 
 more unfortunate than the rendering, 
 beast. The word rightly rendered 
 beast, is found in 1.3 : 1-4, meaning a 
 savage, wild, fierce creature. Here the 
 
 word means a creature whose whole 
 being is distinguished by life in its 
 fulness. It not only exists, as do all 
 creatures, but it has life as its char- 
 acteristic. The foundation for these 
 mysterious forms is found in Ezekiel 
 and Isaiah. In Ezekiel we see four 
 cherubim, each in the form of a man, 
 having four faces each, four wings 
 each, alongside of whom were wheels 
 full of eyes. In Ezek. 12 the entire 
 l)ody was full of eyes, signifying the 
 fulness of intelligence. In Isa. 6 we 
 have the seraphim, meaning the shi- 
 ning ones, in the form of a man, with 
 six wings each, crying, "Holy, holy, 
 holy is the Lord of hosts." Over the 
 ark of the covenant (Exoa. 26 : i), and on 
 the inside of the tabernacle, were fig- 
 ures of cherubim, whose form is no- 
 where accurately described. The living 
 creatures here described are unlike 
 any other Old Testament figures, com- 
 liining the forms of Ezekiel and Isaiah. 
 We may notice the characteristics of 
 these creatures. They are full of in- 
 telligence, as shown by the eyes in all 
 parts of the body. The upraised wings 
 are also full of eyes ; they uuweariedly 
 praise God for his complete holiness ; 
 they represent the highest forms of the 
 intelligent creation, the man, the ox, 
 the eagle, the lion. AVliile intimately 
 associated with the redeemed from the 
 earth, represented by the twenty-four 
 elders, they are at the same time dis- 
 tinct from them. The number four 
 signifies a certain kind of complete- 
 ness, one on each side of the throne. 
 They join with the elders in the praise 
 for redemption. 
 
 7. Iteast, rather, creature. It is 
 probable that in every case the body 
 was that of a man with the differing 
 heads. These four forms present the 
 four highest classes of the animate 
 creation. As a man, rather, as of a 
 man. The Septuagiut translators often 
 
Ch. IV.] 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 181 
 
 8 beast was like a flying eagle. And the 
 four beasts had each of them esix 
 wings about him ; and they were ^ full 
 of eyes within. And they rest not day 
 and night, saving, 
 
 i"Holy, ho'ly, holy— Lord God Al- 
 mighty " [Isa. 6 : ;<], 
 k Which was, and is, and is to come. 
 
 9 And when those beasts give glory 
 and honour and thanks to him that 
 sat on the throne, ' who liveth for ever 
 
 10 and ever, ""the four and twenty elders 
 fall down before him that sat on the 
 throne, and worship him that liveth 
 for ever and ever, ■> and cast their 
 crowns before the throne, saying, 
 
 11 • Thou art worthy, O Lord— to receive 
 glory and honour and power : 
 
 p For thou hast created all things, 
 And ifor thy pleasure they are and 
 were created. 
 
 fourth creature like an eagle flying. 
 
 8 And the four creatures having each 
 of them six wings, around and within 
 are full of eyes ; and they have no rest 
 day and night, saying. Holy, holy, 
 holy, is the Lord God, the Almighty, 
 who was, and who is, and who is to 
 come. 
 
 9 And when the living creatures shall 
 give glory, and honor, and thanks, to 
 him who sits on the throne, to him 
 
 10 wtio lives forever and ever, the twenty- 
 four elders will fall down before him 
 who sits on the throne, and will wor- 
 ship him who lives forever and ever, 
 and will cast their crowns before the 
 throne, saying, Worthy art thou, our 
 Lord and our God, to receive the giory, 
 and the honor, and the power ; because 
 thou didst create all things, and be- 
 cause of thy will they were, and were 
 created. 
 
 g Isa. 6:2. h Ver. 6 ; Ezek. 1 : 18 ; 10 : 12. i Isa. 6:3. ft 1 : 4 ; Ps. 90 : 1. 
 
 I 1 : 18 ; 5 : 14 ; Exod. 15 : 18 ; Isa. 40 : 28 ; Jer. 10 : 10 ; Heb. 7 : 25. m 5 : 8, 14. 
 
 n Ver. 4. o 5 ; 12 ; 1 Chron. 16 : 27, 28 ; 29 : 10-12 ; Neh. 9 : 5, 6. 
 
 p Gen. 1:1; Heb. 3:4. { Prov. 16 : 4 ; Rom. 11 : 36. 
 
 render the Greek term for calf by ox 
 
 (Exod. 22 : l). 
 
 8. Here we have a further descrip- 
 tion of the living creatures and their 
 worship. The six wings (comp. isa. e) 
 indicate swiftness. The eyes indicate 
 great intelligence. Day and night 
 reveals the untiring energy that re- 
 joices in con.stant praise. The three- 
 fold praise, Holy, holy, holy, may 
 indicate a threefold distinction in the 
 person of the Godhead, hinted at in the 
 Old Testament, revealed fully in the 
 New Testament. God is defined in a 
 threefold way, the one who had no be- 
 ginning, the present one, the one who 
 is to be made manifest in the future. 
 While there is no allusion to Christ, 
 the close union of Christ with God, 
 and his second coming taken together, 
 form this e.xpression : and is to come 
 (1 : 8). Heaven is a place of worship. 
 
 9-11. The song of heaven. The 
 four creatures give unceasing praise to 
 God on the throne. The redeemed 
 from the earth follow in praise. They 
 praise him especially for his creative 
 power, in that through him all things 
 began to be and exist (ver. 9-11). 
 
 9, 10. The Revised version renders. 
 And tvhen the living creatures shall 
 give glory and honor and thanks to hhn 
 that liveth forever and ever, the twenty- 
 four elders shall fall down. The future 
 tense is not unlikely a frequentative, 
 
 meaning as often as they lead in praise 
 the twenty-four elders will follow in 
 praise. The living creatures lead in 
 the worship. They give a threefold 
 service, glory, honor, thanks. The 
 elders express their homage in a three- 
 fold way, they fail down, they wor- 
 ship, they cast their crowns before 
 him. They are high in station ; but a 
 vast gulf separates them from the in- 
 finite Creator. Their crowns, either as 
 kings or conquerors, they ascribe to 
 him. What they are, he graciously 
 made them. 
 
 11. We have the words of praise, 
 Thou art . . . power, rather, Worthy 
 art thou, our Lord and our God, to re- 
 ceive the glory and the honor, and the 
 power. He receives praise as Creator ; 
 the praise for redemption comes out in 
 the further vi.sion. For . . . created, 
 rather. For thou didst create all things, 
 and because of thy will they were, and 
 were created. God is praised as creator 
 of all things. 
 
 Note. — Symbols as teachers. In the 
 Old Testament great stress is laid upon 
 teaching by symbols. The books of 
 Isaiah, Zechariah, Daniel, Jeremiah, 
 contain illustrations of this method of 
 teaching. The tabernacle and the 
 temple were, in their entirety, sym- 
 bolic teachings. The altar which the 
 man entering first faced announced 
 
182 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 [Ch. V. 
 
 The sealed book to be opened by the Redeemer ; 
 
 songs of praise to him. 
 5 AND I saw iu the right hand of him 
 
 5 AND I saw, in the right hand of him 
 
 the man's sin. The lavei- declared that 
 no unholy man could meet God. The 
 altar of incense affirmed the accept- 
 ance of prayer. The shewbread and 
 the lamp revealed the strength and joy 
 of God's fellowship. In the holiest of 
 all God dwelt in a symbolic way ; there 
 ■was access to him through a mediator, 
 and forgiveness through the blood. 
 The entire gospel Avas announced 
 through the structure of the building 
 erected according to God's plan. 
 
 When God would announce the future 
 of his church, and the character of tlie 
 heavenly life, this is done through 
 figures and symbols. That God reigns 
 in the universe is shown by a throne. 
 That God is faithful to his promise is 
 shown by the rainbow. That God is the 
 center of the moral universe is shown 
 by the worship rendered him by all 
 creatures; God's hidden purposes is 
 manifested by a sealed book. The un- 
 folding of the future, and of the real- 
 ities of the unseen life, may be given 
 more impressively and often in a 
 plainer way by figures than by words. 
 The problem before the reader of this 
 book is to ascertain what the symbols 
 
 Practical Remarks. 
 
 1. Heaven is not a sealed place to us. 
 Though no one on earth has ever seen it, 
 we maybe thankful that a door is opened 
 into it through Jesus Christ (ver. 1). 
 
 2. God is the supreme ruler of the uni- 
 verse. No one can break down his throne, 
 though men may make war upon him, 
 forget him, deny his existence. God re- 
 mains God, and will hold his enemies in 
 derision (ver. 2; Ps. 2). 
 
 3. God is not simply holiness and jus- 
 tice, else there would be no salvation for 
 us. He is not all mercy, else punishment 
 would not come. As all the primary 
 colors make the white, so all moral qual- 
 ities give him a nature pure and un 
 spotted (ver. 3). 
 
 4. The redeemed of all ages will find 
 their home iu heaven, in God's immediate 
 presence. They pass out of imperfect 
 lives into lives of purity, and are crowned 
 
 as conquerors. Every age will contribute 
 its share to the heavenly host (ver. 4). 
 
 5. God's thunderings have no terror for 
 his children. They abide under the 
 shadow of his wings His throne is one 
 of grace and help for his people (ver. 5). 
 
 6. The highest qualities of mind are 
 needed in God's service— courage, endur- 
 ance, wisdom, high aspiration. One talent 
 rightly used is better than ten talents 
 unused (ver. 7). 
 
 7. God is worthy of receiving honor 
 from men and thanks. Worship is be- 
 coming to us, and acceptable to him. 
 Heaven is full of praise, for it is full of 
 the sense of God's goodness. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 In the preceding chapter we had a 
 sight of tlie Almighty God on his throne, 
 surrounded by living creatures and the 
 redeemed, in worship. We now have 
 a sight of Jesus in a twofold relation 
 to God and his own people. 
 
 We stand at the portals of the main 
 thought of the book, the unfolding of 
 the course of the Redeemer's cause on 
 the earth. Jesus, the Redeemer, that 
 mighty one seen in vision in 1 : 13-18, 
 is again seen actively engaged for his 
 people, in opening to them their future, 
 and in leading the way to triumph. 
 Three persons stand out conspicuously : 
 (3rod the Father, giving to the Son the 
 revelation of things to come, making 
 disclosures of the divine plan ; Jesus 
 the Mediator, that one who through the 
 entire course of human history is the 
 middle man between God and man ; 
 John the revelator, seeing in symbol 
 the divine thoughts, and showing them 
 to us. 
 
 We have in this chapter the sealed 
 roll (ver. 1-5) ; Jesus Opening the roll 
 (ver. 6, 7) ; the rcsultaut heavenly songs 
 of the living creatures, the angels, the 
 entire creation (ver. 8-i4). 
 
 1-5. The sealed roll. 
 
 1. In his spiritually uplifted state, 
 through the opened door, John sees 
 upon the throne the Almighty, and 
 upon the open palm of his right hand, 
 a roll. It is on his right hand, the 
 
Ch. v.] 
 
 KEVELATION 
 
 183 
 
 that sat on the throne f a book written 
 within and on the backside, 'sealed 
 with seven seals. 
 
 2 And I saw a strong angel proclaim- 
 ing with a loud voice, Wlio is worthy 
 to open tlie book, and to loose the seals 
 
 3 thereof? 'And no man in heaven, nor 
 in earth, neither under the earth, was 
 able to open the book, neither to look 
 
 who sat on the throne, a book written 
 within and on the back, sealed up with 
 
 2 seven seals. And I saw a strong angel 
 proclaiming with a great voice. Who 
 is worthy to open the book, and to 
 loose its seals ? 
 
 3 And no one was able, in heaven, nor 
 on the earth, nor under tlie earth, to 
 open the book, or to look thereon. 
 
 Ezek. 2 : 9, 10. 
 
 < 6: 1; 
 
 . 29 : U; Dau. 12 : 4. 
 
 ( Isa. 40 : 13, 14 ; 63 : 5 ; Rom. 11 ; 34. 
 
 symbol of authority. God's power is 
 to be used in the furtherance of his 
 cause ; his authority, as revealed, is to 
 be maintained. We have the same 
 thought expressed in 1 : 1 : "The rev- 
 elation which God gave unto him." 
 Through this book we see the unfold- 
 ing of God's mind. A book, rather, 
 roll, like one of the sacred rolls used 
 in the temple or synagogue. Written 
 . . . back side, rather, ivrittcn ivithin 
 and on the back. This was done iu 
 order to utilize to the fullest extent 
 the parchment, writing on both sides. 
 Writings of this kind were called 
 " Opistographs." A roll thus written 
 would indicate, in a symbolic way, 
 that there being no further space for 
 writing, the roll contains the entire 
 mind of God concerning tliis matter. 
 God's purpose is full and complete, to 
 his knowledge there is no addition. 
 John sees the roll and, observing it 
 intently, sees the writing on the out- 
 side. For a like revelation, see Ezek. 
 2 : 10. Sealed with seven seals, 
 rather, close sealed. It is a matter of 
 course that no one may know the future, 
 it remains hidden from us. The 
 seven indicates the complete impene- 
 trability of the future, apart from the 
 revelation granted by God. God knows 
 the end from the beginning. We may 
 conceive of the roll having the seals 
 on the end of the roll, visible to the 
 eye, so that one being broken the roll 
 may be partially unfolded. We may 
 infer nothing of the length of time sig- 
 nified by the successive seals, nor the 
 time when the fulfilment begins. At 
 the Vjreaking of one seal a part of God's 
 pui-pose is made known ; each succes- 
 sive seal adds to our knowledge of his 
 revealed will. What is meant by the 
 roll ? It is not the book of life spoken 
 of in 13 : 8 ; 21 : 27, a book that belongs 
 exclusively to the Lamb. The roll is 
 not the record of all things, according 
 to which all will be judged (m : it). It 
 
 represents here the purpose of God con- 
 cerning his cause on the earth. We 
 have no record of John reading in the 
 book as the seals are broken. But we 
 may believe that the apocalypse itself, 
 as we have it before us, in its rich and 
 impressive imagery, represents sub- 
 stantially the contents of the roll. 
 For instances of the seal see Isa. 29 : 
 11; Dan. 12 : 4. 
 
 3. The completeness of the sealing 
 is shown in this verse. A strong 
 angel, there are differing grades 
 among the angelic ho.st (i Peter 3:22). 
 This is one of God's mighty ones, in 
 God's behalf showing the futility of 
 human wisdom to reveal God's plans. 
 It is a cry to the universe of created 
 things in behalf of the Creator. Who 
 is worthy in character, in power, in 
 knowledge to make known the future 
 of God's people? In ancient contests 
 a herald appeared, making known the 
 greatness of his cause and challenging 
 to combat. See the story of Goliath 
 
 (1 Sam. 17). 
 
 3. The mighty champion of God 
 finds no response. The living crea- 
 tures, the elders, the angels, were finite 
 creatures, they could not break open 
 God's plans. The result is, no man, 
 rather, no one among those living in 
 heaven or on the earth or among the 
 dead could be found. Under the 
 earth does not have reference to the 
 spirits of the lost, but means the dead 
 in a general way. Placed in the ground 
 they are looked upon as having gone 
 down into the regions below. The 
 voice of the angel is thought of as 
 reaching all parts of the universe. 
 God is seen to be God dwelling in 
 his unapproachableness. Sometimes 
 prophets declared the future, but it 
 was only through God's inspiring 
 Spirit. No one was worthy even to 
 look upon the roll as if to read the 
 fragmentary writing on the outside. 
 
 4. John preserves his identity and 
 
184 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 [Oh. V. 
 
 4 thereon. "And I wept much, because 
 no man was found wortliy to open and 
 to read tlie book, neither to look 
 thereon. 
 
 5 And one of tlie elders saith nnto iiie, 
 Weep not: behold, 'tlie Lion of the 
 trilie of Juda, ."the Root of David, hath 
 prevailed to open the book, «and to 
 loose the seven seals thereof. 
 
 6 And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst 
 of the throne and of the four beasts, 
 
 4 And I was weeping much, becau.se no 
 one was found wortliy to oiien the 
 
 5 book, or to look thereon. And one of 
 the elders says to nie. Weep not; be- 
 hold, the Lion that is of the tribe of 
 Jiidah, the Kwitof David, prevailed to 
 open the book, and its seven seals. 
 
 6 .\nd I saw, in the midst of the throne 
 and of the four living creatures, and 
 
 D.^u. 7 : 15, 16. 
 
 X Quu. 49 : 9 ; Ucb. 7 : 14. 
 
 y 32 : 16. 
 
 t Vcr. 1 ; : 1 ; M»tt. 38 : 18. 
 
 consciousness in his uplifted state. 
 Loving the churches among wliicli lie 
 niinistered, with desires raised to a 
 high degree to know the history of the 
 church, greatly h)nging to see the 
 kingdom widened into a universal 
 sovereignty, and seeing that no one is 
 found eveu to look upon the roll, he 
 wept much. Daniel, under like cir- 
 cumstances, fasted, sitting in sackclolli 
 and n.shes (i>nu. 9 : a). No mere curiosity 
 prompted his desire to know the con- 
 tents of the roll; he desired to see 
 Christ enthroned as Lord auion^ men. 
 The 1, in the Greek, is emphatic, " I, 
 for my part, wept much." He was 
 anxious, liaving seen the great God on 
 his throne, to know liis mind concern- 
 ing the outcome of the struggles on the 
 earth. The proclamation of the angel 
 showed God's conception of the tre- 
 mendous import and worth of the things 
 contained in tlie roll; the silence 
 showed the limitations of all creaturely 
 life to understand God's mysteries. 
 
 5. Comfort comes from one of the 
 representatives of the redeemed. The 
 elders, rei)resenting the redeemed from 
 the eartli, would naturally sympathize 
 with John more than the angels or tlie 
 living creatures. The redeemed church 
 makes known God's kind intentions. 
 The church is not divided, the church 
 on earth and the church in heaven 
 having a common svmpathy for each 
 other, arising from the love for a com- 
 mon Christ. Jesus is described in a 
 twofold way, the Lion of the tribe 
 
 of Juda (see Oeu. -19:9), alluding tO 
 
 his human descent from Judali ; the 
 Root of David, alluding, not to his 
 divine nature, hut the sprout springing 
 from David that shall grow into a 
 stately tree (isi- n : i). Jesus is a de- 
 scendant of David, the man of war; is 
 of the tribe of Judah, tlie lionlike 
 tribe. lu his heavenly life he is de- 
 
 scribed in terms indicative of his human 
 character and life. This one hath 
 prevailed, ratlier, orercanw. The 
 overcoming referred to is tlie over- 
 coming in tlie mediatorial life, the 
 overcoming of temptation, the wiles 
 of Satan, the power of sin and death, 
 the removal of guilt, the defeat of 
 Satan, and his ultimate suppression, so 
 far as God's peoj)le arc concerned, the 
 introduction of riglitcousncss, involv- 
 ing the exaltation of Jesus himself and 
 his people tlirougli liim. He is worthy 
 to opeu the book — roll — and the 
 seals. Omit to loose. No one in 
 heaven so enters into sympathy with 
 God's cause and people on the earth, 
 has such power and knowledge as to 
 unfold the future, and to lead in the 
 development of God's cause upon the 
 earth. Jesus is meek and lowly toward 
 the penitent, but he is also, in refer- 
 ence to government and Icadersliip, 
 the conqueror, the lionlike leader, the 
 holy David, the man of conquest. 
 
 6", 7. Jesits opening the roll. 
 The main thought of the preceding 
 verses is the sealed roll. It contained 
 God's thoughts concerning his king- 
 dom, but no one was found worthy to 
 open it. A new person now appears, 
 Jesus, whom John had seen on the 
 earth, on wliose bosom he had lain. 
 He again appears as in 1 : 13, but in a 
 synil)olic way. 
 
 (>. The position of Jesus in the scene 
 indicates his lofty nature. He was 
 close to the throne, in the midst of 
 the throne. This book everywhere 
 joins the Father and the Lamb in an 
 inseparable worsiiip (."> : i^). On earth 
 he could not be numbered among men, 
 in heaven he cannot lie classed with 
 created things — t>ven the highest. To 
 him the Old Covenant pointed; from 
 him the New Covenant came. He is 
 the express image of the person of God 
 
Ch. v.] 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 185 
 
 and in the midst of the elders, stood 
 • a Lamb as it liad been slain, ■> naving 
 seven horns and "seven eyes, which 
 are ''the seven Spii-its of Ood, sent 
 7 forth into all the earth. And he came 
 and took the book out of the right 
 band • of him that sat upon the throne. 
 
 in the midst of the elders, a Lamb 
 standing, as if slain, having seven 
 horns and seven eyes, which are the 
 seven spirits of God sent into all the 
 7 earth. And he came, and has taken it 
 out of the right hand of him who sits 
 
 a Ter. 9, 12 ; 13 : 8 ; I«a. 53 : 7 ; John 1 : 29 ; Hcb. 9 : 14; 1 Peter 1 : 19. b Dao. T : 14. 
 
 c 2 CbroD. 16 : 9 ; Zech. 3 : 9 ; 4 : 10. c{ 1 : 4 ; 4 : 5. e 4 : 2. 
 
 (Heb. 1:3); in him dwells the fulness 
 of the Godhead bodily (f'"i. 2 : »). Notice 
 the high position accorded to Jesus in 
 his person and work in Col. 1 : LV20. 
 In f<>rm he appears as a Lamb. This 
 word, occurring twenty-eight times in 
 this book, differs from the word u.sed in 
 other parts of the New Testament, ex- 
 cept in John 21 : i'>. It is a neuter 
 noun, a diminutive in form, used per- 
 haps in an endearing sense. Jesus 
 conquered as a lion because he was a 
 lamb in nature. John harl pointed to 
 Jesus, in the Jordan Valley, as the 
 Lamb of Gf)d (Johu 1 : 2»). The lamb 
 is indicative of passiveness, of purity, 
 of sacrifice. Here the chief signifi- 
 cance of the Lamb is that it presents the 
 appearance as it had been slain, 
 rather, as though if, had hein sacrificed. 
 The expression has reference to the 
 sacrificial death of the Lamb. The 
 words as though do not intimate that the 
 sacrifice had been in appearance only. 
 It had been a real sacrifice which John 
 himself had witnfssed ( J"hn 19 : 26). The 
 fact of the sacrifice is spoken of else- 
 where in this book, "The first and the 
 la.st and the living One became dead " 
 (i : i»). There was upon the Lamb the 
 mark of its having been offered. Jesus, 
 on coming from the grave, bore the 
 marks of tne nails and the spear, there- 
 by declaring his identity and showing 
 the means whereby he secured for 
 us salvation. He has all power, as 
 shown by the seven horns. The 
 horn is the symbol of power, (seei 
 KiDgi 22 : 11 ; zech. 1 : 18.) Jesus claimed 
 the pos.session of all power (Matt. 28 : is). 
 He nas seven eyes, indicating com- 
 pleteness of intelligence. Among the 
 Egyptians the eye was the symbol of 
 omniscience. This book needs to be 
 read in the light of the Old Testament 
 imagery. For a reference to the seven 
 eyes, see Zech. 3:9; 4 : 10. 
 
 7. There is in Jesus the full sense of 
 a personal worthiness, also a full de- 
 
 termination. He had heard the chal- 
 lenge of the strong angel. When no 
 one responded, then he responded. 
 There is here a giving on the part of 
 God, a receiving on the part of Jesus. 
 Jesus is the mediator between God and 
 the church. He was mediator when 
 on earth, he is mediator in heaven. 
 There is a oneness of mind between the 
 various persons of the Godhead. Jesus 
 said, " 1 and my Father are one " (Joi'u 
 10 : .10). He took, rather, hath taken. 
 These words imply the keeping of the 
 roll in his possession. He retains 
 the roll in order that he may execute 
 the judgments here portrayed on the 
 enemies of the church ; that he may 
 lead the church to its ultimate uni- 
 versal conquests. He overcame in his 
 own per.son ; he must now lead his 
 followers and his church to a like 
 overcoming. 
 
 8-14. The song.s in heaven. 
 There is a thrill of joy in heaven when 
 Jesus takes the book, giving assurance 
 to the redeemed that their cause is his 
 cause. There is first the song of the 
 living creatures and theelders (vcr.s-io). 
 Everything about the unseen life is 
 based upon reason. Naturally the re- 
 deemed would be most interested in 
 the progress and outcome of the Re- 
 deemer's work. There is in their wor- 
 .ship and love an element that cannot 
 belong to the angelic worship. The 
 song of the angels is found in ver. 
 11, 12. 
 
 In the central part of the scene is the 
 Almighty Father on the throne, the 
 ever-blessed Lamb, who has achieved 
 redemption, the light-giving Spirit 
 with his sevenfold light, the four living 
 creatures, and the twenty-four elders, 
 the highest of creaturely beings, and 
 the redeemed from all the ages. Now 
 we get a sight of the angelic throng. 
 Jesus assures us that the anj^els rejoice 
 over every enlargement of his kingdom 
 
 (Luna 15 : 10). 
 
186 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 [Ch. V. 
 
 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 sharps, and 
 golden vials full of odours, ^ which are 
 
 9 the prayers of saints. And ' they sung 
 a new song, saying, 
 
 8 on the throne. And when he took the 
 book, the four living creatures, and the 
 twenty- four elders, fell down before 
 the Lamb, having each one a harp, 
 and golden bowls full of incense, 
 which are the prayers of the saints. 
 
 9 And they sing a new song, saying, 
 
 / 4 : 8, 10. 
 
 g 14 : 2 ; 15 ; 2. 
 
 A 8 : 3, 4 ; Ps. 141 : 2. 
 
 The song of all created things is 
 found in ver. 13. 
 
 There is now a widening of the circle. 
 Begun by the creatures and the elders, 
 taken up by the angels, embracing 
 thus the entire sentient holy creation, 
 the song is now taken up by the ma- 
 terial creation. It is a beautiful and 
 sublime representation. The existence 
 of evil men shut up in tlieir place of 
 banishment (Matt. 25 : 46) ; of Satan to 
 be shut up finally (Rev. 20 : 10) ; of nature 
 yet suffering under the cur.se of sin (Kom. 
 8 : 21); these things are not thought of in 
 that glad hour, when God is praised. 
 
 8. Those nearest the throne, the liv- 
 ing creatures and the elders, begin the 
 songs of praise. The harp is a rem- 
 iniscence of the earthly temple, the 
 symbol of praise. It is probable that 
 in this praise and worship the elders 
 take the leadership as being more im- 
 mediately concerned, sharing, as the 
 living creatures do not, in the benefits 
 of Christ's redemption. It is probable 
 also that the living creatures join in 
 the song in sympathy with the re- 
 deemed, tliemselves servants of God 
 and rejoicing in the laouor given to the 
 Lamb. The harp stands for praise. 
 If heaven be made intelligible to us it 
 must be through representations that 
 have a meaning to us in our earthly 
 life. Golden vials, rather, golden 
 bowls ; that is, open vessels like .saucers. 
 Odours, rather, incense. In the tem- 
 ple worship the altar of incense, the 
 ascending smoke, and the odor filling 
 the sanctuary, were pictures of tlie 
 moral beauty of prayer, with its power 
 to reach God and influence God's rev- 
 elations to man. While the smoke of 
 the incense ascended, prayers went up 
 
 to God. (See Luke 1 : 9, 10 ; Ps. 141 : 2.) The 
 
 temple worship in all its parts was a 
 visible teaching of God's trntli. and a 
 help to the spiritual life. Tlie prayers 
 of saints refers, not to the saints in 
 heaven, but to the saints on earth. 
 Heaven is preeminently a place of 
 
 praise. The saints in heaven may join 
 their prayers with tlie saints on earth 
 that God's will may be done gladly 
 and universally. The prayers of earth 
 are represented as brought to the notice 
 of God througli the living creatures 
 and the elders. We are not to infer 
 that there is any m'edium between the 
 believer's praying to God direct in the 
 name of Jesus (Joha 14 : 13). Direct 
 prayer to God is also taught in tliis 
 book (i» : 10; 22 : 8, 9). The Roman 
 Cliurch teaches that we are to pray to 
 the saints in heaven. But this is 
 against the express teaching of Jesus 
 that we are to pray to God direct, and 
 it would imply also their omnipresence 
 if prayer to them were to be effective. 
 That the elders have anything to do in 
 the presentation of our prayers to God 
 cannot be aflirmed from this passage. 
 All that it means is that our prayers 
 reach God, are a source of delight to 
 him, are effective in bringing about 
 results. If, in a figurative way, it is 
 to be sho\vn that our prayers are set 
 before him, it must be through some 
 such agency as that of the elders or 
 other intelligent creatures. They are 
 not here represented as interceding for 
 the saints on the earth. It is here 
 taught that prayers have great influ- 
 ence in heaven, in deciding the course 
 of earthly aflairs. Coming out of 
 troubled hearts, seemingly wasted, they 
 are treasured up, they bring about 
 triumphs on the earth, they hasten the 
 coming of the kingdom. In answer to 
 their prayers the Lamb took the book, 
 to reveal words of comfort in the im- 
 pending judgments upon his foes and 
 the deliverance for his church and 
 faithful friends. 
 
 9, 10. Sung, rather, siyig, express- 
 ing the continued song of praise. Their 
 adoration continues throughout eter- 
 nity (4 : 9, 10). On earth there are 
 many breaks in the song ; joy gives 
 way to sorrow ; in heaven the song is 
 continuous. The new song is in con- 
 
Ch. v.] 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 187 
 
 kThou art worthy to take the book, 
 and to open the seals thereof : 
 For thou wast slain, and 'hast re- 
 deemed us to God by thy blood 
 ""Out 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. 
 
 Worthy art thou to take the book, and 
 to open its seals ; because thou wast 
 slain, and didst redeem to God by thy 
 blood out of every tribe, and tongue, 
 10 and people, and nation ; and didst 
 make them to our God a kingdom and 
 priests, and they will reign on the 
 earth. 
 
 t 4 : 11. J 14 : 4 ; Matt. 20 ; 28 : 28 : 28 ; Acts 20 : 28 ; Col. 1:14; Hcb. 9 : 12. 
 
 m 7 : 9 ; John 10 : 16. n 1 : 6 ; 20 ; 6 ; Dan. 7 : 18, 27 ; 1 Cor. 6:2,3. 
 
 trast with the old song, celebrating the 
 creative power and wisdom of God, 
 given before (* = n)- The new song 
 celebrates the fact of the atoning sac- 
 rifice of Jesus, the redemption wrought 
 through him. It will be an ever-new 
 song because it reveals perpetually the 
 blessedness and ever-widening salva- 
 tion that comes to tlie redeemed soul. 
 It is new also in that it announces the 
 
 E ending triumphs of the Lamb over 
 is enemies and his conquests on the 
 earth, ending in complete victory. It 
 is a distinct advance over the matters 
 contained in the songs of chapter IV. 
 Five things are asserted in the song : 
 that Jesus has achieved a redemption 
 for his people ; that this redemption is 
 by means of the sacrifice of himself; 
 that its results are seen among all na- 
 tions ; that Jesus has exalted his people 
 to a royal and priestly rank ; that he 
 therefore is worthy to take the book 
 and reveal its contents. Jesus has re- 
 deemed men, that is, has bought thera 
 as in 1 Cor. 6 : 20. They liad been in 
 bondage, they are now freed from that 
 bondage and brought into a new rela- 
 tion to God. Jesus, using a diflferent 
 term, speaks of a ransom for men (Matt, 
 ao : 28). The method of redemption is 
 through the blood, the sacrifice on the 
 earth. Jesus teaches the same truth 
 that salvation is through the blood 
 (Matt. 26:28). The _ word us should 
 be omitted, the living creatures were 
 not redeemed by the blood. The elders, 
 representing all the redeemed of all 
 ages, owe their salvation to Christ. 
 The benefits of his death avail to all 
 believers, both before and after the 
 
 coming of Christ (Re", is : » ; Heb. 9 : 15). 
 
 The width of the saving work of Christ 
 is seen in saving men from every kin- 
 dred, rather, tribe, tongue, people, 
 nation. The fourfold terms used in- 
 dicate the world-wide mission and effect- 
 
 iveness of Christ's work. Gentiles and 
 Jews alike are saved by the blood of a 
 common Saviour. Jesus speaks of the 
 wideness of his work (Matt. 8 : ii). 
 
 There's a wideness in God's mercy 
 Like the wideness of the sea. 
 
 There is an elevation to a glorified life. 
 It is a royal life, exalted, full of dig- 
 nity and lionor — sharing in Christ's 
 royalty. It is also a priestly life, em- 
 bracing tlie ideas of holiness of char- 
 acter, nearness of access to God, con- 
 secration to service, helping in the 
 widening of Christ's cause on the earth, 
 making sacrifices of thanksgiving. 
 Because of his sacrifice Jesus is de- 
 clared to be worthy to take the book 
 and open it. God highly exalted Jesus 
 because of his sacrifice (Ph''- « : 6-ii). 
 Men ought to exalt Christ, making 
 him their supreme Lord, even as God 
 has highly exalted him. The entire 
 passage should read : Worthy art thou 
 to take the book, and to open the seals 
 thereof ; for thou uast slain, and didst 
 purchase t(vfo God with thy blood men 
 of every tribe, and to7igue, and people, 
 and nation, and madest than to be itnto 
 our God a kingdom and priests. And 
 we shall reign on the earth, 
 rather, and they rei^n vpo7i the earth. 
 It is a present reigning here spoken of. 
 The redeemed of the Lord are at pres- 
 ent in fellowship with Christ, they 
 share in his work, in his final conquest. 
 Tliere is a present reign and kingship of 
 Christ (1 Pf'-r 3 : 22). This book reveals 
 the final triumph over all his foes. As 
 kings and priests on the earth they 
 have a share with Christ in an ever- 
 widening spread of the kingdom. All 
 things are in process of being subjected 
 to Christ, being placed under his feet 
 (1 Cor. 15 : 27 ; Heb. 10 : 13). This reigning 
 will be more and more manifest in time. 
 At present seeming defeats mark the 
 
188 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 [Ch. V. 
 
 11 Aad 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 p ten 
 thousand times ten thousand, and 
 
 12 thousands of thousands ; saying with 
 a loud voice, 
 
 q Worthy is the Lamb that was slain, 
 To receive power, and riches, and 
 wisdom, 
 
 And strength, and honour, and glory, 
 and blessing. 
 
 13 And r every creature which is in 
 heaven, and on the earth, and under 
 the earth, and such as are in the sea, 
 
 11 And I saw, and I heard a voice of 
 many angels, around the throne and 
 the living creatures and the elders, and 
 the number of them was ten times ten 
 thousand, and thousands of thousands, 
 
 12 saying with a great voice. Worthy is 
 the Lamb that has been slain, to receive 
 the power, and riches, and wisdom, and 
 strength, and honor, and glory and 
 
 13 blessing. And every creature which 
 is in the heaven, and on the earth, 
 and under the earth, and on the sea, 
 
 1 : 1, 6. 
 
 p Ps. 68 : 17 ; Dan. 7 : 10 ; Heb. 12 : 22. 3 4:11; Matt. 28 : IS ; Phil. 2:9-11. 
 
 r Ps. 96 : 11-13 ; 148 ; Isa. 42 : 5-13. 
 
 course of Christ's cause, but in time all 
 will acknowledge his sway (p'"!- 2 = 10. 
 11). Sometimes that which will be 
 completely true in time is spolien of as 
 if it had already come to pass. In this 
 way Christians are called saints (Pbii- 
 1:1); they are spoken of as if without 
 sin (1 JoiiQ 3:6); they are regarded as 
 already possessing all things (1 Cor. 3 : 
 22). The elders praise the Lamb on 
 account of the glories of redemption 
 viewed in itself, and the consequent 
 triumphs that come from it upon the 
 earth. Heaven and Christianity would 
 not be, if it were not for the crucified 
 and glorified Christ. 
 
 11. I beheld, rather, I saw. As he 
 looked he heard. The angels, perhaps, 
 form a complete circle about the throne, 
 or a semi-circle, that they might see 
 the more clearly the One upon the 
 throne. Tliey are farther from the 
 throne as not so immediately concerned 
 in the progress of Christ's cause on the 
 earth as the redeemed from the earth. 
 There is a bond of nearness between 
 Christ who came into a life in the flesh, 
 and those who came into heaven from 
 the life on the earth. The angels are a 
 distinct order of beings — holy, intel- 
 ligent, active in God's service, the term 
 meaning messenger. John gives the 
 impression made upon him as that of 
 vast numbers (Dan. 7 : 20). The angels 
 did not join in the praise to God as 
 creator (* ■ 10) ; they now join in the 
 praise to Christ as redeemer. There is 
 a higher evidence of God's wisdom 
 and power in redemption than in crea- 
 tion. The one involves moral and 
 spiritual power, the other physical 
 might. 
 
 12. This verse has the angelic song. 
 It is with a loud voice they sing, 
 showing thus their intense admiration 
 and love. They rejoice that one so 
 worthy is to receive the highest honors 
 of the upper kingdom. The worthiest 
 there is the highest ; it is often other- 
 wise here. It is a sevenfold praise 
 they give to him. They praise liim as 
 the Lamb, the one sacrificed for men. 
 Was slain, rather, hath been slain. 
 Power, rather, the poicer. The ar- 
 ticle, the, belongs to each of the seven 
 terms of adoration. He is regarded as 
 tlie almighty, full of all the riches of 
 glorj% the wise ruler, wlio.se miglit is 
 shown in overcoming all opposition, 
 deserving of honor, worship, praise. 
 Jesus is regarded, by the angels, as the 
 manifested God (John u : 7). If angels 
 praise Christ for his redeeming love 
 
 (Luke 15 : 7 ; 1 Peter 1 : 12), how mUch mOre 
 
 should men for whose sins Christ died. 
 Some of the hymns of earth can be 
 sung in heaven : 
 
 All hail the power of Jesus' name, 
 Let augels prostrate fall. 
 
 13. Every creature, rather, every 
 created thing. The far-off" star, whose 
 light requires years to reach us, the 
 smallest oliject al>out us, everything 
 John heard praising God. In the 
 sea, rather, on thesea, meaning marine 
 animals, not including intelligent crea- 
 tures, such as sailors. Under the 
 earth does not here mean persons 
 under the earth, looked upon as the 
 habitation of the dead, but is a desig- 
 nation of a part of creation. The aim 
 is to sliow that the entire creation, in 
 all its parts, gives praise to God. All 
 
Ch. v.] 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 189 
 
 and all that are in them, heard I 
 saying, 
 
 'Blessing, and honour, and glory, 
 and power, 
 
 Be unto him 'that sitteth upon the 
 throne, and unto the Lamb, 
 For ever and ever. 
 14 "And the four beasts said. Amen. 
 And the four and twenty elders fell 
 down and worshipped him » that liveth 
 for ever and ever. 
 
 and all that are in them, I heard say- 
 ing. To him who sits upon the throne, 
 and to the Lamb, be the blessing, and 
 the honor, and the glory, and the 
 14 might, forever and ever. And the 
 four living creatures said. Amen. And 
 the elders fell down and worshiped. 
 
 a 1 : 6 ; 1 Cliron. 29 : U ; Kom. 9 : 5 ; 1 Tim. 6 : 16 ; Heb. 13 : 21 ; 1 Peter 5:11; Jude 25. 
 « 4 : 2, 3 I 6 : 16 ; 7 ; 10. « 19 : 4. i 4 : 9, 10. 
 
 that are in them, rather, all things 
 that are in them. The entire passage 
 must be understood in a figurative and 
 poetical way. In Ps. 145 the sun, 
 moon, stars, the snow, and hail are 
 called upon to give praise to God. 
 Blessiug and honour, rather, the 
 blessing and the honor. The article, 
 the, is to be repeated with each term. 
 PoAver, rather, dominion. Jesus is 
 worthj' of all that the world has of 
 praise and honor. He should be made, 
 by a voluntary choice, the supreme 
 Lord of the earth as lie is of the angels. 
 Creation came from God, it was made 
 through Jesus Christ, the eternal Word, 
 its laws are God's ways of thinking and 
 working, it was obedient to the com- 
 mand of Jesus, it shall, through the 
 sacrifice of the Lamb, be delivered 
 from its bondage and be introduced 
 into a glorious condition (Rom. 8 : 21 ; 2 
 Peter 3 : IS). The study of uaturc should 
 not lead to the hiding of the person- 
 ality of God, the Creator ; should not 
 beget agnosticism, or atheism. Accord- 
 ing to the vision here granted to John, 
 Jesus must be divine in his nature. 
 The Lamb is joined in the worship 
 with the Father. It is not conceivable 
 that, to the mind of a reverent Jew, 
 the name of any created being, how- 
 ever high, could be associated in the 
 worship of God, unless he also were 
 regarded as divine, in the strictest 
 sense. 
 
 14. The response of the creatures 
 and the elders. When the angels and 
 all the holy creation have rendered 
 praise to God, the living creatures give 
 a response. They began the song _ in 
 4 : 8-10, praising God for his creative 
 power. The universal praise to God 
 and the Lamb awakens a gracious re- 
 sponsive utterance. They unite in say- 
 ing, Amen. In heaven all is unity. 
 
 On earth there are discords and divi- 
 sions. Jesus gathers things together, 
 while sin scatters (natt. 12 : so). The 
 redeemed church, the elders, said 
 nothing, it fell down and worshiped. 
 The passage reads : And the four living 
 creatures said, Amen. And the elders 
 fell dotcn and worshiped. Omit him 
 that liveth forever and ever. 
 Heaven is a place of holj^ character, 
 of active service, of devout worship. 
 Without these it would not be the 
 Scripture heaven. It is, first of all, a 
 holy condition of heart, and then a 
 holy place for the holy heart. An 
 ungodly man, in whose heart is no 
 spirit of worship, would not find heaven 
 a delightful place. 
 
 Note. — Salvation through sacrifice. 
 The distinct teaching of the Old Testa- 
 ment is that forgiveness and salvation 
 come through the blood of sacrifice. 
 The altar and the priest stand out 
 prominently on every page of the older 
 Scriptures. The opening of Bible his- 
 tory reveals the wilful sin of man, his 
 guilt, and the method of forgiveness 
 through a sacrifice divinely established. 
 The fifty-third chapter of Isaiah por- 
 trays a suffering Messiah and forgive- 
 ness through his stripes. Daniel and 
 Zechariah speak of a Messiah cut off 
 for his people. The book of Hebrews 
 (9 : 22) affirms that without the shed- 
 ding of blood there is no remission of 
 sins. Jesus expressly taught that sal- 
 vation is possible through his death. 
 His blood is for forgiveness (Matt. 26 : 28). 
 Toward the close of his ministry three 
 times Jesus asserted the necessity for 
 his dying (Mark 9 : 31 ; 10 : S3, 45). After 
 his resurrection he affirmed the same 
 moral necessity for his sufferings (Luke 
 24 : 26). The great New Testament 
 teachers, Paul and Peter, unite in de- 
 
190 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 [Ch. V. 
 
 daring that salvation comes not 
 throu^li refined human character, but 
 through Christ's atoning death (Rom. 3 : 
 
 24; 1 Peter 3: 18). TilC Song of llCaVCn 
 
 declares that salvation is due to Christ's 
 mediatorial work. No name is heard 
 in heaven but that of Jesus. Praise is 
 given to Christ, not as teacher, wonder 
 worker, or sinless person, but to him 
 as the one who redeemed men through 
 his blood. 
 
 Practical Remarks. 
 
 1. God has thoughts and plans concern- 
 ing his people. It is well for God's cause 
 that it has God to care for it (ver. 1,2). 
 
 2. God is very high above all his crea- 
 tures. Even iu heaven there will always 
 be ignorance and weakness when meas- 
 ured by God's knowledge and holiness 
 (ver. 3). 
 
 3. A good man is interested in the prog- 
 ress of the kingdom, sorrows over its 
 hindrances, rejoices over its triumphs. 
 The attitude of the heart toward the 
 triumph of Christ's cause reveals what 
 the man is in the heart (ver. 4). 
 
 4. Jesus, in heaven, is the friend of the 
 church on the earth. Jesus is revealed in 
 heaven as the conquering Christ. His 
 cause on the earth will not be finally 
 defeated because he is the Lion of the 
 tribe of Judah (ver. 5). 
 
 5. Jesus Christ is all iu all to the Chris- 
 tian. He is this because he is the Saviour 
 who died. He did not remain dead, but 
 has tiie power of an endless life with God. 
 When no one could help, Jesus stood forth 
 the mighty mediator between them and 
 God (ver. 6). 
 
 6. The cause of Christ is not committed 
 to the hands of strong leaders among men 
 nor to angels. The execution of God's 
 thoughts of love for his people is placed 
 iu the hands of Jesus. He has the roll 
 in his hands, and has the names of his 
 people ou his heart (ver. 7). 
 
 7. Heaven is a place of praise. On 
 earth Paul could sing even in a jail. The 
 saints could find songs in the night-time. 
 But in heaven the harp is never hung on 
 the willow. Each one will have his own 
 harp (ver. 8). 
 
 8. Prayers are delightful to God and 
 elTicacious in producing results. A prayer 
 meeting may seem ineffective and dull, 
 
 but it may influence heaven, and turn 
 the course of history. Every Christian 
 may be an Israel, having power with God 
 and man (ver. 8). 
 
 9. In heaven they worship Jesus because 
 he is the Saviour. His redemptiou has a 
 world-wide efficacy, in bringing to glory 
 men from every nation. Heaven will not 
 be an empty place ; from all countries 
 men will crowd into it (ver. 9). 
 
 10. Christians have in them now the 
 beginnings of the blessedness and glory 
 of the heavenly life. Even now they 
 reign, when on the earth. The future, 
 with its blessedness, belongs to the Chris- 
 tian. The earth, and all God's posses- 
 sions, shall be theirs. The unpardoned 
 sinner will be very poor and desolate 
 (ver. 10). 
 
 11. The angels are countless in number. 
 They may be of more service to Christ's 
 cause than we know or think. They 
 helped Jesus in his time of need (Luke 
 22 : 43) ; they may, unknown to us, help 
 us. They take a deep interest in the con- 
 version of men, for the sake of Christ 
 (ver. 11). 
 
 12. Nothing is too good to give to Jesus. 
 We shall please Christ by thinking rightly 
 about him, by rendering praise to him, 
 by giving him the place in our heart and 
 life that he deserves. He is worthy of 
 being exalted to supreme rulership in 
 each life. He is worthy of our time, our 
 influence, our money. Our plans, our 
 beliefs, our conduct must be made to con- 
 form to the will of Christ (ver. 12). 
 
 13. Only intelligent creatures are capa- 
 ble of disobeying God. Nature submits 
 to his will without hesitation (ver. IS). 
 
 14. In heaven they understand Jesus, 
 and accord him divine honors. On earth 
 many mistakenly refuse to regard him as 
 divine. Heaven is wiser than earth in 
 thinking rightly about Jesus, and in 
 making Jesus supreme in their lives 
 (ver. 13). 
 
 Section IV. — The opening of the 
 SEALS. Chap. VI.-VIII. — We have 
 now reached that point in the apoca- 
 lypse where the main thought of the 
 book begins to unfold. The sealed roll 
 is unfolded little by little. The apoca- 
 lypse has three complete courses of 
 symbolic representations: the seals, 
 
Ch. v.] 
 
 EEVELATION 
 
 191 
 
 the trumpets, the vials or bowls. 
 Tiiese ruu parallel with each other, 
 presentiug the same course of history 
 viewed under ditiering aspects. The 
 seals represent the providence of God 
 toward the church, a parabolic history 
 of Christ's kingdom. We mustconsider 
 the seals, the trumpets, the bowls, not 
 as describing certain events in a chro- 
 nological succession so that the trum- 
 pets follow the seals in order of time, 
 but all of them covering the same space 
 of time. This will be evident from a 
 view of the three placed side by side : 
 
 Many of our Lord's parables, those 
 of the sower, the wheat and the tares, 
 the talents, present the divine kingdom 
 under varying aspects, and also show a 
 progressive advancement and final is- 
 sue. In the visions of Daniel there is 
 also an unfolding of the divine plans 
 under varying figures. In this series 
 the conqueror goes forth on his mission 
 of conquest; at the seventh seal we 
 have an utter silence, when the thun- 
 ders of God's throne have ceased to 
 sound (■* : 5), inasmuch as all opposi- 
 tion is broken down. There is in this 
 
 THE SEALS. 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 1. All have 
 
 2. reference 
 
 3. to the 
 
 4. earth. 
 
 THE TRUMPETS. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 1. All have ( The land. 
 
 2. reference J The sea. 
 
 3. to the j The rivers. 
 
 4. earth, v The sun. 
 
 THE BOWLS. 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 1. All have ( The land. 
 
 2. reference ) The sea. 
 
 3. to the ] The rivers. 
 
 4. earth, v The sun. 
 
 It will he noticed at a glance that 
 there is a similarity of structure, show- 
 ing conclusively that these are not suc- 
 cessive periods of time, but synchronal 
 periods. Whatever the opening of the 
 seals reveals, the same teachings, in 
 other aspects, are contained in the cor- 
 responding trumpets and bowls. The 
 entire book is constructed in a highly 
 artistic way. In the seven seals, a 
 perfect number, is the unfolding, in a 
 complete way, of God's action in be- 
 half of his church. In the seven trum- 
 pets, a perfect number, is the unfold- 
 ing, in a complete way, of God's action 
 toward a wicked world. In the seven 
 bowls, a perfect number, is the unfold- 
 ing, in a complete manner, of God's 
 action toward a degenerate church. It 
 is one God, revealing in vision his ac- 
 tions under differing aspects in behalf 
 of his cause on the earth. The first 
 group brings us to the end. The next 
 two groups, so far at least, begin at the 
 beginning, that they present to us the 
 evil world and the degenerate church 
 as exposed through all their history to 
 the just judgments of God. There 
 have always been in the world a church 
 of Christ, dear to him, a wicked and 
 ungodly world, and a church, to some 
 extent, a corrupt and degenerate 
 church. It is noticeable that at the 
 end of each of these three groups of 
 visions is a great earthquake (« : 12 ; n : 
 IS; 16 : 18). (For further consideration, 
 see Introduction.) 
 
 series the conception of completeness 
 presented in two symbolic ways, the 
 term seven, and the silence ushered in 
 by the last seal (8:i)- But thereis 
 room for supplemental revelations, in- 
 asmuch as in the seals everything is 
 presented in masses. We do not see 
 the definite agencies at work, and many 
 things are unexplained. Under the 
 fifth seal we see the souls of the mar- 
 tyred dead, but we have had no notice 
 of any persecution. In the after parts 
 of the book in the sixth trumpet (n = 
 7) we behold the servants of Christ 
 witnessing unto death. Thus the 
 various lines of visions correspond in 
 time, and they also supplement each 
 other. It is noticeable how each sec- 
 tion brings us over the same course, 
 and brings us to the same close viewed 
 under differing aspects. 
 
 The series of the seals brings us to a 
 close (8:1) when there is silence, all 
 opposition having broken down and 
 Christ is triumphant. 
 
 The series of the trumpets brings us 
 to a like close in 11 : 15, when it is an- 
 nounced that the kingdom of the world 
 is become the kingdom of Christ. 
 
 The series of the bowls brings us to 
 a final closing in 16 : 17, when the 
 voice from heaven declares "It is 
 done." 
 
 The fall of Babylon brings us to a 
 close in 19 : 7, " for the marriage of 
 the Lamb is come, and the bride hath 
 made herself ready." 
 
192 
 
 KEVELATION 
 
 [Ch. VI. 
 
 The sealed book— Opening of the first six tealt. 
 
 6 AND J 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. 
 
 2 And I saw, and behold >a white horse : 
 
 6 AND I saw, when the Lamb opened 
 one of the seven seals, and I heard 
 one of the four living creatures say- 
 
 2 iug, as a voice of thunder. Come. And 
 I saw, and beheld a white horse, and 
 
 tf &:&-1. 
 
 a 19 : 7-16 ; Zech. 6 : 3. 
 
 The fall of all the outward foes of 
 Christ, and the forces against Christ, 
 also introduces the end in 20 : 14. Com- 
 pare Swete, Introduction, p. xxix ff. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 The course of Christ's cause on the 
 earth is here presented in a symbolic 
 way. The Lamb having taken the roll 
 now proceeds to open it part by part, 
 breaking seal after seal. In the vision 
 John beholds the breaking of the seals. 
 There is a gradualness in the unfold- 
 ing of the teachings. We have here, 
 as the personal activities and agencies, 
 the Redeemer, the four living creatures, 
 the souls of the martyrs, the various 
 operations signified by the opening 
 seals. The chapter falls naturally into 
 two divisions. The first four seals con- 
 stitute one division, the closing three 
 the second. 
 
 1, 2. The opening of the first 
 SEAL. There is no break, in time, be- 
 tween the close of the song in chapter 
 V and the breaking of the seals. The 
 Lamb, in his character of the Lion of 
 the tribe of Judah, begins to unfold the 
 history of redemption in its origin, its 
 hindrances, its spread, its final triumph 
 on the earth. 
 
 1. The Lamb opened one of 
 the seals, rather, one of the seven 
 seals. And I heard ... see, rather, 
 And I heard one of the four living 
 creatures saying as with a voice of 
 thunder. Come. The one of the four 
 refers, in all likelihood, to the lion 
 which is mentioned first in 4 : 7. There 
 is an incongruity, in an artistic view, 
 in depicting the lion as speaking. But 
 the vision regards things, not in an 
 artistic aspect, but in a moral aspect. 
 There were thunderings proceeding 
 from the throne (* : 5), indicative of 
 God's judgments about to come upon a 
 guiltjr world. The voice of the crea- 
 ture is like thunder in its volume. 
 Omit, and see. The creature utters 
 one word, Come. This is not addressed 
 
 to John in order to bring him nearer, 
 otherwise it would not be repeated 
 again and again. It is not addressed 
 to the Lord Jesus as if the expectant 
 creatures and the church were waiting 
 for hip coming a second time, as in 22 : 
 17, 20. It is an appeal for the horse- 
 man to come forth, an appeal for the 
 hidden future to reveal itself. This is 
 in accord with the spirit of the entire 
 passage, and with the resulting appear- 
 ance. There is an expectant attitude 
 on the part of the church, the desire 
 for his coming to avenge his cause, to 
 manifest his glory, and take to himself, 
 in an outward way, the authority that 
 rightly belongs to him. But this can- 
 not be the meaning here. The thun- 
 der may indicate, as it often does in 
 this book, not simply the arresting of 
 attention, but the accompanying judg- 
 ments. 
 
 2. The answer comes at once. There 
 came a vision. No word apparently 
 was uttered, but every part of the vision 
 had significance. A white horse 
 appears. White is largely used in this 
 book as a symbol of purity, holiness ; 
 also of conquest, of victory. There is 
 a white throne (20 = n) ; there are white 
 robes (7 : 9). In 19 : 11 we have the 
 appearance of a rider on a white horse, 
 where it is no other than the glorified 
 Redeemer in his course of resistless 
 conquest. But here we can understand 
 not a conqueror in a merely earthly 
 sense, either in civil strife or foreign 
 conquest, but a holy being or a holy 
 cause. 
 
 Professor Ramsay believes that the 
 rider on the " white horse " represents 
 the Parthian king, and that commen- 
 tators, who try to force a Roman mean- 
 ing on this figure, are mistaken. But 
 Swete (p. 335) says that white horses 
 were, on occasions, used in Roman 
 triumphant processions, and quotes 
 Plutarch and Dion Cassius. He sees 
 in "the white horse" a picture of 
 "triumphant militarism," and thinks 
 " a vision of the victorious Christ would 
 
Ch. VI.] 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 19a 
 
 •"and he that sat ou him had a bow; 
 "and a crown was given unto him: 
 and he went forth conquering, and to 
 conquer. 
 
 3 And when he had opened the second 
 seal, <*! heard the second beast say, 
 
 4 Come and see. « And there went out 
 another horse that was red : and power 
 was given to liim that sat thereon fto 
 take peace from the earth, and tiiat 
 they should kill one another: and 
 
 he who sat on him had a bow ; and a 
 crown was given to liim ; and be came 
 forth conquering, and to conquer. 
 
 3 And vvheu he opened the second seal, 
 1 heard the second living creature say- 
 
 4 ing. Come. And there came forth 
 another horse, a red horse, and to him 
 who sat thereon it was given to take 
 away peace from the eartli, and that 
 they should slay one another ; and 
 
 b Pa. 16 : 3-5. 
 
 c 14: U; Dan. 7 : 14. d 4 ; 7. 
 
 / Matt. 10 ; 34 ; Luke 12 : 49, 51. 
 
 be inappropriate at the opening of a 
 series which .symbolizes bloodshed, 
 famine, and pestilence." But Moses 
 in his song (Exod. 15 : 3) says : " Jehovah 
 is a man of war." (Comp. Exoa. 14 : i4; 
 
 Deut. 7 : 1, 2 : Rev. 19 : 13-16.) In regard tO 
 
 the white horse and rider, whether a 
 Parthian, Roman, or Old Testament 
 symbol, it need not be used slavishly, 
 but freely, as a common form in a new 
 way, to suit new conditions. 
 
 The Cambridge Bible suggests that 
 these four riders signify the woes that 
 precede Christ's final coming ; that the 
 white horse signifies a conquest that 
 may be beneficial in its nature. But 
 in that event there would be no dis- 
 tinctive difference between the white 
 horse and the red hor.se of the second 
 seal. In each of the first four seals a 
 horse appears : the symbol of motion, 
 of activity; of war also, as in the Old 
 Testament times the horse was used 
 for war purposes. The Old Testament 
 foundation for this imagery is found in 
 Zech. 6 : 1-8, where four horses appear — 
 black, white, grizzled, bay or red. He 
 that sat on him. If this has refer- 
 ence to a person, then it will be needful 
 to designate each of the other riders as 
 a definite person. In no case is a defi- 
 nite person meant, but rather a cause, 
 a principle, an agency. The bow is, 
 for the times, a symbol of war. In 
 vision a crown is given to him, a 
 crown of conquest, of royalty. His 
 purpose in coming forth is shown in 
 conquering and to conquer. He 
 inarched on to victory. When the 
 struggle is over, the foe is crushed. 
 The Old Testament speaks of the Lord 
 as a mighty conqueror, beating down 
 
 all opposition (Ps. 2 ; 64 : 7-9 ; 110 : 3 ; Isa. 
 J« : 9). 
 
 3,4. The OPENING OF THE SECOND 
 
 SEAL. The second horse is red, the 
 N 
 
 color of blood, the symbol of war. It 
 is probable that the .second living crea- 
 ture (•':''), the ox, gives the call to the 
 horseman to appear. It is in vision 
 that John sees the red horse, and, at 
 once, knows the significance of it. In 
 the symbolism of this book we are not 
 to understand that actual war is meant. 
 It is a book in which words are not to 
 be pressed in their literal meaning. 
 War stands for calamity, suft'eriug, 
 woe, hardships of all kinds. War, in 
 the olden times, meant unbridled pas- 
 sions, the release of all the ferocity 
 dwelling in hunjan nature, savagery. 
 It describes the sorrow brought by a 
 sinful world upon itself through its 
 wilful rejection of its rightful Lord. 
 That the truth may win its way, and 
 opposition be broken down, the powers 
 of the ungodly must be weakened. 
 This is portrayed by the absence of 
 peace, and the vision of the wicked 
 slaughtering each other. The conquer- 
 ing Christ is at work in this vision also 
 in the sending of judgments upon a 
 wicked world. This vision has usually 
 been referred to the persecutions that 
 came upon Christians on account of 
 their allegiance to Christ. But the 
 reference is not to be found in the.se 
 persecutions, nor to any contests be- 
 tween the righteous and the ungodly. 
 Rather it is the picture of the ungodly 
 slaughtering each other. Kill one 
 another, rather, slaughter. Not re- 
 ceiving Jesus, the real peace-giver, 
 into their souls, whereby peace with 
 God and with men would have come, 
 they became bitter toward each other. 
 At enmity with Jesus, they became 
 enemies of each other. Great judg- 
 ments and sorrows came upon the 
 world because of their rejection of 
 their rightful sovereign. It was as if 
 war with its limitless horror had 
 
194 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 [Ch. VI. 
 
 there was given unto him a great 
 sword. 
 
 5 And when he had opened the third 
 seal, el heard the tliird beast say, 
 Come and see. And I beheld, and lo 
 ha black horse; and he that sat on 
 him had 'a pair of balances in his 
 
 6 hand. And I heard a voice in the 
 midst of the four beasts say, A measure 
 of wheat for a penny, and three meas- 
 ures of barley for a penny; and ^see 
 
 there was given to him a great sword. 
 
 5 And wlien lie opened the third seal, 
 I heard the third living creature say- 
 ing. Come. And I saw, and behold a 
 black horse, and he who sat on him 
 
 6 had a balance in his hand. And I 
 heard as it were a voice in the midst 
 of the four living creatures, saying, A 
 quart of wheat for a denary, and three 
 quarts of barley for a denary; and, 
 
 J 4 : 7. A Amos 8:11; Zech. 6:2; Job 30 : 30 ; Jer. 8 : 21 ; Lam 
 
 i Kzek. i : 10, 16 ; Dan. 5 : 27. k 9:i; Jer. 30 : 11. 
 
 come upon the world. In this book 
 the expression, earth, is generally 
 used of the ungodly upon the earth. 
 There was given, in vision, a great 
 sword, a symbol of fearful slaughters, 
 of widespread devastation. As a re- 
 sult peace goes from the earth. In 
 the Greek the article, the, occurs be- 
 fore peace, meaning the peace that 
 ought to be on the earth, the peace that 
 Christ would give it. The period of 
 this vision is not limited to the one 
 definite era, but extends through all 
 the subsequent periods. The red horse 
 may continue his travels on the earth 
 during the progress of all the seals. 
 The sufferings as of war, the woes of a 
 burdened world, the judgments sent 
 upon the earth rejecting Jesus, are fit- 
 tingly represented by this rider on the 
 red horse. At the present time Europe 
 is an armed camp, two million men 
 being under arms. The condition of 
 the entire world resembles an armed 
 truce. If Jesus should conquer the 
 ruling ideas of the nations, then, in an 
 actual sense, wars and slaughters would 
 wholly cease. Jesus unites the hearts 
 of men to God and to each other. Sin 
 disunites men from God and from each 
 other, and creates slaughter. 
 
 5, 6. The opening of the third 
 SEAL. Another of the living creatures 
 says " Come," whereupon appears a 
 black horse. The black color stands 
 for misery, for famine (Jer. 4 ; 28). The 
 black horse, the balances, the small 
 measure of common food for the daily 
 living, indicate a time of great scarcity. 
 The oil and wine stand for peace and 
 joy. There is no allusion to a literal 
 famine, or food or oil. There was a 
 time of misery for the wicked world, 
 a time of rest and confidence for the 
 saints on the earth. 
 
 5. Had opened, rather, opened. 
 
 The third living creature, as given in 
 the vision (*:'), had a face like a 
 man. Omit and see. The Come 
 brings a third horse, black in color* 
 Logically famine follows war, hen/?e 
 in orderly procedure this follows the 
 second seal. Black stands for mourn- 
 ing, gloom, despair. The rider has a 
 balance in his hand, indicating a time 
 of scarcity, when war has made a de- 
 struction of men and crops. The earth 
 has yielded but a partial increase, and 
 the things that support life are given 
 out, not with a full hand, but are care- 
 fully weighed. In the Old Testament 
 tihies of scarcity, bread was weighed 
 out to men (Lev. 26 ; 26). Ezckicl por- 
 trays the horrors of the siege of Jeru- 
 salem in this manner (Ezek. * -. i6, i7). 
 
 6. A voice came in addition to the 
 vision. And I heard . . . beasts, 
 rather, mid I heard, as it wei-e, a voice 
 in the midst of the four living creatures. 
 The as it ivere does not throw any doubt 
 upon the reality of the voice, or the 
 distinctness of the words uttered, but 
 shows an uncertainty as to the speaker 
 and also his location. It seemed to 
 come from a certain place, uttered by 
 one of the living creatures or by him 
 that sat upon the throne. The meas- 
 ure is a chenix, a solid measure hold- 
 ing about a quart. Eight measures 
 would ordinarily be obtained for a 
 penny or denarius. This was the daily 
 pay for an able-bodied man at his work. 
 The penny corresponds to fifteen cents 
 in our currencj^, the denarius being 
 apparently a liberal payment for a 
 laborer's daily work (Matt. 20 : 2). Bar- 
 ley was a cheaper food, considered 
 more fit for cattle than for men. Three 
 measures of the common food might 
 be purchased with the day's wages, 
 supporting thereby partially, at least, 
 a family if not too large. There is 
 
Ch. VI.] 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 195 
 
 thou hurt not the oil and the wine. 
 
 7 And when he liad opened tlie fourtli 
 seal, ' I heard the voice of the fourtli 
 
 8 beast say, Come and see. ™Aud I 
 looked, and behold a pale horse : and 
 his name that sat on him was Death, 
 and Hell followed with him. And 
 
 The oil and the wine hurt thou not. 
 
 7 And when he opened the fourth seal, 
 I heard the voice of the fourth living 
 
 8 creature saying. Come. And I saw, 
 and behold a pale horse ; and he who 
 sat on him, his name was Death, and 
 Hades followed with him. And au- 
 
 (4:7. 
 
 m Zeoh. 6 : 3. 
 
 indicated here a time of great scarcity, 
 not of absolute starvation. Oil aud 
 wine. These are generally understood 
 as modifying the judgment seut upon 
 them, implying that God's auger is 
 tenderly limited. Not the day-laborer, 
 but the wealthy alone find occasion for 
 the oil and the wine. If it were in- 
 tended to emphasize God's mercy, this 
 would be shown in the grant of abun- 
 dance of wheat and a scarcity in the 
 wine, rather than a scarcity of the ne- 
 cessities of life and an abundance of 
 the luxuries of life. The sufferer from 
 famine would not find in these luxuries 
 compensation for the absence of the 
 food that life leans upon. The laborer 
 could not purchase them, they would 
 be for the wealthy alone. These two 
 terms express the joy, the abundance, 
 the blessedness of life. They show 
 that when the common things are cut 
 off, the very highest things of life God 
 bestows abundantly. They are, there- 
 fore, the symbolic expressions of God's 
 care aud love for his own people. The 
 slaughter and famine came upon the 
 world of the ungodly. They express 
 God's attitude toward the unbelieving 
 and rejecting world. But, at the same 
 time, God has a people in tlie world ; 
 for them he provides and cares. In 
 the second seal the ungodly slay each 
 other. In this seal, although the un- 
 godly suffer, there is rich provision for 
 the flock of the Lord (ps. 23 : 5; 91 : 10). 
 John is seeing visions and symbols, 
 not actual things. We may not seek 
 anywhere in history for a time of 
 actual famine, and regard it as a ful- 
 filment of this vision. Oftentimes, 
 through human selfishness and sin- 
 fulness actual famines have come, 
 bringing terrible ills upon men. The 
 seals represent the attitude of God 
 toward the world on account of its 
 relation to tlie church and cause of 
 Christ. God sends judgments upon 
 the ungodly. 
 7, 8. Opening of the fourth 
 
 SEAL. Another living creature says 
 " Come," and a pale horse, livid like a 
 corpse, appears. Death is the horse- 
 man, and tlie underworld is an insep- 
 arable companion. The judgments of 
 God are only partial in severity and 
 extent indicated bj' a fourth ; they grow 
 in severity indicate by one-third in 
 in 8 : 7. These judgments fall on the 
 uugodly alone. 
 
 8. The fourth living creature now 
 speaking is the eagle (* : 7). There is 
 a natural sequence in the character of 
 the horsemen coming forth in response 
 to the Come of the living creatures. 
 War, famine, death follow each other 
 in close order, revealing a growing in- 
 tensity in meaning. In this seal there 
 comes forth a pale horse. The 
 Greek word here rendered pale is trans- 
 lated green in 8 : 7. It is a term often 
 used of the pallor of the human face 
 when paled by tei-ror, or when dying 
 or dead. His name ... death, 
 rather, and he that sat upon him, his 
 name was Death. In this case only the 
 name of the rider is given. Death is 
 personified as a devourer, in the form 
 of a skeleton specter, riding upon the 
 horse (20 : 13, u). It is a fearful vision. 
 Death is understood by some as having 
 the deeper meaning given to it in the 
 writings of John and Paul, separation 
 and alienation from God, the spiritual 
 death. It is better, however, to regard 
 it as here used in its usual sense. As 
 death goes beyond war and famine in its 
 intensity of meaning, so John sees the 
 increasing judgment of God falling 
 upon a wicked world. Hell, rather, 
 Hades. This word, hades, has a wide 
 range of meaning. It is sometimes 
 used in its literal and etymological 
 sense, the unseen world, the world of 
 spirits. Sometimes it is almost iden- 
 tical with the grave as symbolizing the 
 unseen world. Sometimes it involves 
 the idea of pain, of penalty that come 
 upon the ungodly in the unseen life. 
 It is regarded as the enemy of Christ 
 
196 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 [Ch. VI. 
 
 power was given unto them over the j 
 fourth part of the earth, "to kill with 
 sword, and with hunger, and with 
 death, and with the beasts of the 
 earth. I 
 
 thority was given to them over the 
 fourth part of the earth, to kill with 
 sword, and with famine, and with 
 death, and by the wild beasts of the 
 earth. 
 
 Lev. 26 ; 22-29 ; Jer. 15 ; 2, 3 ; Ezek. 14 : 21. 
 
 and his cause (Matt, is : is, Revised versioa). 
 
 Here it is simply the grave or unseen 
 world that swallows up the people. 
 Death and hades go close together. It 
 is to be noted that there are four instru- 
 ments with which these two scourges 
 work — sword, hunger, death, wild 
 beasts. Ezekiel speaks of God's four 
 sore judgments (Ezek. u : 21). These 
 judgments come upon the world in 
 its ungodliness, and therefore there 
 are four agencies of destruction, be- 
 cause four is the symbol of the 
 world. Those who follow the Lamb 
 shall have blessings ; those who fol- 
 low the world and dwell under its 
 sway shall have the world itself turn- 
 ing upon them and bringing curses. 
 The rule of these two, death and hades, 
 e-^tends over the fourth part of the 
 earth. Some have surmised that each 
 one of these four judgments rules over 
 a fourth part of the earth, thus making 
 the entire world subject to the sway of 
 death. It is better, however, to regard 
 this term, one-fourth, not in any strict 
 and mathematical sense, but as ex- 
 pressive of the wide rule of death. We 
 are not to find in this a prophecy of 
 the murderous persecutions that have 
 come upon the church in many cen- 
 turies of the Christian era. We are to 
 find the meaning of this symbol in the 
 judgments of God coming, not upon 
 his church, but upon tbe ungodly 
 world. So long as the claims of Jesus 
 are rejected, so long the history of the 
 world is to be marked by the perpetual 
 return of wars, pestilences, and every- 
 thing that is fraught with disaster, to 
 those who live in the worldly sphere. 
 And, therefore, the seals are opened 
 and these judgments come forth under 
 the supreme control of the Lamb, whose 
 
 the world is by right, and to wliose 
 rulership all men should submit them- 
 selves. 
 
 9-11. The opening of the fifth 
 SEAL. We have here no voice of the 
 living creatures as in the first four 
 seals. There is a vision of the great 
 altar of the temple court, where sac- 
 rifices were offered. Under this John 
 sees the souls of the martyred dead. 
 They are conscious, enjoy a nearness 
 to God, are interested in the extension 
 of God's cause, and intercede for the 
 manifestation of God's righteousness. 
 They are given white robes, significant 
 of enlarged joy and of the victory that 
 will ensue for the cause for which they 
 died. Assurance is given that others 
 must yet die on the earth in witnessing 
 for the truth, and that the holy dead 
 did not die in vain. The artificial and 
 methodical structure of the book is 
 manifest in the grouping of the seven 
 seals into two divisions. In the letters 
 to the churches there was a division 
 into two groups of three and four. In 
 the seals there is a corresponding divi- 
 sion into two groups of four and three. 
 The same line of division separates the 
 first four trumpets from the three fol- 
 lowing. It is thought by many that 
 the reason for the group of four stand- 
 ing first is that God's judgments come 
 upon the world, four being the number 
 that represents the world. No longer 
 does a horseman appear as in the first 
 four ; no longer does the voice say 
 Come. We pass from the material 
 world with its war, pestilence, and 
 famine, into the unseen world. There 
 is a like passage into the unseen 
 world, at the same point, in the cor- 
 responding series of the trumpets and 
 the bowls, thus: 
 
 FIFTH SEAL, 5 : 9-11. 
 An altar in heaven. 
 
 FIFTH TRUMPET, 9:1. 
 
 I Pit of the abyss. 
 
 FIFTH BOWL, 16 : 10. 
 Throne of the beast. 
 
 It is a designed break in the form of 
 the teaching, not accidental. It is 
 evident from this sameness in the 
 
 structure of the book, in seal, in trum- 
 pet, in bowl, that the seals cannot be 
 intended to depict a chronological his- 
 
Ch. VI.] 
 
 KEVELATION 
 
 197 
 
 9 And when he had opened the fifth 
 seal, I saw under "the altar Pthe souls 
 of them that vvere slain for the word 
 of God, and fori the testimony which 
 10 they held : and they cried with a loud 
 voice, saj'ing, How long, O Lord, holy 
 and true, 'dost thou not judge and 
 
 9 And when he opened the fifth seal, 
 I saw underneath the altar the souls 
 of lliose that had been slain on account 
 of the word of God, and on account of 
 10 the testimony which they had. And 
 they cried with a great voice, saying, 
 How long, O Master, the holy and true, 
 
 8:3; 
 
 9 : 13. p 20 : 4 ; John 16 ; J. « 12 : 17 ; 19 ; 10 ; 2 Tim. 1 : 8. 
 
 r 19 : 2 ; Deut. 32 : 36-43 ; Luke 18 : 7, 8. 
 
 tory of the world or the church. They 
 rather outline certain great ideas that 
 will be in operation in all the ages from 
 the first. The fifth seal, trumpet, and 
 bowl, correspond with each other, rep- 
 resenting each of them the same thought 
 under a diflering aspect, a scene in the 
 spiritual world. "The altar here in 
 view is the counterpart of the altar of 
 burnt ofl'ering and the victims which 
 have been oflered at it are martyred 
 members of the church, w ho have fol- 
 lowed their Head in the example of 
 his sacrificial death. Comp. .5:6,' as 
 if slain.' . . An altar i.s mentioned also 
 in 8: 3, 5; 9:13; 11:1; 14:18; 16:7" 
 (Swete). Comp. Heb. 8 : 5, note. 
 
 9. Under the altar. In 8:3 is 
 given a sight of the altar of incense. 
 Here it is the brazen altar, standing in 
 the court, the altar of sacrifice (E-^od. 
 JT : 1). It is a part of the heavenly 
 temple, existing figuratively there. At 
 the foot of the altar, on the earth, the 
 blood of the victim was poured (Exod. 
 29:12). The souls. The same word 
 is used in the New Testament inter- 
 changeably for the principle of life, 
 and also for the immortal, conscious 
 part of man's nature (Matt. i6 : 25, 26). 
 Here it refers, not to the mere principle 
 of life, but to the conscious, sentient 
 part. The souls are represented as 
 praying, appealing to God's righteous- 
 ness, and receiving rewards. Slain 
 for the word of God. This indi- 
 cates the class of persons seen. Jolin 
 does not see the souls of all. As the 
 purpose here is to show God's holy 
 vindication of his people, it is needful 
 to bring into view only those who had 
 passed through martyrdom. It cannot, 
 therefore, be held with Milligan that 
 this number includes all the men who 
 had lived lives of faith — Abraham, 
 Isaac, Jacob, the men who through 
 struggles had entered into blessedness. 
 The.se persons were not slain for per- 
 sonal reasons, but on account of their 
 
 devotion to God, counting not their 
 lives dear unto them. The expression, 
 tvord of God, stands for God's revela- 
 tion of himself and his will, testing 
 their faithfulness in adhering to it and 
 declaring it. It is maintained by some 
 that the absence of any allusion to 
 Jesus shows that these martyrs were 
 exclusively Old Testament martyrs. 
 In many passages in this book the 
 testimony is explicitly declared to be 
 that concerning Jesus (i;2, 9; 12:17; 
 19 : 16). As John was living at a time 
 when persecutions were sweeping over 
 the church, the vision includes those 
 in the Christian era who suflered for 
 Christ's sake. It would be a comfort 
 to the suff^erers of his day to know that 
 they, in their death, would not be un- 
 cared for, and that they would not die 
 in vain. This vision is designed to 
 bring out and emphasize the teaching 
 that God's seeming delay in executing 
 penalty upon the enemies of his church 
 will, in time, give way to punishment. 
 The souls of the martyrs are made use 
 of, as in a drama, to bring out this 
 teaching. Tliere is no real throne, real 
 altar, no suffering on the part of the 
 saints in the unseen life. 
 
 10. The person addressed is Lord, 
 rather, blaster. The term is sometimes 
 applied to God, as supreme ruler ( inke 
 2:29; Acts 4 : 24) ; sometimes to Christ 
 (jude 4 ; 2 Peter 2:1). He is described as 
 holy and trne. God's holiness and 
 fidelity to his own nature and promises 
 furnish foundation for prayer, for ap- 
 peal to God that he execute righteous- 
 ness among men, tliat he punish wrong- 
 doing. At the same time they serve 
 to bewilder the righteous man, in the 
 presence of wrong unpunished, unless 
 there is also a remembrance of God's 
 righteousness. There is here portrayed, 
 in vision, the consciousness among the 
 saints, of God's holy nature, and of 
 unexplained delay in executing pun- 
 ishment upon the wicked on the earth. 
 
198 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 [Ch. VI. 
 
 avenge our blood on them that dM'ell 
 11 on the earth ? And » white robes were 
 given unto every one of them ; and it 
 was said unto them, 'that they sliould 
 rest yet for a little season, "uutil their 
 fellowservants also and their brethren, 
 that should be killed as they were, 
 should be fulfilled. 
 
 dost thou not judge and avenge our 
 blood on those who dwell on the earth? 
 11 And a white robe was given to each 
 one of them ; and it was said to them, 
 that they should rest yet a little time, 
 until their fellow-servants also and 
 their brethren, who were about to be 
 killed as they were, should be fully 
 numbered. 
 
 e 3: 4 5, 7 :9, U. 
 
 t 14 : 13 ; Isa. 26 : 20, 21 ; Dau. 12 : 13. 
 
 Heb. 11 : 40. 
 
 Avenge. It has beea said that the 
 spirit here manifest is not Christian in 
 its nature, that it shows a spirit of i-e- 
 veuge. There is a growth in the ten- 
 derness of spirit in the New Testament 
 as contrasted with the Old Testament, 
 due to the influence of Christ upon tlie 
 
 age. (Comp. 2 Chroa. 24 : 22 ; Ps. 138 : 9 with 
 
 Aot8 7 : 60.) But we may remember that 
 every holy nature must side with God 
 in feeling that wickedness ought to be 
 punished. A holy nature rejoices iu 
 goodness and hates badness. To hate 
 evil is as essential as to love the good. 
 The saints in heaven are assured that 
 God, in time, must punish wrong-doing, 
 the open enemies of his church. In the 
 same spirit Milton writes concerning 
 the justice that should he measured out 
 upon the murderers of the Waldeuses. 
 It was not personal vindictiveuess, but 
 the justice of a high moral nature. 
 Such cries may go up in all the ages to 
 the holy Lord, for the moral sense of 
 God's people will not be satisfied until 
 wickedness is punished as wickedness. 
 Heaven will be more heavenly when 
 goodness is rewarded and wickedness 
 is recognized as such and punished. 
 That dwell on the earth. This 
 does not mean that those for whose 
 punishment they cry are at that time 
 living on the earth. The expression 
 only denotes that they were earthly in 
 their nature, that they were worldly 
 people. Their home is on the earth ; 
 men whose portion is in this life. We 
 must not infer that the martyred saints 
 do actually invoke God's vengeance 
 upon the persecutor. In a highly 
 figurative and dramatic way they are 
 made use of to show that though God 
 apparently delays yet, iu time, the 
 suffering will be richly rewarded. 
 
 11. And white robes were 
 given, rather. Arid there was given 
 them, to each one, a white robe. It is 
 implied that these cries will be an- 
 
 swered in time. The white robe is fre- 
 quently mentioned in this book (3 : 4, 
 5, 18). It is the symbol of purity, joy, 
 triumph. It refers, seemingly, to a 
 special privilege granted to them on 
 account of their special faithfulness in 
 the earthly life. In so far as the martyrs 
 are those of the Christian era, the 
 white robe signifies God's approval 
 and the assured victory of their cause. 
 Despite all the contumely, reproach, 
 and sufiering on the part of ungodly 
 men, God highly regards them, and 
 their cause will be crowned with tri- 
 umph. It is not to be understood that 
 the saints in heaven are not always 
 clothed in white (3 : *). That is a part 
 of the heritage of all Christ's people. 
 The robes are given not actually, but 
 in vision, in order that the divine 
 teaching may be clearly brought to 
 view. Those on the earth, the faithful 
 servants of God, are described as their 
 fellow-servants, having a common 
 relation to God; their brethren, hav- 
 ing a kinship with each other. Be 
 killed. Jesus foretold days of per- 
 secution in store for his followers (John 
 16 : 2). Here in vision times of perse- 
 cution and outward disaster are fore- 
 told for the church. In every century 
 this vision has received its fulfilment. 
 In recent years in Madagascar, in 
 Africa, in China, in Armenia many 
 have given up their lives for Christ's 
 sake. Missionaries who have hazarded 
 their lives in unhealthful climates have 
 been equally martyrs. Such times 
 may yet come when persecution and 
 hatred will arise against Christ's cause. 
 Under all the seals there will be faith- 
 ful ones suffering in varied ways for 
 Christ. Men who suffer in business 
 for Christ's sake, who suffer social 
 standing for principle, may be classed 
 among those having the martyr spirit. 
 This seal is designed to make plain 
 the following teachings : (1) The con- 
 
Ch. VI.] 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 199 
 
 12 Aud I belield when he had opened 
 the sixth seal, »and, lo, there was a 
 great earthquake ; aud v tlie sun be- 
 came black as sackcloth of hair, and 
 
 13 the moon became as blood; ^and the 
 stars of heaven fell unto the earth, 
 even as a lig tree casteth her untimely 
 figs, when she is 'shaken of a mightj' 
 
 12 Aud I saw when he opened the sixth 
 seal, aud there was a great earth- 
 quake ; and the sun became black as 
 sackcloth of hair, and tlae whole moon 
 
 13 became as blood ; and the stars of 
 heaven fell to the earth, as a fig-tree 
 casts its unripe tigs, when shaken by a 
 
 z 16: 18; Hag. 2 : 21. 
 
 y Isa. 13 : 9, 10; Acts 2 : 20. 
 
 a Nahuui 3 : 12. 
 
 quering Christ has an ally in the 
 church, the people following in his 
 steps and holding to his life. (2) 
 Alongside of the forces of evil in the 
 world are two effective agencies of 
 Christ — the church faithful in suffering 
 and the piaj'ers of saints above. (3) 
 AVhile God seemingly permits the 
 wicked element to triumph, yet in 
 time God's judgment will be manifest. 
 His holiness and righteousness insui-e 
 this. (4) God in the unseen life will 
 graciously and richly reward his faith- 
 ful servants. Larger faithfulness will 
 bring larger reward. It is to be under- 
 stood that all this takes place in vision. 
 There is no real altar in heaven under 
 which, or at the foot of which, the 
 souls of the martyrs repo.se. The saints 
 above already share in the joys of 
 Christ. These things are portrayed in 
 vision in order that the teachings of 
 Christ may be .seen with the eye. It is 
 an acted prophecy that God sympa- 
 thizes with his suffering church, will 
 stand by it, will put a crown upon it, 
 will punish the wicked opposers of his 
 kingdom. 
 
 l'-4-17. The OPENING OF THE SIXTH 
 SEAL. In this seal we have, in vision, 
 the beginning of the overwhelming of 
 the ungodly world by God's judgments. 
 Those opposing Christ flee in conscious 
 weakness and despair from his face. 
 When God rises in his might no one 
 can stand. The imagery is taken from 
 the Old Testament prophecies and the 
 Saviour's discour.se in Matt. 24. The 
 falling of the stars, the darkening of 
 the moon, and the kindred physical 
 changes are not to be taken literally. 
 They all have a real meaning, but are 
 not to be interpreted in a material way. 
 In every age God's judgments make 
 war upon the ungodly portion. There 
 may, therefore, I)e successive fulfil- 
 ments of this vision at crises of the 
 world's history, while the complete 
 fulfilment will naturally take place in 
 
 the events preceding the Lord's final, 
 personal coming. 
 12-14. And lo . . . earthquake, 
 
 rather, and there was a great eaith- 
 quake. This seal surpasses the pre- 
 ceding seals in the terribleness of the 
 judgments. The sword, famine, and 
 pestilence having done their work, these 
 now give way to convulsions in nature 
 ■whereby the whole fabric of things is 
 shaken. Jesus implies the stability of 
 the laws of nature, but afiirms the in- 
 destructibility of his own words (Mark 
 24:35). There is a noticeable corre- 
 spondence between this series of visions 
 and the discourse in Matthew concern- 
 ing the earlier and later comings of the 
 Lord. The second seal corresponds 
 with ver. 6 ; the third seal with ver. 7 ; 
 the fourth seal with ver. 7 ; the fifth 
 seal with ver. 9 ; the sixth seal with 
 ver. 29. The earthquake is a sign of 
 an impending crisis. In the corre- 
 sponding vision of the trumpets, which 
 runs parallel with the seals, an earth- 
 quake is mentioned in the sixth trum- 
 pet. Black as sackcloth. This 
 expression is used in Isa. 50 : 3. The 
 moon, rather, the whole moon. In 
 the entire eclipse the moon assumes a 
 reddish color, but giving out no light. 
 The same expression occurs in Joel 
 2 : 31 : " The sun shall be turned into 
 darkness, and the moon into blood, 
 before the great and terrible day of the 
 LOKD come." Peter declares (Act»2: 
 16) that these words had a fulfilment 
 in the introduction of Christianity and 
 the destruction of the Jewish State. 
 Isaiah makes use of the same terms in 
 describing the fall of Babylon (i"^- i3 : 
 9, 10). Stars of heaven. These 
 words are found in Matt. 24 : 29. Fig 
 
 tree. (Comp. Isa. 34 : 4; Matt. 24 : 32.) As 
 
 showing how the discourse of Jesus in 
 Matt. 24 influences this book it may be 
 noticed that there the parable of the 
 Fig Tree immediately follows the men- 
 tion of the falling of the stars. And 
 
200 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 [Ch. VI. 
 
 14 wind ; * and the heaven departed as a 
 scroll when it is rolled together; and 
 "every mountain and island were 
 
 15 moved out of their places. ^ And the 
 kings of the earth, and the great men, 
 and the rich men, and the chief 
 captains, and the mighty men, and 
 every bondman, and every freeman, 
 < hid themselves in the dens and in the 
 
 16 rocks of the mountains; fand said to 
 the mountains and rocks. Fall on us, 
 and hide us from the face of Him that 
 sitteth on the throne, «and from the 
 
 17 wrath of the Lamb ! *" for the great day 
 
 14 great wind ; and the heaven parted 
 asunder as a scroll rolled up; and 
 every mountain and island were re- 
 
 15 moved out of their places. And the 
 kings of the earth, and the great men, 
 and the chief captains, and the rich 
 men, and the strong men, and every 
 bondman and freeman, hid themselves 
 in the caves and in the rocks of the 
 
 16 mountains ; and they say to the moun- 
 tains and to the rocks. Fall on us, and 
 hide us from the face of him who sits 
 on the throne, and from the wrath of 
 
 17 the Lamb ; because the great day of his 
 
 b Pa. 102 : 26 ; Isa. 34 : 4 ; Heb. 1 : 12, 13. c 16 : 20 ; Isa. 2 ; 14-17 ; Jer. 3 : 23 ; 4 : 23-26. 
 
 d Job 34 : 19, 20; Ps. 110 : 5, 6 ; laa. 24 : 21, 22. e Isa. 2 : 19. 
 
 / 9 : 6 ; Isa. 2 : 19 ; Jer. 8:3; Hosea 10 : 8 ; Luke 23 : 30. ■ g Vcr. 10 ; 19 : 15 ; Ps. 3 : 9-12. 
 
 ft 16 ; 14 ; Isa. 13 : 6, etc. : Joel 2:11; Zeph. 1 : 14, etc. 
 
 the heavens . . . together, rather, 
 and the heavens departed cis a scroll 
 rolled up. To the beholder looking 
 upon the earth from above it, the 
 heaven, with its firmament, appeared 
 to be rolled up for removal. These 
 widespread convulsions in nature, seeu 
 in vision, embracing moon, stars, 
 heavens, island, mountain, are not to 
 be understood in a material sense. The 
 teachings portrayed by these symbols 
 might all come to pass, even if nature 
 were not in any way disturbed. No 
 physical changes took place at Pente- 
 cost when Peter affirmed that the 
 prophecies of Joel had come to their 
 fulfilment. These symbols indicate 
 great convulsions in civil society, the 
 overturning of all that opposes Christ 
 and his cause. It is the picture of all 
 that is hostile to Christ giving way, 
 all organized opposition breaking 
 down. 
 
 15, 16. John has seen, in vision, 
 nature giving way; he now sees the 
 effect of this collapse of nature upon 
 the intelligent creation. The wicked 
 of all classes, the disobedient and un- 
 believing who had joined together 
 against the Lord's cause now give way 
 in alarm. Kings . . . mighty men, 
 rather. And the tinfjs of the earth, and 
 the princes, and the chief coi)tains, and 
 the rich, and the strong. These are not 
 the believers, but the ungodly. It is 
 to be noted that seven clas-ses of men 
 are here portrayed. As seven stands 
 for completeness these seven classes of 
 men represent the com))ined forces of 
 men arrayed again.st God. From the 
 highest to the lowest they are utterly 
 
 overwhelmed, they make confession of 
 their guilt. (comp.Ps.2.) In the dens. 
 (comp. Isa. 3 : 19, 21.) On the impossibility 
 of escaping from God's presence see 
 Ps. 139. Fear, inspired by the con- 
 sciousness of guilt and ill-desert, drives 
 away the unbelieving from God's pres- 
 ence. Adam hid from God's sight 
 (Geu. 8:8); the publican stood afar off 
 (Luke 18:13); the finally impenitent 
 voluntarily go from God's presence 
 (Matt. 25 : 46). The face represents the 
 person. The psalmist said : " Thy face 
 will I seek" (ps. 27 : s). God is at- 
 tractive to the godly in heart. The 
 Father and the Son both are manifest 
 in these moral dealings with men, 
 though it is probable that the final 
 judging will be that of the Son (John 5 : 
 22). Wrath of the Lamb. The 
 words seem antagonistic in their mean- 
 ing, affirming that wrath dwells in the 
 Lamb. It is to misinterpret the na- 
 ture of Jesus to think of him as gentle 
 and tender only. When on earth he 
 was angry (Mark 3:5). He exercised a 
 holy indignation. He condemned ut- 
 terly the hypocrite, pronouncing woes 
 (Matt. 23). He is the same Jesus still, 
 uniting holiness and compas.sion. 
 President Wayland pronounced these 
 words the most fearful in the Bible, 
 revealing the awfulness of sin, the 
 utter guilt of wicked men that the 
 nature of the divine Lamb, whose 
 being is love, should be stirred up so 
 that the divine wrath should be mani- 
 fested. In nature and in the realm of 
 grace there is a severity as well as a 
 tenderness in God manifested. God's 
 tenderness alone dwelt upon obscures 
 
Ch. VI.] 
 
 REVEI 
 
 ATION 201 
 
 of his wrath Is come ; 
 be able to stand ? 
 
 iand who shall 
 
 wrath is come, aud who is able to 
 stand ? 
 
 
 i Ps. 76 : 7 
 
 ilal. 3 : 2. 
 
 the holy judgments of God ; his severity- 
 alone dwelt upon hides his heart of 
 love more tender than that of a mother 
 
 (Rom. 11 : 22). 
 
 17. For presents the reason for the 
 trepidation. The great day. It is a 
 day of days ; a day for which other days 
 were made. It is sometimes spolien 
 of as ' ' that day," or " tlie day" Often 
 men have seen intimations aud pre- 
 monitions of that great day, great con- 
 vulsions in nature or in society when 
 the hearts of men failed them for fear. 
 The one great clay is yet to come. 
 Able to staud. Who can stand jus- 
 tified, without fear or alarm, before 
 him at that day ? ( fomp. m.ii, s : 2. ) The 
 reference is to men without God. Paul's 
 words in Rom. 8 : 34 reveal the heart 
 of the man who can face all things, 
 even the Lord's coming and the judg- 
 ment day, without alarm. Every man 
 with an awakened moral nature will 
 carry a judgment seat in his own heart. 
 One of the world's great hymns, " Dies 
 Irse," is founded on the scenes of this 
 great day, the coming of the Lord. 
 John speaks of the calmness of heart 
 ■with which the child of God meets the 
 last day ( 1 John * : n). Read also Whit- 
 tier's " Abraham Davenport." Onlj'^ 
 the justified man can staud calmly 
 before the judgment day. L^ngodly 
 men may have quietness in mind now 
 because present things are exclusivelj' 
 dwelt upon ; because God is ignored ; 
 because the judgment day is kept from 
 the thoughts. This seal brings us close 
 to the end. But the end cauuot be yet, 
 because God is a God who makes dis- 
 tinctions among men. There must 
 therefore be a separation between the 
 believer and the unbeliever. These 
 moral distinctions among men are now 
 revealed to us in the next vision. 
 
 Practical Remarks. 
 1. God reveals his purposes little by 
 little. It requires ages to see God's com- 
 plete plans. We must not judge hastily 
 of God's government, because we do not 
 know all yet. Jesus breaks one seal at a 
 time (ver. 1 ; 1 Cor. 13 : 12). 
 
 2. Christianity began on the earth in a 
 small way, has met with much opposition, 
 but has the truth of God in it. Jesus will 
 overcome all oiiposition (Heb. 10: 13). No 
 one need fear that the cause of Christ will 
 perish from the earth, though it needs the 
 help of every friend of Jesus to give it 
 wider power (ver. 2). 
 
 3. Jesus is the great peacemaker. The 
 absence of Jesus begets disorders and dis- 
 turbances in the heart, and in the world. 
 The ills in the world all arise from the re- 
 jection of Jesus as the supreme ruler and 
 Saviour (ver. 3). 
 
 4. God has judgments as well as bless- 
 ings. Judgments and afflictions, if used 
 rightly, will prove great ble.ssings. If 
 they do not lead the heart to wisdom, 
 they will only embitter and harden it. 
 Moses was helped by rebuke ; Pharaoh 
 was hardened by it (ver. 5). 
 
 5. God has always a regard for his own. 
 He prepares a table for them (Ps. 23 : 5). 
 
 6. Death has been looked upon as the 
 king of terrors. He is terrible to the man 
 who has not the promise of the life in 
 Christ. Worse than the first death is the 
 second death (Rev. 2 : 11). Jesus can 
 change the first death into a sleep (Acts 
 7 : 60). We may overcome, through Christ 
 who is the life, the power of the first and 
 the second death. Death on the pale 
 horse will not frighten the believer (1 Cor. 
 15:55), nor destroy the church (ver. 8; 
 Matt. 16 : 18). 
 
 7. The souls of the faithful are honored 
 in heaven. Cast out of the earth as un- 
 worthy, they constitute God's jewels in 
 heaven (ver. 9). 
 
 8. It is not vindictiveucss, but a fellow- 
 ship with the holy God that leads the 
 suffering Christian to pray for the out- 
 shining of his power in protecting his 
 cause and putting down wickedness on 
 the earth. The Christian must hate the 
 wrong-doing while trying to bless the 
 wrong-doer. The coming of God's king- 
 dom means the utter subjugation of all 
 evil. Jesus will be not only a forgiving 
 Saviour, but also a reigning Saviour. The 
 
202 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 [Ch. VII. 
 
 good man must long for tlie time to come 
 when wickedness shall be suppressed and 
 holiness shall reign (ver. 10). 
 
 9. Men need great patience in times of 
 persecution. If God can be patient, his 
 people should strive so to be. The seem- 
 ing inequalities in life and injustices will 
 disturb the heart unless there is a firm 
 belief in God's holiness, wisdom, and 
 strength. God's patience toward wrong- 
 doers is for their salvation (ver. 11; 2 
 Peters : 9). 
 
 10. Only through tribulation may we 
 enter into heaven (2 Tim. 3:12). Our 
 own age has supplied many martyrs for 
 Christ and his cause. Every age is a 
 martyr age (ver. 11). 
 
 11. All nature is under God's control. 
 More stable than the laws of nature are 
 the words and teachings of Jesus. When 
 the heavens and earth pass away, Jesus 
 and his words will abide (ver. 12; Matt. 
 24 : 35). 
 
 12. Temporal things change and pass 
 away, unseen things are abiding (2 Cor. 
 4 : 18). It is not wise to be a man of this 
 life only (ver. 14 ; Ps. 17 : 14). 
 
 13. Among men there are gradations, 
 kings and bondmen. All are equally in- 
 significant when measured by God's in- 
 finite person and power. Men may talk 
 like Pharaoh, but they will crumble into 
 nothingness at the touch of his power 
 (ver. 15). 
 
 14. If a person find a refuge in Christ, 
 he will need no other refuge at the last 
 day. Jesus is a hiding-place for penitent 
 men. David found a hiding-place in 
 God's forgiveness (Ps. 32). The day of 
 wrath will never come to a man who 
 makes Christ his friend. Every man 
 creates for himself, by his attitude toward 
 Christ, a day of blessing or a day of wrath 
 (ver. 16). 
 
 15. God's love and God's anger are 
 joined together in the one person. On 
 the earth Jesus, in holy anger, cleansed 
 the temple. His nature is not that soft 
 kind that does not distinguish between 
 the good and the bad, that treats all alike 
 irrespective of character. Jesus himself 
 uses the words, blessed and accursed 
 (ver. 16; Matt. 25 : 34). 
 
 16. There is a great gulf between the 
 friends and enemies of the Lord Jesus. 
 
 Great alarms and the judgment day have 
 no terrors for the man who has made God 
 his friend (1 John 4 : 17). In life character 
 is forming. At the judgment the char- 
 acter will be tested (ver. 17). 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Six seals have been opened. In the 
 fifth seal was the assurance that God 
 will avenge his own cause, and those 
 who die in maintaining it. In the 
 sixth seal we .see the trepidation and 
 fear with which the ungodly world 
 looks upon the manifestation of the 
 Lord. Before the seventh seal is 
 opened there are presented two visions, 
 kindred in nature, by way of episode. 
 They have no direct relation to the 
 preceding or the following seal. The 
 expression, after this^ does not in- 
 dicate that the things portrayed in the 
 vision take place chronologically after 
 the opening of the sixth seal. In order 
 of time John saw this vision after he 
 had seen the seals opened. There is a 
 naoi-al reason for the appearance of the 
 visions in this place. What will be 
 the condition of Christ's people when 
 these dread events happen ? Will they 
 be overwhelmed in the judgments upon 
 the wicked? Will the persecutions 
 that rage against the church utterly 
 destroy it? Will God draw a dividing 
 line between his people and his adver- 
 saries? We have the answer in these 
 visions. While those living on the 
 earth in an earthly way will be subject 
 to God's severest judgments, Christ's 
 own will be recognized as his, and 
 treated as such. Severe judgments 
 have already been portrayed in the 
 seals — slaughters, famines, death. The 
 judgments revealed in the trumpets 
 will be more severe than those in the 
 seals. These visions are, therefore, in- 
 tended to be consolatory in their nature 
 for the followers of Christ. Jesus has 
 a tender regard for his flock. He will 
 not permit their hearts to fail them for 
 fear lest they also may perish. They 
 will have tribulations, but the judg- 
 ments will not fall on them. They will 
 be chastened, they will not be punished 
 (John 15 : 3). This vision represents the 
 constant relation that Jesus sustains 
 toward his people, at all times during 
 all the seals, the whole course of time 
 in the world's history. In every age 
 
Ch. VII.] 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 203 
 
 TTie sealed book— Sealing of faithful Israelites 
 from impending judgmenla. 
 
 7 AND after these thiugs I saw four 
 angels stauding on the four corners of 
 the earth, ^ holding the four winds of 
 the earth, 'that the wind should not 
 blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor 
 on any tree. 
 
 7 AND after this, I saw four angels 
 stauding at the four corners of the 
 earth, holding the four winds of the 
 earth, that no wind should blow on 
 the earth, or on the sea, or on any 
 tree. 
 
 * Jer. 49 : 36 ; Dan. 7 : 2. 
 
 2 9:1. 
 
 judgments fall upon the wicked ; in 
 every age God knows how to shield his 
 people. Ultimate defeat will not hap- 
 pen to Christ's cause or Christ's peo- 
 ple. As Jesus foretold persecutions 
 that his people might not be terri- 
 fied, so here we have strong consola- 
 tion for the troublous times that come 
 
 (John 16 : 33). 
 
 The first vision — the sealing of the 
 servants of God — embraces ver. 1-8; 
 the second — the innumerable multi- 
 tude — ver. 9-17. 
 
 1-8. The sealing of the serv- 
 ants OF God. As revealing a general 
 principle of God's administration we 
 now have presented God's personal 
 knowledge of his people and his pi-o- 
 vision for them. It corresponds in 
 
 grinciple, with the saving of the house- 
 olds of the Israelites when the first- 
 born of the Egyptians were put to 
 death (Exod. 12 : ss). 
 
 In ver. 1-3 John beholds, in vision, 
 four angels, a figurative way of speak- 
 ing of God's power, restraining the 
 winds from blowing on the earth. 
 God's care for his people restrains the 
 deserved punishment from coming 
 upon the world of the ungodly until 
 the people of Christ dwelling among 
 them are made safe. They are all 
 marked upon the forehead, whereby 
 their identity is made known and their 
 safety assured. 
 
 In ver. 4-8 John hears the number 
 of the sealed, from each of the twelve 
 tribes of Israel. The Israel here spoken 
 of is the sum total of all believers. 
 Each tribe gives its quota, an exact 
 number, speaking definitely, for an 
 indefinite number, but embracing every 
 one of the redeemed. 
 
 I. After these things, rather, 
 after this. In point of time this vision 
 comes after the seals just noticed. 
 While in chronological order it may 
 have special reference to the critical 
 times yet to come, it reveals the spirit 
 
 of God's providences in all periods. It 
 is in vision that John sees four augels 
 . . . earth. Elsewhere he speaks of 
 the angel having charge of the fire 
 ('1:8); having charge of the waters 
 (16 : 5). The devout Hebrew conceived 
 of the powers of nature as under the 
 immediate control of God through his 
 angels. It was not God apart from 
 nature, but God in and through nature. 
 The meaning intended here is, that the 
 winds, symbolizing God's judgments, 
 are restrained by the divine power. 
 The judgments upon the wicked, wide- 
 spreading and intensive in their nature, 
 are held back until the righteous 
 dwelling among them are placed under 
 the divine guardianship. The four in- 
 dicates the world-wide, universal judg- 
 ment impending, coming from every 
 quarter. Four corners. These in- 
 dicate the four cardinal points of the 
 compass, the extremes of the earth. 
 John now, beholding these visions in 
 the heavenly life {* ■ 1), looks down 
 upon the earth. He is not teaching 
 geography or declaring that the earth 
 IS a rectangle. He, in a figurative 
 way, sees the entire world with its 
 physical resources under the divine 
 control. The winds, in a general way, 
 denote the impending judgments, hav- 
 ing in them destructive powers. They 
 are spoken of in this way in the Old 
 Testament prophecies, (see jer. « : so ; 
 
 l>aa. 7:2; Ezek. 1 : 4.) Actual M'iuds are 
 
 not meant, nor physical disturbances 
 in the air, but great convulsions and 
 judgments represented by them. The 
 object of the holding fast by the angels 
 is that the wind may not as yet blow 
 upon the earth. We are not to attribute 
 any special meaning to sea, or tree. 
 When an actual wind blows, the sea is 
 disturbed, the trees are bent by the 
 storm. They represent here the world- 
 wide effects of God's visitations in 
 righteousness upon the wicked. God 
 holds back the winds so that his holy 
 
204 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 [Ch. VII. 
 
 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 
 
 3 sea, saying ; " Hurt not the earth, 
 neither the sea, nor the trees, Ptill i we 
 have sealed the servants of our God 
 f in their foreheads. 
 
 And I saw another angel coming up 
 from the rising of the sun, having the 
 seal of the living God; and he cried 
 with a great voice to the four angels, 
 to wliom it was given to hurt the earth 
 and the sea, saying, Hurt not the 
 earth, nor the sea, nor the trees, until 
 we have sealed the servants of our God 
 on their foreheads. 
 
 m John 6 : 27 ; 2 Cor. 1 : 22 ; Eph. 1 : 13 ; 4 : 30. 
 p U:l; Ezek. 9 : 4-6. 
 
 n 8 : 7-12. o 6 : 6 ; 
 
 q Gen. 1 : 26; Isa. 6 : 8. 
 
 E.\od. 12 : 13 ; 2 Peter 2 : 9. 
 - 22 ; 4. 
 
 indignation is restrained for a time 
 until another purpose be subserved. 
 In like manner the flood did not come 
 until Noah was saved ; Sodom was not 
 destroyed until Lot made his escape 
 
 (Geu. 19 : 22). 
 
 2. And I saw . . . east, rather, 
 from the snn rising. This angel is not 
 the Lord Jesus as imagined by some, 
 nor any definite angel, but a symbolic 
 form introduced in order to bring out 
 God's care for his own. The angels 
 everywhere appear as carrying out 
 God's purposes. It cannot be known 
 whether any definite meaning is to be 
 assigned to the angel arising from the 
 sun rising. Some tliink that it in- 
 dicates light, safety, and joy for the 
 righteous ; there is the sun rising for 
 them while impending storms are for 
 the wicked. The sun fittingly represents 
 the Sun of Righteousness (I'ai. 4:2). 
 When judgments come they will hurt 
 those upon whom they come. God's 
 care for his people is such that even 
 the wicked are not promptly punished 
 in order that his own people may be 
 preserved. God bears with the tares 
 for the sake of the wheat (Matt. 13 : 29). 
 Seal. The main featuresof this vision 
 we find in Ezek. 9 : 4, where those who 
 love God are marked upon the fore- 
 head. This mark is for their safety 
 when destruction comes upon the city. 
 Compare al.so Paul's reference to the 
 seal in 2 Tim. 2 : 19. In Eph. 1 : 13 
 we have the sealing of the Holy Spirit, 
 the inward witness and mark of God's 
 ownersliip. The mark is upon the 
 forehead, plain and open to all, 
 where also the high priest had on a 
 golden plate, " Holiness to the Lord." 
 The distinguishing feature of the godly 
 man is the godlikeness of tlie life. 
 The Holy Spirit will make separate- 
 ness of life, will transform character 
 so that the Christian life will be read 
 
 and known by all (2 cor. 3:3). God 
 will treat men, in outward ways, in 
 accord with tlieir character. It is as 
 if a real marli were placed on the fore- 
 head. We have a marking of a pre- 
 cisely opposite character, that of the 
 beast, in 13 : 17; 14 : 11. 
 
 3. We have here the words heard 
 by John. Hurt not ... trees. The 
 powers of nature stand for the moral 
 movements of God whereby he visits 
 the wicked in judgments. The loud 
 winds would be a fitting symbol of 
 God's storm of justice sweeping over 
 the earth. Paul's ship was helpless 
 before the storm (-^<:is 27) ; in like man- 
 ner no one can stand when God arises 
 in vindication of his righteousness 
 (Job 9 : 3). The angel is a servant of 
 God, our God. Angels and men are 
 equally under obligation to serve God. 
 Sealed. This denotes a mark where- 
 by the holy ones are distinguished from 
 others, and their safety thereby secured. 
 It is not an indiscriminate marking, 
 but according to character. In the life 
 that now is there is often no distinc- 
 tion, apparently, between the righteous 
 and the unrighteous, whereby the moral 
 sense is confused (ps. 73). But, in due 
 time, God will draw a dividing line 
 between bis friends and his enemies. 
 In their foreheads, rather, upon. 
 It is implied that when the servants 
 of God are sealed, that the winds will 
 hurt the earth ; that is, the wicked who 
 make their home there. The unsealed 
 men will be hurt. In reality all men 
 are sealed with God's seal, or the seal 
 of the beast. Every man has a char- 
 acter, and stands in a certain definite 
 relation to God. This sealing must not 
 he interpreted to mean the physical 
 safety of God's followers at all times. 
 Jesus said: "Not a hair of your head 
 shall be hurt," yet the.se same men 
 were persecuted, tortured, killed. He 
 
Ch. VII.] 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 205 
 
 4 "Aud I heard the uumber of them 
 which were 'sealed: and there were 
 sealed "au hundred and forty and four 
 thousand of all the tribes of the chil- 
 dren of Israel. 
 
 5 01 the tribe of Juda were sealed 
 twelve thousand. 
 
 Of the tribe of Reuben ivere sealed 
 
 twelve thousand. 
 
 Of the tribe of Gad were sealed twelve 
 
 thousand. 
 
 4 And I heard the number of the sealed, 
 a hundred and forty-four thousand 
 were sealed, out of every tribe of the 
 sons 01 Israel ; 
 
 5 Of the tribe of Judah, twelve thou- 
 sand sealed. 
 
 Of the tribe of Reuben, twelve thou- 
 sand. 
 Of the tribe of Gad, twelve thousand, 
 
 a 9 : 16. 
 
 t 2 Cor. 1 : 22. 
 
 had reference, not to the physical life, 
 
 but to the inner life, the man himself. 
 
 4. And 1 heard the number. 
 
 He does not state from whom he heard 
 the number. One asked Jesus if few 
 would be saved (Lu^e is : 23). A defi- 
 nite answer would have ministered 
 only to curiosity. He, therefore, gave 
 counsel that the questioner be found 
 among the saved. Persons are sealed 
 from each of the twelve tribes, repre- 
 senting all the people of Christ, the 
 collective, universal church. We have 
 twelve, the number that stands for the 
 church, squared and multiplied a thou- 
 sandfold, one iiundred and forty-four 
 thousand from all. By this is meant, 
 not that this arithmetical number will 
 be saved, but that the entire, the com- 
 plete, number of Christ's people will 
 be saved. It would utterly mislead us 
 to regard this number as used in a 
 mathematical sense. It is a symbolic 
 expression expressing the conception 
 of the largeness of Christ's kingdom 
 and the unerring accuracy with which 
 Christ separates his own from the mass 
 of men in a wicked world. Israel. 
 The question arises whether these sealed 
 persons are of the literal Hebrew race, 
 showing the number of the lineal de- 
 scendants of Abraham who are saved 
 through Christ. This view is main- 
 tained by many who think the first 
 vision gives the Jewish followers of 
 Christ; the second vision the Gentile 
 followers of Christ. This view cannot 
 be maintained. The New Testament 
 writings wipe out the distinction be- 
 tween the Jew and the Gentile in the 
 church. All believers in Christ are 
 the children of Abraham (Oai. 3 : 29)^ 
 are true Israelites (P'lii. s : a). All be- 
 lievers are included in the expression, 
 twelve tribes (21 : 12). This vision 
 represents the entire church of Christ 
 on the earth, as the next vision repre- 
 
 sents them gathered into heaven. All 
 believers, therefore. Gentiles as well as 
 Jews, must be embraced in the sealed. 
 The mark upon the forehead character- 
 izes all the saved, not Jews alone (i< : 
 1 ; 22 : 4). Satan marks all his own, of 
 all races, with his own distinguishing 
 
 mark (12 ; Ifl, 17 ; 14 : 9; 16:2; 19:20). 
 
 The marking of God will therefore 
 fittingly belong to all his people, of all 
 races. There is no limitation in the 
 description, all the servants of God are 
 to be marked. The conclusion is irre- 
 sistible that sealed here embraces all 
 the believing part of the world, whether 
 Gentile or Jew by birth or belief. As 
 to the time of sealing. As the refer- 
 ence is to the entire church of Christ, 
 in all the ages, the sealing cannot be 
 limited to a certain time. It is not re- 
 stricted to a period just before the end, 
 but goes on always, at all periods of 
 the church's history. At all periods 
 God knows his own, cares for them, 
 supplies with needful grace, creates 
 his own holy character in them, gathers 
 to himself. Not one of them is lost 
 (John 10 : 28). The Sealed belong to all 
 ages and peoples, the one organized 
 host of the Lord Jesus. At distinct 
 times of peril Christ will recognize and 
 save his own. When Jerusalem fell, 
 his followers, remembering his words 
 of counsel, escaped the horrors of the 
 siege. At the last days, when the 
 present order of things will give way 
 (3 Peter 3 : 10), Christ will recoguize this 
 invisible seal. 
 
 5-8. We have here the list of the 
 twelve tribes. The names do not cor- 
 respond with the names as usually 
 given in other places (Ezek. ts : 1-27, 
 31-3*). It is difficult to decide why the 
 changes have taken place. Judah 
 stands first in the list, instead of Reu- 
 ben the firstborn. The reason for this 
 change may be the desire to place 
 
20G 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 [Ch. VII. 
 
 6 Of the tribe of Aser were sealed twelve 
 thousand. 
 
 Of the tribe of Nepthalim were sealed 
 twelve thousand. 
 
 Of the tribe of Manasses were sealed 
 twelve thousand. 
 
 7 Of the tribe of Simeon icere sealed 
 twelve thousand. 
 
 Of the tribe of Levi ivere 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 Benjamin were sealed 
 twelve thousand. 
 
 The sealed book— Vision of the glorified 
 sufferers : the seventh seal. 
 
 9 After this I beheld, and, lo, ^a great 
 
 6 Of the tribe of Asher, twelve thou- 
 sand. 
 
 Of the tribe of Naphtali, twelve 
 thousand, 
 
 Of the tribe of Manasseh, twelve 
 thousand, 
 
 7 Of the tribe of Simeon, twelve thou- 
 sand, 
 
 Of the tribe of Levi, twelve thou- 
 sand, 
 
 Of the tribe of Issachar, twelve thou- 
 sand, 
 
 8 Of the tribe of Zebulun, twelve 
 thousand, 
 
 Of the tribe of Joseph, twelve thou- 
 sand, 
 
 Of the tribe of Benjamin, twelve 
 thousand sealed. 
 
 9 After these things I saw, and behold 
 
 V Ps. 22 : 27: Isa. 60: 3,8; Kom. 11 : 25. 
 
 honor upon Jesus, inasmuch as he is 
 of the tribe of Judah (5:5). Dan is 
 omitted entirely from the lists. Several 
 conjectures are given for the omission : 
 That it was given over to idolatry 
 (judg. 18 : 1-31) ; that it had disappeared, 
 being entirely extinct in the days of 
 John ; that the symbol of the tribe, a 
 serpent (g™- « ■ i), made it unfitting 
 to be classed among the followers of 
 the Lamb. Ephraim is omitted, Joseph 
 taking the place. In all the Old Testa- 
 ment period Ephraim assumes a posi- 
 tion hostile to Judah, which was true, 
 in the main, to Jehovah and his cause 
 (Ps. 80 ; 2 ; jer. 7 : 17), Levi has here a 
 place in the list. As Levi had the 
 priesthood, he had no share among the 
 tribes. Inasmuch as all believers are 
 now priests (i Peter 2 : 9)^ Lcvi fittingly 
 takes a position among the twelve 
 tribes. The order in which the names 
 occur is diSerent from that found else- 
 where. Doubtless John had his rea.sons, 
 which we cannot discover, for this dif- 
 fering order. Perhaps the difierence 
 in the order is another indication that 
 the vision is not meant to represent the 
 fleshly Israel, but the spiritual Israel. 
 Were sealed should be omitted in 
 all cases except in the finst and last 
 clauses. Of the tribe of Judah, twelve 
 thousand sealed . . . of the tribe of 
 Reuben, twelve thousand. 
 9-17. The second vision. The 
 
 INNUMERABLE MULTITUDE. Another 
 
 companion vision follows, whose scene 
 
 is laid in heaven. It presents a higher 
 conception than the preceding ; there 
 they were sealed, here they are saved. 
 In the first vision dangers were im- 
 pending; here glory has settled down 
 upon them. 
 
 The vision is portrayed in ver. 9-12. 
 John beholds a countless multitude in 
 white, the symbol of purity, with 
 palms, the symbol of rejoicing, prais- 
 ing God. They are gathered from all 
 peoples. They ascribe their completed 
 salvation to God, who originated their 
 salvation, and to Jesus, who mediated 
 it to them. The angels join the song, 
 falling down before the throne and 
 giving him a sevenfold doxology. 
 
 The vision is explained in ver. 13-17. 
 An elder asks John who those are 
 arrayed in white, and whence they 
 came. He further explains to John 
 that they came from great tribulations, 
 and that they obtained their holiness 
 of life through Jesus, whose blood 
 made expiation for their sins. Because 
 they are saved they worship God con- 
 tinually, have fellowship with God, 
 have all wants supplied, are led into 
 all fulness of life through Jesus, who 
 is their shepherd. 
 
 9. After this . . . lo, rather, After 
 these things I saiv, and behold. In point 
 of time this vision is placed beyond 
 the end of human history, when the 
 saved are gathered together. But the 
 design is to present here a definite 
 teaching, not to fix the mind upon the 
 
Ch. VIL] 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 207 
 
 multitude, which no man could num- 
 ber, »of all nations, and kindreds, and 
 people, and tongues, stood before the 
 throne, and before the Lamb, i clothed 
 with white robes, and ' palms in their 
 
 10 hands ; and cried with a loud voice, 
 saying ; 
 
 * Salvation to our God, ^ which sitteth 
 upon the throne, 
 "And unto the Lamb. 
 
 11 <> And all the angels stood round 
 about the throne, and about the elders 
 and the lour beasts, and fell before the 
 
 a great multitude, which no one could 
 number, out of every nation and all 
 tribes and peoples and tongues, stand- 
 ing before the throne, and before the 
 Lamb, clothed in white robes, and 
 
 10 palms in their hands. And they cry 
 with a great voice, saying, Salvation 
 to our God who sits on the throne, and 
 
 H to the Lamb. And all the angels were 
 standing round the throne and the 
 elders and the four living creatures, 
 
 X 5 :9 
 
 Isa. 66 :18; Matt. 8: 11. 
 o 19 : 1 ; F9. S : 8 : 1 
 
 y Ver. 14 ; 3 : 5, 18 ; 4 : 4 ; 6 : 11. z Lev. 23 : 40 ; John 12 : 
 
 5:1; Isa. 43 : 11 ; Jer. 3 : 23 ; Hosea 13 ; 4. 65: 13. 
 
 c 5 : 9 ; John 1 : 29. d 4 : 6. 
 
 chronology. In the first vision it was 
 taught that the judgments of God will 
 not come upon the world in any such 
 way as to interfere with God's purpose 
 of salvation. All the believers must 
 be sealed. This vision presents to us a 
 view of the sealed as gathered into one 
 fold, having passed through the tribu- 
 lation, an innumerable number. It is 
 a great multitude. It is from every 
 nation. To show the universal char- 
 acter of the gathering three further 
 terms are added, making four, express- 
 ing the world-wide collection of the 
 ransomed, kindreds, people, and 
 tongues, rather, tribes, peoples, and 
 tongues. Jesus speaks in like manner 
 of the wideness of his kingdom (>■»'' 
 8 : 11). They are before the throne and 
 
 the Lamb. (Comp. 4 : 5, 6, lO; 5 : s.) As 
 
 in a drama, while there are new scenes 
 introduced, yet the main features, the 
 throne and the surrounding groups, re- 
 main the same. One common thread 
 binds the book together. The white 
 robes typify the priestly purity of the 
 saved. Beyond all sublimity and 
 grandeur of surroundings heaven is a 
 place of whiteness of character. The 
 palms do not portray the victory, as 
 in heathen games, but reproduce the 
 joyful scenes of the feast of Tabernacles. 
 This was the feast of the ingathering of 
 the crops, a national thanksgiving time 
 (Lev. 23 : 40). Hcrc all God's people are 
 gathered home, under their own vine 
 and fig tree, a reign of perfect .security. 
 The tribulation has passed, joy has 
 come to abide with them. The number 
 passes computation. It corresponds 
 with the one hundred and forty-four 
 thousand of ver. 4. It is a comfort to 
 know that so many will be saved, that 
 
 the house may be fijled (Luke 14:23); 
 that he shall see of the anguish of his 
 soul and be satisfied (isa. 53 : 11). The 
 cause of Christ is not doomed to defeat 
 on earth or in its results in heaven. 
 Albert Barnes thought that in the final 
 outcome of God's reign the lost might 
 be but an inconsiderable number com- 
 pared with the multitudes of the saved. 
 
 10. Cried, rather, cry. It is a 
 present, joyful, worshipful life. The 
 loud voice, rather, great, indicates 
 the heartiness of the praise, the appre- 
 ciation of the salvation that has come 
 to them. Salvation — the article is 
 joined to the word in the Greek — is 
 used in its widest sense. The salvation 
 from sin, from the perils of life, the 
 state of ble.ssedness, are all attributed 
 to God. It is alone of God's mercy 
 from first to last, that the heavenly life 
 is secured. Jesus is joined with God 
 in the praise of procuring their salva- 
 tion. No Jew would think of joining a 
 created being, however high, with the 
 uncreated God as an object of worship. 
 Jesus must be a divine being. 
 
 11. As in chapter five a response is 
 straightway given. The angels men- 
 tioned in 5 : 1 break forth into praise 
 at the sight of the multitude saved 
 through Christ. And all the angels 
 were standing round about the throne, 
 and the elders and the four living 
 creatures. We are looking here at the 
 woi-shipers from the outside of the 
 circle. Hence the elders are men- 
 tioned before the living creatures. Un- 
 like the scene in 5 : 11 the angels fall 
 down before the throne. There is in- 
 creasing development of God's wisdom 
 and an increasing manifestation of 
 reverence. God's purity and right- 
 
208 
 
 HEVELATION 
 
 [Ch. VII. 
 
 throne on their faces, and worshipped 
 
 12 God, 'saying; 
 
 Amen— Blessing, and glory, and wis- 
 dom, 
 
 And thanksgiving, and honour, and 
 power, and might. 
 
 Be unto our God for ever and ever. 
 Amen. 
 
 13 'And one of the elders answered, 
 saying unto me, What are these which 
 are arrayed in e white robes, and 
 
 14 whence came they? And 1 said unto 
 him, Sir, thou kuowest. 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. 
 
 and fell before the throne on their 
 
 12 faces, and worshiped God, saying, 
 Amen ; the blessing, and the glory, 
 and the wisdom, and the thanksgiving, 
 and the honor, and the power, and the 
 strength, be to our God forever and 
 
 13 ever. Amen. And one of the elders 
 answered, saying to me. These who 
 are clothed in the white robes, who are 
 
 14 they, and whence came they ? And I 
 said to him. My lord, thou knowest. 
 And he said to me. These are they who 
 come out of tlie great affliction, and 
 they washed their robes, and made 
 them white in the blood of the Lamb. 
 
 e 5 : 12-14 ; 1 ChroD. 16 : 36. / 4 : 4 ; Zech. 4 : 4, 5. ff Ver. 9. 
 
 74 6 : 9 ; 17:6; Joho 16 : 33 ; Acts 14 : 22 ; Rom. 8 : 35-37. 
 
 i 1 : 5 ; Isa. 1 : 18 ; Heb. 9 : 14 ; 1 Peter 1 : 19 ; 1 John 1:7; Zech. 3 : 3-5. 
 
 eousness, his faithfulness and truth, 
 his mercy and loving-kindness, his in- 
 dignation against wrong-doing, these 
 awaken the feelings of worship in the 
 mind of the angelic host. 
 
 13. There is a sevenfold ascription 
 of praise, differing in the words and in 
 the order from that of 5 : 12. _ Tiiey do 
 not praise him for the forgiveness of 
 sin, for they do not know the meaning 
 of forgiveness (s : s). If the angels 
 rejoice over one sinner saved (Luke 15 : 
 7), how much more over a completed 
 redemption when all the fruits of 
 Christ's death shall be seen at once. 
 
 13. This vision is of such impor- 
 tance that an explanation is given of 
 it. In like manner Jesus explained 
 his parables, that in the one explana- 
 tion the spirit of the interpretation of 
 all parables might be seen (Matt. 13 : 
 18-23). Surprise and wonder may have 
 been apparent in the face of John at 
 the number of the saved. One of the 
 elders answered. The question 
 was asked in John's thoughts. The 
 elder puts to him the question that he 
 himself was thinking of. An elder, as 
 representing the church, asks the ques- 
 tion. Two questions are asked, who 
 they are and whence they are ? 
 
 14. I said, rather, I say or have 
 said. Sir, rather, 3Iy lord. John 
 does not declare that he cannot tell, 
 but he asserts the superior knowledge 
 of the heavenly questioner. The elder 
 himself, as representing the saved 
 church, had personal knowledge of the 
 matter, of the source and method of 
 
 salvation. He was in reality one of 
 the redeemed. The answer is given in 
 two parts. (1) These . . . tribula- 
 tion, rather, These are they which come 
 out of the great tribulation. The pres- 
 ent tense is used, those who are com- 
 ing. This carries with it the teaching 
 of a continuous coming from the earthly 
 to the heavenly life. The earthly life 
 is defined as a tribulation, a time of 
 trial. There is no allusion to any defi- 
 nite time of trial, the times preceding 
 the end, but to all the human life as 
 subject to trials (2 Tim. 3 : 12). Every 
 age gives a contribution to the number 
 of the redeemed. Saintship comes only 
 through sufierings. Jesus foretold suf- 
 ferings for his disciples (John is : S3). 
 
 (2) They have washed, rather, 
 washed. This washing took place in 
 the blood. The sacrifice of Jesus, the 
 expiation for sin, is the means of cleans- 
 ing. John speaks elsewhere of a cleans- 
 ing through the blood (1 Jo''" 1 : 7), of 
 Jesus taking away sin (John 1 : 29). The 
 robes refer not to the outward habits 
 alone, but to the whole life, inner and 
 outer, cleansed, renewed, sanctified. 
 There is presented here the human 
 acceptance of Christ's work. They 
 washed. Men are saved as men, not as 
 machines. The result of the washing 
 is a whiteness. There is a seeming 
 paradox, the blood makes white. The 
 man who knows Christ, whose sins are 
 forgiven by one who died for him, he 
 can no longer live a sinful life. "Who 
 loved me and gave himself for me" 
 (Gal. 2 : 20) — the man feeling this cannot 
 
Ch. VII.] 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 209 
 
 15 ^ Therefore are they before the throne 
 of God, and serve him day and night 
 in his temple : and he that sitteth on 
 the throne sliall 'dwell among them. 
 
 IG •" " They shall hunger no more, neither 
 thirst any more ; " neither shall the 
 suu light on them, nor any heat " [Isa. 
 
 17 49 : 10] . For the Lamb which is in the 
 midst of the throne "shall feed them, 
 pand shall lead them unto living foun- 
 tains of waters: land "God shall wipe 
 away all tears from their eyes " [Isa. 
 25 : 81. 
 
 15 Therefore are they before the throne of 
 God, and they serve him day and night 
 in his temple ; and he who sits on the 
 throne will spread his tabernacle over 
 
 16 them. They shall hunger no more, 
 nor thirst any more ; nor shall the sun 
 
 17 fall on them, nor any heat; because 
 the Lamb which is in the midst of the 
 throne will shepherd them, and will 
 guide them to the fountains of waters 
 of life ; and God will wipe away every 
 tear from their eyes. 
 
 k Matt. 5:8. 2 21 : 3 ; 22 : 3 ; Exod. 29 : 45 ; Ps. 68 : 16-18 ; Isa. 4 : 5, 6. m Isa. 49 : 10. 
 
 n Ps. 121 : 5. o Ps. 23 : 1 ; 36 : 8 : Isa. 25 : 6 ; Matt. 2:6; John 10 : 11, 14. 
 
 p 21:6; Isa. 35 : 6, 7 ; John 7 : 37, 38. 8 21 : 4 ; Isa. 25 : 8. 
 
 live an ungodly life. The Christ iu 
 him will make a Christly life. The 
 garments now are partially spotted, iu 
 time they will be exceeding white. 
 Heaven is the completion of what is 
 now really a holy life on the earth. 
 
 15. Having described the saved as 
 to the personal character and the 
 method of salvation, he now describes 
 the relation to God in three aspects. 
 
 (1) Therefore. By reason of what 
 they are they stand secure before God's 
 throne. Only the cleansed can stand 
 thus before the absolutely holy God. 
 
 (2) They serve, rather, worship. We 
 are told there is no night there (22 ; 5) ; 
 they need no temple there (21 ; 22). 
 John means that they continually wor- 
 ship God. As in the temple worship 
 they adore and praise him. The life 
 above is holy, happy, useful. It is full 
 of enlarged activity. Heaven is not a 
 place for dwarfing men, but for enlarg- 
 ing them in all possible holy direc- 
 tions. (3) Shall dwel], rather, shall 
 spread his tabernacle over them. They 
 will dwell, as in one tabernacle, with 
 the Lord himself. They will not be 
 apart from God, or strangers to his 
 presence and his glory. He will over- 
 shadow them, will throw his own fel- 
 lowship about them. Heaven is a 
 place, not of majestic scenery or pre- 
 cious stones, but of delight in a per- 
 sonal God. To these sealed men it 
 would be no heaven if God and the 
 Lamb were not there. A holy heart is 
 needful to make a heaven anywhere. 
 Heaven is a place, but there must be a 
 holy condition of heart as a pre- 
 requisite. 
 
 16. Out of their relation to God 
 comes a blessed life, described under 
 
 two aspects. Every • want shall be 
 satisfied, and perfect security is as- 
 sured. All physical, intellectual, spir- 
 itual want shall be satisfied. The 
 limitations of this life will be re- 
 moved. The burning sun of the East- 
 ern sky, the wilderness wanderings, 
 are things of the past. The deficien- 
 cies of life have given way to all the 
 fulness of that life which is life indeed 
 
 (1 Tim. 6 : 19 ; Revised version). 
 
 17. This verse is explanatory of the 
 preceding. The Liamb . . . shall 
 feed, rather, shall be their shepherd. 
 There will be a personal relation to the 
 Lord Jesus. The divine person on the 
 throne will be their shepherd, who will 
 guide them into all blessedness of the 
 social, intellectual, spiritual life. There 
 will be no division of the life into 
 secular and sacred, all will be sacred. 
 Living fountains of waters, 
 rather, foimtains of water of life ('sa. 
 49:10). All tears, rather, every tear 
 (Isa. 25 : 8). It is not asscrtcd that there 
 will be tears in that blessed life to 
 be wiped away. There M'ill be foun- 
 tains of water, but the fountains of 
 tears will be dried up. The tear stands 
 for sorrow, disappointment, grief, peni- 
 tence, sin. These will exist there iu 
 the memory alone. 
 
 Note. The consolatory visions 
 
 IN THE SERIES OF THE SEALS. This 
 entire book is constructed iu an orderly 
 and methodical way, though to the 
 casual reader it may seem a miscella- 
 neous collection of visions, with not 
 much relation to each other. Between 
 the sixth and seventh visions occurs 
 this episode, filling the chapter. The 
 same method obtains in the series of 
 
210 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 [Ch. VII. 
 
 the trumpets. Between the sixth and 
 seventh trumpets occurs an episode fill- 
 ing up the chapters 10, 11 : 1-14. One- 
 occurs also in connection with the 
 series of the bowls (chap. i4). 
 
 In the unfolding of the seals there is 
 a constant punishment of ungodliness ; 
 blow after blow comes upon it. There 
 is a possibility that God may be re- 
 garded simply as a God of penalty. 
 This chapter is not essential to under- 
 standing the meaning and development 
 of the seals. If there were no break, 
 if the sixth seal were followed at once 
 by the seventh seal, we should see the 
 steady march of God's procedure to- 
 ward a definite end and a final triumph. 
 But God has other thoughts — thoughts 
 of mercy for his people. He is a God 
 of judgment breaking down all oppo- 
 sition, having control of all forces seen 
 and unseen ; he is a God of tenderness, 
 of guidance, of preservation for all his 
 people. He so guides his people that 
 as in Egypt there was darkness in the 
 land of the ungodly, but light in the 
 homes of his people (Exod, lo : 23). He 
 breaks down and he builds up. In this 
 vision there is the utterance to all ages 
 that God saves his people, he knows 
 them one by one, he saves in large 
 numbers. This episode occurs natu- 
 rally toward the close of the series 
 when the judgments grow heavier, in- 
 asmuch as the truth here taught will 
 then be most needed. It reveals prin- 
 ciples at work all the time, during the 
 entire time when Ciirist is at work in 
 the world. Over the flood rides the 
 ark in safety. In the midst of im- 
 pending destructions God is a shepherd 
 having a sheepfold for his people in 
 the life that now is. His work will 
 not be a failure, inasmuch as uncounted 
 numbers will be gathered into a place 
 of safety. 
 
 These two visions complement each 
 other. In the first, tribulations are the 
 lot of the church, but God knows his 
 own and keeps them. Storms may 
 come, but the Saviour will be in the 
 midst of the storm to preserve his own. 
 The cloud, dark to the wicked, will be 
 light to God's ijeople (Ew.d. u : 20), God 
 restrains a universal judgment upon 
 the wicked until his people are safe- 
 guarded. In the second vision the re- 
 deemed of the Lord are seen by them- 
 selves, gathered out of every age to the 
 
 Lord himself. The complete symbolic 
 number of the first is seen to be a 
 countless number. There is a personal 
 association with the divine Shepherd 
 and an entrance upon a fulness of life 
 through Christ. The doctrinal teach- 
 ings are these: (1) A just judgment 
 will come upon the ungodly. (2) This 
 judgment is restrained on account of 
 the godly dwelling among them. (3) 
 God knows his own and cares for them. 
 (4) The saved, in countless numbers, 
 will be gathered into a place where the 
 Redeemer and the redeemed will dwell 
 in holy fellowship. 
 
 Practical Remarks. 
 
 1. God knows how to restrain wicked- 
 ness. He can guide and guard his cause 
 so that it shall not be overwhelmed. 
 Even the wicked are blessed for the sake 
 of Christ's people who dwell on the earth 
 (ver. 1). 
 
 2. Revelation unfolds to us a knowledge 
 of beings between man and God who 
 serve God and are helpful to his people. 
 The angels rejoice with God, and do his 
 will gladly. Unseen by us they may be 
 our helper (ver. 2). 
 
 3. Every Christian should live so openly 
 and transparently that all will know his 
 relationship to Christ. The character 
 and the open confession should put a 
 mark as upon the forehead (ver. 3). 
 
 4. The people of God are the true Israel. 
 Believing in Jesus brings into a saved 
 state and a holy society (ver. 4). 
 
 5. In every tribe and people Christ has 
 his own. A complete register exists in 
 God's mind of the saved. Those who are 
 saved will be saved completely. Not one 
 will be forgotten ; there will be a com- 
 pleted number (ver. 5). 
 
 6. Heaven will not be a contracted 
 place. Countless millions will be there 
 of those dying in infancy, a large propor- 
 tion of the human race. Believers will 
 be numbered by millions, found in in- 
 creasing numbers in the years to come. 
 More piety may exist in the world than 
 we sometimes estimate (ver. 9; 1 Kings 
 19: 14, 18). 
 
 7. The saved will be from all peoples, 
 making one people of the Lord. One 
 word will be common in all languages, 
 that of Jesus Christ. One common feel- 
 
Ch. VIII.] 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 211 
 
 8 AND ' when he had opened the 
 seventh seal, there was "silence in 
 heaven about the space of half an 
 hour. 
 
 8 AND when he opened the seventh 
 seal, there was silence in heaven about 
 half an hour. 
 
 6: 1. 
 
 a Hab. 2: 20: Zecb. 2: 13. 
 
 ing will bind all hearts, a love for God 
 and the Saviour (ver. 9). 
 
 8. Salvation is all from God, sin is all 
 from man. Publicly and forever the 
 saved will adore God and the Saviour. 
 There will be no room in heaven for 
 boasting, but large room for praise of 
 Christ (ver. 10). 
 
 9. Heaven is largely a place of worship. 
 Angels and redeemed alike worship God. 
 It is fitting to cultivate the spirit of wor- 
 ship when on the earth. We should adore 
 God for what he is, and praise him for 
 what he does (ver. 11). 
 
 10. Angels praise God for his excellen- 
 cies of nature. The redeemed sing an- 
 other song, that of redeeming love. The 
 sense of sin pardoned, of hearts renewed, 
 of guidance in life, of a perfect salvation, 
 will give to the saved sinner a new joy. 
 God the Father and the Lamb will be 
 jointly praised (ver. 12). 
 
 11. Even an apostle may be taught con- 
 cerning heavenly things. Many things 
 are yet to be learned by the Christian. 
 Now all things are but imperfectly known 
 (1 Cor. 13 : 12). Heaven will be a place 
 for instruction in heavenly knowledge 
 (ver. 13). 
 
 12. Tribulation means a threshing In- 
 strument. The human life undergoes 
 many hardships. They are not pleasant 
 in themselves. But they minister good 
 in the discipline of the life, give room 
 for patience, and bring Christ and his 
 grace near (ver. 14 ; 2 Cor. 12 : 9). 
 
 13. All men need to have a white robe 
 for the heavenly life. The best human 
 garment apart from Christ is but filthy 
 rags (Isa. 64 : 6). The man not having on 
 a wedding garment Is cast out (ver. 14 ; 
 Matt. 22 : 13) . 
 
 14. There will be a personal guidance 
 of the Christian into all the domains of 
 the holy life, a growth in all directions, 
 in knowledge as well as in goodness 
 (ver. 15). 
 
 15. A large part of the language of to- 
 day will be useless in heaven. Tempta 
 
 tions, perils, besetting sins, pitfalls, will 
 all be things of the past. Heaven ought 
 to be very attractive to burdened men on 
 the earth (ver. 16). 
 
 16. It was a beautiful ministry when 
 Jesus, in person, guided disciples, feed- 
 ing, counseling, caring for them on every 
 side of their lives. It will be more blessed 
 when the gloritied Lord shall personally 
 associate with his gloriped disciples (ver. 
 17). 
 
 CHAPTEK VIII. 
 
 1. The seventh seal. It is un- 
 fortunate and misleading that this 
 verse should be joined to this chapter. 
 It ought naturally to be joined to the 
 seventh chapter, as the consummation 
 of the series of the seals. The seven 
 .shows here, as everywhere else, a com- 
 pleteness in the line of thought intro- 
 duced by the first seal. In the sixth 
 seal the powers of wickedness break 
 down under God's judgments ; the 
 people of God are safe-guarded ; the 
 innumerable host of the saved are 
 gathered together ; before the end is 
 reached there are judgments upon the 
 wicked. The series naturally ends 
 with the seventh. In this chapter we 
 have the opening of the seventh seal 
 (ver. 1); the souudiug of the first four 
 trumpets (»"• 2-13). 
 
 1. The opening of the seventh 
 SEAL. There was silence in 
 heaven. We cannot regard the songs 
 in heaven as silenced, for God is always 
 worthy of praise. The songs continue 
 day and night. There may be songs 
 of increased joy when Christ wins de- 
 served triumphs. Nor can we think 
 that it has reference to the silencing of 
 the sighs of the church on the earth. 
 This vision is seen in heaven. It can re- 
 fer only to the cessation of the thunders 
 and lightnings of 4:5. There is a 
 pause in God's judgments because op- 
 position has utterly broken down. In 
 the second series they are resumed in 
 even more startling forms. At the 
 like period in the series of the trum- 
 
212 
 
 KEVELATION 
 
 [Ch. VIII. 
 
 pets (11 : 15) great voices are heard in 
 heaven crying: "The kingdom of this 
 world is become the kingdom of our 
 Lord and of his Christ." Wlien the 
 seventh bowl is poured out a great 
 voice comes from the tliroue : "It is 
 done" (16:17). Tlie hour of triumph 
 has come for Christ and his cluirch. 
 Tliis triumph may he shown in vision 
 in one of two ways, either by increased 
 songs of praise or by the cessation of 
 God's judgments. Tlie latter method 
 is adopted. Half an hour. We are 
 not to regard this as literal. Nor is it to 
 be construed as a very small period of 
 time. This takes place in symbol. 
 The essential idea is that an interval 
 of silence takes place befoi-e the judg- 
 ments of God again come in the next 
 series of visions. This silence makes 
 the resumption more impressive. Some 
 interpreters think that the broken 
 period of time, the half-hour, indicates 
 that the series is not yet completed, 
 that we must be prepared for what is 
 to follow in another series of judg- 
 ments. ' ' Half an hour, though a rela- 
 tively short time, is a long interval in 
 a drama, and makes an impressive 
 break between the seals and the trum- 
 pets" (Swete). 
 
 Section V. The series of trum- 
 pets. 8 : 2 to 11 : 19. We begin the 
 second series of visions, the trumpets. 
 These are seven in number. This 
 series moves alongside of the seals in 
 order of time. They traverse the course 
 of Christian history from the beginning 
 to the closing, under another aspect. 
 The opening seals reveal the antag- 
 onism to Christ's redemptive reign, 
 with the judgments thereby coming on 
 his foes. When the work is ended we 
 behold the ransomed of the Lord 
 gathered into one flock, sealed, saved, 
 j)raising the Redeemer for his redemp- 
 tion. In this series we have God's 
 judgments upon the openly hostile and 
 antagonistic world. We may not affirm 
 that the first seal corresponds in time 
 with the first trumpet. The idea of 
 chronology, of succession in order of 
 time, or the limiting of a seal or a 
 trumpet to a definite period within 
 which its power may be felt, cannot 
 be held. There is a noticeable paral- 
 lelism between the two series from the 
 beginning to the closing, sliowing that 
 
 they are constructed on the same plan. 
 As in the seals there is a division into 
 groups of four and three. As in the 
 seals the earth was hurt, as famine, 
 slaughter, death ranged over it, so here 
 the land, the sea, the rivers, the sun 
 that shines upon the earth, are all the 
 objects of judgment*. Under the fifth 
 seal there was a vision of an altar in 
 heaven. Under the fifth trumpet there 
 is the opening of the abyss, the oppo- 
 site of heaven. Between the sixth and 
 seventh seals there were two interven- 
 ing visions, the assurances of safety 
 and triumph. Between the sixth and 
 seventh trumpets are likewise two 
 visions. Under the seventh seal there 
 was, after the manifold struggles, a 
 blessed and quiet rest, all opposition 
 overcome, the ushering in for the 
 church of an eternal blessedness. 
 Under the seventh trumpet comes a 
 voice of triumph : "The kingdom of 
 the world is become the kingdom of 
 our Lord and of his Christ." It is 
 evident from the similarity of the two 
 series that they are constructed on the 
 same plan, must have the same general 
 teachings imder differing aspects. We 
 have in this series God's judgments 
 upon a wicked world, the trumpets in- 
 dicating the warlike attitude of the 
 Most High. It is only the revelation 
 of the varied providence toward the 
 church and the world which is suc- 
 cessive in the seals and trumpets, not 
 the progress of events. The work of 
 redemption is introduced into human 
 history; it is opposed, it triumphs. The 
 world, resisting in all ways, finally 
 gives way. We cannot here, more than 
 in the seals, look for distinct and 
 definite historical events. They pre- 
 sent simply outlines of principles, not 
 details. Undoubtedly many historical 
 events may be found that again and 
 again will, to a greater or lesser degree, 
 correspond to the descriptions given. 
 Under the varying imagery are por- 
 trayed tlie distinct kinds of judgments 
 in which, and through which, God 
 will finally overwhelm all opposition. 
 We shall get the most of profit from 
 the book by getting hold of the general 
 teachings without attempting to local- 
 ize the things described. 
 
 Nations have no personal existence 
 beyond ; judgments therefore must 
 come upon them here. The trumpets 
 
Ch. VIII.] 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 213 
 
 The seven trumpeti— Sounding of the first 
 four trumpets. 
 
 2 'AND I saw the seven angels which 
 stood before God ; "and to them were 
 given seven trumpets. 
 
 3 And another angel came 'and stood 
 at the altar, J having a golden censer ; 
 
 2 And I saw the seven angels who 
 stand before God, and there were given 
 
 3 to them seven trumpets. And another 
 angel came and stood over the altar, 
 
 ( 15 : 1 ; Luke 1 : 19 
 
 u Josh. 6 : i. 
 
 z Rom. B:U; Heb. 7 : 25. 
 
 y Lev. 16 : 12, 13. 
 
 stand, not for the proclamation of the 
 gospel as is maintained by some, but 
 for the manifestation of judgments. 
 It is asserted that if the trumpets stand 
 for judgments alone, the book repre- 
 sents a protracted day of judgment, 
 and is not in accord with the nature 
 of this dispensation, which is one of 
 mercy and salvation. That the con- 
 cluding three trumjiets stand for dis- 
 asters is evident from the terms used ; 
 they are woe trumpets ushering in days 
 of darkness. All of the trumpets em- 
 phasize the dealings of God mainly 
 with the impenitent. But there is 
 mercy mingled with the judgn:ent. 
 The design of the judgments is not for 
 penalty merely, but for convincing of 
 sinfulness and bringing to repentance. 
 In 9 : 20 it is said, "they did not re- 
 pent," implying a gracious purpose of 
 God even in punishments. At the 
 close of the series there is the glad an- 
 nouncement that the kingdom God has 
 been established (n ■ is). There has 
 evidently been at work in the world a 
 continuous and wide-spread and ef- 
 fective work of evangelization whereby 
 not only the bad has been crushed, 
 but all good agencies have been blessed 
 in their work. In the episodes espe- 
 cially is manifest the other side of 
 God's dealings, his attitude toward his 
 own people. 
 
 2-13. The SOUNDING OF THE FIRST 
 FOUR TRUMPETS. We have in the re- 
 maining part of this chapter the prep- 
 aration for sounding the trumpets 
 (ver. 2-6), and a description of the first 
 four trumpets, with the fearful results 
 
 following (ver. 7-13). 
 
 2. And I saw the seven angels 
 which stood before God, rather, 
 stand. There are gradations among the 
 angels, some higher than others in intel- 
 ligence, power, rank. We are not re- 
 quired to think that the angels here seen 
 in vision are really employed to carry 
 out God's purposes ; they may serve 
 merely as symbols of God's way of 
 
 doing things. All power is given to 
 the Son of man (Jouu 5 : 27). We are 
 not required to think that numerically 
 seven angels sound the trumpets. The 
 seven spirits of God (* : 8) stand for the 
 one Holy Spirit complete in his person 
 and operations ; the seven horns repre- 
 sent his unlimited .power (s : 6); the 
 seven eyes represent his penetrating 
 knowledge (5 : «). In like manner the 
 seven seals, the seven trumpets, the 
 seven bowls represent the many judg- 
 ments and dealings of God, which in 
 reality are one. The vision of the seven 
 angels means, in reality, that Jesus 
 Christ will, in the interests of his king- 
 dom, supervise all these judgments 
 about to be portrayed. They are varied 
 in form, they are essentially one. 
 Given seven trumpets. The trum- 
 pet in the Old Testament is used to 
 sound the alarm for war (Num. 10 -. 19). 
 It is used to summon the people to their 
 solemn assemblies (Num. 10 : 10). It also 
 indicated the time of marching when 
 on their journeys (Num. 10 -. 5, 6). It 
 pointed out the danger approaching 
 (Ezek. ss : 3). The general meaning is 
 that the sounding of the trumpet in- 
 dicates the approach of God's judg- 
 ments; it is the declaration that God 
 makes a holy war upon the wicked 
 world. It is not so much the cause of 
 Christ triumphant that is brought into 
 view as the destruction of the ungodly 
 world that is emphasized. We are here 
 in a condition of expectancy, the seven 
 angels have the trumpets in their 
 hands. 
 
 3. Another angel ... at the 
 altar, rather, ^(pon the altar, as if 
 standing over it. In 7 : 1 was a vision 
 of four angels, and then a vision 
 of another angel more distinctly repre- 
 senting God, having the seal of God. 
 Here another angel, stands apart from 
 the seven, doing a different work. 
 Some have thought this angel to be the 
 Lord Jesus, acting as mediator for his 
 people, through whom prayers find ac- 
 
214 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 [Ch. VIII. 
 
 and there was given unto him much 
 incense, that he should offer it with 
 'the prayers of all saints upon "the 
 golden altar which was before the 
 
 4 throne. And ''the smoke of the in- 
 cense, which came with the prayers of 
 the saints, ascended up before God out 
 
 5 of the angel's hand. And the angel 
 took the censer, "and filled it with tire 
 
 having a golden censer ; and there was 
 given to him much incense, that he 
 should give it to the prayers of all the 
 saints, on the golden altar which was 
 before the throne. And there went up 
 the smoke of the incense for the prayers 
 of the saints, out of the hand of the 
 angel before God. 
 And the angel has taken the censer ; 
 
 6:9; Exod. 30 : 1. 
 
 2 5:8; I John 
 6 Ps. 141 : 2 ; Luke 1 
 
 2 : 1, 2. 
 
 '< : 11-16; Ezek. 10 : 2. 
 
 ceptance with God. It is better, how- 
 ever, not to associate particular persons 
 with these angelic figures, remembering 
 that they are employed as symbols of 
 thoughts and forces. The thought here 
 presented is that the prayers of God's 
 saints, through the divine mediation, 
 become acceptable to God and have 
 power with him. The altar here 
 meant is not tlie brazen altar of 6 : 9, 
 the altar of sacrifice, but the altar of 
 incense within the holy place. To 
 this altar, one cubit square and two 
 cubits high (exoi. 30;2), the priest 
 brought twice every day the frankin- 
 cense that the smoke of the incense, as 
 it arose, might be a symbol that the 
 prayers of the people were acceptable 
 to God. The sense of sin and guilt 
 made a separation between man and 
 God. Through sacrifice atonement was 
 made. Figuratively cleansed from sin, 
 access to God is a source of delight 
 to God. The golden censer is a 
 proof that the altar of incense is meant. 
 And there Avas given . . . saints, 
 rather, And there was given unto him 
 much incense that he should add it u)ito 
 the prayers of all the saints. In 6 : 10 
 we heard the cries of the martyred 
 saints ascending to God, asking for 
 vindication upon the persecutors. Here 
 the prayers of all the saints are viewed 
 as upon the altar waiting to be heard. 
 But they lack one essential condition 
 of acceptance, that of mediatorship. 
 The incense is added to the prayers, 
 thereby making them acceptable, giv- 
 ing them power. In vision takes place 
 what we are doing in asking in Jesus' 
 name (John u : u). Much incense is 
 added, showing the abundant accept- 
 ableness of the prayers. What God 
 does he does like a God, in its fulness 
 and largeness. The incense is given 
 to the angel, thereby showing that the 
 angel is not Jesus himself, the true and 
 complete mediator. It is not a real 
 
 angel that thus acts as mediator be- 
 tween the prayers of saints and God 
 the Father. There is a figurative rep- 
 resentation of the power of saintly 
 prayer when passing through the in- 
 tercession of Jesus, powerfully influ- 
 encing the heavenly agencies. The 
 prayers are those of the sufiiering 
 church — of the entire church. They 
 are prayers for Jesus to take hold of 
 the affairs of the church, for its safety, 
 for the breaking down of opposition, so 
 that he may reign whose right it is 
 
 (Ezek. 21 ; 27). 
 
 4. We behold, in this verse, the 
 power of prayer. And the smoke 
 
 . . . saints, rather. And the smoke of 
 the incense ivith the prayers of saints. 
 The cries of God's suflfering children, 
 from many climes, going up to God, 
 through the merit of the intercessor 
 reach God. They are well-pleasing to 
 him. God hears and answers prayer. 
 This fundamental teaching Jesus 
 wished to give to his sufiiering church 
 of the first century, and of all the cen- 
 turies. The prayers are addressed, not 
 to a law or fate, or to caprice or acci- 
 dent, but to the person on the throne. 
 We draw near to God through a me- 
 diator. In the Old Testament there 
 were priests who stood between men 
 and God. There is now one mediator 
 between God and men, the man Christ 
 Jesus (1 Tim. 2:5). Thcsc prayci's, 
 through Christ, become accepted. In 
 Luke 1 : 10 the people without were 
 praying while the priest offered in- 
 cense. In heaven, while the incense, 
 in a figurative way, goes up from the 
 altar, the people are praying upon the 
 earth. It is not unreasonable to think 
 that the saints in heaven join their 
 prayers with those on earth that the 
 kingdom may be widened, and God's 
 suffering cause be vindicated. 
 
 5. The angel took, rather, to^-e^A. 
 The fire of the altar, the altar of in- 
 
Ch. VIII.] 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 215 
 
 of the altar, and cast it iuto [or, upoiil 
 the earth : and <• there were voices, and 
 thuuderings, and lightnings, and an 
 earthquake. 
 
 6 And the seven augels which had the 
 seven trumpets prepared themselves to 
 sound. 
 
 7 The first angel sounded, "and there 
 followed hail and tire mingled with 
 blood, and they were cast upon the 
 
 and he filled it out of the fire of the 
 
 altar, and cast it into the earth. And 
 there followed thunders, and voices, 
 and lightnings, and an earthquake. 
 
 And the seven augels who had the 
 seven trumpets prepared themselves to 
 sound. 
 
 And the first sounded ; and there fol- 
 lowed hail and fire mingled with blood, 
 and they were cast into the earth ; and 
 
 d 16 : IS : Ps. 18 : 13 ; Isa. 30 : SO. 
 
 e Exod, 9 : 23-25 ; Ezck. 38 : 22 ; Joel 2 : 30. 
 
 cense, is placed upon the incense in the 
 censer. In the Old Testament taber- 
 nacle worship, the fire from the altar 
 of sacrifice was used to kindle the in- 
 cense, uttering thereby the teaching of 
 the New Testament that only through 
 the sacrifice of Jesus can prayer and 
 praise be acceptable. It is taught here, 
 in vi.siou, that the prayers have reached 
 God, that the requests have been 
 granted, and now comes the outward 
 answer. The censer, with the fire of 
 coals from the altar, were thrown 
 upon the earth beneath. Here the 
 church was struggling ; from it cries 
 went up to God. Now comes the an- 
 swer in penalty upon the earth.' In 
 vision were voices and thunder- 
 iugs . . . earthquake, rather, 
 thunder and voices . . . earthquake. 
 The very prayers oifered have been 
 answered. Tlie smoke from the cen.ser 
 accompanied the prayers, the fire 
 from the incense now brings destruc- 
 tion and judgment upon the earth. 
 The prayers, therefore, have been cries 
 for God's holiness to manifest itself, 
 for Je.sus to gird on his sword and 
 maintain his cause on the earth. The 
 saints move God, and God smites the 
 earth, (comp, Ps. i8 : 6-9.) _ We are here 
 at the threshold of this series ; the 
 seven angels have their trumpets ready 
 to announce and do God's will. We 
 have seen the suffering church praying, 
 the interceding Mediator helping great- 
 ly, the heavenly Father listening and 
 granting their requests. Tlie earth 
 l>ersecuting will now be the earth suf- 
 fering. 
 
 6. This verse shows a time of trouble. 
 It has been made manifest that God 
 intends now to reveal himself in judg- 
 ment for his church. What this judg- 
 ment will be has not yet been revealed. 
 We shall see these judgment*, in vision, 
 as the angels sound their trumpets. 
 
 John sees them preparing themselves 
 to reveal God's will. There is always 
 a ripening, a coming to completeness 
 of God's plans, an orderly procedure. 
 The first four constitute a group by 
 themselves. The same division into a 
 group of four and three prevails here 
 as in the seals and bowls. These four 
 have one common characteristic : the 
 judgments fall on material things only, 
 things that are incidental and accessory 
 to life. They afiect the trees, the grass, 
 the sea, rivers and fountains, the sun 
 giving light to the earth. It is only in 
 the second group that life is touched. 
 They are judgments, suggested by the 
 prophets of the Old Testament, and by 
 the plagues that came upon the people 
 of Egyjjt wlien Jehovah had a contro- 
 versy with Pliaraoh. We are not here, 
 any more than in the seals, to trace a 
 history of distinct events. We have 
 rather, in symbols, the nature of all 
 the disturbances through which na- 
 tions will pass, the judgments upon 
 them. We have the nature of God's 
 dealings with his foes presented, in- 
 cluding all that takes place in history. 
 But the definite persons and events we 
 do not attempt to delineate. Prophecy 
 is not simply history written before- 
 hand, so that we can fit the book and a 
 clinrch history into each other, finding 
 distinct ages and distinct events under 
 each trumpet. 
 
 7. The FIRST ANGEL SOUNDS. The 
 first angel, rather, And the first. As 
 a direct result of the sounding of the 
 trumpet, there follows a vision before 
 the eyes of the seer. Hail ... blood. 
 This finds illustration in .Toel's proph- 
 ecy (2 : 28-32). lu describing the day 
 of Jehovah Joel mentions the blessed 
 bestowal of tlie Holy Spirit, fulfilled at 
 Pentecost, and also the appearance of 
 blood, fire, and vapor, meaning thereby 
 disasters upon those rejecting Jesus. 
 
216 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 [Ch. VIII. 
 
 earth: and the f third part Bof trees 
 was burnt up, and all green grass was 
 burnt up. 
 
 8 And the second angel sounded, i" and 
 as it were a great mountain burning 
 
 9 with fire was cast into the sea: 'and 
 the third part of the sea ''became 
 blood ; 'and the third part of the 
 creatures which were in the sea, and 
 had life, died ; and tlie third part of 
 the ships were destroyed. 
 
 the third part of the earth was burnt 
 up, and the third part of the trees was 
 burnt up, and all green grass was burnt 
 up. 
 
 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 ; 
 
 9 and the third part of the creatures that 
 are in the sea, that have life, died ; 
 and the third part of the ships were 
 destroyed. 
 
 / Ezek. 5 : 12. 
 
 g9: 
 i 16 : 3. 
 
 Isa. 2:13; 10 : 19. 
 k Exod. 7 : 17-21. 
 
 h Jer. 51 ; 
 I 16:3. 
 
 25 ; Amos 7 : 4. 
 
 "Blood-red rain is not unknown in 
 nature ; in the spring of 1901 the 
 daily journals contained accounts of 
 this phenomenon, which was being 
 witnessed in Italy and the south of 
 Europe, the result as it seemed, of the 
 air being full of particles of fine red 
 sand from the Sahara" (SWETE). In 
 Exod. 9 : 24 we have hail and fire 
 sent as a plague. Here is the added 
 feature of blood. Some refer this to 
 aggressive war made by one nation 
 upon another as the result and penalty 
 of sin. It is wise and more in accord 
 with the spirit of the book, not to refer 
 this to any definite plague, pestilence, 
 war, or judgment upon the wicked. 
 In this vision the land is visited in 
 judgment, in distinction from the sea 
 and the bodies that give light to men. 
 Originally the land, the trees, the 
 grass, and all things were made for 
 man and his enjoyment. Now it is 
 taught, in vision, that all these things 
 made for man are blighted by a curse 
 on account of wrong-doing. We are 
 not to understand that the terms land, 
 grass, are to be taken in a literal 
 sense. Men will suffer just as if these 
 were destroyed. Some interpreters, at- 
 tempting to find a meaning in every 
 term used, regard the trees as the lead- 
 ers of the people, and the grass as the 
 great mass of men, the common people. 
 We must not attempt to find meanings 
 in every word. As in the parables of 
 Christ, many things are here introduced 
 simply as drapery to fill in the narra- 
 tive and bring out the main thought 
 the more effectively. The result of this 
 judgment is, and the third part of 
 the earth was burnt up, that is, a 
 third part of the surface of the earth. 
 Of the trees on this third part only 
 one-third is burned up, but all the 
 
 green grass. It is impossible to tell 
 why the fraction one-third is chosen. 
 Three destructive agencies are em- 
 ployed, fire, hail, blood. This may 
 have suggested the number. The num- 
 ber three fills a large place in the struc- 
 ture of the entire book. There is here 
 portrayed penalty, but not an utter 
 destruction. There are in God's hands 
 heavier penalties yet to come. 
 
 8, 9. The second trumpet now 
 IS SOUNDED. In this vision the sea, 
 as distinct from the land, is touched 
 by the hand of God. The whole range 
 of nature, sea and land, thus comes 
 under God's retributive power. As it 
 Avere a great mountain burning 
 with fire. This judgment is akin to 
 that mentioned in Jer. 51 : 25. Some- 
 thing in the nature of a volcano is in- 
 dicated. Such a scene would impress 
 the mind as a most fearful judgment, 
 making great convulsions, destroying 
 life and property. The plagues of 
 Egypt are again drawn upon to add 
 fearfulness to the scene. The river of 
 Egypt was changed into blood (Exoa. 7 : 
 20, 21) ; here the sea is changed into 
 blood. The great power displayed in 
 hurling the mountain into the sea, a 
 figure used by Jesus in ^latt. 21 : 21, 
 the fearful effects produced, deeply im- 
 press the mind. The sea became blood ; 
 thereby the fish died ; the ships were 
 destroyed, perhaps, by the burning 
 mountain. The terms sea and land 
 are not used in a metaphorical sense, 
 meaning Jewish and Gentile nations, 
 but rather the whole range of human 
 life, represented by the entire world. 
 Some interpreters who wish to find 
 specific events mentioned, find this 
 vision fulfilled in the overthrow of 
 pagan Rome by the irruption of the 
 barbarians, by the convulsions in 
 
Ch. VIII.] 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 217 
 
 10 And the third angel sounded, °> and 
 there fell a great star from heaven, 
 burning as it were a lamp, " and it fell 
 upon a third part of the rivers, and 
 
 11 upon the fountains of waters ; and the 
 name of the star is called ° Wormwood : 
 pand the third part of the waters be- 
 came wormwood ; and many men died 
 of the waters, because they were made 
 bitter. 
 
 10 And the third angel sounded ; and 
 there fell out of heaven a great star, 
 burning as a torch, and it fell on the 
 third part of the rivers, and on the 
 
 11 fountains of the waters. 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. 
 
 m 9 : 1 ; Isa. 14 : 12. 
 
 Deut. 29 : 18 i Prov. 5:4; Jer. 9 : 15 ; 23 : 15 ; Lam. 3 : 15, 19. 
 p Exod. 15 : 23. 
 
 society brought about through the 
 French Revolution in the eighteenth 
 century. However fittingly they may 
 be indicated by the vision, we may not 
 regard these events as specifically de- 
 scribed. Rather in large and bold out- 
 lines is presented a vision of judgments 
 and disasters upon wicked men and 
 nations, brought upon them by their 
 own sin. It is as if God punished 
 them by these physical disasters. Here 
 also the one-third is made use of, a 
 partial destruction to be followed by 
 yet heavier. It cannot be taken in a 
 strict mathematical sense, but means a 
 large destruction but a merciful re- 
 straining so that the one-third has not 
 become the whole. 
 
 10, 11. The third angel sounds 
 HIS TRUMPET. There is a growing in- 
 tensity in the visions. In the first 
 vision inanimate nature alone .suffered. 
 In the second the living creatures in 
 the sea were brought under judgment. 
 In the third the immediate sources of 
 life, the fountains of water, are touched, 
 and men suffer and die. Great star. 
 In Isa. 14 : 12 Babylon is spoken of as 
 a star fallen from heaven. In Dan. 
 12 : 3 tho.se winning men to righteous- 
 ness .shine as the stars. In this book 
 the angels of the churches are called 
 stars (1 ; 20). Some have interpreted 
 this great .star to mean some great 
 heretical teacher like Arius of the 
 third century, who denied the deity of 
 Jesus ; or other false teacher, perverting 
 the tnith, in the past or in the future. 
 Others refer it to despotic power where- 
 by the lives of men have been made 
 bitter in Egypt (Exod. i : u). As John 
 is moving here in the domain of na- 
 ture, on earth and in the sky, making 
 use of sea, land, volcano, also of star 
 and sun, it is probable that there is no 
 metaphorical use of the term. Every 
 
 part of nature, on earth and above, 
 everything that contributes to man's 
 life and enjoyment, all are brought 
 under God's ban. -All make war on 
 man, every part of nature suffers. In 
 this symbolic way Jesus shows to John 
 that God touches in judgment every 
 surrounding of life. Lamp, rather, 
 torch. This vision shows the rivers 
 and fountains touched by judgment. 
 Life itself is supported by the foun- 
 tains. The water used for sustaining 
 life becomes a factor of death. The 
 star is called Wormwood, (comp. jer. 
 23 : 15; Deut. 24 : 18.) In the wildemcss 
 the bitter waters of Marah were made 
 sweet (Exod. 15 : 25); here the sweet 
 waters are made bitter. Something 
 deadly seems here to be meant, as in 
 Jer. 9 : 15. " The Hebrew word is em- 
 ployed in the Old Testament as a met- 
 aphor for (1) the perversion of justice 
 (Amos 6:7; 6 : 12); (9) the bitter fruits 
 of idolatry (ueut. 29 : n); (3) Divine 
 chastisements (Jer. 9 : 15) " (Swete). 
 Wormwood mixed with water does 
 not kill ; but the rivers and foun- 
 tains changed into wormwood did de- 
 stroy many. The vision describes the 
 lives of the nngodly as made bitter. 
 The disappointments in heart, the 
 failure of plans, the mutual antago- 
 nisms between men and nations, the 
 direct judgments of God, these unite 
 to make the life of the ungodly a 
 bitter thing. God makes it ill for the 
 wicked (isa. 57 : 21). As the ages go on 
 and light increases, there is a con- 
 stantly increasing warfare upon the 
 ungodly. One-third part is affected 
 with the result: many men died. 
 For the first time human life is touched. 
 Alford gives a practical illu.stration, in 
 the material realm, of poison at the 
 fountain of life, in the drink traffic, 
 whereby a large part of the human 
 
218 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 [Ch. VIII. 
 
 12 1 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, 
 aud the night likewise. 
 
 12 And the fourth angel sounded ; and 
 the third part of the sun was smitten, 
 and the third part of tlie moon, and 
 the third part of the stars, that the 
 third part of them might be darkened, 
 and the day not shine for a third part 
 of it, aud the night in like manner. 
 
 q 16 : 8; Isa. 13 : 10; Joel 2 : 10; Amos 8 : 9. 
 
 race is brought under a curse. The 
 Greek word here rendered loorm- 
 100 od is "absinthe." A thousand 
 illustrations may be found in every 
 period that fit into and fill out this 
 vision. The poisoning of the waters 
 in the domain of nature is a picture of 
 the poisoning of the springs of life in 
 the social, intellectual, and spiritual 
 realms of life. While nothing definite 
 is portrayed so that we can locate it in 
 history by a definite event, there is a 
 distinct impression made upon the 
 mind of the beholder of these dread 
 convulsions in nature, growing more 
 and more intense as the trumijets sound, 
 that everything that God made for a 
 blessing and a help becomes a source 
 of bitterness and punishment. The 
 death seen in vision reveals some- 
 thing more than the mere physical 
 effects on man. The death stands for 
 the completest penalty in man — sor- 
 row, wretchedness, involving also 
 spiritual death. 
 
 13, 13. The fourth angel 
 SOUNDS. Destruction widens out as it 
 travels on in the trumpets. Every- 
 thing that concerns man has a judg- 
 ment upon it. Here the sun, moon, 
 aud stars suffer a blighting judgment. 
 They are touched because it is from 
 them that light comes to men. With- 
 out them human life would be unbear- 
 able and impossible. The sun gives 
 brightness to life. The moon and stars 
 add joy and beauty to the night-time. 
 In order to complete the visions, to 
 show that the ungodly must suffer on 
 every side, around and above, by land 
 and by sea, in river and fountain, by 
 the cutting off of life, the heavens 
 now, in vision, suffer a blight. Here 
 also is a reminiscence of the Egyptian 
 plagues, when darkness came, as a 
 penalty, over the land (Exoa. lo : 21-23). 
 The smitten sun shines for only a third 
 part of the day ; the smitten moon and 
 stars shine for only a part of the night. 
 The third part holds sway in the first 
 
 four trumjjets. Those interpreters 
 who find historical events alluded to 
 in every vision, see in the reference to 
 the darkening sun and heavens a 
 prophecy of the dark ages that rested 
 for centuries upon Europe, a period 
 when spiritual and moral darkness 
 prevailed to a large extent. It is 
 better, however, to find no allusion 
 here to distinct events in history, but 
 to see portrayed in an impressive way, 
 the misery, the unrest, the darkness 
 that must come upon the ungodly, 
 whether from war, from convulsions in 
 nature, from oi)pression, from the dark- 
 ening of the mind, the shutting out of 
 God's light aud peace. In many and 
 manifold ways God can shut out peace 
 and joy from the heart. The sun 
 stands for peace, light, joy, God's 
 presence and blessing. Its darkening 
 means sorrow, wretchedness, calamity, 
 disaster. Such sorrow comes upon the 
 ungodly, not in Europe alone, but 
 everywhere, as if the sun in the firma- 
 ment Avere smitten. God built up 
 creation for man's residence. In the 
 creative days we see the world emer- 
 ging in beauty from chaos ; order holds 
 rule. The sea, the grass and trees, the 
 rivers and fountains, the sun, moon, 
 aud stars, all fill their places and serve 
 man's interests. Here, under the power 
 of sin, we see the order reversed. 
 Everything, from the lowest created 
 thing to the most majestic, refuses to 
 work for man. This is Christ's way of 
 saying that God is against man in his 
 sinning and guilty state. 
 
 13. The three woes announced. 
 With the sounding of the first four 
 trumpets, we naturally look for a break 
 in the order of events. The churches 
 were divided into groups of four and 
 three, the seals were divided in the 
 same way. In the orderly and meth- 
 odical structure of the entire book, 
 we see the same distinct grouping of 
 the four trumpets that have already 
 sounded, and three of a distinct nature 
 
Ch. VIII.] 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 219 
 
 The seven trumpets— Sounding of the fifth 
 trumpet, or first woe. 
 13 AND I beheld, 'aud heard an angel 
 flying through the midst of heaven, 
 saying with a loud voice, ' Woe, woe, 
 woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by 
 reason of the other voices of the trum- 
 pet of the three angels, which are yet 
 to sound I 
 
 13 And I saw, and heard an eagle flying 
 in midheaven, saying with a great 
 voice. Woe, woe, woe, to those who 
 dwell on the earth, by reason of the 
 remaining voices of the trumpet of the 
 three angels who are about to sound ! 
 
 r 14 : 6 ; 19 : 17. 
 
 s 9 : 12 ; 11 : 14 ; Joel 2:1; Matt. 24 : 21, 22. 
 
 now to sound. Heard an angel, 
 ratlier, an eagle; midst of" heaven, 
 
 rather, mid heaven. The eagle flies in 
 the meridian sky where every eye may 
 see, where also it may scan the entire 
 horizon. The eagle is a bird of majesty, 
 also of plunder, of ferocity. Here it 
 adds additional terror to the scene. 
 Jesus alludes to the eagle's coming 
 ■when dark times come (Matt. 24 : 28). 
 Its cry is a thrice repeated woe. In- 
 habiters of the earth, rather, that 
 divell on the earth. Great calamities 
 have been described, more dread ones 
 are yet to come. The persons upon 
 whom they are to come are the ungodly 
 people, the earthly minded people. The 
 church, the godly party, may suffer, 
 to some extent, because on the earth, 
 dwelling among the ungodly, but the 
 judgments are designed only for the 
 ungodly. By means of the four trum- 
 pets which have already sounded, no 
 effectual results have been obtained. 
 The cause of wickedness has not been 
 crushed. Although the world has been 
 stricken in all its sources of supply, 
 yet multitudes still cling to it as their 
 portion, reject Christ the rightful ruler 
 of the world, oppose the gospel. There- 
 fore God takes now more effective 
 measures. They are seen to be dis- 
 tinctive because they bring to an end 
 the opposition, throw the ungodly 
 world into confusion that the cause of 
 righteousness and truth may be es- 
 tablished in the earth. God announces 
 the coming of heavier judgments, that 
 through repentance men may avoid 
 them. The threats against Nineveh 
 made a repenting Nineveh. A repent- 
 ing Nineveh became a saved Nineveh. 
 In like manner God always loves to 
 bestow mercy. He delights not in 
 judgment; he does delight in mercy. 
 The only way in which a man can 
 escape the coming judgment is by 
 escaping to God. 
 
 Note. The first four trumpets. 
 Historical interpreters find, in the first 
 four trumpets, a complete chronological 
 history of the opening centuries of the 
 Christian era. Barnes, Elliot^ and 
 others find in these 'trumpets distinct 
 allusions to the four invasions of the 
 Eoman empire by the Gothic tribes 
 from 400 to 476 A. D. Historical cor- 
 respondences may be found in these 
 events, but others might be found that 
 would correspond with equal definite- 
 ness. It is a mistake to think that we 
 must locate these judgments in actual 
 history, one part upon the earth, an- 
 other part upon the sea. We may not 
 attempt to map out these visions upon 
 the chart of history. Scarcely any two 
 intei'preters would agree as to the de- 
 tails. It cannot be demanded of any 
 interpreter that he shall match these 
 symbols one by one with distinct his- 
 torical events, places, and judgments. 
 This would be to mistake the nature of 
 symbolic teaching. It is better to re- 
 gard these as pointing out, in a general 
 way, the judgments of God upon a 
 wicked world. In ever new and re- 
 curring ways the forces of the world — 
 social, business, intellectual, political 
 — rise up against God. Against them 
 God sends his judgments. Through 
 centuries God deals patiently with men. 
 The world does not lay down its arms 
 of opposition. Whenever the conflict 
 is joined anc^^a distinct issue is made, 
 the victory is seen to be on the side of 
 God. His righteousness and his al- 
 mightiness assure this result. Every- 
 where through history we may find 
 historical illustrations of the trumpets, 
 but we may not regard them as other 
 than illustrations. Israel was called 
 out of Egypt (Hosea 11 : i). Matthew 
 makes use of this to show the calling 
 of Jesus from Egypt (*'*"• 2 : is). It 
 was more nearly an illustration of 
 Uosea's statement than a fulfilment of 
 
220 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 [Ch. IX. 
 
 a prediction made by Hosea. In like 
 manner we are at liberty to find illus- 
 trations in history, of judgments in 
 manifold ways coming upon the un- 
 godly element in the world, without 
 affirming, at the same time, that the 
 event was definitely predicted. Many 
 centuries have passed away since Chris- 
 tianity was introduced on the earth. 
 How many centuries will yet elapse 
 before the ending of this ei'a no one 
 may predict. We may hold definitely 
 to the following points : the four trum- 
 pets do not of necessity follow each 
 other in close succession in order of 
 time ; they do not have definite limits 
 of time ; the same judgments may come 
 again and again; the judgments may 
 overlap each other in order of time; 
 we may not definitely locate the visions 
 in order of time or place ; they predict, 
 in outline, the manifold ways in which 
 God can change that which was meant 
 to be a blessing to life so that it may 
 become a hindrance and a curse. God 
 rules and overrules. 
 
 Practical Kemarks. 
 
 1. Sometimes the saints of God can do 
 nothing but pray. Through the power of 
 prayer God's cause is widened, opposition 
 breaks down, help comes. Real prayers 
 are stored up in heaven (ver. 3). 
 
 2. We need a mediator in drawing near 
 to God. One is furnished us in Jesus 
 Christ. Not the mere mention of his 
 name will avail to bring answer to prayer, 
 but a union with Christ, a submission to 
 his will, a dependence on him (ver. 3). 
 
 3. We need no angelic mediation when 
 we have a mighty Saviour who ever liveth 
 to make intercession for us. Having 
 Jesus we need neither men or angels to 
 help us (ver. 3). 
 
 4. There is a power in united prayer. 
 The prayer of one righteous man availeth 
 much (James 5 : 16). The prayers of all 
 the saints unitedly come before God. 
 The church on its knees means a God 
 moved, a world blessed, the counsel of 
 the wicked coming to naught (ver. 4). 
 
 5. Prayers that reach heaven are an- 
 swered on the earth. No one is weak or 
 alone who has a prayer-hearing God on 
 his side. Queen Mary feared the prayers 
 of John Knox. The saint of God on his 
 
 knees may do more than the soldier with 
 his sword (ver. 5). 
 
 6. God knows how to use judgments^ 
 converting even the things made for 
 blessings into penalties. Even in his 
 judgments there is tenderness involved, 
 the desire that they may turn men to re- 
 pentance (ver. 7). 
 
 7. Even in wrath God remembers mercy. 
 He does not pour out so much of penalty 
 as he can or as is deserved (ver. 8). 
 
 8. God can curse our blessings so that 
 the things made for our use will become 
 our enemies. No one may wisely fight 
 against God. He can make even our 
 enemies to be at peace with us ; he can 
 change the designed blessings of life into 
 burdens and penalties (ver. 7). 
 
 9. The ways and wages of sin are, in 
 the end, bitterness to the soul. Sin brings 
 disappointment, it gives wormwood to 
 drink (ver. 11). 
 
 10. The Lord is a sun and a shield, giv- 
 ing grace, guidance, light, glory. Sin 
 darkens the sun, destroys peace, makes 
 the pathway dark. The pathway of the 
 just grows brighter and brighter. God is 
 light. God makes light in the heart. The 
 man who is like God dwells in the light 
 and walks in the light (ver. 12; IJohn 
 2 : 10). 
 
 11. There are gradations in punishment 
 as well as in blessings. In the unseen 
 life there are differing penalties (Luke 
 12 : 48); as also differing degrees of award 
 (Luke 19 : 17). God is just as well as 
 merciful (ver. 13). 
 
 12. God gives warning of the danger of 
 sin and of approaching doom. No one 
 can be lost who does not sin against coun- 
 sel, grace, and warning. Sin is foolish- 
 ness as well as recklessness and wicked- 
 ness (ver. 13). 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Sorrows and judgments were revealed 
 in the first four trumpets, but they 
 were light compared with those about 
 to be revealed. A great break occurs 
 between the first group of four and the 
 last group of three, in that we now 
 come into closer contact with a Satanic 
 power. In the fifth seal we had a 
 glimpse into the abode of the blessed, 
 where the souls of the martyred called 
 
Ch. IX.] 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 221 
 
 9 AND the fifth angel sounded, 'and I 
 saw a star full from heaven unto the 
 earth: and to him was given the key 
 
 2 of " the bottomless pit. And he opened 
 the bottomless pit; 'and there arose a 
 
 9 AND the fifth angel sounded ; and I 
 saw a star fallen out of the heaven into 
 the earth, and there was given to him 
 
 2 the key of the pit of the abyss. And 
 he opened the pit of the abyss, and 
 
 ( 8 : 10 ; Luke 10 : 18. 
 
 « Vcr. II; 17 : 8 ; 20 : 
 
 X Joel 2 : 2, 10 ; Gen. 19 : 28. 
 
 upon the holy God for vengeance upon 
 tlie wicked. Here, ou the otlier hand, 
 we see the abyss, the abode of darkness, 
 opened, and its fearful ettects upon the 
 wicked dwelling on the earth. Both 
 lieaven and hell are closely related to 
 earth. The saints in heaven pray that 
 God's cause may be victorious upon the 
 earth, the hosts of darknes,s come from 
 their abode to work torments on men. 
 Unseen by men, both spiritual worlds 
 are real in nature, and lie close to hu- 
 man history in their influence upon it. 
 Three worlds are concerned in the 
 making of the present : the world of 
 men, the world of ligbt, the world of 
 darkness. There is a constant growth 
 in the intensitj' of the agencies at work. 
 In the first trumpet the judgment is 
 upon vegetation, in tlie second upon 
 animal life, in the third upon man, in 
 the fourth upon the sources of light 
 upon which all life depends. In the 
 fifth the judgment is upon the entire 
 intellectual and moral life of the un- 
 godly, whereby life itself becomes iu- 
 toleral)le. 
 
 In this chapter we have the sounding 
 of the fifth trumpet, with the fallen 
 star, the opening of the aljyss, the 
 locusts that torment men, over whom 
 is a king, Abaddon (ver. 1-12); the sound- 
 ing of the sixth trumpet, with the un- 
 loosing of the angels, the innumerable 
 host of horses, frightful in appearance 
 (ver. 13-19); the impenitent world, re- 
 maining hard under the severest judg- 
 ments (ver. 20, 21). 
 
 1-12. The fifth trumpet sounds. 
 This is the first woe trumpet. 
 1. A star . . . unto the earth, 
 
 rather, a star fallen from heaven unto 
 the earth. John did not .see the star 
 falling from heaven, he .saw it when 
 fallen. In 8 : 10 he saw a star falling, 
 saw its de.scent. The time of the fall 
 is not here indicated. In this book the 
 term, star, stands as a symbol of a 
 potentate or power. The star repre- 
 sents the angel of the churches (1 : 20). 
 In 12 : 7-9 we have the fact of the ex- 
 pulsion of Satan from the heavenly 
 
 life. In 22 : 16 Jesus is called the 
 Morning Star. The fallen star is Satan, 
 the king of the opposite and contrasted 
 kingdom of darkness. In John 8 : 44 
 it is stated that Satan stood not in the 
 truth, implying that he was a fallen 
 being. In the star fallen is the afiirnia- 
 tion that, at one time, Satan was in a 
 blessed life, but by his own transgres- 
 sion fell. The fall of the star may find 
 illustration in Isa. 14 : 12 and Luke 
 10 : 18, though it cannot be afiirmed 
 that this passage refers to the same 
 events. To him Avas given. There 
 is proof here of intelligence and per- 
 sonality. The fallen star is a person. 
 Jesiis has the keys of hades and the 
 grave (i : is) ; here the opposite thought 
 is that Satan is placed in possession of 
 the key of the pit of darkness. It is 
 not stated by whom the key is given, 
 but it is implied that all created beings, 
 good angels and evil angels, have only 
 a limited and dependent power. Satan 
 is potent, but God only is omnipotent. 
 Ot the bottomless pit, rather, of the 
 pit of the abyss. The conception of the 
 abyss is that it is deeply located in the 
 earth ; very deep, but limited in its area, 
 so that it can be covered over with a 
 covering, and sealed (20 : 3). This abyss 
 is the penal home of demons, evil 
 spirits. The same word, abyss, is used 
 in 17 : 8; 20 : 3 , and Luke 8 : 31. It 
 embraces the thought of what we mean 
 by hell, where lost spirits and lost men 
 w ill find their abode. 
 
 2. Straightway the action begins. 
 Opened . . . pit, rather, the pit of 
 the abyss. In vision John sees a smoke 
 out of the pit. It is conceived of as so 
 dense and black as to fill the air and 
 obscure the sun. God is light (1 J«bn 
 1:5); sin is darkness (1 Johu 1 : 8). 
 Conversion is a coming out of dark- 
 ness into light (I Peter 2:9). Satan and 
 his angels are the world rulers of this 
 darkness (Kpii- 6 : 12). Men can no 
 longer .see distinctly; everything is 
 looked at in distorted and indistinct 
 ways. The darkening may involve the 
 social, political, intellectual, moral, 
 
222 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 [Ch. IX. 
 
 smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a 
 great furnace ; and the sun and the ait- 
 were darkened by reason of the smoke 
 
 3 of the pit. And tiiere came out of the 
 smoke ^ locusts upon the earth : and 
 unto them was given power, ^ as the 
 scorpions of the earth have power. 
 
 4 And it was commanded them "that 
 they should not hurt ^the grass of the 
 earth, neither any green thing, neither 
 any tree ; but only those men wliich 
 have not <= the seal of God iu their fore- 
 
 there went up a smoke out of the pit, 
 as the smoke of a great furnace ; and 
 the sun and the air were darkened by 
 
 3 reason of the smoke of the pit. And 
 out of the smoke came forth locusts 
 into the earth ; and there was given to 
 them authority, as the scorpions of the 
 
 4 earth have authority. And it was said 
 to them, that they should not hurt the 
 grass of the earth, nor any green thing, 
 nor any tree, but only the men who 
 have not the seal of God on their fore- 
 
 y E.xod. 10 ; 4; Judg. 7 : 12. 
 a6:6;7:3. 68:7. c7:3; 
 
 X Ver. 10. 
 E.tod. 12 : 23 ; Ezek. 9 : 4. 
 
 and spiritual relations of man. The 
 very air through which men naturally 
 see clearly is obscured and darkened. 
 Satan is himself embodied ugliness, 
 malignity, falsehood, a disturber of 
 moral order and beauty. He is him- 
 self darkness, he makes darkness. He 
 throws darkness over tlie Bible, over 
 God's existence and nature, over the 
 soul's needs and its highest interests. 
 Satan may so intensify the wickedness 
 of men that " darkness shall cover tlie 
 earth and gross darkness the people " 
 (isa. 60 : 2). Fumace. In many 
 places in the New Testament the dwell- 
 ing-place of the lost is conceived of 
 under the figure of a fire. There is the 
 unquenchable fire (Matt. 3 : lo, 12); the 
 tares shall be burned up (Matt, is : so); 
 the wicked shall be cast into the lake 
 of fire (20 : 15). 
 
 3. And . . . earth, rather, ^wi oiU 
 of the smoke came forth locusts upon 
 the earth. John does not declare that 
 the locusts came out of the pit, but it 
 cannot be doubted that he means so to 
 intimate. He sees them issuing from 
 the dense clouds. The locust was an 
 object of terror to Oriental countries. 
 It is used here in that sense. For what 
 or for whom do these locusts stand? 
 Many answers have been given. The 
 historical interpreters find reference 
 to the Goths and Vandals who invaded 
 Rome. Many find allusions to the 
 Mohammedans who, in the seveutli and 
 following centuries, made havoc with 
 the sword in spreading their beliefs. 
 Some find in the fallen star allusion to 
 the pope and his .servants, the monks 
 and priests. We may fix in our minds 
 this conclusion, that there is no refer- 
 ence to literal locusts such as came in 
 Joel's day, and formed the foundation 
 for a large part of his prophetic teach- 
 
 ings (Joel 1, 2); nor to armies repre- 
 .seuted by locusts, for they do not hurt 
 the godly (ver. 4). The entire scene ia 
 Satanic in character, the pit, the smoke, 
 the locusts. In the previous trumpets 
 nature had been, in a symbolic way, 
 warring upon the imgodly; now the 
 world of darkness itself makes war 
 upon them. The natural locust doea 
 not hurt men, but these are creatures of 
 the pit and are scorpionlike in their 
 nature. As the scorpions of the 
 earth have poAver. They sting and 
 poison men. It is as if the locust, with 
 a scorpion power, were everywhere 
 swept through the air to light upon the 
 ungodly and sting them, and make life 
 thereby unbearable. What the natural 
 locust does in the vegetable world, 
 thereby indirectly hurting men, these 
 locusts, Satanic in origin, do directly 
 to men themselves, in a higher realm, 
 of working. 
 
 4. It was commanded them, 
 rather, saul to them. It is not stated 
 who spoke the words. But it is indi- 
 cated that everything that takes place 
 is under the ultimate divine control. 
 There is a wide divergence between the 
 common locusts and those here de- 
 scribed. These do not hurt the grass 
 . . . tree. In a symbolic way these 
 were hurt under the first trumpet. 
 These locu.sts work on a higher plane, 
 hurting men. It is a more distressing 
 plague than the preceding in that it 
 touches, not the objects about men, but 
 men themselves. The command not to 
 hurt the grass — their natural food — 
 brings out very clearly the scene of 
 their work, and the singleness of their 
 work, upon and among men. They 
 are to hurt only those . . . fore- 
 heads, rather, only such men a^ have 
 not the seal of God on their forehead. 
 
Ch. IX.] 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 223 
 
 5 heads. And to them it was given that 
 they should not kill them, '' but that 
 they should be tormented live months: 
 and their torment was as the torment 
 of a scorpion, when he striketh a man. 
 
 6 And in those days ■'shall men seek 
 death, and shall not hud it; and shall 
 desire to die, and death shall flee from 
 them. 
 
 7 And fthe shapes of the locusts ivere 
 like unto horses prepared unto battle ; 
 
 .■) heads. And it was Riven to them, that 
 they should not kill them, but tliat 
 tliey should be tormented live months. 
 And their torment was as the torment 
 of a scorpion, when it strikes a man. 
 
 6 And in those days men will .seek death, 
 and shall by no means find it ; and 
 they will desire to die, and death flees 
 
 7 from them. And the shapes of the 
 locusts were like horses prepared for 
 
 d Ver. 10 ; 11 : 7. 
 
 e 6 : 16 ; Job 3 : 21 : Isa. 2 : 19 ; Jer. 8 : 3. 
 
 / Joel 2 : 4, 5. 
 
 We have here a reiuiiiiseence of the 
 sealing of God's people in 7 : 3. In 
 that passage between the fifth and sixth 
 seals the winds were restrained from 
 blowing upon the earth until God's 
 people were sealed. The regeneration 
 in character, the outward holy life, 
 the guidings of divine providence, were 
 as a shield about God's people ; they 
 were as safe as if sealed upon the fore- 
 head. The reference cannot, by any 
 possibility, be to the Mohammedan 
 persecution or to papal persecutions, 
 for their rage Avas spent upon those 
 who were the people of God. It was 
 their expres.sed aim to extii'pate a pure 
 Christianity from the face of the earth. 
 Jesus, in his final discourses, spoke of 
 the safety of the sealed, "If it were 
 possible, they shall deceive the very 
 elect" (Matt. 24:24). Whatever the 
 trumpet means it cannot refer to per- 
 secutions that fall upon Christians 
 alone, or upon saint and sinner alike. 
 The operation of this trumpet is limited 
 to the ungodly alone. 
 
 5. And to them ... them. 
 There is to be for the ungodly, not 
 death, but torment. The death comes 
 in the next trumpet. The reference 
 cannot be to any persecution tipon the 
 cau.se of Christ, to any Moliammedan 
 invasion or persecution in the dark 
 ages when death, sudden and fierce, 
 came upon the followers of Christ. 
 The time of the torment is for five 
 months. It is said that five months 
 is the time during which the locust 
 continues its ravages. As the locust 
 has its period, so also have these Satanic 
 locusts. No literal period of time, five 
 months or one hundred and fifty years, 
 that is, a year for a day, is here meant 
 to be understood. All that can be u)i- 
 derstood is that all plagues have their 
 origin, their law of development, go 
 through their natural course, and come 
 
 to an end. As the locusts have their 
 period of five months, .so have these 
 locusts their corresponding five months. 
 All plagues have their limitations, 
 under God's guidance. This locust 
 plague, in the domain of the spiritual 
 life, is also limited. As the natural 
 locust came upon the ancient Israel, as 
 the manifestation of God's anger, so 
 this plague is the result of sin — of sin 
 punishing sin. The torment is poison- 
 ous and violent as when the scorpion 
 strikes a man. 
 
 6. The torment will be feai'ful in 
 nature. Death will be regarded as de- 
 sirable, but it will not come. In the 
 fifth seal men seek after death (e : is). 
 Death will be sought as a friend, but 
 death . . . them, rather, death fleetli 
 from them. In the case of Job, Satan's 
 direct puni.shment was so restrained 
 that death did not come (Job 2:6). But 
 in his suft'erings he longed for death 
 (3 : 11, 20). Here the sufferings are so 
 intense that death seems to be a deliver- 
 ance, but it cannot be found. It is a 
 living death when life becomes utterly 
 intolerable, when all joy has departed. 
 Sin makes life burdensome ; it becomes 
 its own punishment. It brings positive 
 injui-y to the soul of man ; it also keeps 
 away all the blessed influences of the 
 gospel which would heal and help 
 men. There are seducing spirits that 
 lead the ungodly to .such lies as will 
 bring only wretchedness, darkness, 
 despair. They steal away faith, they 
 banish right conceptions of God, they 
 make the present joyless and the Aiture 
 hopeless, they destroy the foundations 
 of society and moral order. 
 
 7-11. A description of the locusts is 
 found in these ver.ses. In general the 
 shapes . . . were like unto horses 
 prepared for battle, rather, war. 
 The horse was, in the Old Testament, 
 a symbol of war, hence its use was for- 
 
224 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 [Ch. IX, 
 
 Band on their heads ivere as it were 
 crowns like Kol'i, '' and their faces were 
 
 8 as the faces of men. And they had 
 hair as the hair of women, and 'their 
 
 9 teeth were as the teeth of lions. And 
 they had breastplates, as it were Vjreast- 
 plaLes of iron ; and the sound of their 
 wings was ^as the sound of chariots of 
 
 10 many horses running to battle. And 
 they had tails like unto scorpions, and 
 there were stings in their tails : ' and 
 their power was to hurt men five 
 
 battle ; and on their heads as it were 
 crowns like gold, and their faces were 
 
 8 as the faces of men. And they had 
 hair as the hair of women, and their 
 
 9 teeth were as the teeth of lions. And 
 they had breastplates, as breastplates 
 of iron ; and the sound of their wings 
 was as the sound of chariots of many 
 
 10 horses running into battle. And they 
 have tails like scorpions, and stings, 
 and in their tails is their power to hurt 
 
 jr Nahum 3 : 17. 
 
 ft Dan. 7 : 8. 
 
 * Joel 2 : 5-7. 
 
 bidden to the people of Israel. The 
 locusts in their ravages are like the 
 horse in appearance and in their mis- 
 sion. The resemblance of the locust 
 to the horse is so noticeable that the 
 similarity is expressed in the term de- 
 fining the locust in the German and 
 Italian languages. These locusts have 
 come to make war upon men. In the 
 detailed description given it is in gen- 
 eral confined to the actual description 
 of the locust, although features are 
 introduced that show this to be an 
 idealized creature, nowhere existing in 
 nature. We have a sevenfold descrip- 
 tion. Their heads ... gold, rather, 
 and upon their heads, as it were, crowns 
 like unto gold. A mark of gold upon 
 the forehead suggests the idea of a 
 crown. Ideally it becomes to the seer 
 as it were a crown like gold. In his 
 sight they are a conquering host, king- 
 like beings. Their faces as the 
 faces of men. There is a certain 
 appearance about the locust's face that 
 suggests a human face. As war is 
 made upon the ungodly alone, there is 
 a certain intelligence displayed which 
 renders this reference fitting. They 
 had also the boldness and courage of 
 men. Hair as the hair of women. 
 There may have been a something re- 
 sembling the hair of women in tlie 
 natural locust. What the seer would 
 indicate by this cannot be known. As 
 it is kinglike in conquering, manlike 
 in intelligence, so also there may be 
 included the idea of softness, of seduc- 
 tion, of lasciviousness. Teeth . . . 
 lions. The lion and the locust raven- 
 ously destroy their prey. Joel makes 
 the same comparison (i ^ «). Satan is 
 also compared to a lion (i Peter 5: 8). 
 Breastplates of iron. The seer, 
 thinking of the conquering work of 
 the messengers of Satan, sees in the 
 
 structure of the locust a resemblance ■ 
 to a man prepared for war. It is not 
 a real breastplate of the soldier, but 
 something like it. Sound of Avings 
 . . . battle, rather, war. In Joel's 
 day (chap. 1, 2) the invading force of 
 locusts was as a mighty army, march- 
 ing irresistibly upon them, destroying 
 as they went. Nothing could with- 
 stand them. The sound of their wings, 
 when in flight, could be heard afar. 
 These Satanic hosts come, in like man- 
 ner, upon the ungodly men. They de- 
 ceive, they hurt, they torment. How 
 sad the condition of men upon whom 
 Satan makes organized war, whose 
 hearts are open to his attacks. Tails 
 like scorpions. This repeats, in 
 part, what is said in ver. 5. If the 
 locust has no sting, then this feature is 
 added to give additional terror to the 
 scene. It is something to which noth- 
 ing in the natural locust corresponds. 
 The sealed man cannot be really hurt, 
 though he may sulFer discipline, and 
 may sufier in the world with the un- 
 godly, because bound up with them 
 in social life. But the ungodly man is 
 hurt in his real self. The hurt will 
 end in that final and eternal hurt of 
 the entire being from which the saved 
 are exempt (2: 11). And ... months, 
 rather. And they have tails like tinto 
 scorpions and stings ; and in their tails 
 is their power to hart men five months. 
 They are savage and seize like lions; 
 they have intelligence like men ; they 
 have a certain effeminacy about them ; 
 they are under thorough discipline like 
 an army ; they are conquerors ; they 
 have a kinglike royalty about them ; 
 tliey are armed for the contest, but 
 their chief power is in the sting which 
 is characteristic of the scorpion. The 
 locust and the scorpion are combined 
 to illustrate their malicious hurt. 
 
Ch. IX.] 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 225 
 
 11 months. ""And they had a king over 
 them, tvhich is "the angel of the 
 bottomless pit, whose name in the He- 
 brew tongue is Abaddon, but in the 
 Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon. 
 
 The seven trumpets — Sounding of the sixth 
 trumpet, or second wue. 
 
 12 » ONE woe is past ; and, behold, there 
 come p two woes more hereafter. 
 
 11 men five months. They have over 
 tliem as king the angel of the abyss. 
 His name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and 
 in the Greek he has a name. Apollyon. 
 
 12 The first woe is past; behold, there 
 come yet two woes hereafter. 
 
 Eph. 2 : 2. 
 
 n Ver. 1. 
 
 p Ver. 13-21 ; 8 : 13 ; 11 : 14. 
 
 11. One point of dissimilarity is 
 noticed. And . . . them, rather, And 
 they have a king over tlieiii. It is said 
 in Prov. 30 : 27, "The locusts have no 
 king, yet they go forth all of them by 
 bands." The locusts, seen in vision, 
 have a king over them, controlling, 
 directing them in their warfare upon 
 men. Jesus taught that the world of 
 spiritual darkness is an organized king- 
 dom (Matt. 12 : 26). And they . . . pit, 
 rather, They have over them as king the 
 angel of the abyss. The angel of the 
 abyss, the fallen star, the one having 
 the key of the pit are to be regarded as 
 one. Some think that this angel is 
 different from the person meant by the 
 fallen star. It is in entire harmony 
 with the spirit of this book to speak of 
 Satan as an angel, as having charge of 
 a sphere of work. Everywhere in this 
 book, the one having control of any- 
 thing is spoken of as the angel of that 
 thing. Compare the angels of the 
 winds (':!); the angels of tiie waters 
 (5 : 14). The angel of the abyss is that 
 one who represents the evil agencies 
 and powers which dwell there. He is 
 the concentrated energy and meaning 
 of the abyss, the guardian of the low- 
 est deep of moral evil. He is Satan 
 defined by Paul as the prince of the 
 power of the air (Kph- 2 : 21 ). His name 
 corresponds to his nature and work. 
 Abaddon. This is an abstract word, 
 meaning perdition, though it is usually 
 employed for the place of destruc- 
 tion (Job 26 : 6 ; 28 : 22 ; Ps. 88 ; 12 ; Rev. 
 
 IS : 11). Apollyon means destroying, 
 here a destroyer. The king and his 
 host are described as to their nature 
 and mission by the name of the king ; 
 he is destruction personified, he makes 
 a perdition. Jesus came to save, not 
 to destroy (Luke i» : 11). This king 
 comes to destroy, not to save. We 
 shall gain nothing by attempting to 
 
 locate this vision in any definite his- 
 torical event or place. It cannot be 
 referred, as by so manj' interpreters, to 
 the Mohammedan invasion, for this is 
 upon the world of the ungodly. It 
 cannot refer to wars and outward ca- 
 lamities alone. It is a distinctly spir- 
 itual woe, it came from the abyss, it is 
 symbolized by dark clouds, horrible 
 and unearthly creatures. It signifies 
 a great revival of spiritual wickedness, 
 wherein the prince of darkness works 
 upon the hearts of the ungodly, making 
 life bitter and sorrowful, so that even 
 death seems more to be desired than 
 life. Such times have been, may come 
 again. " It shall be ill with the 
 wicked," here and hereafter (isa- s : u). 
 This trumpet scene may find partial 
 fulfilment in the fearful scenes of the 
 first century, in the dark ages, in many 
 of the nineteen centuries past, at many 
 periods of human history. Does this 
 trumpet scene teach that Satan perse- 
 cutes his own people, makes war upon 
 his own kingdom? It teaches that sin 
 always brings disaster to the man that 
 sins ; that sin is its own worst punish- 
 ment ; that the service of Satan is a 
 severe service, bringing, in the long 
 run, not blessing but a curse. In this 
 life sin may make a modified hell. 
 
 12. One of the woes announced in 
 7 : 7 is past. One %voe, rather, the 
 first. He does not mean that the fulfil- 
 ment of the woe is past in order of 
 time, but that as seen in vision it is 
 past. The seer has beheld it in its 
 completion. But not yet is the end. 
 Behold . . . hereafter, rather. Be- 
 hold there come yet two woes hereafter. 
 There is something more august and 
 dreadful about the trumpets than about 
 the seals. There was no pause between 
 the fifth and sixth seals. But here 
 there is the announcement in addition 
 to the general announcement already 
 
226 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 [Ch. IX. 
 
 13 And the sixth angel sounded, and I 
 heard a voice 'i from the four horns of 
 the golden altar which is before God, 
 
 14 saying to the sixth angel which had 
 the trumpet, Loose the four augels 
 
 13 And the sixth angel sounded ; and I 
 heard a voice out of the four horns of 
 the golden altar which is before God, 
 
 14 one saying to the sixtli angel who had 
 tlie trumpet, Loose the four angels 
 
 8 8 : 3 ; Exod. 27 : 
 
 made (s : is) that two woes are yet to 
 come. Attention is called to it. Be- 
 hold. It is hard to fight against God. 
 Pharaoh was crushed at last (Exod. 12 : 
 31). So will, in like manner, the un- 
 godly be crushed and humbled. God 
 keeps his greatest blessings to the last 
 (John 2 : 11) ; also his greatest punish- 
 ments. 
 
 13-19. The SIXTH TRUMPET. This 
 is more severe than the fifth in that 
 many men here are killed. The tor- 
 ment gives way to dying. The fifth 
 trumpet moved in the region of the 
 Satanic influences upon men; the locusts 
 were not natural, but preter-natural. 
 This is the second woe trumpet. 
 
 13. I heard a voice from the 
 four horns. Omit four At each 
 of the corners of the altar was a pro- 
 jection, a horn, to which, on the altar 
 of burnt offering, the sacrificial victim 
 might be tied, to which also a wor- 
 shiper might cling, inasmuch as the 
 altar was a place of refuge for a person 
 in danger (ps. ns : 27 ; 1 Kings 1 : 50). This 
 altar is the one described in 8 : 3, the 
 altar of incense, on which the prayers 
 of saints are figuratively said to be 
 placed. It is an altar before God, 
 signifying that God is concerned about 
 the prayers of his children. They are 
 near to him. All things are open to 
 his gaze, but the concerns of God's 
 people are especially dear to him. 
 They naturally reach him and influence 
 him. The praying man may be as- 
 sured that he is praying, not to a fate 
 or a law, but to a personal God and Fa- 
 ther. Prayers are, therefore, reason- 
 able, and because they reach God they 
 are powerful. After the seventh seal 
 there were thunders and voices when 
 the coals from the censer were thrown 
 upon the earth (8:5). In a figurative 
 way this action declared that prayers 
 sent to heaven have an influence upon 
 the earth. Here again it is implied 
 that it is in answer to prayer that the 
 judgments come upon the world of the 
 ungodly. A voice from the altar is 
 God's answer, in judgment, to the 
 
 prayers upon the altar. It may, per- 
 haps, be implied that all in the series 
 of judgments is in answer to the peti- 
 tions of the saints on earth. The saints 
 may be helpless in themselves, but 
 through their prayers God's judgments 
 come to their help. We are not told 
 who utters the voice; it is, in vision, 
 to be understood as meaning the audible 
 reply to the prayers of the faithftil and 
 holy on the earth. In reality, it is 
 God's voice. 
 
 14. We have here the contents of 
 the voice. Loose ... in the great 
 river Euphrates, rather, at. Loose. 
 This term implies that there had been 
 some restraining power as in the case 
 of the four winds which were, for a 
 time, held back from blowing on the 
 earth (7 : 1). Blessings are dependent 
 upon God. The severity of trials can 
 be mitigated by him. Satan's power 
 and ravages are under God's control. 
 It is of God to decide whether the four 
 angels shall be loosed and when. 
 Four. It is surmised by some that 
 these four angels are the same ones 
 described in 7:1. It may be doubted, 
 however, whether four real angels are 
 here meant. They may stand merely 
 for God's direct control over the judg- 
 ments here portrayed. The four in- 
 dicates the world-wide nature of this 
 judgment, inasmuch as there are four 
 quarters of the world. There is the 
 unloosing, the freeing, of some agency 
 that will be world-wide in its nature 
 and sweep. In this book the angel 
 of anything is simply the thing it- 
 self in activity, in the Ailfilment of 
 its own mission. The angels of the 
 winds are simply the winds themselves. 
 The angels at the Euphrates are simply 
 the Euphrates as under God's control, 
 serving his holy will. The river is 
 used in a symbolic sense, for John is 
 not writing a book of actual history or 
 geography. As an actual river it was 
 the boundary line between the land of 
 the Israelites and the great nations of 
 Assj^ria, Babylon, Persia, and Damas- 
 cus beyond it. It was, on that side, 
 
Ch. IX.] 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 227 
 
 which are bound 'in the great river 
 15 Euphrates. 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. 
 
 who are bound at the great river 
 15 Euphrates. And the four angels were 
 loosed, who had been prepared for the 
 hour and day and mouth and year, 
 that they migtit kill the third part of 
 
 r 16 : 12 ; Gen. 2 : 14. 
 
 the limit of the land promised to Abra- 
 ham (3eu. 15 : 18). It was also a defense 
 of the Israelitish people agaiust the 
 powers beyond, constituting ,a natural 
 bulwark. Inasmuch as there were inva- 
 sions from beyond this river, so that 
 the ten tribes had been carried captive 
 to Assyria in 721 B. C, it became the 
 symbol of great oppression, of cap- 
 tivity, of national subjugation, of un- 
 conquerable foes, the enemy of God 
 and his people. In 2 Kings 18 the 
 Assyrian invader boasted of the 
 strength of his gods in contrast with 
 the insignificance of Jehovah. The 
 Euphrates stood, therefore, for an or- 
 ganized heathenism, the opposition to 
 godliness. The waters of this river 
 sometimes overflowed its banks, an 
 illustration of the dangers that came 
 from beyond the river. Isaiah speaks 
 in his prophecy (8:5-8) of the river 
 Euphrates overflowing the entire land 
 of Judea, meaning that his country 
 would come under the control of the 
 Assyrian nation. To the people of the 
 Old Testament times, prophets and 
 people, the river became a symbol of 
 the most destructive judgments that 
 could come upon the chosen people. 
 There is not the slightest allusion here 
 to the literal river ; this would be en- 
 tirely out of place in a vision. If the 
 plague portrayed should come from 
 any quarter of the compass this symbol 
 could appropriately be used. When 
 John wrote, Assyria, Babylon, Persia, 
 and Damascus, all the nations that had 
 triumphed over them were long since 
 dead. But the Euphrates, as a figure, 
 would always stand as the symbol of 
 danger, captivity, disaster, overthrow. 
 It is in this sense that it is employed 
 here. As in the olden time God per- 
 mitted idolatry and disobedience to he 
 punished by the nations beyond tlie 
 river, so now God intends to punish 
 the idolatry, the disobedience of the 
 ungodly, the apostasy of his people, by 
 something akin to that. Tlie Euphrates 
 is, in vision and for moral purposes, a 
 real river still. It is just as if from 
 
 another Euphrates a storm of invasion 
 should come to do God's work. There 
 must be dismissed from the mind all 
 reference to a literal river or a literal 
 invasion from that quarter of the world. 
 Moving in symbolic teachings we must 
 inquire simply what that river meant 
 to the Jewish people. Everywhere 
 and always it would stand for an un- 
 godly and overpowe>ing might, a power 
 before which the nations like Judah 
 were utterly powerless, a power that 
 could subdue and take captive even 
 the people of God when living in dis- 
 obedience to the Most High. The four 
 does not have any reference to four 
 kingdoms or powers that had or would 
 oppress the world, but serves to desig- 
 nate the world-wide character of the 
 disaster that would come upon ungod- 
 liness. 
 
 15. What God purposes is speedily 
 done; the angels were loosed. God's 
 providences and punishments occur in 
 accordance with forethought and prep- 
 aration. These angels had been bound 
 until an appointed time. Prepared 
 . . . year, rather, prepared for the 
 hour and day and month and year. 
 The Revised version gives an altogether 
 different thought from that given in 
 the Common version. We are not per- 
 mitted to combine these four terms as 
 indicating the time appointed for loos- 
 ing them, or the time during which 
 the visitation is to last. All refer to 
 the same point of time. Not only is 
 the year marked out in the divine plan, 
 but the month, the day, the hour. 
 Jesus, in his earthly ministry, recog- 
 nized the fitting, the appointed time, 
 "my hour" (John 2 : i). There is a 
 plan of God in the world, a plan em- 
 bracing what God designs and what 
 God permits ; permitting a Nineveh to 
 ravage his vineyard, and then punish- 
 ing Nineveh for its haughtiness and 
 oppression. Under and through all 
 history, with its human elements, its 
 seeming accidents, under all is God|s 
 purpose, working ever to carry out his 
 ends. At the fitting time comes the 
 
228 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 [Ch. IX. 
 
 16 And »the number of the army 'of the 
 horsemen were two liundrett thousand 
 thousand : "and I heard the number of 
 them. 
 
 17 And thus I saw the horses in the 
 vision, and them that sat on them, 
 having breastplates of fire, and of 
 jacinth, and brimstone : » and the heads 
 
 16 men. And the number of the armies 
 of the horsemen was two hundred 
 thousand thousand : I heard the num- 
 ber of them. 
 
 17 And thus I saw the horses in the 
 vision, and those who sat on them, 
 having breastplates of fire, and of 
 hyacinth, and of brimstone ; and the 
 
 » Ps. 68 : U ; Dan. 7 : 10 ; Joel 2 : 11. 
 
 t Ezck. 38 : 4. 
 
 « 7: 4. 
 
 X 1 Chron. 12 : 8 ; Isa. 5 : ! 
 
 unloosing of great punitive agencies. 
 The result of the loosing and the pur- 
 pose of the loosing is that they may 
 kill the third part of men. There is a 
 progress in the severity of the judg- 
 ment. In the fourth seal one-fourth of 
 men were killed, here one-third. In 
 the fifth trumpet the ungodly were tor- 
 mented, here they are killed. It is sin 
 that makes wars, the terrible wars of 
 ancient times and the equally destruc- 
 tive wars of modern times. It is sin 
 that converts Europe into a vast camp 
 of armed men, over two millions in 
 number. It is sin that creates civil 
 wars, feuds, strifes. It is sin, in the 
 form of selfishness, that creates famines. 
 In many and varied ways, with the 
 irresistible might of an Assyrian host 
 war, famines, pestilences, run riot in the 
 world. In every age, among every 
 people, the sixth trumpet, in some 
 form, may be heard sounding out its 
 note of coming disasters. God does 
 not make sin. It is sin because it is 
 utterly against his benevolent will and 
 plain command. But being sin, God 
 makes sin itself bring its own penalty 
 upon itself. God cannot be at peace 
 with unholiness. These trumpets are 
 God's protests in the life that now is, 
 against sin and sinners. 
 
 16. In the fifth trumpet God's in- 
 struments of destruction were the 
 locusts with preternatural featui'es. 
 God's armies are here marshaled as 
 the means of the wholesale destruction. 
 It is as if from beyond the great river 
 the mysterious and awe-inspiring cav- 
 alry were to come. The number is im- 
 mense, two hundred thousand 
 thousand, rather, twice ten thousand 
 times ten thousand. The seer did not 
 see this countless host, two hundred 
 million, I heard the number. The 
 meaning is, it is as impossible for men 
 to defeat God's purpose of punishing 
 as it would be to resist a force so far 
 passing human computation. At the 
 
 appointed time, and with unopposable 
 might, God will visit the ungodly. 
 The immense number here spoken of 
 is a proof that the seer does not intend 
 that we are to find anywhere on the 
 pages of history the exact counterpart 
 of this vision. At a time when the 
 population of the eartli did not number 
 over five hundred million people, the 
 numbers in this host are placed at two 
 hundred millions. What he plainly 
 means to teach by these immense num- 
 bers is that the agencies at God's com- 
 mand to break down opposition to his 
 kingdom, and to build up righteous- 
 ness on the earth, pass all human 
 thought. What could Judah, insig- 
 nificant in size and power, do to with- 
 stand a host such as this ? What can 
 any ungodly man, custom, or nation, 
 do to withstand God's power when he 
 arises in his might? If God be against 
 us who can be for us ? 
 
 17. The horses and horsemen are 
 minutely described, though far more 
 attention is called to the horses than 
 to their riders. The riders have breast- 
 plates of fire, of jacinth, rather, of 
 hyacinth, and of brimstone. His 
 meaning is that the breastplates re- 
 sembled these objects, so that they were 
 not simply a defensive armor, but were 
 fitted to inspire alarm in the minds of 
 the beholders. The hyacinth stone 
 has a dark blue color, resembling burn- 
 ing brimstone. It is noticeable that 
 the colors on the breastplates corre- 
 spond to the colors of the emanations 
 from the mouths of the liorses. Noth- 
 ing more terrible could be conceived of 
 by a people not naturally warlike, 
 than a countless host of horses emit- 
 ting terrors from their mouths. They 
 are not infernal in their origin, like 
 the locusts, but are plainly unnatural 
 and monstrous creatures of the im- 
 agination. The horse was itself an 
 ol)ject of terror to the Jew ; its use was 
 forbidden by law, as it savored of war 
 
Ch. IX.] 
 
 EEVELATIOX 
 
 229 
 
 of the horses were as the heads of lions; 
 aud out of their mouths issued fire 
 aud smoke and brimstone. 
 
 18 By these three was tlie third part of 
 meu killed, by the Are, and by the 
 smoke, and by the brimstone, which 
 
 19 issued out of their mouths. For their 
 power is in their mouth, and in tlieir 
 tails: J for their tails were like unto 
 serpents, aud nad heads, and with 
 them they do hurt. 
 
 20 And the rest of the men which were 
 not killed by these plagues 'yet re- 
 pented not of the works of their hands, 
 
 heads of the horses are as the heads of 
 lions, and out of their mouths go forth 
 
 18 fire, and smoke, and brimstone. By 
 these three plagues was the third part 
 of men killed, by the fire and the 
 smoke and the brimstone which went 
 
 19 forth out of their mouths. For the 
 power of the horses is in their mouth, 
 and iu their tails ; for their tails are 
 like serpents, having heads, and with 
 
 20 them they hurt. And the rest of men, 
 who were not killed in these plagues, 
 repented not of the works of their 
 hands, that they should not worship 
 
 y Isa. 9 : 15. 
 
 z 9 : 20 ; Deut. 31 : 23 ; 2 Chron. 28 : 22 ; Prov. 27 : 22 ; Jer. 5 : 3 ; 8 : 6. 
 
 and conquest. The horses, in vision, 
 were fierce, having heads as the 
 heads of lions. The countless num- 
 ber, the savage nature, the emitted 
 terrors combine to make a fearful ob- 
 ject to contemplate. It is a description 
 worthy of being called a second woe 
 trumpet (™r- 12). No such armies had 
 ever been seen among men. All this 
 is of the drapery of the vision, serving 
 to emphasize the one teaching that 
 universal misery will come upon the 
 world, just such a misery as would re- 
 sult from the invasion of such an army 
 as is here described. 
 
 18. Here is given the effect of the 
 
 S^agues that come from their mouths. 
 y . . . brimstone, rather, By these 
 three plafjues was the third part of men 
 killed by the fire, and the smoke and the 
 brimstone. The number three has a large 
 place iu the structure of this book ; the 
 three series of visions, the three woes, 
 the three plagues, the one-third of men 
 killed. This scourge of unnatural cav- 
 alry covers the world in its visitation. 
 The imagery is couched in terms that 
 would fill the mind of an Oriental with 
 alarm, but the meaning is for all the 
 ages expressive of the woes to come 
 upon and among the world of the 
 ungodly. 
 
 19. The seer resumes his description 
 of the horses, adding other features 
 that show their destructive power. 
 They have a power entirely beyond 
 and unlike that of the most savage 
 horses on earth. These horses have 
 power in their tails. For . . . tails, 
 rather, For the poiner of the horses is in 
 their mouth and in their tails. Three 
 characteristic features are given of their 
 tails; they are like serpents, lotig, 
 shining, repulsive; they have heads, 
 
 instead of the unthinking hair ; there 
 is life, intelligence, hate centered in 
 living heads w ith their eye of fascina- 
 tion aud their tongue with its poison ; 
 they hurt, with tlieir stings. It is 
 noticeable that almost no stress is laid 
 upon the horsemen, their countless 
 numbers, their skill or ferocity ; atten- 
 tion is devoted to the horses so unlike 
 the horses of the earth. With the 
 mouth the horse kills, with its tail it 
 hurts. The cavalry of earth might 
 rush upon and trample down the foe. 
 These horses, in vision, are such as 
 might be seen in dreams or conceived 
 of in imagination. They are such 
 horses as God can make use of to carry 
 on his wars and break dowu all oppo- 
 sition. It is hard to fight against God 
 
 (Acts 5 : 39). 
 
 20, 21. The impenitent wokld. 
 We have had, in vision, a fearful 
 scourge of the entire world. No de- 
 scription given by men could surpass 
 the horrors of these two woe plagues. 
 The hurts experienced, the resultant 
 deaths, ought to bring the confessing 
 world to a holier life, and the impeni- 
 tent world to an instant and complete 
 repentance. The efiect is seen to be 
 otherwise. 
 
 20. And the rest . . . repented 
 not. How deep must that guilt be, 
 how obdurate that heart that will not 
 be moved by such appalling disasters. 
 The men spoken of are evidently the 
 ungodly part of the earth, those not 
 sealed ( ver. 4) . As Pharaoh grew harder 
 in heart under the plagues, so these men 
 are modern Pharaohs. They are de- 
 scribed as idolaters worshiping the 
 works of their hands. But we 
 mav not limit the meaning to actual 
 idolaters, Avho are comparatively few 
 
230 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 [Ch. IX. 
 
 that they should not worship ^devils, 
 iiaud idols of gold, and silver, and 
 brass, and stone, and of wood ; which 
 neither can see, nor hear, nor walk : 
 21 neither repented they of their mur- 
 ders, " nor of their sorceries, nor of their 
 fornication, nor of their thefts. 
 
 demons, and idols of gold, and of sil- 
 ver, and of brass, and of stone, and of 
 wood, which can neither see, nor hear, 
 21 uor walk ; and they repented not of 
 their murders, nor of their sorceries, 
 nor of their forulcation, nor of their 
 tliefts. 
 
 a Lev. 17 : 7 ; Deut. 32 : 17 ; Ps. 106 ; 37 ; 1 Cor. 10 : 20 ; 1 Tim. 4 : 
 b Ps. 115 : 4-8 ; 135 : 15 ; Dan. 5 : 23. c 22 : 15. 
 
 on the earth. The seer is speaking of 
 prevalent sins under Old Testament 
 forms. Spiritual idolatry and spiritual 
 fornication are more dangerous because 
 more insidious and less noticeable than 
 open and outward idolatiy. John 
 teaches that idolatry may prevail even 
 in a refined civilization (i John 5:21). 
 Idolatry is a far wider term than the 
 worship of material idols. Here, as 
 1 Cor. 10 : 20, the seer speaks of a per- 
 verted worship as under a special in- 
 fluence of demons, evil spirits, who 
 seduce and blind the hearts of men. 
 Of necessity idolatry is folly, for idols 
 are simply things. Infidelity, agnos- 
 ticism, materialism, worldly-minded- 
 ness, are equally foolish when con- 
 trasted with the supreme truth of 
 Christianity. 
 
 31. Four distinct species of wicked- 
 ness they did not repent of, all of them 
 of a sensual and outbreaking kind. 
 These four sins were typical sins, es- 
 pecially foreign to the Jewish teach- 
 ing, condemned by the Old Testament 
 prophets. Here they stand for all sins 
 by which the heart is hardened and 
 penalty drawn down. Sorceries 
 means witchcraft, through the use of 
 drugs. This form of sin is scarcely 
 known in the world. But all sins, in 
 their inner nature, are one. It is im- 
 plied here that there is a twofold spirit 
 in punishment ; the deserved penalty 
 of guilt whereby wickedne.ss is pun- 
 ished because it is wickedness and 
 ought to be punished ; also the mer- 
 ciful purpose whereby the punishment 
 ought to elFect a reformation in char- 
 acter, a repentance for sin. Under 
 these woe trumpets the guilt deepens 
 as the penalty grows more severe. The 
 heart does not become contrite, but be- 
 comes more fixed in sin. Punishment 
 does not in and through itself work 
 out a changed heart. If it does not 
 produce penitence it will, of necessity, 
 produce obduracy, bitterness, and re- 
 
 bellion. It is a mistake to think that 
 future punishment or eternal punish- 
 ment would produce a penitent heart. 
 It might, as here, work out an ever- 
 growing hardness and fixedness of 
 character. The reproof that softened 
 a Moses hardened a Pharaoh. This 
 passage gives an insight into the work- 
 ings of the heart. What naturally 
 ought to result in a repentance and 
 earnest service of God produces, under 
 the sinfulness of the human nature, the 
 I very reverse. For this result man alone 
 ' is to blame. It is his heart that pro- 
 duces this ugly result. God's procedure 
 tended, naturally, to a saved life ; 
 man's procedure took God's workings 
 and made a moral death out of them. 
 There is no power in outward agencies 
 of judgments and mercies to change a 
 fixed bad heart. In the presence of 
 the plagues, that ought to have con- 
 vinced the reason, it is stated seventeen 
 times that Pharaoh's heart was hard- 
 ened. After the raising of Lazarus 
 the Jews plotted to kill him, that he 
 might not be a constant incentive to 
 men to follow Jesus. Jesus plainly 
 taught that miracles alone have no 
 power to soften the heart or change 
 the will (Luke 16 : 31). "Primitive Chris- 
 tianity was a protest not only against 
 polytheism, but against the moral con- 
 dition of the pagan world. The seer 
 voices this protest, and enforces it with 
 a terrific description of the vengeance 
 which threatened the world unless it 
 should repent" (Swete). (comp. Eph. 
 
 5 : 5, 6. ) 
 
 Note 1. The meaning of Eu- 
 phrates. The Old Testament 
 prophets give the key to the in- 
 terpretation of this term. It ought 
 never to be construed literally, but 
 must have its recognized prophetic 
 meaning. As an actual river it was 
 the source of the supply and the wealth 
 of Babylon, becoming therefore a sym- 
 
Ch. IX.] 
 
 EEVELATION 
 
 231 
 
 bol of that city and empire. Isaiah, 
 in 8 : 5-8, contrasts Judah under the 
 figure of the little brook iShihjah with 
 the rising power of Babylon symbolized 
 bj' its mighty river, '' the waters of tlie 
 river strong and many." Jeremiah, 
 wliile living in Jerusalem, by symbolic 
 act hid a girdle by the river Euphrates, 
 indicating thereby the peril that would 
 come to the covenant peojde from the 
 heathen power of Babylon (is : 4). 
 When Babylun was doumed, tliat de- 
 struction Avas portrayed by represent- 
 ing the river Euphrates as being dried 
 
 up (Jer. 50 : 30; Zech. 10 ; U). The prophct 
 
 meant no literal river, he used the 
 term in a symbolic way. John sees a 
 mighty city of Babylon, implying no 
 real city (i« : 2), but a mystical city, a 
 great and organized power opposing 
 the kingdom of God. Such a mystical 
 city must be situated on a mystical 
 river Euphrates. In this book we have 
 nothing to do with any literal Babylon 
 or Euphrates. We cannot therefore 
 think of Turkey as a political power 
 occupying the country bounding that 
 river ; we cannot think of Mohamme- 
 danism as finding its home in that part 
 of the world, nor of the peoples living 
 beyond it, the vast liordes of China, as 
 endangering the civilization of the 
 Christian world. In 17 : 15 John ex- 
 plains the waters on which the unclean 
 woman Babylon sits as meaning peo- 
 ples and nations, tongues. In 17 : 16 
 these waters, these i^eoples, turn against 
 the unclean woman. Fairbairn says: 
 " In short it is the devil's agents turned 
 by the judgment of heaven against the 
 devil's own interest ; a beastlike in- 
 strument full of rapacity and violence, 
 Satanic guile and wickedness, assailing 
 and subverting that which, though 
 chiefly of Satan, had still too many 
 elements in it of a better kind to suit 
 the taste of the more outrageous and 
 heaven-daring spirit that was to char- 
 acterize the last times. It comprehends 
 therefore the ultimate proceedings of 
 the beast and the false prophet spoken 
 of in 17:2, 11." Swete thinks "the 
 idea presented by the angels of ven- 
 geance bound on the banks of the 
 Euphrates, is that the day of vengeance 
 was held back only till CJod's time has 
 come. When at length they are loosed, 
 the flood will burst its barriers, and 
 ruin will follow." 
 
 Note 2. The fifth and sixth 
 trumpets. 
 
 1. The wide distinction between the 
 first four trumpets and the final three, 
 in which were found the fifth and 
 sixth, has already been noticed. All 
 the judgments spring from the founda- 
 tion of moral evil that underlies all 
 the judgments and calls for them. 
 In the second group is a decided ad- 
 vance in the severity of the judgments, 
 an intensification of intellectual dark- 
 ness and moral corruption, a recognized 
 Satanic element also. Everything is 
 preternatural in the method of punish- 
 ing, in the locusts and horses. 
 
 2. The judgments in the trumpets 
 are entirely or mainly upon the un- 
 godly. The sealed are exempt from 
 direct judgments, though they may 
 sufl'er indirectly as bound up with them 
 in one social system. The judgment 
 upon an apostate church is revealed in 
 the next series of visions, the bowls. 
 Kougiily speaking the seals embrace 
 the liistory of redemption, the oppo- 
 sition to it, its final conquest. The 
 trumpets reveal God's judgments upon 
 a wicked world opposing Christ. The 
 bowls show God's treatment of an 
 apostate and faithless church. 
 
 3. There is in the fifth trumpet a 
 distinct Satanic agency, a mingling of 
 the beastly and the human, of the 
 savage and the feminine. It is the 
 representation of Satanic emissaries 
 who, with high pretensions and king- 
 like authority, with winning gentle- 
 ness and bold eft'routery, teach the doc- 
 trines of demons, leading men into 
 strong delusions that they may believe 
 a lie, darkening the intellect and cor- 
 rupting the moral nature. Fairbairn, 
 and many, find a forcible illustration 
 of this vision in the dark ages that 
 overspread Europe. Satan is always 
 at work to defeat Christ's cause on the 
 earth, but there are times of special 
 Satanic earnestness. 
 
 4. No attempt is made to find a dis- 
 tinct meaning for each term in the 
 judgments mentioned — the grass, the 
 trees, the fountains, the sea. It is 
 doubtful if the seer had anything spe- 
 cific in mind otiier than giving an in- 
 tensive account of the varied judgments 
 that would touch everything that sur- 
 rounded and pertained to human life. 
 As symbols of an ever-abiding contest 
 
232 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 [Ch. IX. 
 
 between sin and righteousness, they are 
 most impressive. Coincidences may 
 be found in every age between the 
 symbols and historic incidents, but this 
 is vastly diflerent from finding them 
 prophecies of distinct events. 
 
 Practical Remarks. 
 
 1. Satan and his followers are now per- 
 mitted to tempt the righteous man, as 
 Peter (Luke 22 : 31). The time will come 
 when, through the perfected life, his 
 temptations will have uo power. He will 
 also himself be restrained. There is a 
 key to the pit of the abyss, and Jesus, the 
 Saviour, will hold that key (ver. 1). 
 
 2. The agents of Satan are always hurt- 
 ful and harmful. God can make use of 
 the creatures of earth to work out his 
 will. Satan can also serve God's purpose 
 in acting as the punisher of sin. His 
 motive in his acting is to do evil, not to 
 do good or to help God (ver. 2). 
 
 3. Sometimes there can be no dividing 
 line drawn by men between the godly 
 and the ungodly, so that the hearts of the 
 pious are confused (Ps. 73). But when 
 God sends special judgments on the world 
 he discriminates between those who are 
 his and those who are not. Jesus as judge 
 will do so at the last day (ver. 4 ; Matt. 
 25 : 31-46). 
 
 4. The seal upon thesaved is not wealth, 
 social standing, or human approval, but 
 the heart that loves God, the life of piety, 
 the pure soul. If perils come there will 
 be special upholding grace (2 Cor. 12 : 9). 
 No pious life escapes the all-seeing eye 
 (ver. 4). 
 
 5. Torments come from sin, temptations 
 from Satan, testings from God. The worst 
 torments of the ungodly are internal, not 
 physical. The darkened mind, the ac- 
 cusing conscience, the embittered life, 
 the separation from God, the alienation 
 from others, the fears concerning the be- 
 yond, these are real torments (ver. 5). 
 
 6. The good man is ready to die, but 
 anxious to live that he may glorify God 
 and bless others (Phil. 1:23). The un- 
 godly man, while unprepared for dying, 
 yet may find life so bitter that he may 
 wish for death, but it comes not. There 
 is a living death both here and hereafter 
 (ver. 6). 
 
 7. Satan's emissaries have a union of 
 intelligence, boldness, wisdom, and al- 
 lurement that makes them dangerous. 
 Satan is full of devices (2 Cor. 2 : 11). But 
 his seeming wisdom is a real unwisdom 
 (ver. 7-9). 
 
 8. There is, at the last, a sting to Satan's 
 work. His creatures may look like 
 locusts, but they are far worse, they are 
 scorpions. The wine cup that promises 
 much, at the last stings like an adder 
 (Prov. 23 : 32). Sin is always, at the end, 
 a mockery, a delusion. It must be so, for 
 Satan is a liar (ver. 10 ; 1 John 2:4). 
 
 9. Satan is an Apollyon. He never ap- 
 pears as such, but always as au alluring 
 and seducing tempter. The one who 
 follows him must, in the end, be utterly 
 lost to the real ends of life (ver. 11). 
 
 10. It is not unreasonable to think that 
 as God has made a heaveu for the clean 
 soul, so he has made a place for the un- 
 clean in heart. This place, its existence 
 and nature, was revealed indistinctly 
 in the Old Testament, but plainly in the 
 New Testament. No one will go into this 
 forbidding place without being distinctly 
 warned. Jesus speaks as plainly of hell 
 as he does of heaven (ver. 11). 
 
 11. In human history are woes as well 
 as blessings. Jesus, who had a tender 
 heart, denounced woes upon the ungodly 
 (Matt. 23). Sin is the parent of woe 
 (ver. 12). 
 
 12. Answers to prayer may be long de- 
 layed, but they are ever before God. 
 Prayer is as real a power as steam or elec- 
 tricity, but in a different sphere (ver. 13). 
 
 13. When nations are ripe for punish- 
 ment, the instruments of God's anger, 
 before restrained, are let loose upon them. 
 God is not a God far-distant from the 
 affairs of men. He has present bless- 
 ings and present distresses under his 
 control. He would rather bless than 
 curse (ver. 14). 
 
 14. God has appointed times for doing 
 his work. He never makes mistakes in 
 sending special judgments. He does not 
 hasten in his work, for all the ages are 
 his. Jesus came in the fulness of time 
 (Gal. 4 : 4). The Cauaanites were des- 
 troyed when their iniquities were full 
 (ver. 15; Gen. 15: 16). 
 
 15. God has countless hosts of angels to 
 
Ch. IX.] 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 233 
 
 do his will. Jesus had more than twelve 
 legions at his command (ver. 16 ; Matt, 
 26 : 53). 
 
 16. It is hard to bring an impenitent 
 man to repentance. The loving favor of 
 God, the Holy Spirit, the presence of 
 God's judgments may fall to turn a man 
 to Christ (ver. 20). 
 
 17. Repentance is an essential condition 
 of forgiveness and salvation. Impeni- 
 tence is a damning sin (ver. 21). 
 
 Consolatory visions in the 
 
 SERIES OF the TRUMPETS, 10, 11 : 1- 
 14. Between the sixth and seventh 
 seals was a consolatory episode with its 
 two visions of a like uatui'e, coming 
 like a day of sunshine in a period of 
 storm. There was given the assurance 
 that amid all the judgments upon the 
 world the church would be kept in 
 safety, and a countless number of the 
 redeemed would be gathered together. 
 The cause of Christ upon the earth 
 would not be a failure. If chastise- 
 ments should come they would be 
 changed into blessings. In like man- 
 ner here also we have an episode that 
 is explanatory and consolatory in its 
 nature. 
 
 We have as consolatory these 
 thoughts: (1) The time of expectancy, 
 of witnessing, of suffering by the 
 church will not be extended indefi- 
 nitely; the suffering church will be 
 changed into the glorified church. 
 There will come an end, time will be 
 no longer in the sense of delay (ver. 6). 
 God's delays are oftentimes occasions 
 of confusion and disturbance to our 
 moral natures (ps. 73). Time will, at 
 last, bring completeness to God's plans 
 and the glorious end will be reached. 
 (2) It is declared that God has purposes 
 planned for the world, far-reaching, 
 embracing all things, announced by 
 the prophets, so that nothing can over- 
 take God as a surprise. His good pur- 
 poses will ripen in time, and all will 
 see the unfolding of his thought ("er. 
 7). (3) There is an element of good 
 
 tidings to be announced (ver. 7 Revised 
 
 version). This can be nothing else than 
 the complete breaking down of all 
 opposition, and the upbuilding of 
 Christ's kingdom on the earth, the 
 triumph of righteousness. To those 
 in sympathy with God in his work 
 
 this triumph will be an occasion of 
 rejoicing. (4) The change of a faith- 
 ful church into a church largely faith- 
 less, as evinced in chapter 11, would 
 be most disheartening to the faithful 
 element ; it might beget the feeling that 
 a wicked world and a disloyal church 
 would make it impossible for Christ's 
 cause to succeed. Here is the assur- 
 ance that the faithful part of the church 
 would ultimately conquer and be 
 crowned. The course of the church in 
 the world is not always that of a flock 
 safely folded, feeding in green pastures, 
 but oftentimes a church in the storm 
 and stress of conflict, sorely pressed, 
 assailed from without and within. But 
 when such times come, when they come 
 to-day to a limited extent and in lim- 
 ited areas, even then is the assurance 
 that the almost crushed church sliall 
 be the completely blessed and glorified 
 church. If the time shall come in the 
 near or distant future when the church 
 shall be represented as in 11 : 7, when 
 the prophetic spirit shall be almost 
 quenched, there will yet be a resurrec- 
 tion and an ascension in the sight of 
 all the world. As there was a resur- 
 rection of the dead Christ, so in like 
 manner there will always be a resur- 
 rection for the cause and truth of the 
 living Christ. The episode in chapter 
 6 presents the church as safely folded 
 in the midst of persecutions. The 
 episode here presents on the one side 
 a wicked world, a beastlike power, a 
 faithless element in the church ; on the 
 other side an all-controlling purpose of 
 God, long announced through prophets, 
 a plan carried out through a witness- 
 ing church, a struggle long and severe, 
 but issuing in the final triumph of the 
 witnessing church, expressed in a sym- 
 bolic way by the ascension to heaven 
 and the seat on the throne. The sym- 
 bols are prophecies for dark and strug- 
 gling times that God's care and power 
 are on the side of his people. We are 
 not to infer that these periods and these 
 triumphs are for the times alone that 
 lie at the close of this era, they belong 
 in part to all the ages. If times are 
 dark, if there are declensions from the 
 faith, it will be a cause for rejoicing 
 that God has a seventh angel to sound 
 ushering in a period of conquest and 
 blessing. The entire episode is one 
 of encouragement to the church. 
 
234 
 
 KEVELATION 
 
 [Ch. X. 
 
 The seven Irumjicis— Proclamation by an 
 angel; seven thunders; the little scroll. 
 10 AND I saw ^'another mighty angel 
 come down from heaven, >■ clothed 
 with a cloud: 'and a rainbow was 
 upon his head, and ehis face was as it 
 were the sun, and '■his feet as pillars 
 2 of fire : and he had in his hand a little 
 
 10 AND I saw another strong angel 
 
 coming down out of heaven, clothed 
 
 with a cloud, and the rainbow was on 
 
 his head, and his face was as the sun, 
 
 2 and his feet as pillars of fire. And he 
 
 e 1:7; Ps. 97 : 2; Dan. 7 : 13 
 g 1 ; 16 ; Matt. 17:2. A 1 ; 
 
 / 4: 3; Ezek. 1 : 
 Dan. 10 : 6. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 The vision of the little book. 
 If there were no break in the develop- 
 ment of the thought we would natu- 
 rally look at once for the third woe 
 trumpet, the seventh in the series. 
 But a restful period now comes into 
 view between the two woes past and 
 the one yet to come. As there were 
 two visions, consolatory in their nature, 
 between the sixth and seventh seals, in 
 like manner are two explanatory visions 
 between the sixth and seventh trum- 
 pets. They are here in answer to ques- 
 tions that naturally arise in the mind. 
 We have been in the midst of blast 
 after blast of God's judgments upon 
 the world of the wicked. They have 
 grown in intensity as they proceeded. 
 During all these centuries as they roll 
 by, is there no church of Christ upon 
 the earth, no good agency, nothing for 
 God to bless? If there is a church is 
 it doing nothing ? Tiiere has been one 
 intimation in the series that there are 
 faithful people on the earth, people 
 who are kept safe by God's power 
 (9 : 1). In this vision there is revealed 
 plainly the existence and work of 
 Christ's people, witnessing for the un- 
 seen Christ, the ruler of his people and 
 the vanquisher of his foes. We have 
 here revealed tlie agency by which 
 Christ, through the church, effects the 
 ultimately triumphant work of bring- 
 ing in his supremacy (n : i5). 
 
 In this chapter we have an angel, 
 snblime in appearance, having a little 
 book in his open hand, announcing in 
 a loud voice that no more delay will 
 ensue (^er. 1-7); -we behold John taking 
 the book and eating it, tasting sweet 
 at first, then bitter (ver. s-ii). 
 
 1-7. The ANGEL with the little 
 book. 
 
 1. John's position here i.«i on the 
 earth, he sees another inightyaugel, 
 
 rather, strong, coming down from 
 heaven, rather, out of. The scene 
 shifts from heaven to earth, but all are 
 parts of one common and progressive 
 vision. Another. In reference to 
 whom? to the strong angel spoken of 
 in 5 : 2 or to the various angels with 
 whom we have met? It is altogether 
 probable that this angel is contrasted 
 with the many angelic representations 
 that have met us (9: 15). Five specifica- 
 tions are given concerning this strong 
 angel. (1) He is a holy being, carrying 
 out God's will, out of heaven where God 
 reigns and dwells. Heaven stands for 
 holiness. (2) He is clothed with a 
 cloud. The cloud is almost always 
 an accompaniment of .Jesus. In his 
 ascension a cloud hid him from the 
 eyes of men (Acts 1 : 9). He announced 
 his coming again on the clouds (.Matt. 
 24 : 30). In this book in four places the 
 cloud is mentioned in connection with 
 the appearance of Jesus (1 = 7; 14 : 14, 15, 
 16). (3) A rainbowupon hishead, 
 rather, the rainbow. The rainbow was, 
 at the first, God's promise that no 
 further flood should come upon the 
 earth ; it was a covenant of mercy 
 (Gen. 9:13). Here the reference is to 
 that rainbow that encircles the throne 
 of God (1 : »), a sign of the mercy that 
 dwells Avith God, overarching his 
 throne. He is a God of mercy as well 
 as justice. He delights more in for- 
 giveness than in his omnipotence. It 
 is especially significant here when con- 
 trasted with tlie six trumpet sounds 
 that have revealed so plainly God's 
 holy power. (4) His face . . . sun, 
 rather, his face tvas as the S2m. About 
 his person was a majesty and sublimity 
 that no one could look upon with un- 
 covered eyes. His face blinds the on- 
 looker. The same statement is made 
 in 1 ; 6 concerning the glorified Jesus. 
 (5) Feet as pillars of fire. (comp. 
 1:5.) This term is significant of judg- 
 
Ch. X.] 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 235 
 
 book open : ' and he set his rigiit foot 
 upon tne sea, aud his left foot ou the 
 3 earth, and cried with a loud voice, '■as 
 when a lion roareth : and when he had 
 cried, 'seven thunders uttered their 
 
 had in his hand a little book opened. 
 And he set his right foot on the sea, 
 3 and his left on the land ; aud he cried 
 with a great voice, as a lion roars ; and 
 when he cried, the seven thunders 
 
 ; 25 ; Matt. 28 : 18. 
 
 k Jor. 25 : 30 ; Amos 3 : B. 
 
 ments, of treading down the adversary. 
 It is also a comforting expres.sion for 
 the believer becau.se it assures him that 
 he has a mighty deliverer in Christ. 
 
 To the question, Who is this angel? 
 various answers have been given. Some 
 make the angel a created being, others 
 the Lord Jesus himself, others a repre- 
 sentative of the work of Jesus. The 
 many correspondeuces to the vision of 
 Jesus in chap. 1, the shining face, the 
 fiery feet, the I'ainbow, the cloud asso- 
 ciated with the divine Being, bear wit- 
 ness that the angel is the Lord Jesus 
 himself. It is urged, on the other 
 hand, that the term angel is never 
 applied to the Lord himself in the New 
 Testament, he is above all the angels. 
 It is better, therefore, to regard the 
 angel as a representative form, sym- 
 bolizing the person and work of the 
 Lord. As in so many passages in this 
 book, the angel of anything is simply 
 the essence of the thing represented. 
 The angel representing the Lord Jesus 
 has fittingly the attributes belonging 
 to him in his august person, and in his 
 wide extending work. He represents 
 his covenant love in the rainbow ; his 
 power in the sun shining in his 
 strength ; his righteousness in the fiery 
 feet treading down the adversaries. 
 Swete takes "an angel" in the tech- 
 nical sense here and throughout the 
 book. 
 
 2. In his left hand was a little book 
 open. In the vision in chapter V on 
 the right hand of the Father was a 
 book sealed securely with seven seals. 
 Here, by way of contrast, there is in 
 the left hand, not in the right; in the 
 hand, not on it; a little book opened, 
 not sealed. What is meant by the little 
 book ? The entire vision is based upon 
 that found in Ezekiel, chapters II, III. 
 This is a reproduction of that. What- 
 ever that vision means, we may natu- 
 rally infer that this is, in essence, like 
 that. That was a message sent to a 
 rebellious people, a book full of lamen- 
 tations, mourning, woe ; a message from 
 God to the people of his day. Ezekiel 
 
 was given a roll ; it was eaten by him, 
 it was pleasant to the taste, it became 
 bitter subsequently. This book is writ- 
 ten in the Hebrew mold, giving New 
 Testament teachings in Old Testament 
 forms. There is no doubt as to the 
 meaning of Ezekiel's vision. John 
 must be interpreted in the light of 
 Ezekiel. The judgments of the first 
 six trumpets could not reform and 
 transform the world. The agency is 
 now revealed in this little book, by 
 which alone the work can be effected. 
 We are not to regard this vision and 
 spojien parable as teaching that the 
 gospel now, for the first time, begins 
 to work among men. The vision is 
 retrospective in character, covering 
 the entire Christian era, revealing now 
 for the first time, in this series, the 
 agencies at work for Christ in the 
 world. This agency is now revealed 
 for two reasons, to explain the method 
 by which the result at which Christ 
 aims can be brought about, and to give 
 comfort to the people of Clod who 
 might be oppressed with the thought 
 that God works in vain in the world. 
 The might and supremacy of the angel 
 are shown in his attitude, standing 
 upon the sea and . . . earth. He, 
 in symbol, makes claim to headship 
 over all things. As Jesus walked on 
 the water (Man. u : 25), so here one foot 
 is placed on the water. This is in 
 harmony with and explanatory of the 
 term, strong angel. AH the world is 
 God's by creation ; Christ's by redemp- 
 tion. It must yet own this supremacy 
 (Phil. 2 : 11). It may also be declared, 
 by his attitude, that his words concern 
 all the earth, a world-wide message. 
 
 3. And cried . . . roareth, with 
 a great voice, as if the entire earth 
 might hear. It is not represented a_s a 
 distinct, articulate sound, but the im- 
 pression is made upon the mind that 
 something fearful in its nature is about 
 to be unfolded. Seven thunders, 
 rather, the sevoi thwnders, meaning the 
 well-known thunders. There are .seven 
 spirits of God, meaning thereby the 
 
236 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 [Ch. X. 
 
 4 voices. 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 nut. 
 
 5 "And the augel which I saw stand 
 upon the sea and upon the earth » lifted 
 
 6 up his hand to heaven, and sware by 
 him that liveth for ever and ever, 
 p who created heaven, and the things 
 that therein are, and the earth, and 
 the things that therein are, and the 
 sea, and the things which are therein, 
 
 4 uttered their voices. And when the 
 seven thunders spolie, I was about to 
 write ; and I heard a voice out of 
 heaven saying, Seal up the things 
 which the seven thunders spoke, and 
 
 5 write them not. And the augel, whom 
 I saw standing on the sea and on the 
 land, lifted up his right hand to 
 
 6 heaven, and swore by him who lives 
 forever and ever, who created the 
 heaven and the tilings that are there- 
 in, and the earth and the things that 
 are therein, and the sea and the things 
 
 m Deut. 29 : 29 ; Dan. 8 . 26 ; 12 : 4, 9. n Dan. 12 : 4-13. o Gen. 14 : 22 ; Exod. 6:8; Dan. 12 : 7. 
 p 4 : 9-11 ; 14 : 7 ; Nth. 9 ; 6. 
 
 perfect spirit or knowledge. The seven 
 thunders do not mean seven separate 
 and distinct thunders wliicli John hears, 
 but stand for the complete majestic 
 utterance of God's voice. Thunder 
 stands for alarm, the storm awakening 
 tlie fear of the heart. The voice of 
 thunder marks .separate epochs in 
 history, as in the seventh seal (8 : lo); 
 the seventh trumpet (n = is); the 
 seventh bowl (chap, le, it, is) . God knows 
 how to thunder, to be indignant, to 
 threaten, to punish, to overwhelm. He 
 can send the deluge, he can care for a 
 ■widow in her distress (i Kings n). These 
 thunders were a distinct, real utter- 
 ance, issuing perhaps from that cloud 
 surrounding the angel, heard and un- 
 derstood by John. The seven thunders 
 utter their voice, apparently, in re- 
 sponse to the mighty cry of the strong 
 angel. 
 
 4. What was uttered in the voice of 
 thunder was intelligible to John. Obe- 
 dient to the command in 1 : 11 he was 
 about to write it down. He is for- 
 bidden to write the things heard. 
 Seal . . . and Avrite them not. 
 In like manner Daniel is forbidden to 
 write what he had heard (Dau. 12 : 4). 
 Why did God speak at all ? He must 
 have wished to inform John of his 
 purposes thus uttered, for his own 
 counsel, encouragement, and enlighten- 
 ment. He planned to conceal the 
 things uttered from the people at large. 
 Some things God keeps in his own 
 power (Acts 1:7). It is useless to 
 speculate on what was uttered. It is 
 irreverent to intrude when God has 
 shut the door upon our knowledge. 
 Some interpreters have tliought the 
 seven thunders referred to seven king- 
 
 doms that embraced the teachings of 
 the Reformation ; others that they refer 
 to the seven-hilled city — Rome — that 
 uttered the decrees of excommunica- 
 tion against Luther ; others to the seven 
 crusades in the Middle Ages. These 
 interpretations are foolish. Jesus, at 
 his departure, had many teachings to 
 give, but his disciples were not fitted 
 to receive them (Jo^u le : 12). These 
 voices may have been the utterance of 
 judgments so severe and overwhelming 
 that their unfolding to others might 
 have overcome the hearts of the godly 
 and ungodly alike. As a symbolic act, 
 the forbidding to write is in itself a 
 very impressive event. New and great 
 changes are about to be ushered in. 
 Great judgments have come, great 
 manifestations of God's power, but 
 God can do greater things. God is a 
 greater being than he has ever mani- 
 fested himself to be. We do not know 
 what these suppressed voices are, but 
 the entire earth may stand in fitting 
 expectancy before the unknown future 
 when God may, in ways so unknown, 
 so august, reveal himself. The godly 
 world may see greater displays of the 
 glory of God than have yet been shown. 
 The ungodly world may be utterly 
 prostrated under the fiery feet of the 
 conquering Christ. 
 
 5, 6. The attitude in taking the oath 
 is to lift the right hand toward heaven, 
 appealing to God's holiness to attest 
 the truthfulness of the statement. 
 
 (Comp. Gen. 14 : 22 ; Dan. 12 : 6, 7). God Can 
 
 swear by none higher than himself; 
 all other beings lower than God may 
 appeal to him (Heb. e : le). The angel, 
 in the most solemn way, makes appeal 
 to heaven. God is described under the 
 
Ch. X.] 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 237 
 
 1 that there should be time no longer: 
 7 but fin 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. 
 
 that are therein, that there shall be no 
 7 longer delay ; but in the days of the 
 voice of the seventh angel, w'hen he is 
 about to sound, then is the mystery of 
 God finished, as he gave the joyful 
 message to his servants the prophets. 
 
 q 16 : 17 i Dan. 12 : 7 ; Hab. 2:3. r 11 : 15-18. a Rom. 11 : 25 ; Eph. 3 : 9. 
 
 t Amos 3:7; Luke 24 : 44-i7 ; AcU 3 : 21. 
 
 two aspects of Lis eternity, dwelling 
 in the midst of the endless ages, and 
 bis all-powerfulness, the Creator of all 
 things. Time uo longer. Time has 
 here the meaning of delay, as given in 
 the Standard and Bible Union versions. 
 " There shall no more be any interval 
 of time, any furtlier delay: cf. Hab. 
 2:3; Heb. 10 : 37 " (Swete). Much 
 is about to take place before the ab- 
 solute end comes. In 6 : 11 the mar- 
 tyred souls are bidden to rest for a time 
 until the persecutions sweep over them. 
 Their impatience is restrained by the 
 assurance that, in due time, God's holi- 
 ness would manifest itself in penalty 
 and in preservation. God is not man 
 that he should break his word, or forget 
 his promise, or be impotent to fulfil 
 his purposes. It is the eternal and 
 almighty God who will now fulfil his 
 declarations thus made. Holy men 
 grow impatient, bad men harden their 
 hearts, at the seeming unconcern on 
 God's part, but in due time God will 
 reveal himself. God's delays are always 
 for man's good. They do not mean in- 
 difference to moral distinctions among 
 men or weakness in purpose, but have 
 the repentance of men in view {} I'eter 
 
 3 : 9). 
 
 7. There will be no further delay, 
 but now a rapid unfolding of God's 
 plan, long since foretold. The entire 
 verse appears in the R. V., But in the 
 days of the voice of the seventh angel, 
 when he is about to sound, then is 
 finished the mystery of God according 
 to the good tidings which tie declared 
 to his sei'vants the prophets. In the 
 days of the seventh angel the final 
 stage appears, then God's plans will 
 be fulfilled (ciiap. ii). When he shall 
 begin to sound, at the beginning of 
 the era thus indicated. Mystery of 
 God. The word mystery indicates 
 something that would be entirely in- 
 comprehensible but for its unfolding 
 by revelation. God has plans from the 
 beginning. These plans become known 
 
 as the ages throw light upon them. In 
 the Old Testament were many predic- 
 tions of the triumph of God's cause 
 and the defeat of God's enemies, the 
 putting down of evil. The good ti- 
 dings, including the gospel of Christ, 
 tlie salvation from sin, the preserva- 
 tion of the saints, the triumph of God's 
 kingdom, was made known to and 
 through the prophets. Of the details 
 of this future development of God's 
 kingdom, the prophets were largely 
 ignorant (i Peter i : 12). The term good 
 tidings must be taken in a large sen.se, 
 for we have here portrayed the judg- 
 ments upon a wicked world and an 
 apostate church, not simply God's care 
 for his children and church. It is a 
 glad message for his cause, because it 
 shows that he uses all his power in ful- 
 filling his promises for his people. All 
 things are under his feet for the sake 
 of his church (Eph. i : 22). We must 
 read 11 : 1.5-18 in connection with this 
 verse. Is finished. This plan of 
 God includes thousands of years in its 
 course and fulfilment. Jesus, in God's 
 mind, was slain from before the founda- 
 tion of the world (is : 8) ; the conflict 
 and triumph of Jesus is announced in 
 Gen. 3 : 15 in terms that in time became 
 luminous. The Son comes into the 
 world in the person of a child (isa. 9 : e); 
 he is invested with a world-wide sover- 
 eignty (Ps. 2:8); as a suflercr he shall 
 redeem men, and shall be satisfied with 
 the outcome of his sufieriugs (isa- ss). 
 A satisfied Saviour, a rejoicing church, 
 a defeated Satan, a redeemed earth, the 
 kingdom of Christ victorious, these are 
 parts of the good tidings. The mystery 
 of God is spoken of by the angel hold- 
 ing the little book in his hand. The 
 Old and New Testaments are both of 
 one plan, presenting a beginning, a 
 course of fulfilment, and a final eon- 
 summation. Christianity is no after- 
 tliought of God, but is, from the begin- 
 ning, a part of his plan. History 
 presents instances of thirty years of 
 
238 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 [Ch. X. 
 
 8 And 1 the voice whicli I heard from 
 heaven spake unto rae again, and 
 said, Go and take the little book which 
 is open in the hand of the ang^el 
 which standeth upon the sea and 
 
 9 upon the earth. 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 tliy mouth sweet as honey. 
 
 8 And the voice which I heard out of 
 heaven [I heard] again speaking with 
 me, and saying, Go, take the little book 
 which is open in the hand of the angel, 
 who stands on the sea and on the land. 
 
 9 And I went to the angel, telling him 
 to give me the little book. And be 
 said to me. Take and eat it up ; and 
 it will make thy belly bitter, but iu thy 
 mouth it will be sweet as honey. 
 
 X Jer. 15 : 16 ; Ezek. 2:8; 3 : 1-3. 
 
 war waged for the preservation of the 
 national life. Our God is not a God who 
 can be discouraged or defeated. He 
 keeps his liand on the course of tlie 
 world's history, iu suppressing evil, in 
 developing the good, in preserving his 
 people, in leading his church, in grant- 
 ing the aid of the Holy Spirit, so that 
 in the end there will be a glorious out- 
 come for God's plans. Good men may 
 patiently wait until the mystery of 
 God is finished. Thousands of years 
 passed before Jesus came in person. 
 There may be ages intervening before 
 the end comes, but Ijack of all promises 
 and plans is the person of God. 
 
 8-11. The little book taken 
 AND eaten. The voice which had 
 spoken to John in ver. 4 again speaks 
 to him. The seer is commanded to 
 take the little book from the hand of 
 the angel. The sealed book was opened 
 by the mighty Son of God ; none less 
 than he could open the book or look 
 upon it. This book, on the other hand, 
 is taken by a man. This significant 
 act shows that the message in the book, 
 the commands, the warnings — whatever 
 they may be — are to have a human 
 mediation ; they are to become known 
 and effective through a human witness- 
 ing ministry. Great purposes are to 
 come to fulfilment through human 
 agencies. The seer stands, not for him- 
 self alone, but for the church which he 
 represents. The open book, the words 
 to be spoken, the teachings to be made 
 known, these must be given through 
 men. The little book is the mani- 
 fested will of God involving mercy 
 and judgment. John must take the 
 book. 
 
 9. John obeys. I went unto the 
 angel. His position, in vision, is 
 shifted to the earth, holding converse 
 with the angel. He takes the book; 
 he is bidden to eat it. (Comp. Ezek. s.) 
 
 Eat it. The contents of the book are 
 to be devoured by him, eaten, thor- 
 oughly understood, so that the teach- 
 ings woukl become his own. In vision, 
 to eat a book is to become identified 
 with it, so that its truths, its counsels, 
 its warnings, become one's own. In the 
 mouth the book Avas to be sweet as 
 honey. Every revelation of God ought 
 to be pleasant to the spiritual taste (ps. 
 19 : 10). Ezekiel found his mission 
 pleasant, because from God ; but ex- 
 ceeding bitter because involving the 
 message of disaster. It does not mean 
 that any fleshly natural feelings would 
 be stirred up against God or his pi-o- 
 posed dealings. It is a figurative way 
 of saying that the message would be, 
 in one sense, joyous, inasmuch as God 
 would be glorified ; in another sense 
 oppressive, inasmuch as many would 
 not accept the message, would incur 
 lieavier condemnation. Paul rejoiced 
 because he was a messenger of Christ 
 (1 Tim. 1 : 12), but he had continual sor- 
 row of lieart on account of his people's 
 rejection of the Saviour (Rom. lo : i). 
 Jesus delighted in doing God's will, 
 but he wept tears of sorrow over Jeru- 
 .salem. In some respects the mission 
 would be joyous for Jolin, in other re- 
 spects it would be grievous. 
 
 10. Tliis verse describes the efiect 
 of eating the roll. It was devoured, 
 its contents were studied, its teachings 
 made known. As foretold, it tasted 
 sweet in the mouth. David speaks of 
 tlie sweetness of God's words. The 
 after bitterness does not reveal a soul 
 unwilling or rebelling against God's 
 plans. It is a strongly figurative 
 method of declaring that, in some re- 
 spects, the contents of the book were 
 oppressive and depres.sing, giving an 
 account of God's message rejected with 
 the consequent heavy woes resulting 
 from this rejection. " Every re vela- 
 
Ch. X.] 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 239 
 
 10 Aurt I took the little book out of the 
 augel's haud, and ate it up; J'aiid it 
 was in my mouth sweet as honey : and 
 as soon as I had eaten it, »my belly 
 was bitter. 
 
 11 And he said unto me, "Thou mui-t 
 prophesy again before many peoples, 
 and nations, and tongues, and kings. 
 
 10 And I took the little book out of the 
 hand of the angel, and ate it up; and 
 it was in my mouth as sweet honey ; 
 and when I had eaten it, my belly was 
 
 11 made bitter. And they say to me. 
 Thou must again prophesy of many 
 peoples, and nations, and tongues, and 
 kings. 
 
 y Ezek. 3 : 3. 
 
 z Eztk. 2 ; 10. 
 
 o 14 : 6 ; Jer. 1 : 9, 10. 
 
 tion of God's purposes, even though a 
 mere fragment, a little book, is 
 
 'bitter-sweet,' di.sclosing judgment as 
 •well as mercy " (Swete). It is a bur- 
 den to Chrisfs messengers to preach 
 a message that may be a savor of death 
 unto death (2 ^or. 2 .- I6). 
 
 11. He said unto me, rather, 
 thexj say. Some refer this to the seven 
 thunders, making tlie substance of the 
 message to consist of judgments mainly. 
 It is better to regard tliis as a state- 
 ment, indefinite in its nature, mean- 
 ing, " It was .said unto me," witliout 
 indicating by whom. Prophesy. 
 This term is not limited to predictions, 
 foretellings. The general New Testa- 
 ment sense is that of speaking for God, 
 giving his messages whatever they l)e, 
 unfolding his will (' Thess. 5 : 20). It is 
 a great mistake to think that prophecy 
 is limited to prediction. There may 
 be a real prophecy without any fore- 
 telling of the future. Prediction often 
 occurs, but this is only an incidental 
 featm-e, it does not lielong to the idea 
 of prophecy in itself. The term is 
 used in its large sense here. Before 
 many peoples. That is, in the pre- 
 sence of, over, indicating the univer.sal, 
 world-wide character of the ministry. 
 The mission is that of giving the con- 
 tents of tlie little )>ook unto all nations, 
 to the uttermo.st (Mntt. 28 : 19). Ezekiel's 
 eating the roll was his inauguratifni 
 into the prophetic office. Isaiah's 
 sight of the Lord was his entrance on 
 his public work as a prophet of Je- 
 hovah (isn. 6). The eating of the roll, 
 in this vision, indicates a formal intro- 
 duction into a ministry for Christ. 
 This vision is retrospective and pro- 
 spective in its nature. 
 
 Practical Remarks. 
 1. Mercy and judgment are united in 
 Jesus and his revelation. He is tender to 
 the penitent, not desiring that any should 
 
 perish. He is, at the same time, holy and 
 just, not willing that guilt should go un- 
 punished (ver. 1). 
 
 2. Jesus is the almighty Saviour. He 
 made all things, redeemed all things, will 
 ultimately control all things, so that the 
 universe shall find .its head in Christ 
 (Eph. 1 : 10). He expectantly awaits his 
 universal sovereignty (ver. 2, 3 ; Heb. 
 10:13). 
 
 3. Some things are wisely hidden from 
 us. Secret things belong to God, revealed 
 things are for us. What concerns our 
 spiritual state is so plain that no one may 
 misunderstand. Nothing is revealed sim- 
 ply to gratify curiosity (ver. 4). 
 
 4. It is a comfort to know that the 
 almighty and everlasting God is pledged 
 to stand by his people and his promise. 
 Anything less than such a God might fail 
 in his purpose or be overcome (ver. 5). 
 
 5. We must not mistake God's delay for 
 indifference. His delays are trying to 
 faith and patience, and provocative of 
 disbelief. But we may be assured that 
 God is faithful, and has a book of remem- 
 brance (Mai. 3 : 16). He is a God of 
 patience that the wicked may thereby be 
 led to repentance, and that his people 
 may be led to trust him (ver. 6). 
 
 6. W^e would naturally expect God to 
 have many thoughts too large for his 
 people to comprehend now. His hidden 
 plans he reveals so far as his people are 
 able to bear them. Many things hidden 
 from the prophets are made known to us 
 (Matt. 13:17). What vie do not know 
 now will be made manifest in time, if it 
 is needful for us to know (ver. 7; John 
 13:7). 
 
 7. God, in time, will hasten the fulfil- 
 ment of his plans so that the kingdom 
 may spread rapidly, and wickedness rap- 
 idly break down. God knows all the 
 future, and he is great, wise, and strong 
 
240 
 
 EEVELATION 
 
 [Ch. XI. 
 
 TIlc temple measured ; the two witnesses. i 
 11 AND there was given me ^ a reed like 
 unto a rod : and •= Lhe angel stood, say- 
 ing, * Rise, and measure " the temple of | 
 
 11 AND there was given me a reed, like 
 a staff, saying, Rise, and measure the 
 
 6 21 : 15; Ezek. 40 : 3, etc. ; Zech. 2 : 1, 2. c 10 : 1-5. 
 
 e 2 Cor. 6 : 16 ; 1 Peter 2 : 5. 
 
 d Num. 23 ; 18. 
 
 enough to care for his own, and overcome 
 all opposition (ver. 7). 
 
 8. Salvation is from God. Jesus is the 
 Mediator and procuring cause of salva- 
 tion. The Holy Spirit is God's worker 
 within us, interpreting us to ourselves 
 and Christ to us (ver. 8). 
 
 9. Every saved person is saved to serve. 
 He must strive to know God's will that he 
 may give it to others. " Here am I, send 
 me," is the Christian's right attitude. 
 New Testament principles incorporated 
 in a holy and useful life will transform 
 the world (ver. 9). 
 
 10. No minister or teacher can become 
 an effective messenger to others until he 
 has made God's revelation his own. The 
 gospel must become a part of his own ex- 
 perience. The heart must feel, as well as 
 the ear hear, God's revelation (ver. 10). 
 
 11. The prophets prophesied to a diso- 
 bedient people. One concerned for 
 others will find a joy in work, but will 
 have a heaviness of heart (ver. 10; Rom. 
 10 : 1). 
 
 12. It is God's desire that all nations 
 should know his will. It is a sinful negli- 
 gence to withhold from any people the 
 knowledge of Jesus (ver. 11). 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 The two witnesses. The seventh 
 TRUMPET. We have now a second in- 
 terposed vision. According to the 
 general structure of the book the vision 
 must accord in nature with the preced- 
 ing vision. The idea of witnessing is 
 the prominent thought, together with 
 the assured approval of God and his 
 interposition in behalf of the witness- 
 ing church. The vision is one of the 
 most highly figurative in the entire 
 book, exceedingly dramatic in char- 
 acter. Seen in vision, as it is, it must 
 be interpreted, not as history, not in a 
 literal sense, but as figurative, sym- 
 bolic. To treat it as history will be to 
 introduce something out of liarmony 
 
 with the spirit and structure of the 
 entire book. 
 
 In this chapter we see the temple 
 measured, the introduction of two wit- 
 nesses clothed in sackcloth, having 
 power with God and men, oppressed 
 and killed. God gives them a glorious 
 resurrection, and sends judgments upon 
 the ungodly (ver. i-u); at the sounding 
 of the seventh trumpet Jesus has a 
 universal sovereignty ; the redeemed 
 church sings a hymn of praise, and 
 has intimate fellowship with God (ver. 
 
 15-19). 
 
 1-14. The two witnesses. We 
 have, preparatory to the introduction 
 of the two witnesses, an explanatory 
 and introductory statement. The de- 
 scription of the temple and its wor- 
 shipers furnishes a reason for the sub- 
 sequent witnessing. The temple and 
 its worshipers measured, in the two 
 opening verses. 
 
 1. Given . . . rod. It is not stated 
 by whom the rod is given to him. 
 Inasmuch as the term, "my," occurs in 
 ver. 3, denoting an ownership of the 
 witnesses, it is fair to infer that it is 
 the angel representing the Lord him- 
 self that is introduced here. The 
 reed is for measuring purposes. The 
 foundation for this figure is found in 
 Zech. 2:1,2 and Ezek. 40 : 3. In these 
 cases the sacred buildings and city were 
 measured, to indicate their majesty, 
 grandeur, and permanence. (Compare 
 the measuring of the New Jerusalem, 
 21 : 15.) It was a mark of God's favor, 
 an indication and prophecy of preser- 
 vation and permanency, not of de- 
 struction. Peace and safety, with 
 God's blessing, were assured to those 
 dwelling within the limits thus meas- 
 ured. They were marked out that 
 thereby, humanly speaking, God 
 might the more eflfectively preserve 
 them. Ang:el stood, saying, rather, 
 one said. Rise does not mean that he 
 must rise from a sitting position, but it 
 is a command to begin the work in 
 hand. Three things are to be meas- 
 
Ch. XI.] 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 
 
 241 
 
 God, and the altar, and them that wor- 
 
 2 ship therein. But 'the court which 
 
 is without the temple leave out, and 
 
 temple of God, and the altar, and 
 
 2 those who worship therein. And the 
 
 court which is without the temple 
 
 
 / Ezek. 40 
 
 : 17, 20. 
 
 
 
 
 ured: (1) The temple of God. The 
 
 reference here is not to the temple 
 buildings as a whole, embracing the 
 rooms surrounding the temple and the 
 various enclosures, but to the inner- 
 most part, especially the holy of ho- 
 lies. This was the most sacred part 
 containing the ark, the mercy .seat, 
 and the cloud of glory where God re- 
 vealed himself in an especial manner. 
 The seer is not thinking of the actual 
 temple at Jerusalem as though it were 
 yet actually standing, but of the ideal, 
 symbolic temple in the heavens, of 
 which the tabernacle in the wilderness 
 was the counterpart. In ver. 19 the 
 temple is spoken of as "in heaven," 
 which makes it plain that he is not 
 alluding here to any actually existing 
 temple. The allusion cannot be to 
 any actually exi.sting structure, for the 
 measuring spoken of is a mark of pres- 
 ervation, but the temple at Jerusalem 
 was utterly destroyed in A. D. 70. We 
 must interpret the term, temple, in 
 the light of that fact. (2) Altar. 
 This altar is most probably the altar of 
 incense spoken of in 8 : 5, on which 
 the prayers of the saints rested, and in 
 response to which God answered by 
 judgments upon the wicked by inter- 
 positions for his cause. (3) Them 
 that worship. The measuring of 
 the worshipers must certainly be a 
 figurative expression. An actual 
 measuring is not in harmony with the 
 realities of life. To measure the wor- 
 shiper is to ascertain the character, its 
 conformity with the divine standard, 
 to give the assurance of acceptance and 
 preservation. It gives, in another 
 form, what has already been asserted 
 in 7 : 3 by the marking upon the fore- 
 head. God knows and cares for his 
 own. The figurative use of the term 
 measure here, necessitates its figura- 
 tive interpretation in the other two 
 cases. Therein may refer either to 
 the temple, or in a figurative way to 
 the altar, or to both combined as repre- 
 senting the entire ritual worship. The 
 outer and inner rooms with the altar 
 were the means by which worship was 
 
 Q 
 
 rendered, in an acceptable way, to 
 God. " The seer, however, has in view, 
 not the material sanctuary, but the 
 spiritual building of the church (cf. i 
 
 Cor. S : 16f; 2 Cor. 6 : 16 ; Eph. 2 ; 21 ; 2 Theas. 
 
 2 : <). The measuring of the sanctuary 
 provides for its preservation from the 
 general overthrow, and thus corre- 
 sponds with the sealing of the one hun- 
 dred and forty-four thousand, which 
 preceded the seventh seal opening as 
 the measuring precedes the seventh 
 trumpet blast " (Swete). 
 
 2. A striking contrast is made be- 
 tween the sacred shrine itself and the 
 courts adjoining the temple. All 
 formed parts of one integral whole, all 
 alike were sacred in the temple that 
 stood at Jerusalem. But here, in a 
 symbolic way, the one is measured and 
 marked out for preservation, the other 
 is marked out for destruction. But, 
 rather, and. The court . . . with- 
 out the temple. About the temple 
 were large exterior courts for the 
 priests, for the Jews at large, for the 
 women, with the outermost courts for 
 the Gentiles. The following design 
 will explain the relation of the temple 
 to the outer courts. Leave out, 
 rather, cast out. The work is a for- 
 cible one, implying not only that the 
 outer court is not to be regarded and 
 honored by measuring it, but it is, by 
 some positive act, as it were, cast out, 
 dishonored, thrown aside as unclean. 
 By this symbolic act there is portrayed 
 a vast moral difference between the 
 character of the two, the temple and 
 the surrounding grounds. As the tem- 
 ple and its courts were a picture of 
 God's spiritual dwelling-place on the 
 earth, it is here shown that a part of 
 God's professed people, of God's out- 
 ward inheritance, is looked upon with 
 favor, and another part with utter dis- 
 favor and consequent rejection. It is 
 a declaration, in vision and by parable, 
 that a part of Christ's professed church 
 is faithfiil to him, destined, therefore, 
 to be graciously preserved, and a part 
 of Christ's professed church is to be 
 discarded, openly thrown aside. 
 
Illllllllllllllllllllllllllllll^llll^lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll^llll[llllllllln^^ 
 
 .H'.3.s.o.i^..s mo K O 1 o s 
 
 n o 
 
 "••IB 
 
 
 •1 B>* 
 
 CO 
 
 CO 
 
 P 
 O 
 
 w 
 
 si §i 
 
Ch. XI.] 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 243 
 
 measure it not; efor it is given unto 
 the Gentiles: and the holy city shall 
 they >■ tread under foot ' forty and two 
 mouths. 
 
 leave out, and measure it not ; because 
 it was given to the Gentiles, and they 
 will tread down the holy city forty-two 
 
 5 Ps. 79 : 1 ; Luke 21:2-4; 2 Thess. 2 : D-12. h Dan. 7 : 19 ; 8 : 10, 24, 25. 
 
 » 13 : 5; Dau. 7 ; 2 j ; 12 : 7, 11, 12. 
 
 Pleasure it not shows that that part 
 is to be treated as an unholy thing, 
 destined to suffer indignity and loss. 
 By the court is meant a part of the 
 professed people of Uod, yet degenerate 
 in character, standing to him in a re- 
 lation different from that maintained 
 by the faithful part represented by the 
 innermost shrine, diiterent also from 
 the relation sustained by the Gentiles 
 or the nations outside. Three kinds of 
 people are spoken of, the faithful part, 
 the unfaithful part, the heathen people 
 on the outside. In 1 Cor. 3 : 16 the 
 people of Christ are spoken of as a 
 temple of the Lord, dedicated to his 
 service. It is given unto the Gen- 
 tilesy rather, hath been given. The 
 Gentiles, rather, nations, were regarded 
 as spiritually unclean, so that they 
 were not permitted to enter the temple 
 or its most sacred courts. Paul was 
 charged with introducing a Gentile 
 into the sacred enclosure, entrance into 
 which, in an unlawful way, was pun- 
 ishable with death (Acts 2i : 29), In the 
 vision the Gentiles are permitted in 
 judgment to have free entrance into 
 all the temple courts. The nations, 
 those outside the sacred enclosure, 
 are alluded to in the after parts 
 of the book. In 20 : 8 we see them 
 arrayed against the people of God. 
 The unspiritual part of the church, 
 the outer court, is dominated, trodden 
 under foot by the worldly heathen 
 power ; thereby we have a body that is 
 seemingly, in an outward way, a 
 church. This church is composed of 
 the unspiritual element, controlled by 
 an ungodly power, having over it the 
 name of Christ, but not having his life 
 within. This organization, in the after 
 part of this book, is spoken of under 
 the term of the unclean woman, a 
 spiritual Babylon (i7:4, 5). The holy 
 city does not refer to any literal Jeru- 
 salem, as that it should be trodden under 
 foot by hostile armies. The allusion is 
 to Jerusalem, but in a metaphorical 
 sense. The city stood as a symbol of 
 God'B dwelling-place on the earth; 
 
 glorious things were spoken of Zion 
 (Ps. 87 : 3), In time, the city became 
 the home of a large ungodly element. 
 This was the case in the days of Jesus 
 and John. Here it stands as the type of 
 tlie professing church of Christ, a holy 
 Jerusalem that had become, to a large 
 degree, unholy. Temple, altar, court, 
 city are all used in a figurative sense. 
 The temple and the altar represent 
 God's spii-itual church on the earth; 
 the court, the unspiritual element in 
 the professing body of Christ; the 
 Gentiles, the outer unspiritual world. 
 God will preserve his own ; he will re- 
 ject the unworthy and unclean. We 
 have already had allusions to the in- 
 troduction and growth of the unchris- 
 tian element in the churches of Christ. 
 We find them in the letters to the 
 churches (2 : *. 9, u, 20 ; 3 : 2, 15). _ The 
 heathen worldly power shall dominate 
 and control the unspiritual church. 
 The time is spoken of as forty and 
 two months. This expression is 
 used five times in this book. In 11 : 2 ; 
 13 : 5 we have the expression "forty and 
 two months"; in 11 : 3 and 12 : 6 we 
 have the same time expressed in terms 
 of days, twelve hundred and sixty 
 days ; the same period is expressed in 
 terms of years in 12 : 14, time and 
 times and half a time. These terms 
 cannot be taken in a literal sense. 
 Like all the other terms employed, this 
 period of time must be taken in a 
 figurative sense. (See note at the end 
 of this chapter.) It is a symbol of 
 incompleteness, of persecution, sorrow, 
 tribulation, when God's cause is seem- 
 ingly prostrate. It is well to get in 
 mind farmly the method of interpreta- 
 tion to be adopted here, whether literal 
 or figurative. It is assumed by some 
 writers, Cowles and others, that the 
 temple is standing at the time of these 
 visions, and this passage is taken as a 
 proof that the book was written prior 
 to the destruction of the temple in A. D. 
 70. But it would seem that the allu- 
 sion here is not to any actually existing 
 temple, but to the ideal temple in the 
 
244 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 [Ch. XI. 
 
 3 And I will give power unto my two | 3 months. And I will give to my two 
 
 heavens, of which the taberuacle was 
 the earthly reproduction. The meas- 
 uring of tlie worshiper must be under- 
 stood in a figurative way. In this 
 vision, in ver. 8, the seer expressly de- 
 clares that the term, Jerusalem, is not 
 to be taken in a literal sense. He 
 guards us against taking the word in a 
 boldly literal way. John intends to 
 assert that the real Israel of God, faith- 
 ful in life, represented by the temple 
 and altar, will be preserved by God, 
 having upon it God's abiding love and 
 protection. But the outer court shall 
 be cast aside as if excommunicated 
 from God's blessing ; it shall be as if 
 trampled under foot by heathen people. 
 By this tei-m, court, he designates the 
 unchristian element in the outwardly 
 professing church, a degenerate and 
 corrupt church, having the name of 
 Christ, but not his life and power. 
 No definite period of time is indicated 
 by the three and a half years in its 
 threefold form. It also is a symbol 
 of the time during which evil shall 
 have great power, and the people of 
 Christ shall sufier tribulation (John 
 
 16 : 83). 
 
 The two witnesses are now intro- 
 duced. We approach another vision 
 that has caused much difficulty to 
 interpreters. We shall find many 
 difficulties vanishing if we hold fast 
 to the principle that we are moving 
 among symbolic representations, not 
 among actual historical statements. 
 In 10 : 11 it had been stated that a 
 witnessing should take place among 
 all nations and peoples. Here we 
 have presented the witnessing itself 
 in its method, the opposition met with, 
 its eflfectiveness, its seeming temporary 
 defeat, its approval by God, and its 
 triumph shown in a most striking 
 way. The function of the church is to 
 be that of witnessing ; it is only in this 
 way that God can secure his rightful 
 sway among men. God will always 
 have a faithful people in the world, 
 even if ungodliness abounds and the 
 love of many waxes cold. Sometimes 
 he has more people on his side than 
 even the faithful estimate (i Kings is : i9). 
 Five distinct divisions are marked out 
 in the treatment of this topic : their 
 testimony (ver. 3-6) ; their death (ver. 
 
 '-10); their resurrection (ver. ii); their 
 ascension (ver. 12); and the effect on 
 the beholders (ver. is, u). 
 
 3. I will give... tAvo witnesses, 
 rather, / will give iinto viy two wit- 
 nesses. It is the heavenly voice still 
 speaking, the strong angel most likely, 
 representing Jesus Christ. It can 
 scarcely be Christ himself, for in ver. 
 8 the voice says, their Lord, alluding 
 to Christ. The witnesses are in reality 
 Christ's, just as the church belongs to 
 ChrLst (Matt. 16 : 18). Christ is the 
 founder of the church, he is its head 
 and ruler, he owns its ordinances, he 
 constantly supplies strength to his 
 people for witnessing. The source of 
 authority and power for the church is 
 Christ. He alone can give life, can 
 direct the course of the church, can 
 define its nature, can give support to it 
 in trial. Two ivitnesses. Are we to 
 understand two literal witnesses, or are 
 they to be understood in a symbolic 
 sense ? We are not to understand any 
 two literal witnesses, such as Enoch 
 and Elijah, or Moses and Elijah, or 
 Zerubbabel and Joshua, or any two 
 who are yet to arise in whom, as in 
 representatives, the power of the church 
 shall be concentrated. As these terms 
 must be construed in a figurative way, 
 so must tlie two Avitnesses themselves 
 be regarded as figurative expressions. 
 The seer may have in mind two 
 historical persons who witnessed cour- 
 ageously for God, but he passes straight- 
 way into figurative expressions regard- 
 ing two witnesses as the number essen- 
 tial for Old Testament witnessing (Deut. 
 1' : 6). The two witnesses are the faith- 
 ful witnessing church which, in times 
 dark and bright, stands fast in its 
 allegiance to God. They are the faith- 
 ful remnant within the professing 
 church, that flock which, though small 
 in number, listens to the voice of the 
 shepherd (John lo : «). The two wit- 
 nesses represent, therefore, all the 
 faithful human Avitnesses for and in 
 behalf of Christ. Similarly Saa'ETE: 
 "The Avitnesses represent the church 
 in her function of Avitness-bearing (Act. 
 1:8) and her testimony is symbolized 
 by two witnesses partly in reference 
 to the well known Taw of Deut. 19 ; 15. 
 . . The witness of the church, borne 
 
Ch. XI.] 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 245 
 
 witnesses, and they shall prophesy J a 
 thousand two hundred and threescore 
 days, clothed in sackcloth. 
 
 These are the •= two olive trees, and 
 the two candlesticks standing before 
 ' the God of the earth. 
 
 witnesses, and they shall prophesy a 
 thousand two hundred aud sixty days, 
 clothed in sackcloth. 
 
 These are the two olive trees, and 
 the two lampstands, which stand be- 
 
 j 12 : 6. 
 
 k 1 : 20: Zech. 4 : 2, 3, 11-U. 
 
 I Isa. 54 : i. 
 
 by her martyrs and confessors, her 
 saints and doctors, and by the words 
 and lives of all in whom Christ lives 
 and speaks, is one continued prophecy 
 (comp. 19 : 10) lasting throughout the 
 twelve hundred aud sixty days of 
 heathendom." Prophesy. This 
 means speaking in behalf of God, the 
 unfolding of his will for instruction, 
 for warning men. It is something 
 vastly larger than prediction, though 
 this is one province of prophesying. 
 In the New Testament times prophesy- 
 ing formed an essential part of the 
 spiritual and church life (i Thess. 5 : 20). 
 Sackcloth. The prophets were 
 clothed with a rough cloth of camel's 
 hair, typifying the rough work they 
 were called upon to do, the sufferings 
 which the witnesses were called upon to 
 endure in delivering the message, ex- 
 pressing also the self-denying life of 
 
 the prophets. (compare Elijah and John the 
 Baptist, 2 Kingi 1:8; Matt. 3:4.) It is a 
 
 figurative term to express the attitude 
 and spirit of the church. The sack- 
 cloth does not indicate that the church 
 is to live a hermit or retired life, apart 
 from men, but it is to be separate from 
 the world, that it may the more effect- 
 ively bear witness to it. One thou- 
 sand two hundred and threescore 
 days. This is equivalent to the forty- 
 two months of ver. 2. Why it is put 
 in a different form we may not know. 
 It may be that the change here to days 
 is to indicate in an emphatic way that 
 the prophesying will take place daily, 
 continuously. Here again is a broken 
 period equal to three and a half 
 years, the half of a complete period. 
 The witnessing in sorrow and in 
 troubled times is only for an incom- 
 
 flete period, it will come to an end. 
 t is a matter of doubt whether this 
 period corresponds precisely with the 
 forty-two mouths in limits of time. It 
 corresponds precisely with the limit 
 assigned to Elijah's power in shutting 
 up the heavens in Ahab's reign (Luke 
 * : »B), His faithful and personal wit- 
 
 nessing may be one of the historical 
 facts that lies at the basis of the im- 
 agery here. Seven is the number of 
 the covenant indicating perfection, 
 completeness, peace, and joy. The 
 half of the seven indicates a time of 
 sorrow, of incompleteness, when the 
 promises do not come to a fulfilment ; 
 when tribulation and persecution may 
 arise. 
 
 4. The witnesses are figuratively 
 described as olive trees and can- 
 dlesticks, rather, lampstands. The 
 seer reverts to Zechariah for his figure 
 (chap. 4). In the prophecy was a 
 golden candlestick with seven lamps, 
 two olive trees constantly supplying 
 the lamps with oil. In this place we 
 have two candlesticks, varying thus 
 incidentally from the Old Testament 
 vision. In Zechariah the two olive 
 trees were perhaps two literal wit- 
 nesses, Zerubbabel aud Joshua, or 
 Zechariah and Haggai. The meaning 
 here is evident. The witnesses are givers 
 of light ; they scatter light everywhere 
 through their teaching. They reveal 
 God's will, man's duty, the way of sal- 
 vation, the penalty of sin, tlie ultimate 
 triumph of God's cause. The witness- 
 ing is not a simple human witnessing ; 
 the witnesses are constantly supported 
 by divine grace and help. The prophet 
 said : " Not by might, nor by power, 
 but by my Spirit, saith the Lord" (zech. 
 * : 6). Jesus him.self is the true and 
 faithful witness (i : 5). These repre- 
 sent the teaching borne by Christ's 
 people in all ages everywhere. They 
 witness by teachings begotten by the 
 Holy Spirit. God of the earth, 
 rather, Lord. Their position before 
 the universal Lord indicates the world- 
 wide witnessing, and also their ap- 
 proval by God. Whether men will 
 hear or forbear, they stand accepted 
 by their Lord, they are his witnesses 
 to men. There will be a constant 
 readiness on their part to do their 
 Lord's will, their words are not their 
 
 own (Malt. 10 : 20). 
 
246 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 [Ch. XL 
 
 5 And if any man will hurt them, "> fire 
 proceedeth out of their mouth, and de- 
 voureth their enemies : " aud if any 
 man will hurt them, he must in this 
 
 6 manner be killed. These » have power 
 to shut heaven, that it rain not in the 
 days of their prophecy : and p have 
 power over waters to turn them to 
 blood, and to smite the earth with all 
 plagues, as often as they will. 
 
 5 fore the Lord of the earth. And if any 
 one wishes to hurt them, fire goes forth 
 out of their mouth, and devours their 
 enemies ; and if any one shall wish to 
 hurt them he must in this manner be 
 
 6 killed. These have authority to shut 
 heaven, that it rain not in the days of 
 their prophecy ; and have authority 
 over the waters to turn them to blood, 
 aud to smite the earth with every 
 plague, as often as they may wish. 
 
 m 2 Kings 1 : 10, 12 ; Jer. 5 : 14 ; Ezek. 43 : 3 ; Hosca 6 : 5. 
 n Num. 16 : 29, 35 ; Ps. 105 : 15 ; Isa. 27 : 3 ; Zech. 2:8. o 1 Kings 17:1. p Exod. 7 : 
 
 _ 5. In this verse we have an illustra- 
 tion of the power dwelling in the wit- 
 nessing church. The incidents men- 
 tioned are taken from the Old Testa- 
 ment prophets. If any man will 
 hurt, rather, desireth to hurt. There 
 has been, in all the ages, a mind on the 
 part of the ungodly to suppress the 
 faithful teaching and testimony. Some- 
 times there has been simply the averted 
 ear; sometimes, as in Stephen's case, 
 the violent death ; sometimes the In- 
 quisition, as in Holland and Spain ; 
 sometimes persecution, as in the daj's 
 of Rome, and in recent times in Mada- 
 gascar and Armenia ; sometimes ban- 
 ishment and ostracism. Fire. The 
 allusion liere is to 2 Kings 1 : 10, 12, 
 where fire devoured the enemies of 
 Elijah. The term, fire, here cannot 
 be taken in a literal sense, but rather 
 with the meaning of the words of Je- 
 hovah to Jeremiah : " I will make thee 
 fire and the people wood" (Jer. 5 : u). 
 In the portrait of Jesus, in the vision 
 1 : 16, a sharp, two-edged sword pro- 
 ceeds out of his mouth, signifying that 
 his words would be like swords cutting 
 down all enemies. In like manner 
 God would defend his witnessing 
 church, making it effective, breaking 
 down opposition. Killed. In Dan. 
 3 : 22 we have perhaps a foundation 
 for this imagery, the fire from the 
 furnace devouring the ungodly men. 
 There is affirmed here the principle of 
 retribution : in what manner the wit- 
 nesses are treated, in like manner the 
 enemies of Christ will be treated. This 
 will not be literally true at any par- 
 ticular time in the history of the church; 
 it will be true as a general principle 
 to be made manifest in due time. The 
 element of time must always be taken 
 into consideration when we regard the 
 promises and threatenings of God. The 
 
 present tense of the verb is used as in- 
 dicating that which is a settled prin- 
 ciple, even though the event be far in 
 the future. Underneath the imagery 
 of fire and killing is contained the 
 thought that God will make the church 
 effective, will defend it, will cause the 
 witnessing of the church to break 
 down all opposition. He will defend 
 it as though he made use of actual fire 
 and the destiniction of life. 
 
 6. This verse further describes the 
 power of the witnessing church. Shut 
 heaven. Elijah's prayer closed the 
 skies that it rained not for three 
 and a half years (i Kings n : i ; jamei 
 5 : 17). It is taught here in a general 
 way, from this one historical illustra- 
 tion, that God's praying people will 
 have power through their prayers. 
 God will turn and overturn in answer 
 to prayers of his suppliant children. 
 Blood. The seer has in mind the 
 plagues in Egypt when Moses turned 
 the waters into blood. This miracle 
 was designed to give a larger confidence 
 to Moses, to show the Israelites the 
 leadership of Moses, to convince and 
 persuade Pharaoh to permit the Is- 
 raelites to depart. Under Old Testa- 
 ment figures Jesus promised to his 
 faithful church that he will effect 
 deliverance for his people as in the 
 olden times. Jehovah, who cared for 
 Moses and Elijah and Daniel, is the 
 same unchanging God, now manifest 
 in Christ. God works through his 
 providences, making unjust wars, pes- 
 tilences, civil convulsions work out 
 his righteous ends. He can make even 
 persecutions the means of widening 
 his kingdom. The persecution in Je- 
 rusalem scattered the messengers of 
 Christ everywhere. What was meant 
 to kill the kingdom was the means of 
 widening it (Acts ii : is). God works 
 
Ch. XI.] 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 247 
 
 7 And when they i shall have finished 
 their testimony, ■'the beast Ihatasceud- 
 eth out of the bottomless pit "shall 
 make war against them, and shall over- 
 
 8 come them, and kill them. And their 
 
 7 And when they shall have finished 
 their testimony, the beast that comes 
 up out of the abyss will make war with 
 them, and will overcome them, and 
 
 8 will kill them. And their carcase is 
 
 q Luke 13 : 32 ; Acts 20 : U. 
 
 13 : 1, 11 ; 17: 8. 
 
 < Dan. T : 21. 
 
 now more through orderly laws than 
 through miracles, but he can and does 
 manifest his care for his church. The 
 Spanish Armada in 1588 would, if suc- 
 cessful, have crushed out Protestantism 
 in England. The people of God set 
 apart a day for prayer. A mighty 
 storm struck the fleet and scattered it, 
 and thereby saved the cause of truth 
 in England. At many critical eras in 
 history the attentive reader may see 
 where, seemingly, God has interposed, 
 through natural laws, and saved the 
 truth that it perished not from the 
 earth. Unlimited power seems to be 
 given to the church, as often as they 
 will. The promise is no more un- 
 limited than that of Jesus concerning 
 prayer (John 14 : 14, 15). 
 
 7. We have here the second stage in 
 the history of the two witnesses, their 
 death. Shall have finished. Jesus 
 finished his work (Jobn 17 : 4). In like 
 manner the church will finish its tes- 
 timony. The same word for finish is 
 used in 2 Tim. 4 : 7 to describe the con- 
 clusion of Paul's testimony by a vio- 
 lent death. The entire period of three 
 and a half years is occupied with bear- 
 ing testimony. All the time some of 
 the witnesses are completing their tes- 
 timony, but the church, as a whole, 
 continues to witness. Over against tlie 
 reigning Christ and the two witnesses 
 is the beast here mentioned for the 
 first time. The term signifies a wild 
 beast, animal, ferocious in its nature. 
 It has not been spoken of in this book 
 previously, but the term would be 
 familiar to all readers of the Old Tes- 
 tament. (See Daniel.) It is used here 
 by anticipation, the first appearance of 
 the beast is in 13 : 1. It appears as a 
 large feature of this book in chap. XIII 
 and XVII. It represents the material 
 and visible worldly element tliat stands 
 constituted and arrayed against the 
 spiritual and invisible forces of Chris- 
 tianity. He rises from the pit, the 
 abyss. We have here a sight of the 
 unseen but real Satanic world op- 
 posed, in its essence, to the spiritual 
 
 kingdom and work of Jesus Christ. 
 Jesus appears in the heavens; that 
 which opposes his work naturally ap- 
 pears, in symbol, from an abyss. In 
 pi-evious places in this book we have 
 had the open attacks of Satan (2 : 10). 
 Jesus has risen from the dead and 
 ascended to a glorified life ; Satan, as 
 if by way of utter contrast to Christ, 
 has ascended from , the abyss. This 
 word abyss means the pit of darkness, 
 whence Satan and his host come {^ '■ ^). 
 Three statements are made concerning 
 him : he makes war upon the two wit- 
 nesses, he overcomes them, he kills 
 them. Shall make war. (comp. 
 Dan. 7:21.) OA'ercome. Persecution, 
 violence, social ostracism, may hush 
 the voice of the church. Isaiah may 
 be sawn asunder; Stephen may be 
 martyred ; James may be beheaded ; 
 the witnesses maybe silenced, so that 
 the true Christianity upon the earth 
 may be found only in scattered places, 
 and hidden from men. Kill. The 
 church, in its outward expression and 
 activities, may be so completely sup- 
 pressed as to be seemingly almost ex- 
 tinct. There have been such times in 
 the past. Blackstone relates that early 
 in the reign of George III he went 
 from church to church in London to 
 hear every clergyman of note, and did 
 not hear a single discourse which had 
 more of Christianity in it than the 
 writings of Cicero, and that it would 
 be impossible for him to discover from 
 what he heard whether the preacher 
 was a follower of Confucius or Mo- 
 hammed or Christ. Jesus spoke of a 
 decaying piety (Matt. 24 : 12) and of per- 
 secutions (John 16: 33). A Clirist who 
 could not remain dead will not permit 
 his church, represented by these wit- 
 nesses, to remain permanently in a 
 seemingly dead condition. 
 
 8. This verse strengthens the impres- 
 sion made in ver. 7 ; not only are they 
 dead, but there is great rejoicing over 
 their death. It seems as though the 
 cause of Christ were utterly doomed 
 and dead. When Jesus died it must 
 
248 
 
 KEVELATION 
 
 [Ch. XI. 
 
 dead bodies shall lie in the street of ' the 
 great city, which spiritually is called 
 Sodom and Egypt, "where also our 
 Lord was crucified. 
 9 'And they of the people and kin- 
 dreds and tongues and nations shall 
 see their dead lx)dies y three days and 
 an half, »and shall not suffer their 
 10 dead bodies to be put in graves. « And 
 they that dwell upon the earth shall 
 rejoice over them, and make merry, 
 band shall send gifts one to another; 
 " because these two prophets tormented 
 them that dwelt on the earth. 
 
 on the street of the great city, which 
 spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, 
 where their Lord also was crucified. 
 9 And some out of the peoples, and 
 tribes, and tongues, and nations, look 
 on their carcase three days and a half, 
 and suffer not their carcases to be put 
 10 into a tomb. And they who dwell on 
 the earth rejoice over them, and make 
 merry ; and they will send gifts to one 
 another, because these two prophets 
 tormented those who dwell on the 
 
 « 14:8; 17 : 5; 18 : 10; Isa. 1 : 10. 
 a John 16 : 20. 
 
 K 18 : 24. X 17 : 
 
 b Esther 9 : 19, 22. 
 
 » Ver. 2, 3, 11. 
 e Ver. 5, 6 ; 16 : 10. 
 
 z Ps. 79 : 2, 3. 
 
 have seemed to the opposing Jews as 
 though any possible Christianity were 
 crucified with him ; men rejoiced over 
 a dead Jesus. All possible dishonor is 
 heaped upon them when dead. No 
 greater indignity could be shown than 
 to ill treat a dead body. In the 
 street. The bodies lie exposed in the 
 broad, open space, where all may see 
 them. No indignity is too great to be 
 heaped upon them. It is a street of 
 the great city. Is this the same as 
 the holy city of ver. 2? Alford con- 
 tends that it is not ; many suppose the 
 reference to be to Rome or Babylon. 
 It is evident, on a full consideration, 
 that the great city and the holy city 
 refer to the same place under differing 
 aspects. That it is Jerusalem that is 
 referred to is evident from the expres- 
 sion where also their Lord was 
 crncified. Jerusalem is called Gomor- 
 rah in Isa. 1 : 10 ; it is likened to Sodom 
 in Ezek. 16 : 46. God had spoken of 
 Jerusalem as the place of his abode, 
 his rest (ps. 132 : 13, u). But as a de- 
 generate city, standing for a degen- 
 erate people and a degenerate church, 
 it is a Sodom and Egypt. The literal 
 Jerusalem was licentious (Hosea 4 : u). 
 Both the literal .Jerusalem and the de- 
 generate church persecuted the work 
 of Christ, it is therefore fittingly called 
 an Egypt. The great city is not, there- 
 fore, any term for the disciples of 
 Christ, nor for the heathen nations, 
 but for the nominal church of Christ 
 now alienated from true devotion to 
 Jesus. Both Sodom and Egypt were 
 sinful, incurring great guilt and bring- 
 ing doom upon themselves. It repre- 
 sents, therefore, the professing church 
 submitting to the world and in alliance 
 
 with it. The fine gold had become 
 
 dross (Ezek. 22 : 18). 
 
 9. This verse continues the descrip- 
 tion of the wretched state of the dead 
 witnesses. A fourfold designation of 
 the people of the world follows. Peo- 
 ple, rather, peoples, kindreds, rather, 
 tribes, tongues and nations. See, 
 rather, look tipon. Three days and 
 an half. Elliot takes this literally, 
 making it refer to the three and a 
 half years intervening between the 
 ninth session of the Lateran Council 
 and the nailing up of the ninety-five 
 theses upon the doors of the Witten- 
 burg church by Luther, Oct. 31, 1517. 
 There is no foundation for the theory 
 that a day stands for a year, nor in 
 tliis symbolical book do we look for 
 actual dates and periods. For a broken 
 period of time, the half of seven, a 
 time of trouble, the church seems to 
 be dead and to have no friends at death 
 or in death. Graves, rather, tombs. 
 An unburied body among all ancient 
 peoples would be a sight horrible to 
 look upon. The seer represents Chri.st's 
 cause on the earth as, to outward eyes, 
 dead, gazed upon as a hated thing, and 
 not suffered to be buried. 
 
 10, The unseemly treatment of the 
 crushed church continues. Dwell 
 upon the earth. This refers, not to 
 all the inhabitants on the earth, but as 
 elsewhere to earthly minded men. A 
 dead church, an absent Christ, a seem- 
 ingly forgetftil God, are an occasion of 
 rejoicing to the world. It ha.s a kind 
 of feast as a counterpart to the holy 
 feasts of the church when fhey sent 
 tokens of love to each other (N<;t> 8 : lo ; 
 Esther 9: 22). Tormented. The refer- 
 ence is to the plagues spoken of in ver. 
 
Ch. XL] 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 249 
 
 11 And after three days and an half * the 
 Spirit of life from God entered into 
 them, and they stood upon their feet ; 
 and great fear fell upfjn them which 
 
 12 saw them. And they heard a great 
 voice from heaven saying unto them, 
 Come up hither. «Aud they ascended 
 up to heaven fin a cloud ; and their 
 enemies beheld them. 
 
 13 And the same hour e was there a great 
 earthquake, i" and the tenth part of the 
 city fell, and in the earthquake were 
 slain of men seven thousand : and the 
 
 11 earth. And after the three days and a 
 half, the breath of life from God en- 
 tered into tliem, and they stood on 
 their feet ; and great fear fell on those 
 
 12 who beheld them. And they heard a 
 great voice out of heaven, saying to 
 them, Come up hither. And they went 
 up into heaven in the cloud, and their 
 
 13 enemies beheld them. And in that 
 hour there was a great earthquake, 
 and the tenth part of the city fell ; and 
 in the earthquake were killed of men 
 seven thousand names ; and the rest 
 
 d Ezek. ST : 5-14. 
 
 / Acts 1 : 9. 
 
 g 6:12. 
 
 A 16 : 19. 
 
 8. The church true to Christ is re- 
 garded as a source of blessing to the 
 penitent, but a torment to those fixed 
 in wickedness. It was so in Ephesus 
 (Acu 19 : 25-29); it was 30 in Thcssalonica 
 (acu 17 : 6). Jesus himself created con- 
 fusion because he bore witness to tlie 
 truth (Matt 8 : 29). The church must 
 always witness for God in behalf of 
 righteousness ; it causes trouble because 
 it holds up the perfect standard of God. 
 If the church were dead there would 
 be nothing in the world to protest 
 against wrong-doing and condemn, in 
 God's behalf, the sinfulness of the 
 world. It is better to be tonnented 
 now and, as a result, abandon sin, than 
 to continue in sin and be tormented 
 forever (Laiie is : 24). The world always 
 rejoices over a church that ceases to 
 torment it, over a church that comes 
 down to its level. 
 
 11. The third stage is portrayed in 
 this verse, the resurrection of the dead 
 witnesses. Here, in a highly symbolic 
 way, the seer describes God's thoughts 
 concerning his church and the final 
 outcome. The cause of Christ on the 
 earth will not be permitted to die out, 
 even if its life be at a low ebb. It is 
 just as if a resurrection should come 
 to the two dead witnesses. The slum- 
 bering, persecuted church took a new 
 life. The spirit of life, rather, (he 
 breath of life, came into them ; they 
 stood upon their feet. The seer has in 
 mind the symbolic resurrection in the 
 valley of dry bones (Ezeit. 37), the pic- 
 ture of the resuscitation of the national 
 life. A reformation, a revival, came to 
 them so that now again the church has 
 a visible life in the sight of men. The 
 beholders are struck with terror. God's 
 cause is not really dead. The dead 
 Christ and the dead church come out 
 
 of their death to new power. The 
 world's triumph speedily ended, and 
 the final and perpetual triumph of the 
 witnesses begins. 
 
 12. Heaven is on the side of the 
 witnesses. The voice is perhaps that 
 of the strong angel of 10 : 1. Jesus 
 went up into the heavens in a cloud. 
 The ascension was the sign of his ap- 
 proval by God, and the assurance of his 
 elevation to a place of greater power. 
 In a symbolic way the witnesses ascend 
 in a' cloud, rather, in the cloud. 
 Jesus is on the side of the church, 
 gives it renewed power, and glorifies it 
 as if it were publicly taken up into 
 the skies, there to share in the glory 
 of the ascended Redeemer. All this 
 is symbolic, not literal. Nothing like 
 this has ever occurred on the earth, 
 nor will take place in a literal way. 
 But it has taken place again and again 
 in a thoroughly real way. When the 
 church seemed to be almost entirely 
 dead, when all the forces of the world 
 were arraved against it, then Jesus has 
 given to it, as it were, a resurrection 
 to a life of power, and has glorified it 
 in the sight of its enemies. 
 
 13. Here we have the effect of all 
 these movements upon the world. 
 When God blessed his witnesses, a 
 judgment fell upon the ungodly world. 
 The earthquake is always the symbol 
 of judgment. It is here a judgment 
 restrained by mercy ; the tenth part of 
 the city fell, not the entire city. Of 
 men seven thoasand, literally, 
 seven thousand names of men, perished. 
 No literal earthquake anywhere, no 
 literal killing of men is meant. It is 
 as though an earthquake destroyed 
 men — men who were in revolt against 
 God. It may be that the historic Jeru- 
 salem contained seventy thousand peo- 
 
250 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 [Ch. XI. 
 
 remnant were affrighted, »and gave 
 glory to the God of heaven. 
 
 The seven trumpets — Sounding of the seventh 
 
 trumpet, or third woe ; song of 
 
 praise to God. 
 
 14 *THE second woe is past; and, be- 
 hold, the third woe cometh quickly. 
 
 15 And 1 the seventh angel sounded ; 
 "■ and there were great voices in heaven. 
 
 became afraid, and gave glory to the 
 God of heaven. 
 
 14 The second woe is past ; behold, the 
 third woe comes quiclily. 
 
 15 And the seventh angel sounded ; and 
 there followed great voices in heaven. 
 
 t U: 7; 15 :4; Josh. 7: 19. 
 
 t 8 : 13; 9 : 12; 15 : 
 19:6; Isa. 27 : 13. 
 
 i 8 : 2-6 ; 10 : 
 
 pie ; if so, then one-tenth of the popu- 
 lation perished. All that is meant 
 here is that God, in some way, sent his 
 righteous judgments upon the world of 
 the ungodly, so tliat it is manifest that 
 the church was his, and that the world 
 was against him, and that he was 
 against the world (Mai. 3 : 18). God can 
 make a judgment day in this world. 
 Remuant were affrighted and 
 gave glory. The allusion is not here 
 to the Jews as such, nor to the conver- 
 sion of the Jews or others, nor to the 
 conversion of the degenerate church. 
 They glorified God only as they saw 
 his righteous character, his power, his 
 judgments. There is no recorded re- 
 pentance, no recorded conversion. The 
 scene is like that in 9 : 20, where were 
 great judgments on the wicked, but no 
 moral change wrought in them. It is 
 acknowledged that God has triumphed. 
 God of heaven. In this way God 
 is spoken of in the later Old Testament 
 
 books (Ezra 1:2; Neh. 1 : i), TllCre WCre 
 
 no two literal witnesses who had mi- 
 raculous power, who died and were re- 
 fused burial ; there was no literal resur- 
 rection and ascension to heaven ; there 
 was no literal earthquake whereby any 
 part of any city was destroyed. It is 
 all symbolic in its nature, capable of 
 natural interpretation as the picture of 
 a witnessing church, depressed by per- 
 secution, into which new life came 
 from Christ whereby it had, as it were, 
 a resurrection and an exaltation as if 
 it had a.scended into the skies like its 
 personal head — Christ. Many times 
 m the past the cause of Christ has 
 thus been exalted. In time to come 
 there will be yet more splendid exal- 
 tations. 
 
 14. We are now ready for the sound- 
 ing of the seventh trumpet. Before it 
 sound.s announcement is made as before 
 
 the fifth and sixth trumpets. The 
 words of this verse are to be connected 
 with the closing part of chap. IX. The 
 two visions form no part of the sixth 
 or seventh trumpet. The reason the 
 verse does not occur in immediate con- 
 nection with 9 : 1 is that then we would 
 have looked for the sounding of the 
 trumpet at once, w hereas it was need- 
 ful for the two visions to intervene. 
 
 15-19. The seventh TRrMPET 
 SOUNDS. The seventh and last trum- 
 pet now sounds. It is, at the same 
 time, the third woe trumpet. It is in 
 the course of time introduced by and 
 included in this trumpet that the con- 
 summation spoken of in 10 : 7 comes 
 to its completion. The seventh seal 
 brought the course of events to a com- 
 pletion, when all opposition broke 
 down, when disturbances had come to 
 an end. This was indicated by the 
 silence in heaven (» : i). Here, also, 
 at the sounding of the seventh trumpet, 
 is the final announcement that the vic- 
 tory is assured. The two series run 
 parallel to each other, covering the 
 entire course of human history, view- 
 ing it under different aspects. Seven 
 stands for completeness. Opposition 
 breaks down, and Jesus takes his right- 
 ful position as the acknoAvledged Lord 
 of all. 
 
 15. Following the sounding of the 
 trumpet were great voices. These 
 voices do not come from the elders, for 
 they speak in ver. 17. The voices may 
 represent, in a general way, the feel- 
 ings of all created beings, the highest 
 intelligences in heaven, over the knowl- 
 edge of the impending triumpli of Jesus 
 as the sovereign of the earth. The 
 voices are in heaven, rejoicing over the 
 triumph on the earth. All parts of 
 the moral universe are one, rejoicing 
 or disturbed together. The words ut- 
 
Ch. XI.] 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 251 
 
 saying, "The kingdoms of this world 
 are become the kingdoms of our Lord, 
 aud of his Christ ; "and he shall reigu 
 for ever and ever. 
 
 16 And Pthe four and twenty elders, 
 which sat before God on their seats, 
 
 17 fell upon their faces, and worshipped 
 God, saying. 
 
 We give thee thanks, O Lord God 
 
 Almighty, 
 1 Which art, and wast, and art to come. 
 Because thou hast taken to thee thy 
 
 great power, 'and hast reigned. 
 
 saying, The kingdom of the world is 
 become our Lord's, and his Christ's ; 
 and he will reign forever and ever. 
 
 16 And the twenty-four elders, who sit 
 before God on their thrones, fell on 
 
 17 their faces, aud worshiped God, say- 
 ing. We give thanks to thee, O Lord 
 God, the Almighty, who art and who 
 wast ; because thou hast taken thy 
 
 n 12 : 10 ; Fs. 22 : 27, 28 ; Isa. 24 : 23 ; Obad. 21. 
 j> 4 : 4 ; 19 : 1. q I : 
 
 o Ps. 146 : 10 ; Dan. 2 : 44 ; 
 4 : 8 ; 16 : 5. r 19 : 6. 
 
 7 : 14, 27 ; Heb. 1 : 8. 
 
 tered were: The kingdoms of this 
 
 world, rather, The kingdom of the 
 world. It is here declared that the 
 dominiou over all things in the world 
 has passed into the hands of Jehovah 
 and Jesus, the Lord and his Christ. 
 There was a time when God was all in 
 all. There came alienation in heaven 
 and on earth, so that his holy sway was 
 not recognized. Organized rebellion 
 took place ; sometimes impiety seemed 
 to reign supreme ; great nations had 
 false conceptions of God, and worshiped 
 impure deities. Persecutions of God's 
 faithful people took place so that piety 
 hid in caves and was clothed in rags. 
 Meanwhile God had his large plans in 
 operation. Jesus was slain, in God's 
 plan, from the foundation of the world 
 (13 : 8). Jehovah promised the Sou 
 the ultimate triumph of his kingdom 
 (Ps. 2 : 7-9). That time predicted and 
 prepared for, the rulership of all things 
 by God through the Son, had now 
 come. As is evident from ver. 18, the 
 consummation has not yet actually 
 been achieved, but it is in process of 
 achievement. During the period em- 
 braced by the seventh trumpet and in- 
 augurated by it, the glorious end will 
 be accomplished. Whether by the 
 conversion or the destruction of the 
 wicked this result will be brought 
 about, so that in the new heavens and 
 the new earth resulting from this, noth- 
 ing unclean will be found (2 Peter s : 13). 
 Toward this end the church must work, 
 for this our prayers ascend. Jesus 
 taught his disciples to pray for that 
 time to come when earth and heaven 
 should be one (Matt. 6 : 10). He shall 
 reign. The reference is to Christ. 
 He will forever be the head of the 
 church, though in 1 Cor. 15 : 28 we are 
 
 taught that when Christ shall have 
 finished his mediatorial work he will 
 himself become subordinate to the 
 Father. 
 
 16. The elders represent the re- 
 deemed church. They sat, rather, 
 sit, before God on their seats, rather, 
 thrones. Their rulership with Christ 
 is plainly taught in the term, thrones. 
 They rejoice, as the angels cannot, over 
 the triumph of Christ on the earth, so 
 that now all will be his. They at- 
 tribute all the glorious result to God 
 as the ultimate source of power, there- 
 fore they worshiped him, falling 
 down upon their faces. There will 
 never come a time in the glorified life 
 that the saints will not l)e called upon 
 reverently to worship God. He will 
 always remain God, and they will al- 
 ways remain sinners saved by the grace 
 of God. 
 
 17. We have here their words of 
 praise. We had in 5 : 18 a song of 
 praise by them, difl'ering from this in 
 that God has now revealed himself. 
 God is Jehovah, the self-existing one; 
 the Almighty, as shown in his over- 
 coming all things for and in behalf of 
 Christ. He is one who is and who was. 
 Omit, art to come. This is to be 
 omitted, as in Standard revision, be- 
 cause in the course of events, as here 
 indicated, God has come in the full and 
 final revelation of his plans on the 
 earth. It takes a long time for God 
 to unfold his plans, to bring them to 
 pass, but there comes a fulness of times 
 (Gal. 4 : 4) when his purposes are accom- 
 plished. Great power. This always 
 had been God's, but in great patience 
 he had permitted men and nations to 
 act as if he were a God who could not 
 control them. There is now the open 
 
252 
 
 EEVELATION 
 
 [Ch. XL 
 
 18 ' And the nations were angry, and thy 
 
 wrath is come ; 
 'And the time of the dead, that they 
 
 should be judged, 
 "And that thou shouldest give reward 
 
 unto thy servants tlie prophets. 
 And to the saints, and them that fear 
 
 thy name, small and great ; 
 »Aud shouldest destroy them which 
 
 destroy the earth. 
 
 19 And J the temple of God was opened 
 
 18 great power and didst reign. And the 
 nations were wroth, and thy wrath 
 came, and the time of the dead to be 
 judged, and to give the reward to thy 
 servants the prophets, and to the 
 saints, and to those who fear thy 
 name, the small and the great; and to 
 destroy those who destroy the earth. 
 
 19 And the temple of God that is in 
 
 a Ver. J, 9 ; Pb. 2 : 1. 
 
 t 6 : 10 ; Isa. 26 : 19-21 ; Dan. 7 : 9, 10. 
 X 13 : 10 ; 18 : 6 ; Jude 15. y 15 : 5-8 
 
 « 22 : 12 ; Matt. 5 : 
 ; Isa. 6 : 1-i. 
 
 12 ; 2 Thess. 1 : 5-7. 
 
 manifestation of this power, not the 
 assumption of it. Men do not now 
 get a fitting conception of God's power 
 on account of his patience and self- 
 limitations. Reigned. God's power 
 is manifested, his laws are obeyed. 
 
 18. This verse contains the words of 
 the elders. Four distinct statements 
 are made: (1) The nations were 
 angry, rather, wroth. This shows the 
 restiveness of the nations, the ungodly 
 heathen peoples at the requirements 
 of God. We find in Ps. 2 the mani- 
 festation of this spirit. They rise now 
 to a redoubled hatred against God as 
 the energy of God becomes more mani- 
 fest. (2) Thy wrath. Man's wrath 
 enkindles God's holy wrath. Under 
 its consuming power no one, man or 
 nation, can stand. It is not vindictive, 
 but vindicative. Men misconceive God 
 who think only of his patience and 
 tenderness. God's anger is his holi- 
 ness in active exercise toward the wil- 
 fully impenitent. A God who could 
 not be angry would be a God who could 
 not be pleased. (3) The time of the 
 dead, that they should be judged, 
 rather, to be judged. It is maintained 
 by Milligan that this refers to the judg- 
 ment of the unrighteous dead alone, 
 inasmuch as the word to judge means, 
 in John's writings, to condemn. But 
 it is evident that the reference is to a 
 general resurrection of the dead, be- 
 cause while the wicked dead may be 
 judged in the sense of being con- 
 demned, the righteous dead will be re- 
 warded. The seventh trumpet brings 
 us therefore to the final ending of the 
 dispensation. The resurrection is one 
 of the final things, beyond which are 
 the endless conditions of men. (4) 
 Give reward, rather, give their re- 
 ward. This has reference to the right- 
 eous alone. They are graciou.sly re- 
 
 warded by God. Saved for Christ's 
 sake they are rewarded for their works' 
 sake. The persons rewarded are de- 
 signated as prophets, where the allu- 
 sion may not be to any specific order 
 of persons, but to all Christian people 
 in the prophesying work, the witness- 
 ing work of the church. Saints are 
 the propliets on the side of their holi- 
 ness. Fear God. This designates 
 the saints on the side of their relation 
 to God. It is a universal reward for 
 the righteous, for God forgets no one, 
 small and great. A cup of cold 
 water and a missionary journey of Paul 
 are alil^e remembered and rewarded. 
 Destroy . . . earth. Their wrath 
 awakened God's wrath. Their de- 
 struction of the earth called for their 
 destruction by God. Destroying the 
 earth refers to its destruction as a 
 place of holiness and happiness for 
 which it was, at the first, intended. 
 Men are destroyed when their moral 
 natures are corrupted. The earth is 
 destroyed when it is unfitted to be the 
 abode of holy beings. Peter speaks 
 of the formation of the new earth by 
 the destruction of the former wicked 
 world (2 Peter 3). Destruction, either of 
 matter or spirit, does not mean a blot- 
 ing out, an annihilation. John makes 
 no allusion in this place to the glorious 
 change to take place in the structure 
 of the physical universe. 
 
 19. At the close of the seventh seal 
 we had the view of an angel standing 
 at the altar (8:3); at the close of the 
 seventh bowl we have a glimpse of the 
 temple (is : '. 8); in like manner we 
 have, at this point, the seventh trum- 
 pet, a disclosure of the innermost holy 
 place. This gives in vision what has 
 been given in words in ver. 14-18. 
 Temple. The reference is to an ideal 
 place of worship in the heavens, corre- 
 
Ch. XI.] 
 
 KEVELATION 
 
 253 
 
 in heaven ; and there was seen in his 
 temple • the ark of his testament. 
 
 And "there were lightniugs, and 
 voices, and thunderings, and an earth- 
 quake, i" and great hail. 
 
 heaven was opened, and the ark of 
 his covenant was seen in his temple ; 
 and there were lightnings, and voices, 
 and thunders, and an earthquake, and 
 a great hail. 
 
 z Eiod. 25 : 21, 22. 
 
 a 8 ; 5 ; 16 : 18. 
 
 spending to the earliest temple or tab- 
 ernacle on the earth. It is maintained 
 by some that the reference in this place 
 to the temple shows that the actual 
 temple in Jerusalem was yet standing 
 when this book was written, hence that 
 it was written before A. D. 70. The in- 
 terpretation of the entire book would 
 be greatly affected if this were true. 
 But the ark of the covenant, here .seen 
 in vision, was not found in the temple 
 built after the return from the cap- 
 tivity. Inasmuch as the ideal in the 
 heavens must correspond with the ac- 
 tual temple on the earth, the refei*ence 
 must be, not to the temple, but to the 
 tabernacle. The opening of the tem- 
 ple, the innermost part, to the gaze of 
 men, shows that God will now dwell 
 with men ; he keeps nothing from 
 them ; their gaze upon the most sacred 
 things is not, in any way, impeded. 
 There is seen the ark of his testa- 
 ment, rather, covenant, the symbol of 
 God's faithfulness, the pledge of his 
 love. By reason of his faithfulness the 
 wicked are punished and the righteous 
 are rewarded. Five thiug.s, indicative 
 of his judgments, are mentioned: 
 lightnings, voices, thunderings, 
 great hail. Similar features occur in 
 the seventh seal (» • 3); in the seventh 
 bowl (16:18). The earthquake sig- 
 nifies the removal of the things that 
 can be shaken, that the things that 
 cannot be shaken may remain (Heb. 12 : 
 2"). Only God and his cause are abi- 
 ding. No earthquake can shake the 
 foundation of God's purposes or plans. 
 
 Note I. The forty and two 
 MONTHS. Alford says, on the terms 
 used for designating time : " My prin- 
 ciple is to regard them as still among 
 the things unknown to the church 
 and awaiting their elucidation by the 
 event." In Dan. 7 : 25 and 12 : 7 we 
 have a basis for the terms used in this 
 book, a time, times, and half a time. 
 It is thus used in the Old and New 
 Testaments in a like manner. It may 
 be understood, without any question, 
 
 that it is not used in a literal .sense. In 
 a book of this kind, whei-e everything 
 is in vision, where all terms — Jeru- 
 salem, Babylon, temple — are used in a 
 symbolic sense, terms indicating time 
 must be used in the same way. This 
 book is neither a history nor an arith- 
 metic. It is often taken for granted 
 that in prophetic books each day stands 
 for a year. For this tjiere is no founda- 
 tion. Appeal is often made to Num. 
 14 : 33, 34 ; Ezek. 4 : 4-16 to substan- 
 tiate this view. But in each of these 
 cases the term day and year meant a 
 literal day and year, but it is expressly 
 stated that the actual day is used as a 
 symbol of the actual year. It is not a 
 principle of predictive prophecy that 
 a day stands for a year. It was pre- 
 dicted, in reference to the flood, that 
 the rain should fall forty literal days, 
 not meaning thereby forty years. In 
 Isa. 7 si.xty-five years mean literal 
 years ; in Isa. 16 : 14 the three years 
 are literal years ; in Jer. 25 : 4 the 
 seventy years of the captivity are 
 seventy literal years. No one thinks 
 of applying this principle of a day for 
 a year to the millennium, making it 
 extend over three hundred and sixty 
 thousand j^ears. There is no founda- 
 tion whatever in the Bible for this 
 assumed principle introduced by so 
 many writers on this book, that in all 
 cases where the term day is used that a 
 year must be understood. It is to in- 
 troduce the utmost confusion to depend 
 upon this principle to give light as to 
 dates. In Dan. 9 : 24-27 the term weeks 
 means literally a seven, without in- 
 dicating whether it is a seven of days 
 or years. When the reference is to 
 days, the term days is inserted, as in 
 10 : 2, 3. It gives no support to the 
 theory that a day stands for a year. 
 This theory forms the foundation for 
 the interpretations of Bengel, Barnes, 
 and many others. J. A. Smith makes 
 the forty and two months mean twelve 
 hundred and sixty years. The begin- 
 ning of this period, when the outer 
 court shall be trodden under foot, 
 
254 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 [Ch. XI. 
 
 is variously placed by interpreters, 
 who adopt tEis theory. Some re- 
 gard the time of Cyprian, an African 
 bishop who made large claims for the 
 church, the beginning of this period — 
 A. D. 248 ; others place the origin of 
 the papacy, a. d. 25U, as the beginning. 
 Some regard the beginning of idol- 
 atrous worship in A. D. 385, as the be- 
 ginning. Various other dates have 
 been fixed upon, as 380, when Theo- 
 dosius recognized the validity of the 
 j)apal claims; 533, in the days of Jus- 
 tinian, who formally recognized the 
 power of the pope. By adding twelve 
 hundred and sixty years to the year of 
 departure, interpreters have assumed 
 to find some event indicating a great 
 and blessed era when the days of dark- 
 ness for the church had passed away. 
 All such calculations in the past have 
 ended only in disappointment and dis- 
 aster. In truth, all calculations must 
 be utterly wrong that introduce arith- 
 metical principles here as though 
 visions and symbols and the most 
 poetical imagery were capable of being 
 confined by definite historical state- 
 ments and arithmetical formulas. 
 
 The only correct method of inter- 
 preting these terms of time is to con- 
 strue them in a symbolic way. It 
 would be out of place to regard them 
 as other than symbolic in a book so 
 full of symbols. We would naturally 
 expect the periods of time to be taken 
 in a figurative way when the great 
 factors in the book, Egypt, Babylon, 
 Euphrates, are to be taken, not in their 
 literal import, but as symbols of great 
 ideas. It is a trait common to all these 
 periods of time, that they present a 
 broken and incomplete aspect. They 
 are not periods of completeness, a 
 seven years, a rounded-out period, but 
 a period broken off midway. It is an 
 unfinished course. This broken and 
 abrupt form in the numbers employed 
 is, in itself, a strong indication that 
 they are used in a symbolic, not in a 
 literal, import. The broken form in- 
 dicates that these terms express, not 
 absolute, but relative periods of dura- 
 tion. When we remember that John 
 is describing there the course of the 
 entire spiritual world, on the one side, 
 and the entire opposing anti-Christian 
 forces, on the other, we may well re- 
 gard it as an impossibility to mark out 
 
 in well-defined limits the conflicts of 
 such mighty powers over so large a 
 field. The trampling under foot of the 
 holy city by heathen powers, the de- 
 structive power of the beast (i3 : 6); 
 the persecution of Christ's faithful wit- 
 nesses (11 ; 3); the hiding of the church 
 in the wilderness (12 : 6); all these as- 
 saults on God's cause, though success- 
 ful for a time, can end in only one way 
 at last, a complete and final defeat. 
 And, therefore, the triumph of evil is 
 indicated, in a symbolic way, by its 
 lasting for an incomplete and broken 
 period only. Three and a half sig- 
 nifies the triumph of evil over good; 
 the triumph of good over evil is sig- 
 nified in a seven, the sounding of the 
 seventh trumpet. The broken period 
 means for the evil a failure. So far as 
 the numbers themselves are concerned, 
 the periods may be centuries or mil- 
 lenniums in extent. The broken period 
 signifies a failure in the end, for evil 
 cannot come to a complete and final 
 triumph in the moral government of 
 God. Nor need we concern ourselves 
 about the time for the beginning of 
 this period of time. Neither the start- 
 ing-point nor the termination is sharply 
 marked out. It could not be other- 
 wise, for moral agencies do not have 
 birth at a given, definite point of time. 
 Corruptions and reformations are 
 gradual in their movements. The field 
 is the world, and the cause of Christ 
 on the earth is the great thought under 
 consideration through these symbols. 
 We must, therefore, utterly reject as 
 out of harmony with the spirit of the 
 book, the fixing of any limits for be- 
 ginning this period, or definitely mark- 
 ing out its termination. All definite 
 calculations in the past have proved a 
 failure ; it must be so for all definite 
 predictions in time to come. The 
 prophecy is not written to show men 
 distinct times and seasons, but to out- 
 line the dangers confronting the church: 
 the perils of apostasy, the persecutions 
 coming on the church, the final triumph 
 of God's cause, the necessary failure of 
 evil plans ; to mark out the essential 
 function of the church as a witnessing 
 body, speaking in behalf of truth to 
 all men and ages. It cannot be known 
 why the term months is used in one 
 case, days in another, and times, mean- 
 ing years, in another. In a general 
 
Ch. XI.] 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 255 
 
 way these three correspond with each 
 other, though it is not possible to prove 
 that all begin ut the same time, and 
 have precisely the same course in his- 
 tory. All alike speak of a fragmentary 
 course, broken in upon so that failure 
 comes in the end. If the course of the 
 church were denoted in a symbolic 
 way, it would be by a complete num- 
 ber — as seven or ten. In tne millen- 
 nium we have a perfect contrast to the 
 comparatively brief time and broken 
 periods that mark the course of sin. 
 The one thousand is formed from the 
 number denoting the totality of earthly 
 things — ten, and this is multiplied by 
 itself three times. Here we cannot 
 think of a definite period of time, l)ut 
 only of the prophecy and symbol of a 
 perfect completeness, a rounded-out 
 whole, a triumph for God's cause. 
 What a contrast between the three and 
 a half days, the three and a half years, 
 representing the usurped dominion of 
 sin and the perfect triumph of the Re- 
 deemer and his cause ! In this way the 
 symbols speak words of comfort and 
 hope, but we may not look for definite 
 numbers as if we were reading a 
 church history. The outlines are 
 distinct enough, however, to enable 
 us to see the struggles ahead of the 
 church, the seeming defeat for a time, 
 and the grand and crowning success 
 of Christ and his cause at the end. 
 In this we may rest, and in this we 
 may rejoice. 
 
 Note II. The figueative inter- 
 pretation OF Revelation alone 
 SATISFACTORY. This part of the book 
 of Revelation furnishes a touchstone 
 as to the method of interpretation to 
 be adopted. There is the literal method 
 finding in the terms eartli, sea, grass, 
 the phj'sical objects thus named. The 
 one-third and the one-fourth mean these 
 mathematical parts. When the term 
 temple is used, in ver. 1, it is declared 
 that the temple must at that time be 
 standing, and that the actual temple 
 must be meant. Alford takes the large 
 part of this vision in a literal way re- 
 garding the two witnesses as actual 
 persons yet to appear, having mighty 
 powers dwelling in them. To regard 
 these persons as literal persons involves 
 a literalness in the details so that a 
 fire proceeds out of their mouths. A 
 
 like literal interpretation would com- 
 pel us to conceive a sword proceeding 
 out of the mouth of the Lord Jesus in 
 the first chapter. This would be not 
 only grotesque as a matter of taste, but 
 irreverent. If such a vision were 
 placed upon canvas and regarded in a 
 literal manner, it would have no power 
 in teaching noble and lofty thoughts. 
 It is only when we regard these visions 
 with their details in a figurative way, 
 teaching truths symbolically without 
 any thought of literalness, it is only 
 then that they appeal to us, to our 
 minds and imaginations. Their teach- 
 ings are none the less real because re- 
 garded as figurative. The parables are 
 effective teachers, although they are 
 in the domain of figures, and must be 
 interpreted by the imagination. 
 
 1. The temple is not to be taken in a 
 literal way, either as then existing or 
 as destroyed. The term is that which 
 is applied to the innermost shrine, the 
 holy of holies. John is thinking of 
 the ideal temple ; his conception is that 
 God's own j)eople constitute the real 
 shrine in which God dwells. In con- 
 formity with this conception, the peo- 
 ple of God are represented as measured 
 with a rod, that is, tested as to their 
 moral and spiritual character. John 
 is thinking of their spiritual height. 
 In the vision in 7 : 4, God's people are 
 numbered ; here they are measured. 
 
 2. That Jerusalem is not to l)e taken 
 in a literal way is evident from the 
 term used ; it is that city which, spirit- 
 ually, is known as Sodom and Egypt. 
 He is not thinking at all of mere 
 locality, he is rather thinking ef that 
 spirit of the old-time Sodom and Egypt, 
 the corruption and oppression of the 
 world that crucified the Lord. The 
 use of the term "spiritually" by John 
 implies that all the terms here u.sed — 
 city, temple, altar, court, measure, are to 
 be interpreted in a figurative manner. 
 It is a great mistake, however, to think 
 that a figurative meaning is any less 
 real and instructive than a literal 
 meaning. A vision can teach most 
 effectively only through a figurative 
 interpretation. 
 
 3. When we come to the interpreta- 
 tion of the meaning of the two wit- 
 nesses, it is evident that we must dis- 
 card the literal meaning. John is 
 thinking of Elijah with his wonderful 
 
256 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 [Ch. XI. 
 
 power in prayer, of Moses with his 
 making use of nature to answer Pha- 
 raoh, of Zechariah, of the witnessing 
 of the cliurch and its struggles, of the 
 dark times spiritually ; he therefore 
 pictures the church under the aspect of 
 the two witnesses giving such a tes- 
 timony as would be taken in the Jew- 
 ish courts. That John does not mean 
 two literal persons is evident from the 
 details attending them and their work, 
 also from the consideration that their 
 body — not bodies — remains unburied 
 (ver. 8). Understood in this way the 
 two witnesses might embrace thousands 
 of witnessing believers, true to God 
 and the truth. To depict upon canvas 
 two holy persons breathing out fire 
 would be revolting ; to conceive of a 
 witnessing church as giving testimony 
 that convicts and overwhelms men, 
 this is worthy of a divine revelation. 
 
 4. The resurrection and the ascen- 
 sion are also in accord with the figura- 
 tive interpretation, bearing witness 
 that God's power is put forth in behalf 
 of a persecuted and witnessing people, 
 the open assurance that Christianity is 
 a divine revelation. The evidences of 
 Christianity will have a complete 
 triumph in these days foretold. As 
 Elijah overcame the four hundred and 
 fifty prophets, as Moses overcame all 
 the resistance of Pharaoh, in like man- 
 ner the witnessing church will present 
 evidence that will be as plain and as 
 convincing as if it were written in the 
 sky. There have been times when the 
 learning, the science, the philosophy 
 of the world seemed to be against the 
 church, the Book, the teachings of the 
 gospel. Christianity is so intrinsically 
 reasonable, so worthy of the intellec- 
 tual and spiritual apprehension by all 
 men, its evidences so growingly mani- 
 fest — all this is depicted before the 
 mental vision by the lifting up of the 
 witnessing church, in the presence of 
 all men, into the sky and seated on 
 the throne of the almighty God. The 
 vision is prophetic, consolatory; its 
 meaning plain to all. 
 
 Note III. The second vision of 
 CHAPTER XI. The temple stands for 
 the pure and faithful church ; the outer 
 court stands for the unfaithful pro- 
 fessing church ; the Gentiles represent 
 the non-confessing world. Three classes 
 
 of persons are here portrayed. The 
 treading down of the holy city means 
 the domination of the pure church by 
 the alliance of the unfaithful church 
 and the world. This falling away, the 
 change of the holy city (ver. s) into a 
 merely great city (ver. s), is spoken of 
 elsewhere. Paul speaks of an apostasy 
 
 (2 Thess. 2 ; U); John SpCaks of anti- 
 christ (1 John 2 : 18). lu this book we 
 find the beginnings of a falling away, 
 corruption coming into the church. 
 In the letters to the churches of Ephe- 
 sus, Sardis, Pergamos, Thyatira (ciinp. 
 2, s) are signs of declension in piety of 
 life and purity of teaching. It needs 
 but an enlargement of these to conform 
 to the teaching of this vision. The 
 church, in the end, must conquer, but 
 before the end is reached much dark- 
 ness and corruption will interfere with 
 her work, and will mar her beauty. 
 The period of this depressed state of 
 the church is of indefinite duration, 
 but embracing doubtless long ages. It 
 is indicated by the broken number three 
 years and a half. During this time the 
 real church, though not a reigning 
 church, is a witnessing church, hold- 
 ing up and representing Christ. It 
 has power in and through prayer, it 
 works vast changes in society equiva- 
 lent to the shutting up of the heavens 
 and bringing plagues on men. It is, 
 therefore, hated by the world, perse- 
 cuted. There come times when it is 
 seemingly suppressed. Voltaire boasted 
 that he, unaided, would destroy what it 
 took twelve men to build up. The 
 dark times are described by the rejoic- 
 ing of the nations over its fall. But 
 because it is Christ's church it cannot 
 be utterly and finally prostrated. As 
 the dead and seemingly vanquished 
 Christ came to be the risen and glorified 
 Christ, in like manner the church will 
 be as its head. It, therefore, gains 
 renewed power. It becomes a triumph- 
 ant church, just as though it were 
 taken up into the skies to be with its 
 risen Lord and Redeemer. Blessings 
 on the church, and judgments on the 
 world accompany each other. The 
 church is the one great agency of Christ 
 in the world for bearing testimony, for 
 convicting the wicked, for bringing 
 about the final conquest. Jesus is a 
 living Christ working through his 
 church, having in mind a plan for the 
 
Ch. XI.] 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 257 
 
 final triumph of his church, and the 
 final downfall of the wicked. Only 
 by regarding all these terms and num- 
 bers in a symbolic way can we get a 
 consistent idea of the teachings here 
 intended to be portrayed. 
 
 Practical Remarks. 
 
 1. God has a perfect estimate of the 
 ch.aracter of all worship on the earth and 
 of all worshipers. Jesus measured the 
 Pharisee and rejected him ; he measured 
 the publican and accepted him. He re- 
 gards especially the heart. The fitting 
 sacrifices are given in Ps. 51 : 17 (ver. 1). 
 
 2. All formal and corrupt worship God 
 rejects. God's people on the earth con- 
 stitute the real temple of God;; prayer 
 and praise offered in the name of Jesus 
 are the real offerings. Great organiza- 
 tions and splendid outward worship may 
 avail nothing (ver. 2). 
 
 3. The church may not be able to work 
 miracles, but it may be a faithful wit- 
 ness. In proportion as times grow harder 
 and darker, the witnessing must increase. 
 Every Christian must be a John the Bap- 
 tist pointing to Jesus, who alone is able to 
 save (ver. 3). 
 
 4. Christians are to give light in a dark 
 world, to be a light shining in a dark 
 place (2 Peter 1 : 19). The Christian is 
 that one through whom Christ shines on 
 men (ver. 4). 
 
 5. God notices all injury done to his 
 people. He ministers grace for support, 
 he makes their courage inspire others. 
 Persecutions are not blessings in them- 
 selves, but they minister to the good of 
 the church and the widening of the 
 kingdom (ver. 8). 
 
 G. Prayer still has power. God still 
 rules in nature for the sake of his cause 
 and hLs people. The God of Moses and 
 Elijah is not dead. Under like circum- 
 stances God may yet work like wonders 
 (ver. 6). 
 
 7. Jesus and his church always have 
 enemies. All sin, in its essence, is from 
 Satan. It comes from the pit and leads 
 to the pit. Sometimes sin comes as a 
 beast, sometimes as a lamb (ver. 7). 
 
 8. Backsliding and apostasy bring great 
 ills. A holy city may become a Sodom ; 
 a professed disciple may become an out- 
 
 cast; an apostle may be lost. Constant 
 watchfulness and growth in grace are 
 ever needful to prevent a falling away 
 (ver. 8). 
 
 9. God's people and cause may suffer 
 indignities, but God's love will rest upon 
 them. Persecution may kill the body and 
 destroy outward things. It cannot hurt 
 the inner life. 
 
 10. God has a re.surrection for every good 
 cause. Defeat may come for a time, but 
 God will ultimately give a triumph. Ref- 
 ormations and revivals have given new 
 life to a slumbering church (ver. 11). 
 
 11. God will honor his people in the 
 presence of the ungodly. The poor in 
 spirit will sit on his right hand ; the 
 beggar Lazarus will lie in Abraham's 
 bosom. The enemies of Christ will be 
 placed under his feet (ver. 12). 
 
 12. The effect of God's providences 
 should be to lead men to repentance. 
 His judgments should alarm men; his 
 love should melt men. God seeks to get 
 to man through every avenue of his 
 nature (ver. 13). 
 
 13. Jesus died that all things might be 
 his. The work of getting hold of the 
 world has been a slow process. In time, 
 all in the world will be holy. The secu- 
 lar and the sacred will have the same 
 meaning (ver. 15, 16). 
 
 14. There are gradual and blessed un- 
 foldings of God's revelations to man. To 
 us he is a God to be manifested. In time 
 he will be a God manifested. Blessed are 
 those who help God in his work, and 
 blessed are those who rejoice with God in 
 his accomplished work (ver. 17). 
 
 15. God is always the almighty. But he 
 is so patient and forbearing that men 
 mistake his almightiness for impotence 
 (ver. 17). 
 
 16. Man's wrath may be sinful and re- 
 bellious. God's wrath is holy. He must 
 be indignant at wrong-doing. The domi- 
 nant element in God now is mercy to- 
 ward the penitent. In time his just and 
 holy nature will shine out in reward- 
 ing the good and punishing the unholy 
 (ver. 18). 
 
 17. A present Redeemer, an opened 
 temple, an indwelling Holy Spirit, a holy 
 fellowship, a cleansed nature— these will 
 be the Christian's heritage (ver. 19). 
 
258 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 [Ch. XII. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 Section VI. The church and 
 
 HEE THREE ENEMIES. Having CODie 
 to the end of the series of the seals and 
 the trumpets, we might naturally ex- 
 pect to enter at once upon a vision of 
 the bowls, the concluding series. Three 
 chapters intervene before we come to 
 the final series. It is generally agreed 
 that in the twelfth chapter we have a 
 vision that portrays the introduction 
 of Christianity into the earth. Some 
 have contended that the preceding vi- 
 sions concern themselves with glimpses 
 of the Old Testament dispensation, and 
 that the visions from this point onward 
 represent the issues of the New Testa- 
 ment kingdom of God. Against this 
 view is the fact that it is the Redeemer 
 of men who opens the seals in the first 
 series of visions. This entire book is 
 the development of God's plans on the 
 earth under the leadership and control 
 of the Redeemer as such. The rather 
 we have here a summary of the forces 
 at work in the world, the contending 
 powers of light and darkness, with a 
 view of the enemies of the church for 
 the first time portrayed in a definite 
 way. This vision, in so far as it refers 
 to a historical event, can refer only to 
 the birth of Christ and the introduc- 
 tion of Christianity, and yet it comes 
 in after the visions of the seals and of 
 the trumpets have both Ijeen closed, a 
 clear proof that the seer is not guided 
 by the thought of a historical succes- 
 sion. As the visions of the seals and 
 the trurnpets cover the entire period of 
 the Christian era, in like manner this 
 vision portrays a conflict that extends 
 over the same period and furnishes 
 also a natural foundation for the fol- 
 lowing visions. The last series, that 
 of the bowls, portrays, in the main, a 
 judgment, not upon the ungodly world, 
 but upon a degenerate church, as dis- 
 tinct from the faithful element in the 
 church._ It is essential, therefore, at 
 this point, before we see the vision of 
 the bowls, clearly to perceive the ene- 
 mies by which the church became faith- 
 less, and at the same time to see the 
 enemies overcome by the faithful peo- 
 ple of God. 
 
 In this spiritual drama set before Tis 
 there are in reality but two persons, the 
 Redeemer and Satan. They are utterly 
 
 diverse in nature, the one heaven-born, 
 redeeming men, in tlie form of man, 
 lifted up to heaven ; tlie other, hostile 
 to God and his cause, destructive in his 
 activities. Both of these, unseen by 
 men, continue their leadership among 
 men, acting through human agencies. 
 Jesus works through his church, his 
 body. Satan works through his agen- 
 cies, the great beast that springs from 
 the turbulent sea, representing the 
 political forces of the world arrayed 
 against Christ. By persecutions, force, 
 the prison, and the stake ; by fines and 
 penalties; by banishments and re- 
 straints, the truth has been banished, 
 outlawed, limited in its operations. 
 Every age has known the meaning of 
 the hostile attitude of the great world 
 powers. Satan calls to his aid another 
 agency — a beast with the appearance 
 of a lamb (i3:i), less dangerous in 
 form, but the more easily doing its in- 
 jurious work because not ferocious in 
 appearance. 
 
 These two agents of Satan continue 
 to figure on the stage until their final 
 overthrow in the vision of 19 : 20. As 
 the enemies of Christ assume a two- 
 fold form, in like manner the church 
 presents a divided form, the true church 
 and the degenerate chui-ch, on which 
 heavy judgments fall. In reality, from 
 this time on in this book there are but 
 two contestants for supremacy, the Re- 
 deemer and Satan, though both of them 
 make use of human agencies. In the 
 later visions we see the conquering 
 Christ and his cause winning a mighty 
 triumph ( i9 ; n ) . During all this period 
 there is antagonism between the church 
 and her foes. She, persecuted, hidden 
 from view at times, is preserved by 
 the loving care of God. Not always 
 does the opposition to Christianity as- 
 sume revolting forms as represented by 
 a dragon with its Gorgonlike shapes, 
 but always it is dragonlike in nature 
 in that it is hostile to God. Sometimes 
 the opposition to Christ will assume 
 the shape of science, sometimes of lit- 
 erature, sometimes of art, of the drama, 
 of political policies, of business suc- 
 cess, but always at heart is a dislike of 
 God. This vision does not present to 
 us the downfall of these enemies of 
 Christ, but we may know that some- 
 where before the visions end there will 
 be a revelation of the triumph of Him 
 
Ch. XII.] 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 259 
 
 whose right it is to reigu. We see 
 this glorious issue in chap. XIX, XX. 
 Fairbairn writes thus on this section: 
 " This vision embraces au extensive 
 range ; it points back to the past as well 
 as onward to the future in order to 
 show how the evil originally sprung 
 up, and how it was to develop itself 
 till it reached the gigantic magnitude 
 and formidable character it afterward 
 assumed. This matter is represented 
 both with the personal spite and malice 
 of the tempter on account of the vic- 
 tory gained over him by Christ, and 
 with the beast or worldly iiower in its 
 varied forms and manifestations, more 
 especially in the times following the 
 general spread of Christianity after the 
 deadly wound caused by the gospel 
 had been healed. Out of the healing 
 of the wound came Babylon, which 
 consists in an unnatural conjunction 
 of the church and the world, the church 
 thereby becoming essentially anti- 
 christian ; and because of the great- 
 ness of the doom incurred by such a 
 degeneracy it has a very large and 
 prominent place given to it in prophecy. 
 In chap. XIII we are told how the 
 introduction of Christianity led the 
 worldly power to assume a form cor- 
 responding to the altered state of 
 affairs; and the success following its 
 altered policy implied that the church, 
 to a large extent, had sacrificed its 
 character and joined hands with the 
 world." We have nothing to do in 
 this section with the origin of evil ; 
 nor are we concerned with any scenes 
 that took place before the beginnings 
 of human history. We have before us 
 the domain of the Christian era and 
 the persons and the agencies tliat make 
 for righteousness and for unrighteous- 
 ness. Because Clirist is in his church 
 it remains true and holy; because Christ 
 is for his church it will be triumphant 
 in the end. 
 
 The first great enemy op the 
 CHURCH. This chapter occupies a 
 central position in the order of thought 
 in this book, beginning the presenta- 
 tion of some new teachings. It has 
 come out, in the visions, that not only 
 the world in its essentially heathenish 
 character is to be subdued, l)ut also a 
 professedly religious, though a really 
 worldly and antichristian domination. 
 
 has appeared. It is with this last 
 that the final struggle occurs. This 
 chapter is concerned with the ques- 
 tion how this antichristian domination 
 appeared. We have revealed, in clear 
 outline, the three great foes who are 
 steadfastly resisted by the church. In 
 the succeeding parts of the book we 
 have these enemies, one by one, over- 
 come. It is a great comfort for God's 
 people to remember that aU the foes of 
 the truth are manifest in God's sight. 
 They are revealed to the eyes of the 
 church, not that they may terrify her, 
 but that they may put her on her guard 
 and that, at the sight of their final and 
 utter downfall, she may find cause of 
 rejoicing. In the early parts of the 
 book we had glimpses of Satan and his 
 work in the persecution coming on the 
 churcli (2 : 10) ; in his temptation to 
 uncleauness (2 : u). In this chapter 
 we have a vision of the person of Satan 
 himself in his power and malignity, 
 the one great spirit enemy of God, of 
 Christ, of the church, of all good things. 
 As is so often the case in this book, 
 we have, at the first, intimations and 
 glimpses of some great power or teach- 
 ing, and afterward the power or teach- 
 ing fully unfolded. We have Satan 
 fully revealed in his person and nature, 
 the result of his seductions, his two 
 allies and servants (chap, xiii)^ and then 
 his final downfall (chap. xx). 
 
 This chapter divides itself naturally 
 into three parts : The woman and the 
 dragon (^er. i-e) ; the warfare in heaven 
 (ver. 7-12) ; the flight of the woman into 
 the wilderness (ver. is-n). 
 
 1-6. The woman and the 
 DRAGON. Two persons, utterly unlike 
 each other, appear in this section in 
 vision : the woman pure, white, clothed 
 in light, representing God's cause ; and 
 a fiery, red, vicious dragon, horrible 
 in appearance, representing the devil's 
 cause. What takes place in reality in 
 all human history, and in the Bible 
 from the beginning to the closing, the 
 irrepressible conflict between the good 
 and the evil, is here personified. How 
 evil came into the moral universe, 
 why God permits Satan to exist, are 
 unanswered problems. The Bible re- 
 veals God as opposing sin, punishing 
 and restraining it, and ultimately sub- 
 duing it. 
 
260 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 [Ch. XII. 
 
 The woman clothed with the sun, persecuted 
 
 by the dragon. 
 13 AND there appeared a great wouder 
 [or, sign] iu heaveu ; a womau clothed 
 with the sun, and the moon under her 
 feet, and upon her liead a crown of 
 2 twelve stars : and she being with child 
 cried, « travailing in birth, and pained 
 to be delivered. 
 
 12 AND a great sign was seen in heaven ; 
 a womau clothed with the sun, and 
 the moon under her feet, and on her 
 2 head a crown of twelve stars, and 
 heavy with child, and she cries out, 
 travailing in birth, and in pain to 
 bring forth. 
 
 c Isa. 66 : 6-8 ; Micah 1 : 10 ; 5 : 3. 
 
 1. And . . . heaven, rather, And 
 a great sign was seen in heaven. It was 
 a sight that was in reality a sign, in- 
 dicative of some great spiritual move- 
 ment impending. It is the same word 
 found in 1 : 1, there rendered signified. 
 We have arrived at an important point 
 in the book, and as showing this 
 there appears a great sigyi, symbolic of 
 some great teaching to be presented. 
 Miracles are often spoken of as signs, 
 thereby calling attention, not to the 
 power displayed in them, but to their 
 moral significance. Heaven. We are 
 not to understand this term, when 
 used in this book, as meaning, in its 
 strict sense, the abode of God and the 
 blessed ones. It means, here, that great 
 theater where the visions pass before 
 us, embracing, in their full meaning, 
 heaveu and earth. We are forced to 
 this view for we cannot, in any literal 
 way, regard the dragon as really dwell- 
 ing in heaven where the holy God is. 
 J. A. Smith well says : "_We may con- 
 ceive of the scene of the vision as being 
 itself a vision taking in the earth and 
 the firmament with its stars."_ The 
 entire book, with its visions, significant 
 of mighty changes, embracing thou- 
 sands of years, portraying great op- 
 posing forces, with the Redeemer, the 
 church, the powers of nature and Satan 
 as actors comes before us as on a stage. 
 The place where they are portrayed is 
 the heaven spoken of, where the spir- 
 itual element appears in a predominant 
 way, but where also the dragon and 
 the wilderness are also portrayed to- 
 gether with God and his throne. The 
 sign is a woman clothed, rather, 
 arrayed, with all the heavenly bodies. 
 The woman and tlie dragon form the 
 same contrast here that the Sonof man 
 and the beasts form in Daniel, the 
 imagery of which so much influences 
 the mind of John. The sun, moon, 
 and stars include all the heavenly 
 
 bodies mentioned in Gen. 1 : 16. The 
 
 sun, the source of all light to us, con- 
 stitutes her luminous garment. Noth- 
 ing can be more striking or brilliant. 
 In 1 : 16 the face of the glorified Jesus 
 is like the sun shining in his strength. 
 The moon is under her feet. Thi.s does 
 not mean that it is in subjection to her, 
 nor does it have any hidden or meta- 
 phorical meaning. It does not mean 
 that the Jewish dispensation was under 
 the feet of Christ, or that heathenism 
 was to be overcome. The meaning is 
 that she is completely invested with 
 light from head to foot; she is all 
 glorious in light. Every conceivable 
 object in the skies that gives light is 
 called in to aid in describing her moral 
 beauty. The term, twelve, has doubt- 
 less some allusion to the twelve tribes 
 representing God's collective people in 
 the Old Testament times. In the New 
 Testament we have the same number 
 retained in the twelve apostles; the 
 new Jerusalem has twelve gates (21 : 12). 
 The crown worn by the woman is not 
 one of sovereignty, such as is worn by 
 kings, but is the garland of victory 
 given to the conqueror. In this in- 
 cidental way it is announced that the 
 church and the cause of Christ are not 
 destined to defeat but to conquest. 
 
 2. A second feature of the sign is 
 here given. And . . . child, rather, 
 A7id she was with child. Cried, rather, 
 Crieth out. All the Old Testament is 
 the pi'ophecy of the coming Redeemer. 
 In Gen. 3 : 15 is the promise of one who 
 shall crush the head of the serpent. 
 To Abraham is the promise that through 
 his posterity all nations should be 
 blessed (oen. is : 3). Isaiah speaks of a 
 coming child whose advent should 
 usher in a reign of righteousness (is*- 
 9 : 6, 7). This sign is simply the entire 
 Old Testament jirophecy coming to its 
 fulfilment, the birth of one who should 
 manifest God to men. In the seals there 
 
Ch. XII.] 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 261 
 
 3 And there appeared another wonder 
 [or, sign] in heaven ; and behold ^ a 
 great red dragon, •h-^viug seven heads 
 
 3 And another sign was seen in heaven ; 
 and behold a great red dragon, having 
 
 d IT : 3 ; 12 : 9 ; Joha 3 : U. 
 
 e 17:9, 10; Dan. T : 7. 
 
 was seen the beginning of Christianity 
 on the earth and its spread among men, 
 the conqueror on the white horse (6 : 
 11). We come now again to the same 
 historic starting-point, the coming of 
 the divine one into a human life. Jesus 
 is portrayed in this book as the Lamb, 
 the Redeemer; but to be tliis among 
 men he must be, in a human life, in- 
 carnate. We must look upon Jesus in 
 a twofold way. As divine, he is the 
 head of the church above all things, 
 the Lord of David (Matt. 22 : 43) ; in his 
 human nature he is the son of David, 
 born of a woman, born under the law 
 (Gal. 4:4), subject to all God's laws, 
 submitting to baptism as an ordinance 
 of God, a Jew, a member of God's out- 
 ward kingdom, born as to the iiesh of 
 the stock of Abraham. Jesus was, 
 therefore, while the only begotten Son 
 of God, also a descendant of David, a 
 member of God's Old Testament peo- 
 ple. Jesus occupies varied relations to 
 men and God. He is Son of man, Son 
 of God, brother in the human race and 
 sovereign Lord, the head of the church, 
 the husband of the church which is 
 his bride, the manifested God, an elder 
 brother, subject to human temptations 
 and weaknesses. 
 
 Who is meant by the woman ? She 
 cannot be the Virgin Mary, the mother 
 of our Lord. Nowhere does she ap- 
 pear in the New Testament in this sub- 
 lime way. She is blessed among women 
 (Luke 1 : 28), but nowhcrc appears as 
 aught else than a worishiper of Jesus 
 (Acta 1 : 14). A few Romanists who 
 dwell more on Mary than on Jesus in- 
 terpret this of Mary. The woman can 
 represent only the ideal cause of God, 
 as represented by the church. Never 
 has the church actually been such a 
 glorious organization. It was not such 
 in the Old Testament times, where it so 
 often appears as a faithless servant of 
 
 God (l»a- 1 : 10; Mai. 3 : 8). It waS not 
 
 such in the New Testament times when 
 in all the local churches it was defective 
 and sometimes glaringly corrupt (i cor. 
 8:1-4). The woman represents the 
 church in a large, spiritual sense, God's 
 real body on the earth. The New 
 
 Testament church is a distinct creation 
 by Christ on a new basis, not that of 
 blood descent, but of a distinct per- 
 sonal birth through the Spirit as the 
 essential prerequisite for admission into 
 the outward kingdom of God. But in 
 a very real sense God's kingdom from 
 the beginning, embracing both the Old 
 and New Testament times, is one. In 
 the beginning of the vision the refer- 
 ence is mainly to the church in its Old 
 Testament form, subsequently to the 
 church in its New Testament aspect. 
 Swete regards the "woman" as the 
 Jewish church. "The ancient expos- 
 itors in general, beginning with Hip- 
 polytus and Methodius, understood 
 the woman with child to represent the 
 church, though some identified her 
 with the blessed Virgin." "The ideal 
 mother of the Lord is not the Virgin, 
 but the Jewish church. Jerusalem is 
 described in the prophets as a travail- 
 ing woman." (Comp. Micali4:10. ) " Doubt- 
 less the church of the Old Testament 
 was the mother of whom Christ came 
 after the flesh. But here, as every- 
 where in the book, no sharp dividing 
 line is drawn between the church of 
 the Old Testament and the Christian 
 society; the latter is viewed as the 
 Jewish church come to maturity. Thus 
 the woman who gave birth to the Christ 
 is identical with her who, after his de- 
 parture, suffered for her faith in him 
 (vi;r. 13), and who is the mother of be- 
 lievers ('•er. 17 : comp. Gal. 4 : 27)." SWETE 
 
 on 12 : 4. 
 
 3. The contrast to the woman, in 
 appearance and character, is now seen. 
 The term, heaven, is used here in 
 the same sense as in ver. 1, as meaning 
 the sphere of action. Wonder, rather, 
 sign. A great red dragon. In its 
 nature it is a dragon, ugly, bestial, 
 malicious, horrible, and repulsive in 
 disposition. It is great, implying 
 great power in destructiveness. Its 
 mission is not that of giving life and 
 nourishing it, hut the opposite, that of 
 destruction. It is red, significant of 
 its cruel and murderous disposition. 
 
 (Comp. John 8 : 44 ; 1 John 3 : 12 ; Rev. 17 : 6.) 
 
 The seven heads denote the com- 
 
262 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 [Ch. XII. 
 
 and teu horns, 'and seven crowns upon 
 4 his heads. And his tail drew the third 
 part of the stars of heaven, eand did 
 cast them to the earth. 
 
 And the dragon stood before the 
 woman which was ready to be de- 
 livered, ""for to devour her child as 
 
 seven heads and ten horns, and on his 
 4 heads seven diadems. And his tail 
 drags the third part of the stars of 
 heaven ; and it cast them to the earth. 
 And the dragon stood before the 
 woman who was about to bring forth, 
 that when she brought forth, he might 
 
 /13:1. 
 
 g Dan. 8 : 9-12. 
 
 A Ezod. 1 : 16; Matt. 2 : 3-16. 
 
 pleteness of intelligence and power for 
 carrying out its purposes. As a dragon 
 he is perfect. His power and intelli- 
 gence correspond with his nature and 
 aims. The Lamb had seven horns, sig- 
 nifying the perfect power vested in 
 him as Redeemer (s ■• 6). The ten 
 horns here symbolize the complete 
 world-power dwelling in the dragon. 
 Crowns, rather, diadems. Thi^ term 
 denotes sovereignty ; the dragon rules 
 as king. This same person has already 
 been introduced as king in 9 : 11. He 
 was there known as Abaddon or Apol- 
 lyon ; he is here revealed as the dragon, 
 a horrible serpentlike thing, soon to 
 be made known as the devil (^er. 9). It 
 is noticeable that the crown of the 
 woman (ver. i) denotes victory ; the 
 dragon, the king of the hosts of dark- 
 ness, will be defeated. There is a great 
 world of dark and unseen forces of 
 whose existence we become aware only 
 through revelation. The infernal world 
 comes to a headship in Satan. 
 
 4. This verse shows his destructive 
 power, his tail drew, rather, dratv- 
 eth. The magnitude of the dragon 
 and his power and fury are shown in 
 this that he, with his tail, lashes the 
 skies and throws down the stars. The 
 present t«nse shows that this is his 
 nature ; he perpetually, or as long as he 
 has opportunity, wars against the things 
 of beauty and order. The one-third 
 has frequently been noticed in this 
 book, indicating an indefinite frac- 
 tional part. His power is restrained ; 
 there are limits beyond which he can- 
 not go. He cannot rob the entire sky 
 of its stars (s : 7-12 ,- 9 : 15, is). The pro- 
 portion cannot be literally interpreted. 
 Stars of heaven. Some think that 
 the reference is to the fall of the angels, 
 those who kept not their first estate 
 (jude, Ter. 6). This is very doubtful. 
 Some refer it to an apostasy among 
 those who were teachers and leaders in 
 the church, occupying a position of 
 prominence, stars as it were in the 
 
 church, symbolized by the stars in the 
 sky. It is best to give it an indefinite 
 reference. The throwing down of the 
 stars to the earth would, in the physical 
 world, be an occasion of darkness, dis- 
 order, lawlessness, destruction. He 
 takes position before the woman. 
 Dragon . . . woman, rather, dragon 
 stands before the u*oman which was 
 about to be delivered, that when she was 
 delivered he might destroy her child. 
 This expi'esses the attitude of Satan 
 toward God's cause in all the ages. 
 Pharaoh, several times called a dragon 
 because of his ferocity, tried to crush 
 the cause of God by destroying the 
 first-born (Ezek. 29 : 8). His power, 
 cruelty, and craftiness united to check 
 God's cause. The New Testament 
 Pharaoh is Herod. Both were men of 
 evil heart ; both made war upon Je- 
 hovah ; both were defeated in their 
 purposes. While the reference may 
 find its clearest illustration in the at- 
 tempt made at the birth of Christ to 
 destroy God's cause on the eai-th by de- 
 stroying him, yet it is true that during 
 the entire ministry of Christ, Satan 
 was his opponent and tempter (Luke 4 : 
 13; John 13:2). Whercvcr the woman 
 is, wherever Christ's work is done and 
 good lives are lived, there will be the 
 dragon with intent to destroy. The 
 dragon standing before the woman is a 
 pictorial representation of the spirit of 
 Satan in all his plannings and agencies 
 toward Christ, Christ's cause on the 
 earth, and the individual Christian. 
 Every good cause encounters the hatred 
 and opposition of Satan. There is 
 never a good deed planned, or good 
 work begun, or a good life undertaken, 
 but the dragon is waiting to devour the 
 ofispring. It is the most dangerous 
 assault when the dragon assumes the 
 shape of a tempter or danger dressed 
 in white (2 cor. 11 ; u). The dragon 
 always remains a dragon, whether he 
 appears in a violent persecution or in 
 a seductive worldliness. 
 
Ch. XII.] 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 2G3 
 
 5 soon as it was born. ' And she brought 
 forth a man child, ''who was to rule 
 all natious with a rod of iron : and her 
 child was ' caught up unto God, and to 
 his throne. 
 
 6 And "the woman fled into the wil- 
 derness, where she hath a place pre- 
 pared of God, " that they should feed 
 
 5 devour her child. And she brought 
 forth a man-child, who is to shepherd 
 all nations with a rod of iron ; and her 
 child was caught up to God, and to his 
 
 6 throne. And the woman fled into the 
 wilderness, where she has a place pre- 
 pared by God, that they may nourish 
 
 i Matt. 1 : 25 ; Gal. 4:4. t 2 ; 26, 27 ; 19 : 15 ; Pa. 2 : 9. I U : 12 ; Acts 2 : 33 ; Eph. 1 : 20. 
 
 m Ps. 91 : 1 ; Song of Sol. 2:14; 8:5; Ezek. 20 ; 35. ?» 1 Kings 17 : 3-6. 
 
 5. The child is born and his nature 
 is portrayed. And she ... child, 
 
 rather, And she ivas delivered of a son, 
 a man child. Who ... uatious, 
 rather, Who is to rule all the nations f 
 The ruling spoken of is that of acting 
 as a shepherd. This one, so born, 
 shall, as the essential part of Ills min- 
 istry, he a universal ruler. Over his 
 own people and over the nations he 
 shall exercise sway. The sway would 
 begin to be exercised in his personal 
 ministry and be continued so that, in 
 time, his sway would everywhere be 
 recognized. His method of ruling is 
 indicated, with a rod of iron. The 
 figure is talien from Ps. 2. The se- 
 verer aspect of Christ's work is alluded 
 to through this figure. He appears, 
 not with the shepherd's peaceful crook, 
 but with the iron rod to beat down, to 
 break down all opposition. In the 
 Gospels he appears mainly as a tender 
 shepherd, but in the Psalms and in this 
 book he appears as a conqueror, with 
 many adversaries appearing, but all of 
 them finally cruslied by defeat. The 
 prominent thought is that of opposi- 
 tion to Christ, but final victory on the 
 part of Christ. In his ministry on the 
 earth Jesus could utter woes (Matt. 24) ; 
 could speak of a judgment day when 
 the issues should be eternal life and 
 eternal death. And the child was 
 caught up unto God and to his 
 throne. This means the exaltation 
 and glorification of Jesus, not only in 
 his own person, but in that of his 
 people and church through him. There 
 was an ascension to God's right hand. 
 The ascen-sion was God's testimony to 
 his Sonship, was the assurance of safety 
 to him from all perils, was the entrance 
 into a personal fellowship with the 
 Father in all his power whereby lie 
 might carry on his work on the eartli 
 more efiectively. That interpretation 
 whereby the reference is to the baptism 
 
 of the Emperor Constantine through 
 which the Roman empire became 
 nominally Christian, must be rejected. 
 Part of Christ's a.scension power was 
 his bestowal of the Holy Spirit (John 
 16). No allusion is Jiere made to the 
 fundamental teaching concerning the 
 suflferings and death of Jesus. These 
 are presupposed in allu.sious elsewhere, 
 when the efficacy of his death is spoken 
 of as the source of his people's victory 
 (vcr. 11). The issue between Christ and 
 the dragon cannot be doubtful, for the 
 one is the assured Son of God, seated 
 on his throne. The allusion is not sim- 
 ply to the one historical fact of his as- 
 cension, but to the continuous victory 
 of Christ, liis perpetual conquering 
 reign. The incarnation and the ascen- 
 sion are the terminal points of our 
 Saviour's earthly ministry. All the 
 glory that Christ gets through his 
 ascension is shared in by his people 
 
 (Heb. 2 : 17). 
 
 6. Having learned the fate of the 
 woman's child, we now turn to the 
 course of the woman's history. Wil- 
 derness. It is probable that Elijah's 
 flight into the wilderness, and his sup- 
 port there (i Kings 17 : s; 19 : 5), together 
 with the wanderings in the wilderness 
 for forty years by the children of Israel, 
 may have laid the historical foundation 
 for this picture. Jesus also found a 
 home in the wilderness for forty days, 
 and a heavenly miui.stration there (Matt. 
 4 : 11 )• This woman, the church, finds 
 persecution, but finds a refuge in a 
 wilderness. The term presupposes a 
 time of darkness and depression ; it 
 also asserts a place of security and 
 refuge. The night is in accordance 
 with God's plan and provision. Pre- 
 pared of God. God will care for 
 the things of Christ. They may 
 feed, nourish. It is not stated by 
 whom the church will be preserved, 
 the indefinite theij referring, in an in- 
 
264 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 [Ch. XII. 
 
 her there "a thousand two hundred 
 and threescore days. 
 7 And there was war in heaven : 
 p Michael and his angels fought 
 4 against the dragon ; and the dragon 
 
 her there a thousand two hundred and 
 sixty days. 
 7 And there was war in heaven, 
 Michael and his angels to war with 
 the dragon. And the dragon warred, 
 
 11 : 3 ; 13 ; 5. 
 
 p Dan. 10 : 13, 21 ; 12 : 1 ; Jude 9. 
 
 q Ver. 3 ; 20 : 2. 
 
 definite way, to God's providential ar- 
 rangements. A thousand two hun- 
 dred and threescore days. This 
 is the indefinite period of time alluded 
 to heretofore (n ; 2, 3), This period of 
 time, iu whatever form given, is the 
 half of seven years, the mark of com- 
 pleteness. It is indicative always of a 
 broken and incomplete era, the expres- 
 sion of darkness, of suffering for the 
 church. The same thought is presented 
 again more fully in ver. 14. Whatever 
 dark times come, the church is al- 
 ways safe because Christ is always 
 on high, the reigning Christ ; and the 
 church is his own body. God saved 
 Sodom so long as he had good people 
 in it. Their departure meant its de- 
 struction. Jesus will always have a 
 church on the earth, even though it be 
 small in numbers, and hidden almost 
 from the sight of men, and clothed in 
 sackcloth. A churchless world would 
 be a destroyed world. 
 
 7-12. The warfare in heaven. 
 This section follows naturally upon the 
 first, in order of thought. In the first 
 section the two contestants, the Son and 
 the dragon, have been presented in their 
 essential natures of light and darkness. 
 There is now placed before us, in a 
 poetical way, the contest in which they 
 are engaged, designated as a war. 
 
 7. War in heaven. All that fol- 
 lows takes place in vision. It is not 
 literal war, but the contest of opposing 
 moral influences. To what time does 
 this refer? Some refer it to some con- 
 test in the spiritual world, prior to 
 human history, when Satan, by trans- 
 gression, fell from his first estate. Mil- 
 ton, in his "Paradise Lost," so treats 
 the passage. Alford finds in this pas- 
 sage "a mysterious series of events in 
 the world of spirits in regard to which 
 only fragmentary hints are given to us 
 in the Scriptures." It is in order of 
 time subsequent to the incarnation of 
 Christ, which is represented in the first 
 section of this chapter. It, therefore, 
 does not refer to any event long prior 
 to that time, events in the spiritual 
 
 world alone. The heaven spoken of is 
 not the literal heaven, the place of 
 holiness, where holy beings alone dwell. 
 It is inconceivable in thought that 
 Satan should be there in person, and 
 that a war, in any sense of the word, 
 should be waged there. When Satan 
 is represented as in heaven (Job \ ■■ 6; 
 zech. 3), these are highly figurative pas- 
 sages, not implying that Satan in per- 
 son is there. It would not be a heaven 
 where Satan, in his utter malignancy, 
 walked unhindered among God's peo- 
 ple, and threw at them his false accu- 
 sations. The heaven alluded to is that 
 which so often appears in this book, 
 the theater upon which the sacred 
 drama is represented. The war repre- 
 sents the contest between the good and 
 the bad forces. It embraces many 
 agencies, many opposing forces, but all 
 centering about the two persons, Jesus 
 and Satan. Michael ... dragon, 
 rather, Michael and his angels going 
 forth to ivar with the dragon. Michael 
 is spoken of as the aggressor in the 
 contest, beginning the hostilities. Who 
 is meant by Michael ? Some refer it to 
 the Lord Jesus himself. The name, 
 Michael, meaning "who is like God," 
 is held to lead to this belief. In Jude 
 (ver. 9) we read of Michael, the arch- 
 angel, of whom but one is mentioned. 
 In 1 "riiess. 4 : 13 the archangel is as- 
 sociated with the return of the Lord 
 Jesus. In Dan. 10 : 21 Michael appears 
 as the protector of the chosen people 
 in their contest with foreign powers. 
 But Michael cannot be regarded as the 
 Lord himself. In the Old Testament 
 the angel of Jehovah is the designation 
 of the Old Testament appearance of 
 Jesus before his incarnation. Michael, 
 standing in the Old Testament as the 
 leader of the Lord's hosts, may be fit- 
 tingly regarded in this book, which 
 reproduces so much of the Old Testa- 
 ment, as the leader of God's holy 
 forces. He is not Jesus himself, but 
 stands as the representative of Jesus, 
 just as the strong angel Mas a figu- 
 rative representation of Jesus (10 = !)• 
 
Ch. XIL] 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 265 
 
 8 fought and his angels, and prevailed 
 not; 'neither was their place found 
 
 9 any more in heaven. And 'the great 
 dragon was cast out, 'that old serpent. 
 
 8 and his angels, and they prevailed not, 
 nor was their place found any more in 
 
 9 heaven. And the great dragon was 
 cast down, the old serpent, he that is 
 
 r P3. 37 : 10. 
 
 < Luk* 10 : 18 ; Joba Vi : 31. 
 
 t 20 : 2 ; Gen. 3 : 1, 4. 
 
 The passage does not mean that Jesus 
 is that Michael spoken of in Dan. 10 : 
 21 or in .Jude 9, but that lie occu- 
 pies here, as the leader of the spir- 
 itual forces, the same position that 
 Michael there does. In other words, 
 the term Michael is a representative 
 one, Jesus is a spiritual Michael filling 
 his place. Angels. The reference is 
 not to angels iji the literal sense of the 
 word, but in a representative sense. 
 Just as the historic Michael had his 
 angels, so the spiritual Michael has his 
 followers corresponding to angels, and 
 here denominated angels. This is evi- 
 dent from the consideration of the terms 
 used in ver. 11. The holy contestants 
 of this passage are there described as 
 conquerors. The agency used by them 
 ill their victorious conflict is the blood 
 of the Lamb. But as angels do not 
 overcome by or through the blood, this 
 can refer to men alone who are saved 
 through the sacrifice of Jesus, (comp. 
 17 : u.) Angels do not need the for- 
 giveness, the regeneration, the help 
 that comes through the blood. The 
 warfare here described is that of Jesus 
 through his witnessing and conquering 
 church. Dragon fought, rather, 
 warred. There is a personal agency of 
 Satan manifest in all human history, 
 but appearing in a redoubled form since 
 the advent oi^ the Saviour. The dragon 
 carries on his war through the perver- 
 sion of doctrine, the seduction of lead- 
 ers, the temptations of worldliness, the 
 mixture of error with the truth, the 
 stirring-up of persecution, the begetting 
 of divisions. Through the slave trade, 
 the rum traffic, the spirit of conquest 
 on the part of nations, the oppressive 
 use of power, through these agencies 
 he to-day makes war among men, en- 
 tailing large curses and bringing speedy 
 ruin upon millions. He is a god of 
 this world, so potential is his agency 
 direct and indirect (2 cor. 4 : «). An- 
 gels. Satan has many helpers, led by 
 him at his will, moved thereto by 
 pleasure and profit. 
 
 8. The result of the contest is here 
 given, Jesus speaks of Satan's defeat, 
 
 of his falling from heaven (r.uke 10 : 18). 
 He also speaks of Satan being judged, 
 in the sense of being condemned and 
 cast out as the result of his sacrificial 
 death (Johu j2 : ai ; 16 : 11). Not only 
 was there defeat for the dragon, but 
 there was no place for him in heaven 
 on the scene of the heavenly drama. 
 All of this takes place in vision. In 
 time it is after the introduction of Chris- 
 tianity upon the earth. The result of 
 Christ's work is ultimately to defeat 
 Satan, to crush him under foot so that 
 on the theater of the vision Sat.an is 
 not beheld at all. In the Old Testa- 
 ment Satan is, in a figurative and 
 poetical way, spoken of as accusing, 
 in person, the godly in heaven. Jesus, 
 in liis own person, brought defeat for 
 Satan, making the demons subject to 
 his disciples (Luke 10 : 20). In time 
 Satan will be bound, his influence will 
 be largely limited, even as it now is 
 judicially limited. And finally he will 
 be shut up in the bottomless pit, so 
 that the godly shall forever be freed 
 from his power (chap. 20). 
 
 9. This verse more fully explains 
 and illustrates ver. 8. No place was 
 found in heaven for the dragon and his 
 angels, for he was cast out. Adam was 
 cast out of Eden; in like manner Satan 
 was cast out of the holy heaven as soon 
 as he became a Satan. This came, not 
 from God's almightiness alone, for there 
 is always a deep gulf between the holy 
 God and unholiness. He is now, in 
 vision, cast out of that theater upon 
 which this vision is presented. This 
 casting out came coincident, in time, 
 with the suff'erings and ascension of 
 Christ, and as their direct resultant. 
 Tlie dragon is defined in a threefold 
 way, that old serpent. The allu- 
 sion is to Gen. 3 : 1, 4. Satan is ma- 
 licious, crafty, full of wileSj having 
 those qualities commonly attributed to 
 the serpent. In the Babylonian records 
 the picture of the temptation is pre- 
 sented under the form of the serpent 
 tempting the man to eat of the for- 
 bidden fruit. Among many ancient 
 peoples the serpent was looked upon 
 
266 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 [Ch. XII. 
 
 "called the devil, ^and Sutau, y which 
 deceiveth the whole world: ^he was 
 cast out into the earth, aud his angels 
 10 were cast out with him. Aud I heard 
 a loud voice saying iu heaven. 
 
 » Now is come salvation, aud strength, 
 '"and the kingdom of our God, 
 « And the power of his Christ. 
 For the accuser of our brethren is cast 
 
 down, 
 d Which accused them before our God 
 
 day aud uight. 
 
 called the Devil and Satan, who leads 
 astray the whole habitable earth ; he 
 was cast down to the earth, and his 
 10 angels were cast down with him. Aud 
 I heard a great voice iu heaven, say- 
 ing, Now is come the salvation, and 
 the power, and tlie kingdom of our 
 God, and the authority of his Christ ; 
 because the accuser of our brethren is 
 cast down, who accused them before 
 
 u Matt. 13 : 39 ; John 8 : 44 ; 1 Peter 5:8. x Job 1 ; 
 J Dan. 2 : 44. c Ps. 2 : 8-12 ; 110 : 5, 6. 
 
 y 20:3; 2 Cor. 11:3. 2 9:1. a 11: 15; 19:1. 
 d 1 Ohron. 21 : 1 ; Job 1 : 9 ; 2:5; Zech. 3 : 1. 
 
 as the embodiment of wisdom, and, 
 therefore, associated with their wor- 
 ship. Its power to attract, to bewitch, 
 to harm makes the serpent a fitting 
 representation of Satan. Satan is a 
 serpent in his malignity; an old ser- 
 pent by reason of his centuries of 
 wicked activity. Devil. This means 
 a slanderer. He slanders God to men. 
 He presented to the minds of the first 
 parents a meau and little conception 
 of God (Gen. 3 : 5). Any wroug concep- 
 tion of God will make a corrupted re- 
 ligion, inasmuch as God himself is the 
 center of all worship and all religion. 
 He is also described in ver. 10 as a 
 slanderer of Cliristian people. Satan 
 means an enemy. He is the one pre- 
 eminent enemy of God, of man, of all 
 good things. His work is that of de- 
 ceiving men. Deceiveth. If Satan 
 came openly as Satan, avowing his 
 purpose and nature, he could work no 
 ill. His power lies in his deceptive- 
 iiess ; he is a liar from the beginning 
 (John 8 : 44). The whole Avorid means 
 the habital)le world. All, so long as 
 men abide on the earth, are exposed to 
 his temptations by reason of their hu- 
 man nature and their limitations. Even 
 Jesus was tempted during all his earthly 
 ministry. The saints can escape only 
 by constant watchfulness (i Peter 6:8). 
 Cast ... earth, rather, cast doirn 
 to the earth. This is a figurative way 
 of saying that Satan has been defeated 
 in his warfare. He is as thoroughly 
 defeated as if he were cast down to tlie 
 earth. In no way could this be more 
 forcibly shown. His sphere of in- 
 fluence, his power to do evil, are limited 
 and restrained. Care must be taken to 
 guard our thoughts against believing 
 that this is an actual expulsion from 
 the holy heaven itself, as though he 
 
 had mingled with the godly and car- 
 ried on a warfare therein. It is en- 
 tirely a vision in which is shown the 
 conquest of Satan by the conquering 
 Christ, the fruit of his sacrificial work. 
 His angels naturally followed with 
 him. In the three following verses is 
 given a song of praise for the victory 
 thus gained. The triumph over Satan 
 involves a complete salvation and the 
 widening of God's kingdom. The 
 agency by which Christianity wins its 
 way in the world is made known, the 
 power of Christ and his cross. The 
 rage of Satan is thereby enkindled. 
 
 10. Loud voice. It is not stated 
 by whom the voice is uttered ; it is left 
 in an indefinite way. It may fittingly 
 be the expression of the elders, stand- 
 ing for those redeemed from the earth. 
 The voice identifies the kinship of 
 those yet struggling on the earth, 
 our brethren. Salvation, lather, 
 the salvation. The salvation is that 
 full and final salvation the result of 
 Christ's death and work (Heb. 9 : 27). 
 Power. Jesus, at his exaltation, came 
 into the possession of a universal sov- 
 ereignty (Matt- 28 : 18). Christ's sov- 
 ereignty is secured through his resur- 
 rection and the events subsequent to it. 
 Jesus alludes to the casting out of the 
 prince of this world, the stripping him 
 of his power through his own death 
 
 (John 12 : 31 ; 16 : 8, ll). ACCUSCr. Jc- 
 
 sus is our advocate before God, as in 
 the Old Testament Michael stands for 
 the interests of the chosen people 
 against foreign foes. _ Satan is an 
 enemy, doing the opposite of that which 
 Jesus" does. He is figuratively repre- 
 sented as slandering men to God con- 
 tinually. Accused, rather, acciiseth. 
 It is not meant that Satan is actually 
 before God, bringing lying charges 
 
Ch. XII.] 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 267 
 
 11 And • they overcame him ' by the blood 
 of the Lamb, 
 And by the word of their testimony : 
 eAnd they loved not their lives unto 
 the death. 
 
 11 our God day and night. And they 
 overcame him, because of the blood of 
 the Lamb, and because of the word of 
 their testimony; and they loved not 
 
 e Rom. 8 : 33-39 ; 16 : 20 ; 1 John 2 : 13, 14. / 7 : 10-14. 
 
 2 : 10, 13 ; 20 : 4 ; Luke 14 : 26 ; Acts 20 : 24 ; Heb. 11 : 35-38. 
 
 against the believer. This would be i 
 entirely too realistic a conception of 
 heaven viewed as the dwelling-place 
 of the holy. It is as if Satan presented 
 before God false .statements concerning 
 believers, misjudging their motives, 
 misstating their lives, holding up their 
 mistakes, magnifying their wrongs. 
 Often the heart of the believer is 
 troubled at the remembrance of wrongs 
 done; the suggestion arises that the 
 forgiveness of the sins may be impossi- 
 ble ; it is just as though Satan were an 
 advocate against us before God. Satan 
 lies to men about God ; he would, if it 
 were possible, lie to God about men. 
 But his power in all directions is limited 
 through that Christ who is at God's 
 right hand, carrying even yet a human 
 nature that is akin to that of the re- 
 deemed on the earth. Our. This 
 marks the relationship between the re- 
 deemed above and the redeemed on the 
 earth. They are parts of one indivis- 
 ible church. 
 
 Doctor Hovey suggests that the ac- 
 cusations made against Christians, 
 charging them with licentious practices 
 at the Lord's Supper, and bringing per- 
 secutions upon them through false 
 statements, as that they were pervert- 
 ing the truth, all this done from a seem- 
 ingly great love for the truth, made, as 
 it were, before God^ may explain the 
 meaning here of bringing the accusa- 
 tion before God. It is certain, as Meyer 
 says, that the Scriptures do not give us 
 the doctrinal belief of a personal accu- 
 sation of Satan before God, a belief 
 just as incomprehensible to Christian 
 thought as the idea of an actual abode 
 of the devil and his angels in heaven. 
 
 11. The means by which the over- 
 coming of Satan takes place are here 
 portrayed. They. This refers to 
 Michael and his angels, the forces of 
 the redeemed on the earth who over- 
 come Satan. They are accused by him, 
 but they overcome him. The conflict 
 takes place, therefore, not in some 
 supernatural sphere, but on the earth, 
 
 among men. This is evident from the 
 expression, blood of the Lamb. 
 
 Jesus overcame Satan through his 
 death, a seemingly utter defeat; but it 
 was through his resurrection that 
 Satan's power was brought to naught 
 (Heb. 2:14). On account of Jesus' death, 
 its removal of condemnation, its ma- 
 king a free access to God, the interces- 
 sion above, the gift of the Holy Spirit, 
 the ordering of life through God'.s 
 guidance, all these are included in the 
 statement. The Lamb won his victory 
 over the dragon through the shedding 
 of his blood. This is, at once, the 
 prophecy, the symbol, and the cause 
 of tiie like conquest over Satan by all 
 believers. Faith in the Lamb makes 
 one with the Lamb (i John 5:4). The 
 word of their testimony alludes 
 to the witnessing on the part of the 
 church. They openly witnessed for 
 him, what he is, and what he had done 
 for them. The gospel made known is 
 the power of God to save men, to trans- 
 form peoples, to regenerate society. 
 The islands of the South Sea were full 
 of cannibals, where truth was unknown, 
 where savagery prevailed. In twenty 
 years, in some islands, every family 
 had household prayer, and the spirit 
 of peace had come. The scattered 
 church became a witnessing church. 
 Christianity spread far and wide when 
 believers gave their testimony for him 
 (Acts 8:4). The Lamb and the witness- 
 ing church united can win a world 
 from Satan, thereby overcoming him. 
 The overcoming refers not only to tlie 
 personal salvation of the believer, but 
 to the organized triumph of Christ's 
 cause on the earth. Christianity, as a 
 whole, defeats the organization and 
 agencies of evil. Overcame is in the 
 past tense. The victory is looked upon 
 as so assured that it is spoken of as 
 already won, though the warfare may 
 continue through centuries to come. 
 The believer's conquest is as.sured, 
 through the one conquest of Christ. 
 Loved . . . death, rather, they loved 
 
268 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 [Ch. XII. 
 
 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, 
 1 Because he knoweth that he hath but 
 
 a short time. 
 
 12 their life, even to death. For this 
 cause rejoice, ye heavens, and they 
 who dwell in them. Woe to the earth 
 and the sea! Because the Devil is 
 gone down to you, having great 
 wrath, knowing that he has but a 
 little season. 
 
 A 18 : 20 ; Ps. 96 : 11-13 ; Isa. 49 : 13. 
 
 i 8 : 13 ; 9 : 12 ; 11 : 10. 
 
 ft 1 Peter 5 : 8. 
 
 not their life, even unto death. This 
 describes the character of those over- 
 coming ; it was not a calculating life, 
 seeing how much might be safely haz- 
 arded for Christ. As Christ gave himself 
 unreservedly to them, they, in turn, 
 gave themselves to the uttermost to 
 him. The blood of the martyrs is the 
 seed of the church. In Madagascar, 
 when the missionaries had been driven 
 away, and persecution raged, the 
 churches increased in numbers and 
 spirituality. It is more difficult for 
 the church to maintain its power and 
 spirituality in times when wealth and 
 fashion and outward splendor influence 
 it than when the jail and loss of 
 property and torture confront it. It 
 requires the spirit of martyrdom to 
 witness for Christ, in a clear way, in 
 times when the church is dressed in 
 purple and fine linen. 
 
 12. This verse continues the words 
 of the great voice (ver. lo). A twofold 
 distinction is made — a rejoicing for a 
 certain class, a woe for another class. 
 Rejoice ... in them. Satan is 
 impotent as regards the disciples of 
 Jesus who are faithful unto death. 
 Over them Satan has no power; they 
 are already dwelling, in spirit, with 
 the ascended Christ, their head, in 
 the heavens. They dwell already in 
 heaven ; their citizenship is there (P^iii- 
 3 : 20). It has been said that Satan was 
 cast out of heaven (ver. a), meaning 
 thereby that Satan has suffered defeat 
 at the hands of Christ. It is as though 
 he had fallen down to the earth. He 
 is a defeated Satan, whose defeat is 
 shown in this drama by a fall from 
 heaven to earth. Therefore Christ, in 
 heaven, is exempt from his assaults. 
 Therefore his people, who ai-e looked 
 upon as in Christ, are regarded as ex- 
 empt from his power, though they are 
 exposedj while on the earth, to his 
 temptations. The mastery of Satan is 
 exercised over the ungodly. Woe... 
 
 sea, rather, woe for the earth and the 
 sea. There is a contrast here between 
 the heavens on the one hand, and the 
 earth and the sea on the other. By 
 the one is meant the redeemed, by the 
 other the ungodly. Over them Satan 
 exercises his control. In ver. 9 Satan 
 is called the deceiver of the inhabited 
 world ; here, where another term is 
 used, he is represented as having power 
 over the world of the ungodly. Earth 
 and sea together make up the one en- 
 tire world. Satan, taking possession of 
 things earthly, will make use of the 
 world-power thus gained to oppose and, 
 if possible, overcome the kingdom of 
 truth and righteousness. In ver. 9 it 
 is said that Satan was cast out of heaven. 
 In this passage his voluntariness of ac- 
 tion is looked at, he is come down, 
 rather, is gone down. John stands on 
 the upper place, the stage on which the 
 drama takes place. The great wratli 
 arises from nis defeat at the hands of 
 Christ by means of his resurrection, 
 ascension, and the carrying on of his 
 work even more efi'ectively in the 
 heavens. Defeated in one attempt, he 
 transfers his energies to new methods 
 of work. If he could not defeat Christ, 
 perhaps he may defeat Christ's people. 
 He is always full of wrath against Jesus 
 and his people (ver. 7). In the ministry 
 of Jesus we see Satan's renewed per- 
 sonal energy in the work of the demons 
 of the New Testament. In the per- 
 sonal ministry of Christ this casting- 
 down took place. Satan fell as from 
 heaven to earth ; the final downfall of 
 his kingdom was assured. A casting- 
 down takes place, in reality, all through 
 the course of redemption. Every new 
 triumph of Christ's cause, every new 
 agency discovered, every new source of 
 power used by the church, each of these 
 is a casting-down of Satan from heaven 
 to earth. Short time. The reason 
 for the great wrath is intensified by 
 this, his time is short. The short time 
 
Ch. XII.] 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 269 
 
 13 And when the dragon saw that he 
 was cast unto the earth, he persecuted 
 " the woman which brought forth the 
 
 14 man child. "And to the woman were 
 given two wings of a great eagle, 'that 
 
 13 And when the dragon saw that he 
 was cast down to the earth, he per- 
 secuted the woman who brought forth 
 
 14 the man-cliild. And there were given 
 t<) the woman the two wings of the 
 great eagle, that she might tiy into the 
 
 n Exod. 19 : i. 
 
 may not be limited to an absolutely 
 short time just before the final advent 
 of the Lord Jesus. Those who find the 
 whole book coming to a close with the 
 destruction of Jerusalem in A. D. 70, 
 find, of course, a really limited time. 
 But as this theory is to be entirely dis- 
 carded it is best to regard it as meaning 
 a limited time. Even Satan realizes 
 that his power is not boundless. He is 
 limited on every side by God's restrain- 
 ing grace. The expression may also 
 find a meaning in the relative shortness 
 of all times in the earthly history even 
 if centuries are embraced. A thousand 
 years God looks upon as we look upon 
 a day (2 Peter 3:9), The vast periods of 
 the creative week are spoken of as days. 
 Satan knows that the coming of the 
 Lord will mean the downfall of his 
 kingdom. His power and malice are 
 permitted for a time. Satan Morks 
 through perversions of the truth, bod- 
 ily passions, national pride, the love of 
 things seen, the persecutions of the 
 saints. He is in fearful earnestness. 
 The same spirit should characterize the 
 chui-ch in its resistance of Satan, in its 
 defense and support of Christ's cause. 
 
 13-17. The flight op the 
 woman into the wilderness. in 
 this passage we have the woman al- 
 luded to in ver, 1 fleeing into the 
 wilderness, where God supports her. 
 Satan pursues her with his malice, 
 trying in vain to destroy her, God 
 surrounds her with his care, aiding 
 her in Jier flight and protecting her. 
 
 13. Dragon . . . earth. This 
 statement binds this passage with ver. 
 9. The New Testament describes Satan 
 as full of wiles, planSj methods. The 
 man-child, Jesus, is in the heavens, 
 at God's right hand. He cannot, 
 therefore, try to seduce or persecute 
 him. But he may tempt his people, 
 and thereby hurt his cause. Satan 
 realized the hurt to his own cause from 
 the resurrection and ascension of Jesus, 
 the final destruction of death and the 
 putting down of sin, the ultimate cmsh- 
 
 ing of himself; a veritable casting- 
 down of himself from the heaven to 
 the earth. Persecuted. John the 
 Baptist was beheaded; Stephen was 
 stoned ; the church was scattered ; 
 James was put to death with the sword ; 
 the course of the early church was 
 marked by blood. Persecutions raged 
 everywhere until A.,D. 324, when the 
 Roman empire became nominally 
 Christian. All through the centuries 
 the truth has been held down by vio- 
 lence. In Holland, in Switzerland, in 
 Italy, in France and Spain, in England, 
 God's saints have been hunted down 
 and destroyed. The closing part of the 
 nineteenth century witnessed persecu- 
 tions from the Turk in Armenia, in 
 Europe the savage treatment of the 
 Stundists from Russia, in South Amer- 
 ica from the Romish Church, in Eng- 
 land the social ostracism from the Es- 
 tablished Church. Woman. This 
 represents the church in its New Testa- 
 ment form, open to the gaze of men. 
 When used at the first (ver. 1) the refer- 
 ence was mainly to the ideal church, 
 the people of God in its Old Testament 
 shape. Satan thought to crush it out 
 in blood. Many distinct persecutions 
 are marked out on the pages of church 
 history. Satan's unwisdom is revealed 
 in this, that persecutions can never kill 
 the truth. It may separate the weak 
 from the strong, it may cripple the 
 power of the church, but it can never 
 permanently injure tlie cause of Christ. 
 14. This verse presents the help 
 given to the church by God. The 
 woman is persecuted, but she is also 
 protected. We learned in ver. 6 of the 
 llight of the woman; here we learn of 
 the fate of the woman . That she might 
 Hee quickly there Avere given unto 
 her two wings of a great eagle, 
 rather, the great eagle. The wings in- 
 dicate the swiftness of escape. The 
 eagle's wings indicate great strength 
 and rapidity of flight. Allusion is 
 made to the eagle's wings in 19 : 3, 4; 
 Deut. 32 : 11, 12; to the protection 
 
270 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 [Ch. XII. 
 
 she might fly f into the wilderness, into 
 her place, where she is nourished i for 
 a time, and times, and half a time, 
 15 from the face of the serpent. And the 
 serpent '■cast out of his mouth water 
 as a flood after the woman, that lie 
 might cause her to be carried away of 
 
 wilderness, unto her place, where she 
 is nourished for a time, and times, and 
 half a time, from tlie face of the ser- 
 15 pent. And the serpent cast out of his 
 mouth water as a river after the wom- 
 an, that he might cause her to be car- 
 
 p n : 3 ; 1 Sam. 23 : 14, 15 ; 1 Kings 19 : 4. 
 
 q 11 : 2 ; Dan. 7 : 25 ; 12 : 7. 
 
 r Isa. 59 : 19 ; Acts 8 : 1. 
 
 afforded by the wings in Ps. 36 : 7; Isa. 
 40 : 31. As a real work of art it would 
 be grotesque to think of a woman sup- 
 plied with an eagle's wings. But the 
 Hebrew mind did not regard at all the 
 artistic representation, but dwelt on the 
 moral teaching involved, that God is 
 granting to his people the means of 
 rapid flight to a place or condition of 
 safety. It is God who gave the wings. 
 Wilderness. The ancient people of 
 God found a refuge, a place of safety 
 in the wilderne.ss after leaving the land 
 of oppression. The term wilderness 
 stands for the opposite of home, the 
 settled life, comfort. It stands for an 
 unsettled condition, discomfort, for suf- 
 fering, a life burdensome, perhaps op- 
 pressed. The place of the church is 
 not apart from men, Jesus forbids this 
 (John 17 ; 15). The monk and the nun 
 are not the types of saint that Jesus 
 makes for the salvation of the world. 
 The church is to be in the world, but 
 not of it. It is to be in the world, an 
 unworldly church. Even while among 
 men, dwelling in the crowded city, the 
 church may be in the wilderness state, 
 protected from being overthrown, yet 
 suffering ills and persecutions. God 
 keeps the dragon from crushing her. 
 She is saved just as if she had fled 
 into a wilderness from the dragon's 
 power. Her place. This is a place 
 appointed by God, arranged in his 
 providence for her. God does not cause 
 persecutions, but he can overrule them 
 for good, and can provide safety during 
 their continuance. The church is safe, 
 for her life is hid with Christ in God, 
 but she is exposed to many ills before 
 the life crowned with glory shall come. 
 Canaan lies beyond the wilderness and 
 Egypt. The church is nourished in 
 the wilderness in like manner as the 
 Israelites were fed with manna from 
 heaven. That same God is the God of 
 the church to-day. He nourishes by 
 supplying inner grace, giving new 
 power to the truth, guarding by his 
 
 providences against too great severities, 
 raising up friends, making even seem- 
 ing ills work out eventual good. In 
 the "Pilgrim's Progress" the fire is 
 sustained by the oil poured in secretly, 
 so that the water poured on cannot 
 extinguish it ; a symbol of God's 
 strengthening help (isa. « : lo). Time 
 . . . time. We have again the fre- 
 quently recurring number ; twelve hun- 
 dred and sixty days (n = 3); forty -two 
 months (n = 2). This period of time, 
 in a book of symbols, cannot be taken 
 literally, nor can it be construed to 
 mean twelve hundred and sixty years, 
 or any definite time. Ever-recurring 
 attempts have been made to fix the 
 limit from which this is to be reckoned, 
 and the limit at which it terminates. 
 All attempts to do this have proved ac- 
 knowledged failures. The expression 
 is symbolic of the broken time of the 
 persecution of God's people. All that 
 is meant to be taught is that it is a 
 period of tribulation indicated there- 
 fore, not by seven, the perfect number, 
 but by half of that number. It is a 
 prediction, not of a definite historical 
 period, but it gives a general outline. 
 They might know that, in a general 
 way, the future for a long time to come 
 would be one of tribulation, fulfilling 
 the Saviour's words (John 16 : 33). 
 
 15. This verse has highly figurative 
 expressions showing the hatred and 
 wiles of Satan. Serpent . . . wo- 
 man, rather, serpent cast out of his 
 mouth after the woman water as a river. 
 Many attempts have been made to find 
 a literal historical meaning for this 
 expression. Fifteen of these attempted 
 solutions will be found in Meyer's com- 
 mentary, such as that the reference is 
 to the danger from the Turks, from the 
 Saracens, the Arian heretics of the 
 early centuries, from the irruption of 
 the horde from the North at the fall of 
 the Roman empire. It is not in accord 
 with the spirit of the book to find such 
 details portrayed. It is misleading, a 
 
Ch. XII.] 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 271 
 
 16 the flood. "And tlie earth helped the 
 woman, and the earth opened her 
 mouth, and swallowed up the flood 
 which the dragon cast out of his 
 mouth. 
 
 17 And the dragon was wroth with the 
 woman, 'and went to make war with 
 
 16 ried away by the river. And the earth 
 helped the woman ; and the earth 
 opened its mouth, and swallowed up 
 the river which the dragon cast out of 
 
 17 his mouth. And the dragon grew 
 angry at the woman ; and he went 
 
 « 2 Tim. i : 18. 
 
 < H : 7 ; 13 : 7 ; Gen. 3 : 15 ; Dan. 7 : 23-26. 
 
 perversion of tlie aim of tlie book, to 
 find minute details of church history 
 recorded beforehand. Tlie stream of 
 water from the serpent's mouth no 
 more designates anything actually oc- 
 curring in the present or the future 
 than the two wings given to the woman 
 with which to escape indicate actual 
 wings. John describes the danger from 
 Satan to the woman under the highly 
 figurative description of a river of 
 water about to engulf her. The same 
 poetical thought is contained in the 
 Old Testament, and would be readily 
 
 Tinderstood (P^. is : 5-n; S2 : 6; 42:8; 
 
 124 : 4). Pressing dangers are here de- 
 scribed under the figure of a flood of 
 waters. It is not indicated under what 
 form these perils would arise. The 
 assaults of the ungodly, with their se- 
 ductions, are often compared to a flood 
 (isa. 59 : 19). Joliii sces In a vision a 
 serpent casting a stream of water out 
 of his mouth, pursuing the woman. 
 To John it would be the acted teaching 
 of Satan's every eifort to crush and 
 ruin the church. This teaching is ex- 
 emplified in every age of the world, 
 under changing forms. 
 
 16. This verse describes the aid ren- 
 dered to the church, the earth . . . 
 mouth. J. A. Smith holds the mean- 
 ing to be that Christianity receives the 
 benefit that comes from a settled order, 
 the civilizations that ensue in time, so 
 that the cour.se of Christianity in the 
 world is helped thereby; the earth, 
 with its wealth, its power, becomes an 
 ally of the cause of Christ. Milligan 
 thinks that the term earth is used in a 
 bad sense, meaning the world of the 
 ungodly that favors a church that is 
 conformed to it in nature. Swete says, 
 " It is not easy to conjecture the exact 
 meaning of the symbol here. But tlie 
 general sense is clear. . . Help would 
 arise from unexpected quarters." It 
 is doubtful if any metaphorical mean- 
 ing can be given to the term. If the 
 danger to the woman were from 
 
 flood of waters, the only way in 
 which safety could come would be 
 from the disappearance of the water, 
 its being swallowed up by the earth. 
 In this way John sees the teaching 
 in the sacred drama, the river dis- 
 appears. In this way, l)y the earth 
 opening its mouth, God vindicated 
 his cause on the earth, swallow- 
 ing the adversaries of Moses (Num. le : 
 30-32). Satan proposes, God disposes. 
 Satan attacks in a way that seemingly 
 will overwhelm the church ; at that 
 critical time God interposes his power. 
 Sennacherib encamped about Jeru- 
 salem ; in the morning one hundred 
 and eighty-five thousand dead men 
 were there. Here, in a figurative way, 
 God opened the mouth of the earth, 
 and the pursuing river was swallowed 
 up. In 1588 tlie Spanish Armada came 
 against England ; the success of this 
 meant for England the crushing out of 
 Protestantism from the entire world. A 
 storm came at an opportune time ; the 
 earth, in a figurative way, opened her 
 mouth, and the waters disappeared. 
 Every century will present illustra- 
 tions of this truth. 
 
 17. The eflect upon the dragon is 
 noted. Was wroth, rather, waxed 
 wroth. He had great wrath in ver. 12, he 
 now waxes wroth with increasing bitter- 
 ness. Satan is not so full of wicked- 
 ness but that he may grow more wicked. 
 There are almost no limits to the 
 growth of both badness and goodness. 
 Each new defeat angers him tlie more. 
 Though the woman is represented as in 
 the wilderness, and though the waters 
 are kept from destroying her, yet she 
 is exposed to Satan's persecutions. No 
 figure of speech can be unduly pressed. 
 The church J so far as her existence is 
 concerned, is safe as if in a wilderness. 
 But she is always in the world deliver- 
 ing her message, and hence is exposed 
 to perils. The wilderness is not so 
 much a place as a condition in which 
 the church exists. Went, rather, went 
 
272 
 
 EEVELATION 
 
 [Ch. XII. 
 
 the remnant of her seed, " which keep 1 
 the commandments of God, and have 
 » the testimony of Jesus Clirist. | 
 
 away to make war with the rest of her 
 seed, who keep the commandments of 
 God, and have tlie testimony of Jesus. 
 
 1 : 2, 9 ; 6 ; 9 ; 20 : 4 ; 1 Cor. 2 : 1 j 1 John 5 : 10. 
 
 away. The members of the church are 
 regarded as the seed, the offspring of 
 the church begotten by it. Two kinds 
 of members are recognized. The rem- 
 uaut, rather, the rest, of her seed are 
 those who stand faithful to Christ and 
 his truth in the integrity of their life 
 and iDclief. These are further defined 
 as those who keep the commaud- 
 inents of God and have, rather, 
 hold, the testimony of Jesus 
 Christ, rather, Jesus. The sad truth, 
 brought out incidentally before, of a 
 division in the church, a faithful and 
 a faithless element, is here plainly noted 
 (3 : 4). To this verse belongs the first 
 clause of chap. XIII, which both the 
 Revised version and all the best MSS 
 favor. And . . .sea, rather, and he 
 stood upon the sand of the sea. The ref- 
 erence is to the dragon. We have the 
 dragon already described as to its form, 
 its nature, and its purpose. We now 
 have his position identified. He stands 
 on the seashore, where the land and 
 the sea meet, that he may bring upon 
 both the woe announced in ver. 12. In 
 Dan. 7 : 2 the sea is declared to be full 
 of tempests making its waters rage. 
 Many interpreters take the sea to mean 
 the restless mass of nations. It may 
 have no special meaning, but may 
 stand simply for one of the elements of 
 which the earth is composed — land and 
 sea. The dragon makes war, instiga- 
 ting it from his own malicious nature. 
 How he excites the war, with what agen- 
 cies he carries it on, this is revealed to 
 us in the next chapter. This chapter 
 opens with a resplendent vision of 
 God's cause ; it closes with the sight of 
 the great and primal foe of God's cause, 
 the dragon, clothed with great might, 
 intelligence, and malice. 
 
 Varying INTERPRETATIONS. Those 
 who accept the early date of this book 
 regard this chapter as fulfilled before 
 the destruction of Jerusalem and the 
 flight of the Christians beyond the 
 Jordan. Barnes and others regard it 
 as fulfilled in the triumph of Chris- 
 tianity in the Roman empire, making 
 
 of the dragon the persecuting empire. 
 For a detailed list of the various mean- 
 ings assigned to the dragon, the man- 
 child, the woman's flight, the war in 
 heaven, the two wings of the great 
 eagle, the flood of water, the rest of 
 her seed, see Weidner, p. 168. 
 
 Peactical Remarks. 
 
 1. The church is a glorious body, the 
 bride of Christ, clothed with light. What 
 the church is in God's sight, and in God's 
 plan, it must strive to be in the actual life 
 (ver. 1). 
 
 2. Bad men exist on the earth by suffer- 
 ance. Back of bad men and bad influ- 
 ences is the personal presence and work 
 of Satan. He has great power, but not un- 
 limited power. One praying man, with 
 God's help, can overcome him (ver. 3). 
 
 3. It requires a great struggle to live the 
 Christian life aright. An evil heart with- 
 in, the seductions of the world, a wily 
 and powerful Satan are against the soul. 
 Satan has a wonderful power, but Jesus is 
 an almighty Saviour. The Lamb can 
 overcome the dragon (ver. 3). 
 
 4. Sin and Satan are vile in their nature. 
 A dragon, a fearful monster, fittingly 
 represents them. All sin, when revealed 
 to itself in the light of God's word, is an 
 ugly thing (ver. 3). 
 
 5. Sin and Satan are destructive in their 
 nature. They tear down, while God 
 builds up. Satan destroyed Eden ; he 
 works disobedience in the heart, wretch- 
 edness in the world, fills up perdition 
 (ver. 4). 
 
 6. Jesus is a tender shepherd for the 
 penitent in spirit. He calls his sheep by 
 name ; he carries the lambs in his bosom. 
 He lays down his life for the sheep. He 
 will not suffer one to perish (ver. 5 ; Matt. 
 11 : 27-31). 
 
 7. Jesus is a ruling Saviour. He can 
 denounce woes upon the ungodly. He 
 will destroy his enemies, and consign to 
 everlasting punishment his inveterate 
 
 , foes (ver. 5). 
 
Ch. XIII.] 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 273 
 
 8. Elijah and Jesus were cared for iu 
 their wilderness hours. God uever loses 
 sight of his people, lie can nourish in 
 all ages by directing the outward life and 
 by giving strength within (ver. 6). 
 
 9. There can be no concord between the 
 good and the evil, between Christ and 
 Satan, between the church and the world. 
 Every Christian is the sworn foe of Satan, 
 and all evil in thought, iu word, in deed 
 (ver. 7). 
 
 10. Jesus cast Satan out. His fall in- 
 volves the fall of his followers and agen- 
 cies. Every Christian must strive to 
 make real, in his own life and age, that 
 which was done in essence by Christ, the 
 dethroning of Satan (ver. 9). 
 
 11. Heaven rejoices when Christ's cause 
 is prospered. Every Christian should so 
 help Christ, and so widen the kingdom 
 that he may add to that joy (ver. 10). 
 
 12. Jesus needs the help of his people 
 to make Christianity a conquering power 
 on the earth. Their testimony must be 
 added to the power of the cross. The 
 church is to be, as it were, a present Christ 
 in the world (ver. 11, 12). 
 
 13. God has not exempted his people 
 from persecution, but he sustains them in 
 it. The dragon seems, at times, to be 
 stronger than God's cause. But as the 
 dead Jesus ascended to the right hand of 
 God, in like manner the cause of Jesus 
 will triumph on the earth (ver. 13). 
 
 14. God preserved Noah when the flood 
 came, he delivered Lot from Sodom, he 
 fed Elijah in the wilderness. In like 
 manner he sustains or delivers his people. 
 God will keep his people, they must keep 
 themselves (ver. 11). 
 
 15. In unthought-of ways Satan attacks 
 God's people. But man's extremities are 
 God's opportunities. God can make the 
 Red Sea open, can interpose so that his 
 own name shall be glorified. If the Lord 
 were not our helper, we should utterly 
 fail (ver. 15, 16). 
 
 16. Satan works through others, through 
 men, books, pictures, customs, society, 
 fashions, amusements, business. He is a 
 master-mind in making war and utilizing 
 agencies for his own purpose. But Je- 
 hovah reigns ; he will laugh at his dis- 
 comfited enemies (Ps. 2). Every Christian 
 may say, "The Lord is my helper "(ver. 17). 
 
 B 
 
 CIIAPTEli XIII 
 
 The second and thikd enemies 
 OF THE CHUKCH. We have, in the 
 preceding chapter, the first great foe of 
 the church, the personal Satan. He is 
 not simply the foe of the church, but 
 he is the in.spirer of other foes. He is 
 a creator of evil and evil agencies. 
 The dragon standing on the seashore 
 may be considered as calling forth 
 these two great enemies portrayed in 
 this chapter. We have in this chapter 
 the agencies by which Satan carries on 
 his warfare against the truth. The 
 great secular world-powers, the force 
 of persecution that has sometimes 
 caused the church almost entirely to 
 disappear from the sight of men, the se- 
 duction of worldliness more potent 
 tlian the fierceness of persecution, these 
 are symbolized under the form of the 
 second beast. There is in the Godhead 
 a trinity — Father, Son, and Spirit. 
 Each one works through another, the 
 Father through the Son, the Son 
 through the Spirit. There is revealed 
 iu these two chapters an anti-trinity, 
 Satan, the first beast, the second beast. 
 These help each other and work 
 through each other. 
 
 The first beast is described as com- 
 posite in nature, satanic, with world- 
 wide power, making war upon God's 
 saints (ver. 1-10); the second beast ap- 
 pears, dragonlike in nature, serving 
 the beast, working wonders, controlling 
 business, the symbolic number, 666 
 (ver. 11-18). Ireuffius regarded the first 
 beast as Antichrist, and the second 
 beast as Antichrist's armour-bearer, 
 the false prophet. Similarly Swete : 
 ' ' In the second beast we have a re- 
 ligious, as in the first a civil, power; 
 he is a false prophet (i6:23; i9:20; 
 20 : 10), who claims a spiritual power 
 which he does not possess, and inter- 
 prets the Divine will iu the interest 
 of the persecuting State. Some an- 
 cient interpreters saw in him the 
 Christian ministry turned to unworthy 
 uses. Such men may be in the back- 
 ground of St. John's thought, but the 
 immediate reference is rather to the 
 pagan priesthood of his own time." 
 But see below where a broader and a 
 far more reaching interpretation is 
 preferred. See also on ver. 11. Con- 
 trast living creatures (* ; 6) with beasts. 
 
274 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 [Ch. XIII. 
 
 The two beasts, the agents of the dragon. 
 13 AND I stood upou the sand of the 
 sea, and saw y a beast rise up out of 
 the sea, »haviug seven heads and ten 
 
 13 AND he stood on the sand of the sea. 
 And I saw a beast coming up out of 
 the sea, having ten horns and seven 
 
 y Dan. 7 : 2, 7, 8, 19-24. 
 
 z 12:3; 17 : 3, 9, 12. 
 
 1-10. The second great enemy 
 OF the chukch. 
 
 1. The first clause of this verse has 
 been considered in connection with the 
 last verse of the preceding chapter. 
 There is here portrayed the appearance 
 of the beast, with a description of his 
 great power, his conquests, his oppo- 
 sition to God. Saw a beast . . . 
 blasphemy, rather, saw a beast com- 
 ing out of the sea, having ten horns 
 and seven heads, and on his horns ten 
 diadems, and upon his heads names 
 of blasjyhemy. This term beast ex- 
 presses, in the fullest sense, the fierce, 
 savage, ugly, bestial nature of this 
 creature. The highest holy beings 
 may be fittingly described as living 
 creatures (* : 6. R- ^•), this is a beast. 
 The creature that John sees is purely 
 and distinctly animal in its entire na- 
 ture. Its appearance is from the sea 
 as that of the second is from the land. 
 Some find in the expression, sea, a 
 metaphorical sense, meaning thereby 
 the mass of surging and restless Gen- 
 tile nations as distinct fi"om the Jewish 
 nation represented by the land. It is 
 doubtful whether the terms sea and 
 land refer to anything but the teaching 
 that Satan makes use of all the forces 
 of the entire world to serve his pur- 
 pose in making war upon God's holy 
 cause. Seven heads and ten horns, 
 rather, teyi horns and seven heads. In 
 the description of tlie dragon (n : s), 
 the order is first the head, then the 
 horns. As this beast arises out of the 
 sea, the horns would naturally be seen 
 first, then the heads. Wliether there 
 is any reason, apart from thi.s, why the 
 order is changed we may not know. 
 It is hazardous to find an express teach- 
 ing in every minute detail, just as it is 
 impossible to find a hidden meaning in 
 every part of a parable. To portray 
 such an animal as this on canvas would 
 be to produce an utterly grotesque, 
 monstrous, and unnatural figure. The 
 Hebrew mind was intent only on the 
 moral meaning conveyed, and was in- 
 different to the artistic eflects. The 
 
 seven and the ten are frequently re- 
 curring numbers; both are combined 
 here as also in the description of the 
 dragon. The seven is everywhere a 
 representation of completeness, deno- 
 ting here that this fierce beast has all 
 the powers that are needful to make of 
 it a perfect beast of its kind, with all 
 the agencies fitted for manifesting its 
 character. Seven denotes a definite 
 perfection for achieving the end of 
 one's being, whether of the Lamb for 
 bis work (5:6), or of Satan for his 
 work (12 : 8). The ten denotes also the 
 same idea, having a special reference 
 to what is worldly, relating to nations, 
 rulers, and things in the ijhysical and 
 outward sphere. Three general lines 
 of interpretation are held as to these 
 symbols. The first regards them purely 
 as symbols, expressing the idea of com- 
 pleteness. Under this theory no in- 
 quiry is made about any definite kings, 
 kingdoms, or countries that are here 
 symbolically represented. What John 
 meant to describe was the general course 
 of the world's organized governments 
 as a foe mighty and bitter to God|s 
 cause and church on the earth. This 
 theory has no place for dates, or dis- 
 tinct emperors and kingdoms. The 
 second finds the meaning in some defi- 
 nite historical statements, in certain 
 specific governments or persons who 
 would be against God's cause. Meyer 
 finds in the ten horns the first ten 
 Roman emperors : Augustus, Tiberius, 
 Caligula, Claudius, Nero, Galba, Otho, 
 Vitellius, Vespasian, and Titus; the 
 seven heads referring to the seven em- 
 perors that had legitimate rule, exclu- 
 ding three who were regarded as usurp- 
 ers, Galba, Otho, and Vitellius. Ewald 
 refers the seven heads to seven Roman 
 emperors ; the ten horns to ten Roman 
 prefects who governed the provinces. 
 There is a very general agreement 
 among interpreters of this class that 
 the reference is to Rome in some form. 
 Some refer it exclusively to pagan 
 Rome, that is, to Rome before its pro- 
 fessed conversion to Christianity, A. D. 
 
Ch. XIII.l 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 275 
 
 horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, 
 and upon his heads the name of » bias- 
 
 heads, and on his horns ten diadems, 
 and on his heads names of blas- 
 
 a n : 3 ; Dan. 7 : 25 ; 2 Tbess. 2 : 3, 4. 
 
 324 ; others refer it to papal Rome ; 
 others include both under tlie one term 
 of Rome, both pagan and papal. The 
 third theory interprets the nieaniug to 
 be mainly symbolical, but as tindiiig 
 illustration and reference to history, 
 asserting that John had in mind at the 
 time distinct historical allusions. The 
 seven heads they explain to mean a 
 definite completeness of power, but 
 also allude to and include seven real 
 and distinct kingdoms or persons. The 
 seven heads refer to seven actual em- 
 pires, or seven distinct forms of the 
 Roman government assumed in suc- 
 cessive periods of time, or to seven 
 great world-powers, such as Llilligan 
 enumerates: the great persecuting 
 powers of the past, the Egyptian, the 
 Assyrian, the Babylonian, the Medo- 
 Persian, the Greek, and the Roman 
 
 Eowers, and some great power yet to 
 e developed. Not all agree, however, 
 in their list of powers ; some separate 
 the Median from the Persian, making 
 the Roman power the seventh. The 
 horns are located either one on eacli 
 head, and a group of three between 
 the heads of all placed on one head, 
 representing thus one head as the head 
 of the beast viewed as a distinct crea- 
 ture, the other six heads being regarded 
 as secondary, subsidiary to the first. It 
 is probable tlaat all the horns were on 
 one head, as manifesting in this man- 
 ner the beast itself, as distinct from the 
 separate heads. The seventh head, 
 with its ten horns, on this view, would 
 be the beast itself. On this matter no 
 one can speak with authority; all is a 
 subject of conjecture. The seven heads, 
 taken in their entirety, express the 
 complete world-power, not from tl\e 
 beginning of the world's history, for 
 John is not looking at the entire course 
 of God's cause in the earth from the 
 first. He is concerned with the cause 
 of Christ, its origin, its struggles, its 
 conquests. It is the cause of redemp- 
 tion that lies as the central thought of 
 this book. The Lamb is the central 
 figure, the one who conquers at last. 
 On his side are arrayed the holy 
 Father, the angels, the saints on earth 
 
 and in heaven, the course and powers 
 of providence. Against him are ar- 
 rayed a personal Satan, with his bad 
 agencies of bad angels, bad men, and 
 the forces portrayed by the two beasts. 
 The vision of John is concerned with 
 that which lias taken place since the 
 advent of Christianity. We are not 
 compelled, therefore, to select any 
 seven distinct world-powers as though 
 John were writing a church history 
 either retrospectively or prophetically 
 revealing the future. If the great 
 world-powers, hostile to the cause of 
 Christ, were less in number or greater 
 in number than seven, it would make 
 no difference in the symbolism. He is 
 dealing with symbols of truths, not 
 with arithmetical numbers. Three 
 great antagonistic forces or threescore 
 could either be fittingly represented 
 by the symbolic seven. Crowns, 
 rather, diadems. These are, as in the 
 case of the dragon, symbols of sover- 
 eignty. In the case of the dragon 
 (13 : s) the diadems were upon the 
 heads, not the horns. What difference 
 in the meaning, if any, this indicates 
 cannot be known. Variations in the 
 minor details of this sacred drama 
 may arise, not to express any diver- 
 gence in the thought, but from a desire 
 for a variety of representation. Nam e 
 of blasphemy, rather, names. It is 
 not made known what these names 
 were. They were doubtless expressive 
 of intense opposition to Christ, making 
 false claims to sovereignty and wor- 
 ship. Jesus is represented as having 
 upon himself the name, "King of 
 kings" (19: '6). The high priest had 
 upon the forehead, "Holiness to the 
 Lord" (Exod. 39 : 30). Christ's worship- 
 ers also had upon their foreheads the 
 mark of Christ's ownership (2 = n ; i ■■ 
 31; li : 1). Jesus alone has a right to 
 absolute sovereignty and worship. 
 Anything denying these claims, or 
 making false claims, on the part of 
 the world-powers, would be an act of 
 blasphemy. One name, perhaps, Avas 
 found on each head. In tne Bible the 
 name stands for and reveals the char- 
 acter. In this case the inner nature 
 
276 
 
 EEVELATION 
 
 [Ch. XIII. 
 
 2 phemy. ''And the beast which I saw 
 was like unto a leopard, and his feet 
 were as the feel of a bear, and his mouth 
 as the mouth of a liou. And <: the 
 dragon * gave him his power, « and his 
 
 3 seat, and great authority. And I saw 
 one of his heads * as it were wounded 
 to death ; and his deadly wound was 
 healed. 
 
 2 phemy ; and the beast which I saw 
 was like a leopard, and his feet as 
 of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth 
 of a lion, and the dragon gave him 
 his power, and his throne, and great 
 
 3 authority ; and [I saw] one of his 
 heads as it were smitten to death. 
 And his death-stroke was healed ; and 
 all the earth wondered after the beast. 
 
 5 Dan. 7 : 4-7. 
 
 c 12 : 9. 
 
 / Ver. 12,14; 17:10. 
 
 stood expressed in the outward life, 
 an open and avowed antagonism to 
 Christ. 
 
 2. This verse describes the beast 
 more particularly. Tlie foundation for 
 this description is found in Dan. 7 : 16. 
 In Daniel's description four beasts 
 arise out of the sea, having respectively 
 the form of the lion, the bear, the 
 leopard, and a fourth beast not defi- 
 nitely described, having ten horns. 
 These represent four kingdoms to arise, 
 hostile to God, the Babylonian, the 
 Persian, the Median, the Grecian, or 
 in a differing combination the Medo- 
 Persian and the Roman. Daniel in- 
 dividualizes the hostile powers; John 
 combines them into one beast, having 
 the distinctive features of each of 
 Daniel's beasts. The qualities repre- 
 sented are cruelty and rapacity ; the 
 swift and cruel movements of the 
 leopard, the dull but savage motions of 
 the bear, the mastering cruelty of the 
 lion. To this beast the dragon gives his 
 power, making it his vicegerent, his 
 main agency in the world. He bestows 
 upon him three things, his power, his 
 throne, his right to use the power and 
 the throne. Power. Satan olfered 
 to Jesus his great power (Matt. 4 : 9), but 
 Jesus refused. Satan now proposes to 
 make use of worldly agencies to do his 
 will. He, therefore, bestows upon it 
 his power — great, malignant, personal. 
 In the Scriptures Satan is not a figure 
 of speech, but a real power in the 
 world. Jesus is represented by the 
 woman, pure, tender, lovel.v (12 : 6) ; 
 Satan is represented by the wild beast. 
 This power is exhibited in its control 
 over life and freedom (ver. 11) ; over the 
 business of men (ver. n). Seat, rather, 
 throne. Satan is the god of this world 
 (2 Cor. 4:4); a priuce of this world 
 (John 14:30). Authority. Here is 
 conferred the right to use his power for 
 carrying out the will of the dragon. 
 
 In the wide realm of nations, of worldly 
 power, of man's beliefs, Satan works 
 through the beast. This beast has, as 
 it were, a throne and great power. 
 How John sees the transfer made we 
 are not informed ; it may have been 
 done in a symbolic way. This 
 beast, seven-headed, ten-horned, and 
 crowned, uses its power to suppress 
 the rising and spread of the truth 
 whereby Jesus would get hold of the 
 world, for this would take it out of the 
 grasp of Satan and make the world 
 Christ's kingdom. Satan has always 
 inspired the world's kingdoms to a 
 hatred of God's cause. Jesus spoke of 
 the hostility that would arise against 
 
 his followers (John 16 : 2). 
 
 3. This verse describes a wound re- 
 ceived by the beast, and its subsequent 
 recovery. Wounded unto death, 
 rather, smitten. The word rendered 
 smitten means, in reality, slain or 
 slaughtered. It is a word used eight 
 times in this book, and is elsewhere 
 always rendered slain. It must be so 
 understood in this passage, (comp. the 
 same word in 5 : 6. ) One of the heads had 
 been killed, but had lived again 
 through tlie healing of the wound. 
 Various interpretations are given. 
 Many refer this to the Emperor Nero, 
 the fifth emperor, who, according to a 
 rumor in the early centuries, had dis- 
 appeared, but would, in time, reappear 
 and enter on his old life of cruelty. 
 By a comparison with 17 : 10, it is stated 
 that Nero had fallen at the time of the 
 writing of the Apocalypse. Won- 
 dered. This word means more than 
 it asserts ; it means a following after, 
 while at the same time amazement 
 fills the mind. External power, the 
 splendor of government, the promises 
 of success, these attract men and hold 
 their hearts. The mind is being 
 blinded, led captive by Satan to do 
 his will. John elsewhere de.scribes the 
 
Ch. XIII.] 
 
 ^lEVELATION 
 
 277 
 
 4 And sail the world wondered after 
 the beast. And i" they worshipped the 
 dragon which gave power uuto the 
 beast : and they worshipped the beast, 
 
 5 saying, 'Who is like unto the beast? 
 who is able to make war with him? 
 And there was given uuto him i' a 
 mouth speaking great things and blas- 
 
 ghemies ; and power was given unto 
 im to continue ' forty and two months. 
 
 4 And they worshiped the dragon, be- 
 cause he gave his authority to the 
 beast; and they worshiped the beast, 
 saying, Who is like the beast, and who 
 
 5 is able to make war with him? And 
 there was given to him a mouth speak- 
 ing great things and blasphemies ; and 
 authority was given him to work forty- 
 
 g 17:8; 2 Thess. 2 : 9-12. h 2 Thess. 2:4. i Isa. 40 : 25. 
 
 k Dan. 7 : 8, 25 ; 11 : 36. J 11 : 2, 3 ; 12 : 6. 
 
 real condition of the world as dark- 
 ness (1 John 5 : 19). 
 
 4. Wo rshipped. There is no 
 avowedly devil worship among men. 
 Men do not avowedly bow down before 
 Satan and do him homage. But caring 
 for those things which Satan suggests 
 and devises among men to defeat God's 
 purposes, tliis is, in reality, to be a 
 worshiper of Satan. God is a jealous 
 God, desiring his will to be supremely 
 followed. Dragon Avhich gave, 
 rather, dragon because he gave. Who 
 is like uuto the beast? These 
 words seem a kind of mocking parody 
 upon the words of praise rendered in 
 many Old Testament passages (isa- <o = 
 
 K; 44:7; Pb. 35 : 10 ; Micah 7:8). The 
 
 power of Satan intrenched in tlie 
 thrones of kingdoms, in the policies 
 of men, in the power of wealth, in 
 the attractions of society, in customs 
 that had in them the power of cen- 
 turies, these things seemed invincible 
 and invulnerable. Wlio could cope 
 with such a power ? The twelve hum- 
 ble men associated with Jesus, himself 
 an inhabitant of an obscure village, 
 can do nothing seemingly to overthrow 
 the organized supremacy of Satan. 
 The one hundred and twenty, meeting 
 in an upper room (Acts i : is) with a 
 crucified Nazarene as their sovereign 
 Lord, with unattractive and repulsive 
 teachings as their cardinal utterances, 
 the sinfulness of tlie heart, the neces- 
 sity of the new heart, the utter subjec- 
 tion to a holy Christ, an eternal ban- 
 ishment from God as the penalty for 
 unforgiven sin — with such teachings it 
 seemed as though they could never 
 succeed. They could not succeed in a 
 world where the beast held sway had 
 it not been for God's indwelling power. 
 There is a plain contrast here between 
 the beast and the Lamb. Both alike 
 are sent, the one by the Father, tlie 
 
 other by Satan ; both have authority 
 given to them ; both have a death and 
 a resurrection (ver. 3); both are followed 
 by a great multitude of worshipers ; 
 both have a sway not limited by natu- 
 ral boundaries. The beast is that por- 
 traiture of the world spoken of by the 
 Saviour in John 17 : 15, 16. 
 
 5. This verse finds a foundation in 
 Dan. 7 : 8. The world-power under 
 the influence of the dragon's spirit 
 speaks in a boastful and irreverent way. 
 Assyria blasphemed God in making 
 claims that in reality denied God's 
 sovereignty (isa. 37 : 23). The Roman 
 emperors blasphemed God in claiming 
 a universal dominion, in giving divine 
 names to the city, to the emperor, to 
 the empire. The beast makes great 
 pretensions. This takes place prac- 
 tically to-day, when the civil powers 
 arrogate to themselves authority over 
 the conscience, occupying the place that 
 the Scriptures and the conscience alone 
 should occupy. Forty-two months. 
 This expression has already been found 
 in 11 : 2, 3 ; 12 : 6, 14. The expression 
 is always an indication of disaster, of a 
 time of sorrow for the church, a time 
 of seeming success for Satan's power 
 and reign. It is the broken and in- 
 complete period of time in which Satan 
 holds sway. By its very form, the 
 half of the perfect symbol, seven, it 
 shows that the triumph of the beast 
 will not be complete and enduring. It 
 is reserved for Jesus, the rightful Lord, 
 to reign in triumph forever, to resume 
 his rightful authority as representing 
 God (11 : n). Continue. It is im- 
 plied by this term that a limit comes 
 to his power among men. Satan and 
 all his power are to be restrained and 
 ultimately destroyed. It is not to be 
 understood that God is helpless in the 
 presence of the beast, or that he can- 
 not destroy or control it. God permits 
 
278 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 [Ch. XIII. 
 
 6 And he opened his mouth in blasphemy 
 against God, to blaspheme his name, 
 " and his tabernacle, " and them that 
 
 7 dwell in heaven. And it was given 
 unto him » to make war with the saints, 
 and to overcome them : r and power 
 was given him over all kindreds, and 
 
 8 tongues, and nations. lAnd all that 
 dwell upon the earth shall worship 
 
 6 two months. And he opened his mouth 
 in blasphemies against God, to blas- 
 pheme his name, and his tabernacle, 
 
 7 those who tabernacle in heaven. And 
 it was given him to make war with the 
 saints, and to overcome them ; and au- 
 thority was given him over every tribe, 
 and people, and tongue, and nation. 
 
 8 And all who dwell on the earth will 
 
 m 21 : 3 ; John 1 : 14 ; Col. 1 : 19 ; 2:9; Heb. 9 : 11. 
 11 : T ; 12 : 17 ; Dan. 7 : 21, 25. p 11 : 18 ; 17 : 15. 
 
 n Heb. 12 : 22, 23. 
 q 1 John 5 : 19. 
 
 evil to have large sway in its develop- 
 ment, in revealing its true nature and 
 its unwisdom. In time the beast will 
 be destroyed (i9 : 20). 
 
 6. This verse further explains the 
 preceding. Opened his mouth. 
 This has reference to a full and formal 
 reproach against God ; it is distinct 
 from a merely casual blasphemy. 
 Blasphemy, rather, blasphemies. 
 Name. This refers to the person of 
 God, represented by his name. He 
 attacks God by assuming a power and 
 authority that rightfully belong to God 
 only. He utters a twofold blasphemy 
 against God and his home, ■which really 
 is his people. Tabernacle . . . 
 heaven, rather, tabernacle, even them 
 that divellin heaven. God's dwelling- 
 place is really in his people, they con- 
 stitute his tabernacle. Paul declares 
 that the people of Christ make the real 
 temple (1 Cor. 3:i6). Heaven, as the 
 assumed especial dwelling-place of 
 God, is not looked up to in prayer and 
 reverence. God's saints on the earth 
 are misrepresented and abused, they 
 are described as those neglecting their 
 best interests here for the sake of a 
 God and a future life that no one liv- 
 ing has seen. Heaven. The reference 
 may not be to angels so much as to 
 Christ's people dwelling in the unseen 
 life, who are looked upon as having 
 thrown away their lives by neglect- 
 ing the pleasures and gains of the 
 present life. A saintly life is regarded 
 as foolish and unreasonable by men 
 ■whose portion is in this life. In this 
 way Moses, Joseph, and Judson were 
 looked upon as throwing away their 
 lives. Satan will accomplish his ends 
 if he can produce a dislike for God and 
 the holy life. 
 
 7. Given unto him. To Jesus 
 was given all authority by the Father 
 (Matt. 28 : 18). Here the given means 
 
 more than the permission by God ; it 
 is given by the dragon who, in great 
 malice, reigns over the world. He 
 persecuted the woman (12 = is). This 
 power is now transferred to the beast 
 as the representative of the dragon. 
 How often and how savagely the gov- 
 ernments of the earth have made war 
 upon and seemingly crushed the saints ! 
 In the Middle Ages among the Walden- 
 ses, in Judson's prison pen at Ava, in 
 many smaller and unnoticed ways to- 
 day, God's holy ones are outwardly 
 overcome. Power, rather, authority. 
 A fourth time in this passage (ver. 5-7) 
 the term given is employed. In every 
 case the reference is to the dragon who 
 acts as a king among men in oppo- 
 sition to God. Kindreds ... na- 
 tions, rather, tribe, people, tongue, 
 and nation. This fourfold description 
 denotes the world-wide and universal 
 character of his reign. It is evident 
 that the allusion cannot be to Kome or 
 to any distinct historical power; the 
 terms are too wide-reaching for such a 
 representation. The beast of despot- 
 ism, unhindered by considerations of 
 love or mercy, oppressive to body and 
 free thought, opposed to piety and the 
 spiritual life, is everywhere an ally of 
 Satan. The given must be interpreted 
 of Satan conferring his power, as a real 
 Antichrist, upon the beast. In the 
 empires of antiquity, in the vast Roman 
 empire, in the larger part of the world 
 to-day, men must conform their inner- 
 most beliefs, not to the revealed will of 
 God, but to certain outward standards 
 and tests, under penalties. The Stun- 
 dists in Russia and the Christians in 
 Armenia suffer from the beast. 
 
 8. This verse reveals the world's 
 worship of the beast spoken of in ver. 
 3. The ungodly are described under 
 the expression, dwell upon the 
 earth. The godly are described in 
 
Ch, XIIL] 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 279 
 
 him, 'whose names are not written iu 
 the book of life of the Lamb slain 
 "from the foundation of the world. 
 9 «If any man have an ear, let him 
 10 hear. " He that leadeth into captivity 
 shall go into captivity : » he that killcti) 
 with the sword must be killed with the 
 
 worship him, whose names are not 
 written in the book of life of the 
 Lamb who is slain from the founda- 
 9 tiou of the world. If any one has an 
 10 ear, let him hear. If any one is for 
 captivity, into captivity he goes ; if 
 any one shall kill with the sword, with 
 the sword he must be killed. Here is 
 
 3:5; 21 : 27 ; Exod. 32 : 32 ; Dan. 12:1; Phil. .4:3. « 17 ; 8 ; 1 Peter 1 : 19, 20. 
 
 (2:7; Matt. 11 : 15. u Isa. 11 : 2 ; 33 : 1. x Geu. 9:6; .Matt. 26 : 52. 
 
 the words tabernacle in the heaven (^er- 
 6). There is a wide contrast between 
 the two. There is never a time when 
 there are no godly people on tlie earth, 
 there is always a remnant worshiping 
 God (12 : 17). They have been spoken 
 of before under the terms of the two 
 witnesses (u:3); under the figure of 
 the inner court and the true worshiper 
 (11 : 1). Those living the true life are 
 those belonging to the Lamb ; they 
 bear a personal relation to him ; on ac- 
 count of their relation to Jesus they 
 have eternal life through him; their 
 names are enrolled in a book, written 
 as it were ; it is through the sacrifice of 
 the Lamb that their names have been 
 enrolled and they have been kept in 
 safety. Slain. Et was the purpose of 
 God from eternity that Jesus should be 
 an offering for sin, from the founda- 
 tion of the world. Because it was 
 in God's mind that Jesus should be a 
 slain Lamb for the sins of men, all 
 who believed in God before the advent 
 of Jesus were saved for liis sake. lie 
 is a Saviour whose merits and .saving 
 power extend through all the ages, both 
 before and after the coming of Christ 
 (Heb. 9 : 15). He is the eternally slain 
 Lamb. These enrolled in the book of 
 life are kept from the delusions of 
 Satan, are kept from the false worship. 
 Nothing can harm the man whose life 
 is hid with Christ in God ; the outward 
 life may be destroyed, but the man 
 himself will be preserved in safety. 
 There is a keeping power on the part 
 of God (Johu i':ii); there must be 
 watchfulness on the part of tlie dis- 
 ciple (Johu 10 : 5), The moral life of 
 the world cent€rs about two poles, the 
 worship of the true God and the wor- 
 ship of Satan. The knowledge of the 
 one brings eternal life ; the only heaven 
 of the other is a hell. _ The Lamb 
 passed through per.'^etmtions here to 
 the glory at God's right hand, and has 
 
 in charge the book of eternal life. In 
 like manner the followers of the Lamb 
 may be .slain, but in the end they will, 
 like their Redeemer, be safely housed 
 in the upper taberqacle. Their present 
 oppressor will be cast into the lake of 
 fire (20 : 10). The passage is strongly 
 helpful and consolatory to the strug- 
 gling child of God. At the close of 
 the vision, or visible parable, of the 
 first beast occurs a note of warning 
 and counsel (^er. 9, 10). 
 
 9. Frequently in the earthly min- 
 istry of Jesus attention was called, in 
 this way, to some difficult thought 
 {.Matt. 13 : 9). The samc method is em- 
 ployed by the ascended Jesus at the 
 close of each of the messages to the 
 churches (chap. 11, iii). There are times 
 when special attention is needed to 
 understand the message sent from God. 
 The succeeding passage will have in it 
 some weighty thought, having special 
 reference to their condition. 
 
 10. He . . . captivity, rather. If 
 any one is for captivity, into captivity 
 he goeth. Two interpretations are pos- 
 sible. It may be a word of comfort to 
 the tortured believer that, in time, 
 God's retributive power will be mani- 
 fest in giving to the men who now send 
 God's saints into captivity a like pun- 
 ishment, a captivity fearful and unend- 
 ing. A better interpretation is the 
 following: the Christian must submit 
 cheerfully to the sorrows and disap- 
 pointments of the present evil state. 
 If any one is set apart, destined, in 
 God's permissive providence, and in 
 Satan's purposing, to go into captivity, 
 into captivity he will go. He . . . 
 killed, rather, if any one shall kill 
 with the sioord, with the sword shall he 
 be killed. This is an exhortation to 
 suffer even death patiently, knowing 
 that, in time, God will reward with a 
 righteous judgment the men persecu- 
 ting Christ's people. It is an appeal tc 
 
280 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 [Ch. XIII. 
 
 sword. T Here is the patience and the 
 faith of the saints. 
 11 And I beheld another beast '■ coming 
 up out of the earth ; »and he had two 
 
 the patience and the faith of the 
 saints. 
 11 And I saw another beast coming up 
 out of the earth ; and he had two 
 
 14 : 12 i Isa. 30 : 15 ; Lam. 3 : S6 ; Hab. 2:3; Luke 12 : 32 ; Heb. 3:6; James 5:7,8. 
 
 z 11 : 7. 
 
 a Matt. 7 : 15 ; 2 Cor. 11 : 13-15. 
 
 God's people to conquer by patience, 
 by longsufferiug, by self-restraint. 
 There is, of course, a time when God's 
 people may rightfully resist both op- 
 pressive civil power and also oppres- 
 sion on the rights of conscience. But 
 the general spirit of the Christian must 
 1)6 to win a way for Christ in the world 
 by humility, longsuflfering, and godly 
 living. There is a call for patience 
 which means the steadfast standing up 
 under constant persecution, a patience 
 kept alive and made strong only by a 
 faith in a living Christ. There is a 
 victory that comes through _ faith (i 
 John 5:4). Days of persecution have 
 often been times of refreshing from the 
 Lord, times of enlargement for the 
 church, of the refining of the Christian 
 character, and the means of winning 
 tribute from the world itself. The 
 Lamb will, in the end, overcome the 
 dragon and the beast; the cross will 
 do more than the seven heads and ten 
 horns. We have now seen the great 
 enemy of Christ, the dragon ; the 
 second great enemy of Christ, the first 
 beast coming out of the sea, clothed 
 with Satan's power, sitting on his 
 throne, wielding his scepter. In the 
 rapid unfolding of the foes of the 
 chui'ch, the third great enemy is now 
 to appear. 
 
 11-18. The second beast emer- 
 ging FROM the land. We have a 
 threefold opposition to the Redeemer 
 and his cause : a dragon (^ : 3); a beast 
 arising from the sea (''er. i); a beast 
 issuing from the land (ver. ii). The 
 pathway to a triumph of the Redeem- 
 er's cause is beset by all possible oppo- 
 sitions. In the life of the Saviour 
 there was a constant temptation by 
 Satan himself (Luke 4 : la). There was 
 also a strong popular hatred, the op- 
 position of the leaders of the Pharisees 
 and Sadducees, tlie mighty power of 
 the Roman authorities. What took 
 place in Christ's life is repeated, in all 
 ages, against the Redeemer's church. 
 "The first beast is openly a fierce and 
 aggressive enemy, persecuting the 
 
 woman. The second beast, an ally of 
 the first, is far difi'erent, more specious, 
 less open, but none the less satanic. 
 If Satan cannot gain his ends by open 
 and fierce hostility, if he cannot crush 
 the church in bloodshed, he may gain 
 his ends by false methods, by decep- 
 tion. This is the method about to be 
 revealed. 
 
 11. And I beheld another beast, 
 rather, saw. It is a beast in the full 
 meaning of that term, implying that 
 it is savage, bestial in nature. The 
 four creatures representing the highest 
 intelligences, are called in the Revised 
 version living creatures, endowed with 
 the highest forms of life; the oppo- 
 nents of God are utterly diflerent, and 
 can be symbolized only by beasts. It 
 is another beast, like the first beast in 
 its nature, its aim, characterized by 
 the same spirit. In its inner nature it 
 is not a lamb, which stands as a symbol 
 of Christ ; not a woman pure, clothed 
 in white, representing the church, but 
 a beast. In Daniel the beasts rep- 
 resent the great world-powers that 
 would arise one after the other (cao, 7). 
 The source of this beast is from the 
 earth ; in like manner the first 
 beast sprang from the sea (^er. 1). It 
 is contended by some that the sea 
 represents the great mass of ungodly, 
 Gentile nations ; that the earth, there- 
 fore, stands for the Jewish nation, 
 God's prophetic and priestly people. 
 On this view, the beast is a religious 
 rather than a secular enemy. It is 
 doubtful whether this interpretation is 
 valid ; it is more likely that the two 
 termSj sea and earth, are introduced as 
 denoting the entire world as made use 
 of by Satan to fight against God's 
 cause. There may also be the implied 
 teaching that the source of Satan's 
 opposition is earthly in its origin ; his 
 agencies are all earth-born. Jesus is 
 from heaven, his foes are of the earth 
 (jobn 8 : 23), The Woman, the bride of 
 Christ, appears in the skies; the foes 
 of the church are earth-born, opposite 
 in their origin as in their nature from 
 
Ch. XIII.] 
 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 
 
 
 
 281 
 
 homs like a lamb, 
 
 and 
 
 >> he spake as a | horns like 
 
 a lamb, 
 
 and 
 
 he 
 
 spoke 
 
 as a 
 
 b Dan. 11 : 21, 24. 
 
 all that belongs to Christ and his 
 church. Some have inferred that in- 
 asmuch as the sea is the image of rest- 
 lessness, and the earth the symbol of 
 a settled order and stability, that it 
 is here taught that the second beast 
 comes into being in a time of settled 
 order; a time of stability that comes 
 from centuries of civilization, in a 
 time far later than the first. It is 
 true that, in order of time, the second 
 beast appears after the first, succeeding 
 it in time and subordinate to it in ac- 
 tion ; but this may not be inferred from 
 the terms here used. The appearance 
 of the beast is described, also its na- 
 ture. The two do not correspond in 
 their outward symbolism. It has two 
 horns like a Iamb. We are not 
 to infer that because it has only two 
 horns it, therefore, has less power than 
 the first beast, which had ten horns. 
 Nor is it taught by this symbolism that 
 it has less power than the Redeemer, 
 the Lamb with seven horns (^ : «). In- 
 tended to represent before men, in a 
 deceptive way, a lamblike nature and 
 address, the beast naturally has an out- 
 ward appearance to correspond with 
 this purpose. The number two itself 
 may be symbolical, as were the two 
 witnesses in 11 : 3. The two witnesses 
 stood for all the witnessing forces of 
 the Redeemer upon the earth ; in like 
 manner here as this beast speaks, wit- 
 nesses for the first beast, the two horns 
 may represent all those who sympathize 
 with this teaching and_ help the beast 
 in its witnessing. It is a beast with 
 lamblike horns, intended to create the 
 impression upon the minds of men 
 that it is lamblike in its nature, harm- 
 less, gentle, with no hint of persecu- 
 tion or harm to the church. Its two 
 horns are two lies. In its external ap- 
 pearance the first beast is openly auti- 
 christian ; in its external appearance 
 the second beast is not openly anti- 
 christian, but is seen to be really such 
 when its character is made apparent. 
 By its speech it gives indication of 
 what it is. It is therefore a speaking, 
 reasoning, witnessing creature ; a sym- 
 bol of human thought, human teach- 
 ing prophesying in all forms. The 
 
 first beast represents force, world-wide 
 power; this represents intelligence, 
 reason ; it speaks. From this beast 
 come perverted religious teachings, 
 corrupt doctrines, heresies, false views 
 of God and man. Some false teach- 
 ings have wrought more havoc to the 
 church and the truth than the most 
 violent persecutions. The speech re- 
 veals the character, the dragon within 
 (Matt. 12 ; 37). Thcrc is a wide contrast 
 between the seemiijg appearance and 
 the inner reality, between the lamb 
 and the dragon. There is hypocrisy 
 united with the savage spirit, more to be 
 dreaded than the first beast, which was 
 openly in the service of Satan. The 
 devil is most to be feared when he 
 comes dressed in white (scor. ii:u). 
 The two lamblike horns are the asser- 
 tion, on its part, that its power will be 
 used in a gentle way, suited to a peace- 
 ful, settled state of things. The first 
 and second beasts are alike: (1) In their 
 hostility to God and his cause, inas- 
 much as both are declared to be beasts. 
 (2) They are seemingly unlike in their 
 origin, the one springing from the sea, 
 the other from the land ; but both alike 
 arising from the world, the opposite of 
 heaven ; both alike worldly in origin 
 and spirit. (3) They are both satanic 
 in character and conduct. The first 
 beast is subservient to the dragon, the 
 second beast is subservient to the first 
 beast. The god of both is the dragon. 
 They are unlike in two respects: (1) 
 As to appearance one is entirely beast- 
 like ; the other is apparently lamb- 
 like, both having the beast nature. 
 (2) As to methods of working, the 
 second beast is persuasive, reasoning, 
 using influence to induce men to wor- 
 ship the first bea.st. It is not persecu- 
 tion that is made use of, but persuasion. 
 It is not meant that in his teaching he 
 said that he was a servant of the dragon ; 
 this would be to defeat his purpose. 
 But his teaching was essentially anti- 
 christian in its spirit, and tended, 
 therefore, to build up Satan's king- 
 dom. A sermon, if opposed to the teach- 
 ing of Christ, addressed to a Chris- 
 tian as.serably, may do more harm 
 than an openly announced atheistic 
 
282 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 [Ch. XIII. 
 
 12 dragon. 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, 
 
 13 whose deadly wound was healed. And 
 *he doeth great wonders, «so that he 
 maketh fire come down from heaven 
 
 12 dragon. And he exercises all the au- 
 thority of the first beast in his sight, 
 and causes the earth and those who 
 dwell therein to worship the first beast, 
 
 13 whose death-stroke was healed. And 
 he does great signs, so that he makes 
 tire even come down out of heaven on 
 
 16 : 14 ; Deut. 13 : 1-3. 
 
 e 1 Kings 18 : 38 ; 2 Kings 1 : 10, 12. 
 
 discourse. Under the cover of the 
 lamb's appearance there is the dragon 
 utterance ; it has thus opportunity to 
 do tlie greater harm. Satan is full 
 of wiles. 
 
 12. Having seen the form and na- 
 ture of the second beast, we now see the 
 putting forth of his power. Exerci- 
 seth . . . power, rather, authority. 
 The two beasts do not follow each other 
 in such a manner that one disappears 
 when the other comes on the stage of 
 vision. In vision John sees both beasts 
 at the same time. They work con- 
 jointly ; they have the same aim and 
 spirit. It has its own function as 
 teacher, it acts as a prophet of and for 
 the world ; this is its special work as 
 distinct from the first beast. Then, in 
 addition to this, it exercises the power 
 of the first beast using the world-powers 
 for compulsion, for persecution. The 
 lamblike, two-horned beast becomes, 
 in its effects, the ten-horned beast. 
 Before him. This means in the 
 presence of the first beast, in his sight. 
 Everything about the second beast is 
 a kind of mockery of divine things. It 
 is " before God " that the Son, the Holy 
 Spirit, the angels, the saved in heaven, 
 stand and serve (i = * ; 3:5; 7 : is). The 
 second beast exercises authority in the 
 presence of the first, for the sake of 
 the first, with po\yer conferred by the 
 first. It is his delight to serve the first 
 beast, to do his will. He is a kind of 
 god to the second beast. The effect of 
 his authority is seen in this: He 
 causeth . . , beast, rather, maketh. 
 In ver. 4 we see all the world worship- 
 ing the beast and ascribing praise to 
 him. Here we have that world-wide 
 worship, to some extent, explained. It 
 is through the influence of this beast 
 that that homage is rendered. What- 
 ever the speech maybe (ver. ii)^ whether 
 it be unsound and perverted teaching 
 as to religious truth, or the teachings 
 of science, culture, and false philos- 
 ophy, "the science falsely so-called" 
 
 (2 Tim. 6 : 20); whatever the teaching be, 
 this beast persuades men to follow the 
 first beast, follow the principles and 
 power of worldliness, materialism, the 
 unspiritual life. The beast is essen- 
 tially worldly. Earth . . . dAvell 
 therein. The allusion is to the 
 •worldly minded people ; those whose 
 home is on the earth ; men who do not 
 live in an upward and heavenly way. 
 There are some who are true to God ; 
 these have their dwelling-place in 
 God's tabernacle (^cr. 6). 
 
 13. This verse gives one method of 
 his persuasive power. Wonders, 
 rather, sigits. The word rendered signs 
 is commonly used in the Kew Testa- 
 ment for the wonderful works of Christ. 
 John sees this in vision. Inasmuch as 
 it is seen in vision, there is no proof 
 that the appearance indicates a real 
 miracle. They appear to be real to 
 the sight, and are therefore spoken of 
 in this way. As the beast is called in 
 the next verse a deceiver, it is alto- 
 gether probable that the signs here 
 spoken of are deceptive in their ap- 
 pearance, and are, in reality, lying 
 wonders. Statements are elsewhere 
 made that Satan has great power to 
 present false signs and deceptive mani- 
 festations (2 Thess. 2:9; Matt. 24 : 24). The 
 
 sign here spoken of is an imitation of 
 the miracle found in 2 Kings 1 : 10-12, 
 the calling of fire down from heaven. 
 Maketh . . . heaven, rather, even 
 makes fire to come down out of heaven. 
 In many ages parties have claimed to 
 work miracles in support of false be- 
 liefs. The second beast seemingly 
 claims a wonderful sanctity and power 
 with God, asserting its ability to make 
 nature bear testimony to the truth of 
 its teachings. It claims to be a prophet. 
 Those who regard the second beast as 
 the symbol of the world's culture, dei- 
 fying nature and liumanity, make these 
 signs refer to great achievements in 
 nature, and its lofty pretensions seem- 
 ing to rival the real witnesses of God's 
 
Ch. XIIT.] 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 283 
 
 14 on the earth in the sight of men, and 
 'deceiveth them ethat dwell on the 
 earth i" by the means of those miracles 
 which he had power to do in the sight 
 of the beast ; saying to them that d well 
 on the earth, that they should make 
 Ian image to the beast, which had the 
 
 15 wound by a sword, and did live. And 
 he had power to give life unto the 
 image of the beast, that the image of 
 the beast should both speak, I'and 
 
 14 the earth, in the sight of men ; and he 
 leads astray those who dwell on the 
 earth, because of the signs whicli it 
 was given him to do in the sight of the 
 beast; saying to those who dwell on 
 the earth, that they should make an 
 image to the beast, which has the 
 
 15 stroke of the sword, and lived. And 
 it was given him to give breath to the 
 image of the beast, tnat the image of 
 the beast should both speak, and cause 
 
 / 12 : 9 ; 19 : 20. 
 
 g Vur. 8. ft 2 Thess. 2 : 9, 10. 
 
 J; 16: 2; 19 : 20: 20: 4; Dan. 3: 7. 
 
 i 14 ; 9, 11 ; 15 : 2. 
 
 truth and the expression of his will 
 to men. 
 
 14. His appearance is deceptive, 
 having the lamb appearance and the 
 dragon nature. It is not wonderful 
 that he deceiveth them that dwell 
 on the earth. The very essence of 
 Satan and sin is deception. It has been 
 so from the first (Geu. 3 : 5, 7). Satan is, 
 by nature, a liar (Joim s : u). There is 
 false teaching on the part of those rep- 
 resented by the beast (Matt. 24:24). 
 Jesus Christ is the truth, his words 
 will not fail when men trust in them 
 and build on them (Marn 13 : 31). The 
 means of this deception are indicated : 
 by the means . . . beast, rather, 
 by reason of the signs which it was 
 given to him to do in the sight of the 
 beast. These signs are not to be re- 
 garded as signs at all comparable with 
 those wrought by Jesus in confirmation 
 of his own Sonship and the truth of 
 his declarations, but rather deceptive 
 appearances, a mocking likeness of the 
 true signs. Jesus brought life and 
 immortality to light through his res- 
 urrection ; spiiritualism, with its seem- 
 ing wonders in defense of another life, 
 has in reality drawn men away from 
 Christ and the Scriptures. Giveth. 
 This refers to his acting as a deputy of 
 the first beast, who himself is a deputy 
 of Satan. There is a permission from 
 God even to this false beast, but the 
 allusion here is to the imparting of 
 power by Satan. God permits even 
 when he does not approve. Satan 
 grants power and approves of wicked- 
 ness. There is given here a specific 
 illustration of his deceptive teaching. 
 Saying . . . dwell on earth, re- 
 lerring to the worldly minded people 
 of the earth. Make an image to 
 the beast. Some find in the terra 
 image a historical reference to the 
 
 image of the Ciesar, the Roman em- 
 peror, which men were compelled to 
 worship. This is Alford's view. Be- 
 fore this image Christian martyrs were 
 brought to the test, and put to death if 
 they refused to perform acts of wor- 
 ship. Satan is the direct antithesis of 
 Jesus — the embodiment and incarna- 
 tion of the principle of evil. The first 
 beast represents Satan, receives his 
 power. The image of the first beast, 
 the ungodly world-power, is the em- 
 bodiment, as if it were a living thing, 
 of the spirit of the first beast. The 
 false prophet, whether church and 
 priesthood, or learning and culture, 
 teaches that men should worship and 
 serve the spirit of this world. That 
 which the Saviour denominated by the 
 term world (Johu le ; 33); that against 
 which Paul urged Christians to be on 
 their guard (Kom. 12 : 2); the great secu- 
 lar world-power, finding its completest 
 representation in the outward forms of 
 national life, may be served as if it 
 were a god. The expression, image 
 of the beast, occurs no less than ten 
 times in the book of Revelation (is ; 1*. 
 
 15) three times; (U : 9, lO; 15 : a ; I6 : 2; 
 19 : 20; 20 : 4). 
 
 15. This verse further describes the 
 power of the second beast. The preced- 
 ing verse mentions the image of the first 
 beast made by the dwellers on the earth. 
 Had power . . . speak, rather, 
 wa^ given unto him to give breath to it, 
 even to the image of the beast, that the 
 image of the beast should both sjyeak. 
 Alford interprets as follows: "The 
 allusion probably is to some lying won- 
 ders permitted to the pagan priests to 
 try the faith of God's people. We can- 
 not help, as we read, thinking of the 
 moving images and winking and speak- 
 ing pictures so often employed for the 
 purpose of imposture by their far less 
 
284 
 
 EEVELATION 
 
 [Ch. XIII, 
 
 cause that as many as would not wor- 
 ship the image of the beast should be 
 16 killed. And he caused all, both small 
 and great, rich and poor, free aud 
 bond, ' to receive a mark in their right 
 
 that as many as worship not the image 
 16 of the beast be killed. Aud he causes 
 all, the small and the great, and the 
 rich and the poor, and the free and the 
 bond, that there be given them a mark 
 on their right baud, or on their fore- 
 
 l U : 9-11 ; 19 : 20 ; 20 ; 4. 
 
 excusable papal successors." But it is 
 impossible to limit the meaning to this, 
 for these images have no power to put 
 faithful Christians to death for diso- 
 bedience. The first beast is the sym- 
 bol of the ungodly world-power arrayed 
 against God. The image of the beast 
 is this power personified, incarnate, as 
 it were, in a living person. The image 
 here made to speak may be regarded 
 as the persecuting power of the civil 
 government, compelling persons to act 
 in accord with the teachings of the 
 second beast, the false prophet. Speak. 
 Articulate speech is the sign of in- 
 telligence and reason. The ungodly 
 world-powers, represented by kings 
 and emperors and ungodly rulers, give 
 utterance against God's people and give 
 
 Eretexts for persecution. We might 
 nd many illustrations of this in the 
 first centuries. The man was in danger 
 of death who did not pay divine honor 
 to the emperor. For that age, the em- 
 peror might be regarded as the image 
 of the first beast, the seven-headed 
 monster. Killed. This may refer 
 to actual death suffered by the follow- 
 ers of Christ at the hands of the image 
 of the beast. There was persecution 
 by the first beast, instigated by Satan's 
 malice. There is persecution now 
 through the second beast, the false 
 prophet, the seemingly religious or- 
 ganization. Fairbairn refers the killed, 
 not to a literal destruction, but_ to the 
 experience of a social and political de- 
 struction, a civil martyrdom. There 
 will be a destruction so far as the per- 
 sonal influence and the development of 
 personal power are concerned, a real 
 death and burial. In India a rigid 
 caste system surrounds a man ; in like 
 manner everywhere the social system 
 may lae so arrayed against the Christian 
 that he may live in society and yet be, 
 as it were, dead. There is no reason, 
 however, why the severest meaning 
 may not be given to the term. Jesus 
 speaks of a martyrdom that will come 
 from the asserted desire to please God 
 
 on the part of the persecutor (John 
 
 16 : 2). 
 
 16. This verse shows the spirit of 
 evil, the power of the first beast, ruling 
 over men in all the departments oi 
 life. It is the instigation of the second 
 beast that suggests to the first beast the 
 placing of the mark on men, and, at 
 the same time, persuades and deceives 
 men that they receive the mark. Re- 
 ceive ... mark, rather, that there 
 he given them a mark. In7 : 3 God's 
 servants were represented as marked 
 w ith a seal of God for their own pro- 
 tection. This is not to be regarded as 
 a literal marking, but means that they 
 were as if marked, so that their pres- 
 ervation would be assured. This mark 
 is the opposite of that. It is the mark 
 of ownership on the one hand ; the 
 mark of willingness of service on the 
 other hand. It is not impressed as a 
 brand on an unwilling captive, but 
 it is received in willing subjection. 
 Slaves were branded to indicate their 
 servile condition. Compare Paul's 
 words in Gal. 6 : 17, regarding himself 
 as the slave of Christ. The mark is 
 on their right hand ; that part of the 
 body which stands for business energy, 
 the social life. The right hand is a 
 man's chief executive agency. Satan 
 gets hold of a man's business and social 
 life. In their foreheads. This is 
 that part of the body which reveals 
 character, which manifests the man 
 himself. It is a mark on the outside 
 of the life, so that it cannot be hidden. 
 By reference to 14 : 1 it will be seen 
 that the Father's name is marked upon 
 the redeemed. By contrast we would 
 suppose that the mark of the beast, his 
 name or number, will be upon the un- 
 godly. No man can serve two masters ; 
 in God's sight, and in one's real char- 
 acter, men must be in alliance with 
 God and in subjection to God or un- 
 godliness. The varied classes enumer- 
 ated, expressive of the ranks of men in 
 life, show how widespread is the de- 
 ceptive power of the second beast; all 
 
Ch. XIII.] 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 285 
 
 17 hand, or in their foreheads : 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. 
 
 18 » Here is wisdom. Let him that hath 
 understanding count Pthe number of 
 the beast: ifor it is the number of a 
 man ; and his number is Six hundred 
 threescore aiid six. 
 
 17 head ; and that no one should be able 
 to buy or sell, but he that has the 
 mark, the name of the beast, or the 
 number of his name. 
 
 IS Here is wisdom. He that has under- 
 standing, let him count the number of 
 the beast, for it is the number of a 
 man ; and his number is six hundred 
 and sixtj'-six. 
 
 U : 11 ; 17 : 5. 
 
 n 15 :2. 
 p la:2. 
 
 IT : 9 ; Pa. 107 : 13 ; Dan. 12 : 10. 
 J 21 : 17. 
 
 of these classes belong to the worldly 
 minded ; there are those^ the heavenly 
 minded, not embraced in these lists. 
 The Scriptures everywhere teach that 
 there is a great gulf between the godly 
 and the ungodly. But since Chris- 
 tianity has so largely leavened the 
 masses of men, even of those who are 
 not Christians, it is more difficult than 
 in early days to di"aw the dividing line 
 between men, so that the diflerence is 
 at once distinguishable. But there is 
 a difference among men, both God and 
 Satan recognize their own. 
 
 17. This verse shows the result of 
 the mark of the beast. The one not 
 so marked would be consigned to a 
 living death, cut off from business rela- 
 tions and social intercourse with others. 
 It is the prophecy of a religious boy- 
 cott. Mark, or the name, rather, 
 mark, even the name. Historical illus- 
 trations are numerous of emperors 
 and popes putting their ban upon an 
 entire nation, forbidding the ringing 
 of the church bell, the burial in holy 
 ground, the solemnization of marriage 
 until there had been a return to the 
 allegiance to authorities and the pro- 
 fession of the faith. It was a fearful 
 power in the Middle Ages ; the forbid- 
 ding of social and business intercourse 
 with one charged with heresy. The 
 civil powers, at the request of the 
 church, have exercised the dread in- 
 strument of the interdict, forbidding 
 in this manner the buying from a 
 heretic or selling to a heretic. God's 
 faithful people, through many ages, 
 in many .countries, were thus hin- 
 dered in their religious life, their 
 business was crushed ; while the weak 
 in heart were forced to affirm with 
 their lips what they did not believe 
 with their heart. In the year 1897, 
 in China, a conspiracy, embracing 
 thousands of people, was formed, 
 
 pledged to have no dealings with the 
 native Christians. It often happens 
 to-day in Christian countries that 
 avenues to success are closed against 
 men, in certain directions, unless they 
 have upon them the mark of the beast, 
 a worldly spirit of obedience to Satan 
 and his will. Jesus has made provision 
 for men who suflfer loss of all things 
 for conscience' sake ; who walk in the 
 narrow way even when it leads to death 
 
 (Matt. 10 : 28; 19 : 29). 
 
 18. This verse has proved to be the 
 most puzzling of any passage in the 
 Apocalypse. Many attempted solu- 
 tions have been given of it. It is con- 
 ceded by all that the beast referred to 
 is the first beast, not the second. It is 
 conceded that the solution of this prob- 
 lem, the right interpretation, requires 
 great wisdom. It has been assumed 
 by many, perhaps by most, that there 
 is concealed here purposely by John, 
 the name of some emperor or other 
 person. Hence various names have 
 been suggested. Among these are the 
 following : Caesar Augustus, Nero, Ves- 
 pasian, Titus, Mohammed, Luther, Cal- 
 vin, Beza, Napoleon Bonaparte, Na- 
 poleon III. The names of two modern 
 politicians have been added to the 
 list, inasmuch as the numerical value 
 of the letters in their names makes 
 up this symbolic number, 666. The 
 most popular interpretation in recent 
 years is that the Emperor Nero is 
 meant by John. Swete seems in- 
 clined to combine this view with that 
 favored in the comments that follow. 
 It is not meant that John's purpose is 
 to hide any person's name so that men 
 and after ages might puzzle over it. 
 What John means is that the name, 
 that is, the character of the beast and 
 the number of that name, expressed in 
 the symbolic form of 666, correspond to 
 each other. The name of the beast re- 
 
286 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 [Ch. XIII. 
 
 veals the beast, is expressive of its 
 cliaracter, just as the name, Jacob, re- 
 veals the mau who had power with 
 God. Tlie numerical value of the name 
 corresponds with the name ; it also 
 reveals the character of the beast. 
 Throughout the entire book the num- 
 ber seven stands as the symbol of per- 
 fection, completeness. Jesus employed 
 this number to express his conception 
 of a complete forgiveness. It must be 
 a seventy times seven forgiveness ; that 
 is, a complete and utter forgiveness 
 (Matt. 18:22). The bcast has been al- 
 lowed to assume a sevenfold manifes- 
 tation as a kind of parody of the divine, 
 asserting also that it was a perfect 
 manifestation of the worldly beastlike 
 power. In the later stages of its ex- 
 istence the lamblike ally had much to 
 do in working it into a resemblance to 
 the divine. But as to the reality of 
 things, the seemingly divine could 
 never become anything more than a 
 self-confessed failure ; the beast would 
 remain a beast. The character, the con- 
 dition, the history of the beast could 
 never be expressed intermsof theseven ; 
 it would always be less than perfect. 
 The number of the beast is, therefore, 
 not a seven, the symbol of the divine, 
 but a six, that which falls short of the 
 divine. To show how completely the 
 beast forever remains fallen sliort of 
 the divine, there is the number six, 
 given three times. It has not reached 
 the fulness of the divine name, of 
 God's name. If it had been intended 
 to represent a divine fulness, a com- 
 pleteness in God's sight, two methods 
 might have been adopted by John in 
 which to express this. He might de- 
 clare, in words, that the beast was after 
 all only a beast, that the lamblike 
 appearance and the asserted prophet- 
 ship did not make anything beyond 
 deception ; or he might declare the 
 same thing in the use of symbolic 
 numbers. He might say, as here, the 
 character of the beast is shown in the 
 number 666. To the Hebrew mind tliis 
 would be a striking manner of reveal- 
 ing the character. If John had in- 
 tended to declare that a person really 
 stood for divine things, he might say 
 that his name can be expressed in the 
 number 777; but the number 666 puts 
 the beast, with all its power and decep- 
 tion, with all the aid of the false 
 
 prophet, in the category of incomplete- 
 ness. It is the assertion that it is not 
 divine, not complete, but is a beast 
 with a beastlike nature shown by its 
 beastlike number. The number 666 
 represents, therefore, not any person 
 or kingdom, past or present, but is the 
 manifestation of that which demands 
 a world-wide worship, claiming to be 
 divine, but which, in reality, is only 
 a beast ; it is not a Christ, but an Anti- 
 christ. The Apocalypse is a book of 
 symbols, not of literal names. There 
 is a trinity of the dragon, the first and 
 second beasts. Against the Lamb are 
 the world, the flesh, the devil. Each 
 of these may be desciibed by a six, in- 
 dicating the nature. The nature of all 
 united would be a threefold six. This 
 wisdom descendeth not from above, but 
 is earthly, denoted by a six, sensual ; 
 denoted by a six, devilish ; denoted by 
 a six, altogether unholy and profane ; 
 less than God, against God, therefore 
 to be destroyed. In the end the dragon, 
 the first beast, the false prophet, the 
 unclean woman, the great city Babylon, 
 all are doomed to destruction. Com- 
 pare Milligan on this passage, Briggs, 
 ^'Messiah," p. 324. All attempts to 
 solve this enigma must be imperfect; 
 but Avhen the time comes for its full 
 solution, doubtless the truth of the 
 prophecy will be clearly seen. 
 
 Practical Remarks. 
 
 1. Jesus has had and does have great 
 enemies. All sin is utterly repulsive when 
 looked upon with holy eyes (ver. 1). 
 
 2. Satan is a personal being, skilled in 
 spiritual warfare. He has courage, fore- 
 sight, cruelty, in full measure. He would 
 destroy his foes, if he could ; he will 
 miserably destroy, in the end, his own 
 followers (ver. 2). 
 
 3. Satan is a god of this world. We 
 cannot estimate by majorities among men 
 where the truth is. The attractions of 
 the world must not be allowed to blind 
 the soul (ver. 3). 
 
 4. The devil has agencies at work in the 
 world. Satan can delude persons in no 
 better way than to persuade them that he 
 does not exist. He makes allies to him- 
 self of the world, fashion, wealth, bodily 
 passions. If Satan can get control of 
 civil governments they are instruments 
 
Ch. XIII.] 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 287 
 
 of cruelty, suppressing the truth and 
 hindering Christ. God can overrule the 
 purposes of even hostile nations that his 
 own kingdom may be extended. Powers 
 resisting God will, in the end, be over- 
 turned (ver. 4). 
 
 5. Satan and sin seem to have limitless 
 power, but there are bounds beyond 
 which they cannot go. Above all things 
 is God and his holy purpose. We cannot 
 understand why evil itself is permitted, 
 and why Satan can rage among men. At 
 the last God will sliine out triumphant, 
 and all will rejoice in and admire the 
 wisdom of God (ver. 5, 6). 
 
 6. Satau may overcome in an outward 
 way, but in the end he will be overcome. 
 The dead Jesus could not be held in the 
 grave. Christ's cau.se cannot be crushed 
 by persecution, or burned at the stake, or 
 confined to a dungeon. The triumphant 
 Jehovah can laugh at his discomfited foes 
 (ver. 7 ; Ps. 2). 
 
 7. Because there is a book of life, no 
 one will be forgotten in the day of Christ's 
 triumph. No one will be given over to 
 Satan's power to tempt overmuch. It is 
 the Lamb's book of life; in it will be the 
 names of the friends of Jesus. It is the 
 registration of his personal friends. The 
 church record ought to correspond with 
 this book (ver. 8). 
 
 8. God's keeping power is manifest in 
 this, he restrains the power of Satan so 
 that his children walk in safety (ver. 8). 
 
 9. The spiritual ear is for hearing. The 
 one who hears and does not do, will 
 speedily lose the power of hearing. Every 
 one should have the spirit of Samuel (1 
 Sam. 3 : 10); the spirit of Micaiah (1 Kings 
 22 : 14); the spirit of Saul (Acts 22 : 10). 
 The attentive heart, the willing mind, the 
 obedient life should be joined together 
 (ver. 9). 
 
 10. Christians need courage, an aggres- 
 sive spirit, and the power that comes from 
 longsuffering. The chui'ch will make 
 progress by learning to endure wrongs 
 in a rejoicing manner. Conquest comes 
 through patience (ver. 10). 
 
 11. The most dangerous error is that 
 which most resembles the truth. A drag- 
 on that looks like a lamb is more dan- 
 gerous than a dragon which shows by its 
 appearance that it is a dragon. Satan 
 
 coming as a friend can do more harm 
 than when coming as an open enemy. 
 We need wisdom to discern the lamb 
 from tlie dragon (ver. 11). 
 
 12. The Hebrew young men refused to 
 bow to anything less than God (Dan. 3 : 
 18). Jesus refused to worship any one 
 but God. The heart naturally centers 
 itself about some object as the aim in 
 life, making a god for itself (ver. 12). 
 
 13. God gives strength to the truth of 
 testimony by miracles in nature. When 
 God does a miracle, Satan will try to 
 imitate and deceive. The deceptive imi- 
 tations of the truth must be guarded 
 against. The faith of Jesus Satan tried 
 to turn into a pride of faith; the sin of 
 presumption (ver. 13; Matt. 4:6). 
 
 14. To be a Christian often involves 
 great losses, sacrifices of social position, 
 business, friends. Jesus compensates, and 
 more than compensates, for losses incurred 
 for his sake (Matt. 19 : 29). The disciples 
 counted it joy that they were counted 
 worthy to suft'er for Christ's sake (Acts 
 5:41). Present losses bring future gains 
 (ver. 15). 
 
 15. All character tends to ripen into 
 openness and completeness. In time 
 every man will be known openly, whether 
 for or against Christ. God knows his 
 OAvn, and marks them for safety. Men 
 also bear the marks of Satan. Swearing, 
 drinking, licentiousness are brands of 
 Satan's ownership (ver. IG). 
 
 16. Satan closes to the Christian many 
 avenues to success in life ; piety is at 
 times a mark of singularity ; the broad 
 way is the popular way. But the narrow 
 way is always God's way, and the way of 
 permanent blessing (ver. 17). 
 
 17. Difficult passages are found in the 
 Scriptures. If they are not understood, 
 this in no way imperils the knowledge of 
 the way of salvation. The general drift 
 of the Scriptures is plain and open. They 
 are a light and a lamp. Difficult passages, 
 as a rule, grow plainer under the influence 
 of prayer and meditation. Some passages 
 must remain unexplained until the future, 
 or eternity explains them (ver. 18). 
 
 IS. Philip was a help to the treasurer in 
 understanding the Scriptures. The Holy 
 Spirit is promised for guidance into the 
 truth (ver. IS ; John 16 : 13). 
 
288 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 [Ch. XIV. 
 
 Section VII. The series of the 
 BOWLS. Chapters XIV-XVI. We 
 come now to the concluding series of 
 visions ; that of the vials, rather bowls. 
 The trumpets reveal God's dealings 
 with the world in order that it may be 
 brought to repentance. They there- 
 fore present a mingling of penalty and 
 mercy. We behold here, therefore, 
 dealings that are almost entirely judi- 
 cial in their nature. This sei'ies re- 
 veals the holy procedure of God. The 
 vessels are not ordinary dishes, but 
 vessels used in the sanctuary worship. 
 They are emptied of their contents by 
 holy angels. There is nothing vin- 
 dictive in this vision but everything 
 that is indicative of God's holy nature ; 
 the utter breaking down of the forces 
 of darkness, the final and complete 
 triumph of righteousness. When it is 
 said that these are ' ' the seven last 
 plagues, for in them is filled up the 
 wrath of God," it is not meant that 
 these things occur in order of time 
 after all that has gone before, but that 
 they belong to that procedure of God 
 in its final processes of judgment, proc- 
 esses that should not be exhausted 
 until all the worldly forces against God 
 should be put down. It is a triumph 
 that gives birth to the song of Moses 
 and the Lamb ; the great victories of 
 the Old and the New Testaments stand- 
 ing side by side. 
 
 Fairbairn thus comments on the emp- 
 tying of the bowls: "The action of 
 pouring out in this sense and sometimes 
 also with the mention of a cup from 
 which the contents are to be poured, 
 is frequently used in Old Testament 
 prophecy (ps. 75 : s), denoting the resist- 
 less energy of the visitation of evil." 
 
 We must not expect chronology in 
 this book ; it is a book of visions. We 
 see the future in one aspect, termina- 
 ting in a glorious ending. We behold 
 it then again in another aspect, and 
 ending in songs of triumph. In all 
 the series are the same great moral 
 principles of God's moral government, 
 leading always to the same glorious 
 results. In the trumpets we came to 
 an end ushered in by the announce- 
 ment that God had won a universal 
 kingdom (ii = is). That the two series 
 of the trumpets and the bowls run 
 side by side is evident from a glance 
 at the two : 
 
 the trumpets 
 
 
 THE BOWLS 
 
 
 RELATING TO 
 
 
 RELATING TO 
 
 1. 
 
 The earth, 8 : 7. 
 
 1. 
 
 The earth, 16: 2. 
 
 2. 
 
 The sea, 8 : 8. 
 
 2. 
 
 The sea, 16 : 3. 
 
 3. 
 
 Rivers and 
 fountains o f 
 the waters, 
 8:10. 
 
 3. 
 
 Rivers and 
 fountains o f 
 waters, 16 : 4. 
 
 4. 
 
 The sun, moon, 
 and stars, 8 : 
 12. 
 
 4. 
 
 The sun, 16 : 8. 
 
 5. 
 
 The pit of the 
 abyss, 9 : 2. 
 
 5. 
 
 The throne of 
 the beast, 16 : 
 10. 
 
 6. 
 
 The great river 
 Euphrates, 9 : 
 14. 
 
 6. 
 
 The great river 
 Eu p h r a t e s, 
 16 : 12. 
 
 7. 
 
 Great voices in 
 
 7. 
 
 A great voice 
 
 
 heaven fol- 
 lowed by 
 lightnings, 
 thunders, 
 earthq u a k e , 
 and great hail, 
 11 : 15, 19. 
 
 
 from the 
 throne, fol- 
 lowed by 
 ligh t n i n g s , 
 voices, thun- 
 ders, a great 
 earthqu a k e , 
 and great 
 hail, 16 : 17, 
 18, 21. 
 
 This series is divided, as are the two 
 others, into groups of four and three. 
 At the opening of the fifth seal was a 
 sight of the altar of sacrifice ; at the 
 fifth trumpet the pit of the abyss was 
 opened ; when the fifth bowl is poured 
 out the throne of the beast came into 
 sight. All the series are constructed 
 on the same plan ; all reveal a control- 
 ling, governing, and conquering Christ, 
 the Redeemer ; all bring into clear light 
 the great opposing forces, all come to 
 a like glorious end M-lien Christ alone 
 is seen sitting on the throne with his 
 enemies under his feet (i cor. is : 27). A 
 climax is noticeable in this series, a 
 growing intensity of penalty; the effects 
 are more extensive and more hurtful 
 than in the preceding series. The 
 bowls, with their contents, also grow 
 in intensity as they proceed. When 
 the judgments of God have finished 
 their course and accomplished their 
 work, there come the woi-ds: "It is 
 done" (16 : 17). Then the cities of the 
 nations fall, they are destroyed in their 
 character of strongholds of evil. Great 
 Babylon comes before God's bar and 
 
Ch. xrv.] 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 289 
 
 she perishes in her might. Everything 
 undergoes a revolution, and the anti- 
 christian spirit that iiad to so great an 
 extent, and for so long a time, had 
 power over the kingdoms of the earth, 
 is judged and cast out. Here, as in all 
 other parts of this book, we shall get 
 the true meaning only so far as we 
 seek, not details in history, but the 
 great principles that are constantly 
 waging war, until at the last the con- 
 quering Christ and his faithful follow- 
 ers are seen to be triumphant. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 Three consolatory visions. In 
 the two preceding chapters we had a 
 revelation of three great enemies of 
 the Christian church. There was the 
 dragon_, representing the personal Satan 
 with his malice, plans, and power, war- 
 ring, in all possible ways, against Jesus 
 and his cause. There was the seven- 
 headed beast, a monstrous creature, 
 symbolizing the great and terrible 
 world-powers persecuting the church. 
 There was the beast springing from 
 the earth, fitted to deceive the church 
 with its false prophesying, its seeming 
 religious spirit whereby the worldly 
 power was induced to make the lot 
 of the churcli more bitter. Through 
 the agency of this satanic trinity the 
 church had suffered severely, being 
 driven into the wilderness (12 : 1*); the 
 flood was sent to engulf her (12 = is); 
 the church was almost silenced — only 
 two witnesses being left to bear tes- 
 timony (11 : 3); these were killed and 
 their bodies lie unburied (n = 8); the 
 saints suffer under a widespread perse- 
 cution, cut off from the business rela- 
 tions of life (i» : 17); the souls of the 
 martyred dead, under the altar, pray 
 for vindication (6 = 9). What will be 
 the outcome of these violent and per- 
 sistent outbreaks upon the people of 
 God ? Will they pass out of their Egypt, 
 through a Red Sea into a land of 
 promise, as in the olden times? This 
 chapter is, in large part, an answer to 
 this unasked question. It is in accord 
 with the scope and plan of the book to 
 look somewnere, in this part of the 
 book, for some vision of consolation. 
 Between the sixth and seventh seals 
 comes the consolatory vision in chap. 
 VII; between the sixth and seventh 
 
 trumpets come the visions of hope 
 and encouragement in chap. X, XI. 
 When the most fearful plagues con- 
 tained in the seven bowls are about to 
 be revealed in vision, we would expect 
 to find something consoling and com- 
 forting to the people that follow Christ. 
 There is a deviation here from the 
 structure found in the other parts, the 
 seals and the trumjjets, in that we have 
 here the visions before the revelation 
 of the seven bowls. When the angels 
 begin to pour out their bowls, there is 
 no break, but a constant and rapid 
 progress to the close. It is impossiole 
 to tell just why the order of the book, 
 so methodical in its structure, is broken 
 in upon at this place, and the visions 
 placed before the series of the bowls 
 instead of the usual place between the 
 sixth and seventh bowls. But the 
 visions are naturally placed here in 
 immediate contrast with the beasts 
 that threaten to destroy utterly the 
 heritage of Christ upon the earth. The 
 seer does not hold the mind of the 
 reader in suspense. The church is not 
 destroyed, the cross is not a failure, the 
 sky is not all dark, Satan is not su- 
 preme. There is revealed here a 
 glimpse of Jesus, the conquering Christ; 
 conquering through the sacrifice of 
 himself, with his spiritual forces by 
 his side. They work together steadily 
 and successfully, accomplishing, in the 
 end, the destruction of the foes of 
 Christ. Great Babylon is overthrown, 
 the symbol of the organized opposition 
 to Christ. The Lord himself returns, 
 gathers in his people, and crushes all 
 opposition. The visions of the harvest 
 and the vintage are the preludes to 
 heaven and hell. The vision extends 
 to the times of the end. As the dragon 
 works from the beginning of the Chris- 
 tian era, so also does Christ dwell on 
 Mount Zion through all the Christian 
 period, leading his holy forces. The 
 chapter falls naturally into three di- 
 visions. 
 
 We have the Lamb on Mount Zion, 
 a song which none but the redeemed 
 can sing, the holy character of Christ's 
 people (ver. 1-5) ; announcements of the 
 eternal gospel, the fall of Babylon, the 
 punishment of the ungodly (ver. 6-12) ; 
 the vision of harvesting the holy, and 
 gathering the vintage of the wicked 
 
 (rer. li-20). 
 
290 
 
 KEVELATION 
 
 [Ch. XIV. 
 
 The Lamb on Moimt Zion and his followers. 
 
 14 AND I looked, and, lo, 'a Lamb 
 stood on the mouut Siou, and with him 
 8 an hundred forty and four thousand, 
 « having his Father's name written in 
 their foreheads. 
 
 14 AND I saw, and behold, the Lamb 
 standing on the mount Zion, and witli 
 him a hundred and forty-four thou- 
 sand, having his name, and the name 
 of his Father, wiitten on their fore- 
 heads. 
 
 r 5 : 6 ; 1 ; 9-17. 
 
 s 7:4-8; Heb. 12 : 22, 23. 
 
 t 3 : 12 ; 7:3; 13 : 16 ; Isu. 62 : 2. 
 
 1-5. The vision of the Lamb on 
 THE Mount Zion. And . . . Sion, 
 
 rather, And I saw, and behold, theLamb 
 standing on the Mount Zion. We see 
 the continuity of tlie book in the refer- 
 euce to the Lamb who appeared in 
 5 : 16 in the midst of the throne. Jesus 
 Clirist, though unseen, is the one 
 mighty force at work in enhirging the 
 kingdom and breaking down all oppo- 
 sition. He is eiiective because he is a 
 Lamb, effective through the patient 
 endurance of himself and his xjeople, 
 overcoming because of his sufferings, 
 making people holy on account of Jiis 
 atonement. Stood, standing. He is 
 not represented as sitting, but, as the 
 leader of the redeemed hosts, is seen 
 standing. It was thus that Stephen 
 saw him (Acts 7 : 56). ilount Sion. In 
 chap. .XI the holy city, Jerusalem, 
 is regarded as the seat of God's true 
 church and worship. In the Old Tes- 
 tament Zion was the symbol of God's 
 dwelling-place on the earth (ps. 2 : 7, 8; 
 9 : 11 ; 78 : 68 ; isii. 35 ; 10). In like manner 
 Mount Zion in the holy city, the place 
 of David's residence, is now regarded 
 as the dwelling-place of David's greater 
 Son. Not the literal Mount Zion is 
 meant, l)ut inasmuch as the great 
 enemies are warring on the earth 
 against the anointed One, Jesus is 
 portrayed as fighting against his foes, 
 and appropriately the scene is placed 
 on Mount Zion, a strongly fortified 
 place. The scene of the vision is laid, 
 not in heaven, but on the earth. 
 Heaven is a place of repose, of victory 
 attained ; earth is a scene of conflict, 
 of struggle, that so heaven may be 
 enlarged. Heaven is filled up from 
 the earth. The dwelling on Mouut 
 Zion, the beautiful and holy place, 
 represents the blessed condition of 
 God's people now on the earth. (Comp. 
 Heb. 12 : 22-24.) A hundred forty and 
 four thousand. We have had this 
 number before {^ ■ ■*), giving the num- 
 ber of God's sealed ones. The number 
 
 is a symbol of completeness, of perfect- 
 ness. Twelve is the number expressly 
 set apart for the church : twelve tribes, 
 twelve gates, twelve manner of fruits. 
 The twelve tribes, w ith twelve thousand 
 from each tribe, stand for the entire 
 number of those saved from the earth. 
 It is not a numerical statement, to be 
 taken in a literal sense, but a sj'm- 
 bolical representation of the complete 
 number. There is a hint also, in the 
 largeness of the number, that Christ's 
 cause on the earth will not be a failure. 
 In 7 : 14 the prominent thought is the 
 preservation of God's people, having 
 the seal as the sign of safety; here the 
 prominent thought is that of service 
 with and for Christ. Having . . . 
 foreheads, rather. Having Jiis name, 
 and the name of the Father, written on 
 the forehead. They are one in nature, 
 in character, with the Redeemer. They 
 are owned by him ; they are his to serve 
 him. They are openly and willingly 
 his. Their outward life corresponds to 
 their character. Those serving the 
 beast have his name on their foreheads 
 (13 : 17). All the marked are divided 
 by a spiritual census into two divisions. 
 Alford contends that those marked 
 with the name of the Lamb and the 
 Father do not embrace the entire num- 
 ber of the saved, but only the chosen 
 ones among them, the preeminently 
 holy and useful. But this view_ can- 
 not be adopted. The symbolism is one 
 of completeness, and those participa- 
 ting with Jesus in the triumph over the 
 three great foes of the church indicate 
 the entire body helping the Redeemer. 
 In 7 : 4 the seal of God was upon the 
 forehead, though it is not indicated 
 what the seal was ; here the name of 
 the Saviour and tlie name of the Father 
 jointly occur, showing a joint service 
 and ownership. The book of Revela- 
 tion bears express testimony to the 
 divinity of Jesus in this indirect man- 
 ner ; being incidental it is the more 
 expressive. In the forces under the 
 
Ch. XIV.] 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 291 
 
 2 And I heard a voice from heaven, 
 "as the voice of miiuy waters, and as 
 the voice of a great thuuder: and I 
 heard the voice of "liarpers harping 
 
 3 witli their harps : and ' tlicy sung as it 
 were a new soug before the cliroue, and 
 before the four beasts, and the elders : 
 and y no man could learn that song 
 but the hundred and forty and four 
 thousand, which were ' redeemed from 
 the earth. 
 
 4 These are they which were not de- 
 filed with women ; « for they are vir- 
 
 2 And I heard a voice out of heaven, 
 as the voice of many waters, and as 
 the voice of great thuuder ; and the 
 voice wliich I heard was as that of 
 harpers, harping with their harps. 
 
 3 And they sing as it were a uew song 
 before the throue, and before the four 
 living creatures and the elders, and no 
 one was able to learn the song, but the 
 hundred and forty-four thousand, who 
 had been redeemed from the earth. 
 
 4 These are they who were not defiled 
 with womeu ; for they are virgins. 
 
 u 1 : 15 ; 19 : 6 ; Ezek. 43 : 2. 
 
 » 5:8. 
 
 X 5 : 9 ; 15 : 3 ; Isa. 42 : 10. 
 a 2 Cor. 11:2; 2 Peter 1 : 4. 
 
 y 2 : 17 ; Ps. 25 : 14. 
 
 control of Christ are not simply men, 
 but all holy agencies, literature, 
 schools, the healing arts, the contribu- 
 tions of science. 
 
 2. A mysterious strain of music 
 greets the ear. It is a sublime sound, 
 compared to the sound of many 
 waters, majestic in volume; like the 
 noise of the sea, great thunder. It 
 is not stated from whom the music 
 comes ; it is probably the united song 
 of praise by the angels, tlie glorified 
 saints, the redeemed creation, ever re- 
 sounding about the throne. A further 
 revelation is noted. I heard . . . 
 harps, rather, the voice which I heard 
 was as the voice of many harpers harp- 
 ing with their harps. The music is 
 from heaven, and is distinguished from 
 that of the redeemed host. Those 
 making this music are invisible to the 
 eye. There is always music where 
 Jesus is. Music is the symbol of joy, 
 gladness, conquest ; where Jesus is 
 not, there are tears and wailing (iiatt. 
 
 22 : 13). 
 
 3. They sung, rather, sing. The 
 song is a perpetual one. In 5 : 9 we 
 have a new song sung by the living 
 creatures and the twenty-four elders. 
 As it were. It is not a really new 
 song, for it lias been sung for cen- 
 turies ; but in reality it is new, having 
 a perpetual freshness for the heart. It 
 is the .song of redemption, which will 
 ever awaken feelings of wonder, love, 
 and praise. The soug is sung by the 
 unseen host, the harjis joining with 
 them. The song is of such a nature 
 that no man can learn that song l)ut 
 the redeemed. Jesus describes the 
 angels as rejoicing over the salvation 
 of one penitent (Luke 15 : 10). This song 
 of heaven can be learned by those only 
 
 on the earth who £\re Christ's people. 
 It does not depend on esthetic ability, 
 but on the moral character. Heaven 
 would not be heaven to one who is 
 not in sympathy with Jesus and holy 
 things. Four assertions are made con- 
 cerning this multitude : first, they are 
 redeemed. This word means pur- 
 chased ; it is implied that the purchase 
 is by means of the blood of the Lamb, 
 Compare the same statement made in 
 5 : 9. There is a sacrifice made for all 
 men (Heb. 2:9; jude 4); thosc accepting 
 the ransom are those here designated as 
 the purchased, the redeemed. There 
 is a community of feeling between the 
 saints of God in all parts of the moral 
 universe ; the holy song is learned by 
 those on the earth who are holy in 
 heart. Earth. This term is used in 
 contrast with heaven of ver. 2. There 
 may also be the suggestion of an earthly 
 and sinful condition that is natural to 
 them. 
 
 4. Three further qualities are as- 
 cribed to them, not defiled with 
 women . . . virgins, each clause 
 being introduced by the term, these. 
 First they are possessed of purity — they 
 are virgins. This does not mean that 
 they were ascetics, living apart from 
 life in the community, monks or nuns, 
 as some Romanists maintain, regard- 
 ing the one hundred and forty-four 
 thousand here as the preeminently holy 
 people. Nor is this any praise of 
 celibacy as is held by some Protestant 
 writers; nor does it mean that they 
 had kept from idolatry, which in the 
 Old Testament is frequently called 
 adultery ; for the temptation to idolatry 
 prevails only at certain stages in the 
 history of the church. In 1 (^or. 11 : 2 
 Paul writes to the entire Corinthian 
 
292 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 [Ch. XIV. 
 
 gins. These are they ''which follow 
 the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. 
 These " were redeemed from among 
 men, '^being the tirstfruits unto God 
 5 and to the Lamb. And • in their mouth 
 was found no guile : for 'they are with- 
 out fault before the throne of God. 
 
 These are they who follow the Lamb, 
 whithersoever he goes. These were 
 redeemed from men, a first fruits to 
 5 (iod and to the Lamb. And in their 
 mouth was found no falsehood ; they 
 are without blemish. 
 
 h 7 : 15-17 ; 17 : 14 ; Luke 9 : 57-02 ; John 12 : 26. c 5 : 9. d James 1 : 18. 
 
 e Num. 23 : 21 ; Ps. 32 : 2 ; Zeph. 3 : 13 ; Phil. 2 : 15. / Song of Sol. 4:7; Eph. 5 : 27 ; Col. 1 : 22 ; Jude 24. 
 
 church, " that I may present you as a 
 chaste virgin to Christ." John is de- 
 scribing a pure, lofty, holy life, such 
 as belongs to a chaste virgin. The 
 church is the bride of Christ, to be 
 pure with Christ's purity. A third 
 quality is that of obedience and devo- 
 tion to Christ. Follow . . . goeth. 
 This is a description of Christ's follow- 
 ers in their life on the earth. The 
 present tense is descriptive of their 
 present and abiding condition, one of 
 fellowship with Christ. They share 
 with Christ the very kind of a life 
 that he himself lived ; they go with 
 him into .self-denial ; tliey bear a cross ; 
 they share in his death, resurrection, 
 ascension, the reigning at God's right 
 hand. The church must obey Christ's 
 commands, be filled with Christ's spirit, 
 repeat Christ's life over again on the 
 earth. They were among men, but 
 they have been taken out of the old 
 life and set apart to God's service, 
 having God's life in them. First- 
 fruits. Among the Hebrews the first 
 part of every harvest was set apart to 
 the Lord, implying that all the remain- 
 ing part belonged, in reality, to the 
 Lord. It was a token of ownership, a 
 prophecy also that more of the harvest 
 would follow. The entire church in 
 this case, the one hundred and forty- 
 four thousand, is laid upon the altar as 
 a first-fruits, as a token of ownership 
 on God's part, of devotion on its part. 
 Representing the entire liost of Christ's 
 people in all the ages the after-fruits 
 cannot be any additions to the saved 
 from among men, nor of the salvation 
 of lost men or angels. The first-fruits 
 of the redeemed from among men are 
 a prophecy of the redemption of the 
 physical creation, spoken of in Rom. 
 8 : 21. The redeemed soul implies and 
 calls for a redeemed world. Compare 
 a like use of the term first-fruits in 
 James 1 : 18, embracing the entire 
 number of Christian people. 
 
 5. A fourth attribute is here given ; 
 they are holy in character, no guile, 
 rather, no lie, is found in their mouth. 
 The words reveal the character (Matt. 
 12 : 87), There is no entrance into 
 heaven for the men in whose mouth 
 is a lie (21 : 27; 22 : 15). They are men 
 of faith, and, therefore, faithful. Their 
 lives are in accord vrith Him who is 
 the truth ; they are, therefore, truthful. 
 Without fault expresses the pure 
 life ; not sinlessness as yet, but in 
 nature akin to Christ's, in time to be 
 completely like Christ (1 John s : 2). The 
 holiness in them is of the same essence 
 as that which will be found in them 
 complete at the last. Earthly holiness 
 differs from the holiness in heaven, 
 not in quality, but in quantity, in de- 
 gree. In so far as a man is really holy 
 he is a participant in the only holiness 
 that exists, the holiness begotten by 
 the Holy Spirit, God's own holiness. 
 Omit the phrase, before the throne 
 of God. A church of this kind on 
 the earth, pure, devoted, separated 
 from sin, holy, is invincible. There 
 are over fifteen million communicants 
 in the Protestant churches in this 
 country. If they had the qualities of 
 the redeemed host seen in the vision 
 by John, the cause of Christ would 
 si^eedily conquer the world for Christ. 
 A weak or wicked church is a great 
 hindrance to Christ and his cause. 
 
 6-12. Three ANGELIC ANNOUNCK- 
 MENTS OF IMPENDING EVENTS. We 
 have had a vi.sion of the glorified Re- 
 deemer with his host of saintly men 
 and women gaining victories as the 
 ages pass by. Tlie one hundred and 
 forty-four thousand may therefore sig- 
 nify many millions in some centuries. 
 What will they elfect ? will they widen 
 the kingdom of Chri.st? will they prove 
 stronger than the three great foes of 
 Chri.st and his church ? It is not sim- 
 ply an idle curiosity that desires to be 
 gratified, but a heartfelt interest in the 
 
Ch. XIV.] 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 293 
 
 Heavettly proclamations; the harvest and 
 vintage. 
 
 6 And I saw another angel efiy in the 
 midst of lieaveii, '■having the ever- 
 lasting gospel ' to preach unto them 
 that dwell on the earth, and to every 
 nation, and kindred, and tongue, and 
 people, saying with a loud voice, 
 
 7 ^ Fear God, and give glory to him ; for 
 'the hour of his judgment is come: 
 
 6 And I saw another angel flying in 
 mid-heaven, having the eternal gospel 
 to proclaim to those who dwell on the 
 earth, and to every nation, and tribe, 
 
 7 and tongue, and people ; saying with 
 a great voice. Fear God, and give glory 
 to him, because the hour of his judg- 
 
 8 ; 13. ft Eph. 3 : 9-11 ; Titu« 1:2. i Mark 16 : 
 
 I Isa. 13 : 6 ; 34 : 8. 
 
 k 15 ; 4 ; Ps. 76 : 7, 9. 
 
 Kedeemer's kingdom that asks, What 
 Avill be the outcome of the struggle ? 
 This passage answers the question. 
 The vision covers a large period of 
 time, from the beginning to the end- 
 ing of the Christian dispen.satiou. The 
 vision reveals the agency by which the 
 triumph will be assured, the preaching 
 of the gospel ; the downfall of the op- 
 position, the punishment coming on 
 the finally impenitent. Each one of 
 the three announcements is made by 
 an angel, ver. 6, 8, 9. 
 
 6. And . . . heaven, rather, And 
 I saw another angel flying in mid- 
 heaven. The another does not mean 
 that this one is different from any one 
 thus far introduced to us (as '» «hap. lo, 
 11), but that another series of events is 
 now introduced to us. The same term 
 is used in connection with the second 
 and third angels that follow. He is 
 represented as flying in mid-heaven, 
 that so his voice may reach the whole 
 world. (Comp. 8 : 13.) It is not to be 
 understood that this announcement is 
 made by angels ; it represents in vision 
 the work that is done by the sanctified 
 host spoken of in ver. 1. The mission 
 of the angel is to carry and announce 
 the everlasting gospel, rather, an 
 eternal gospel. It is maintained by 
 some that the reference is not to the 
 proclamation of the gospel of salva- 
 tion, because the definite article is not 
 used and because of the contents of 
 the message as given in ver. 7. Ac- 
 cording to this view the meaning of 
 gospel is restricted to a prophesying 
 which, in this case, is mainly of dis- 
 aster to the ungodly. We nui.st, how- 
 ever, retain the unvarying meaning of 
 the term, that of glad tidings. Eleriml 
 shows the nature of the gospel as de- 
 vised by God from eternity, unchange- 
 able in its provisions, assuring men 
 
 that in no respect will its promises 
 fail. God's kingdom is an everlasting 
 one in contrast with the assured down- 
 fall of Satan's reign. The gospel is to 
 be proclaimed to all that dwell on the 
 earth. The universality is shown in 
 the use of the four terms, nation, 
 kindred, rather, tribe, tongue, and 
 people. Dwell on earth. This 
 expression is often applied to the un- 
 godly alone ; those whose life is of an 
 earthly nature. 
 
 7. In this verse are the contents of 
 the message. Loud voice, rather, 
 great. This is in keeping with the 
 position of the angel in mid-heaven. 
 Fear God . . . him. To fear God 
 in the Scripture sense is to serve him ; 
 this is the beginning of the Christian 
 life. Jesus began his ministry with 
 the preaching of repentance (Matt. 4 : 
 17). Peter and Paul both placed re- 
 pentance among their fundamental 
 teachings (Acts 2 : 38 ; 17 ; 30). The serv- 
 ice of God involves repentance, faith, 
 love, obedience, worship, continuance 
 in the grace of God. The hour shows 
 that the time of the end, the manifes- 
 tation of God's righteousness, is draw- 
 ing near. A reason why men should 
 repent is that God is about to manifest 
 his righteousness and his indignation 
 against all sin. Jesus appealed to the 
 sense of fear as one motive of a holy 
 life (Matt. 10:28). His judgment. 
 God's grace and God's holiness are both 
 united in the message; both should 
 move men. It is designed to be a 
 source of gladness to God's people that 
 God is about to manifest his holy and 
 righteous character in punishing sin, 
 .seeing how the church has suffered, 
 and Clirist has been hindered in his 
 work by wrong-doing and wrong-doers. 
 Not through any vindictive spirit, but 
 through a sympathy with Christ's cause 
 
294 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 [Ch. XIV. 
 
 "and worship him that made heaven, 
 and earth, and the sea, and the foun- 
 tains of waters. 
 
 8 And there followed another augel, 
 saying, "Babylon is fallen, is fallen, 
 "that great city, because she made all 
 nations drink of the wine of the wrath 
 of her fornication. 
 
 9 And the third angel followed them, 
 saying with a loud voice, Pif any man 
 worship the beast and his image, and 
 receive his mark in his forehead, or in 
 
 ment is come ; and worship him who 
 made the heaven, and the earth, and 
 sea and fountains of waters. 
 
 8 And another, a second angel, fol- 
 lowed, saying. Fallen, fallen, is Baby- 
 lon the great, who has made all the 
 nations drink of the wine of the wrath 
 of her fornication. 
 
 9 And another, a third angel, followed 
 them, saying with a great voice, If 
 any one worships the beast and hia 
 image, and receives a mark on his 
 
 m Neh. 9:6; Acts 14 ; 15. n 18 : 2, 10, 18-21 ; Isa. 21:9; Jer. 51 ; 8. 
 
 o 11 : 8 ; 16 : 19 ; 17 ; 2, 5 ; 18 ; Jer. 51 : 7. p 13 : 3-6, 14-17. 
 
 the righteous will rejoice when God 
 sits on his throne of judgment. The 
 same gospel that contains the story of 
 the cross and the sight of heaven, con- 
 tains also the plain announcement of a 
 hell for the impenitent. It is a kind- 
 ness, inasmuch as there is a hell, that 
 its existence and its nature be made 
 publicly known. God's almiglitiness 
 is dwelt upon here as a reason why his 
 cause will triumph, and w"hy he can 
 break down all opposition. His crea- 
 tive povFer is shown in, made . . . 
 waters. Such a being ought to be 
 worshiped ; the gospel is preached that 
 he may be worshiped. The division 
 of the water into the sea, and the 
 fountains, is elsewhere found in this 
 book (8 : 8-11 ; 16 t 3, 4). That men dis- 
 obey a Being who is at the same time 
 almighty, holy, and good, shows tlie 
 unwisdom and depravity of the heart. 
 8. The second announcement is 
 made, giving the result of the Avork of 
 the first angel. And . . . angel, 
 rather, A^id another, a second angel. 
 Babylon . . . city, rather, Fallen, 
 fallen, is Babylon the great. Here, 
 for the first time, is introduced this 
 name which fills so large a place in the 
 after part of the book (chap, xvn, xviii). 
 The destruction of Babylon is again 
 announced in 16 : 19. It is difficult to 
 tell what is meant by Babylon. Some 
 say Rome, pagan and papal ; others a 
 church that has become worldly and 
 unclean. Its identity is uncertain, but 
 its doom is sure. The repetition of 
 fallen shows how impressive is tlie de- 
 struction of the city, how strong had 
 been her opposition, how essential 
 that it must be gotten out of the way. 
 Because. This is to be omitted. 
 Nations . . . fornication. Accord- 
 ing to Alford, who thinks Rome is 
 
 meant, two thoughts are here mingled, 
 (1) the Avine of her fornication, 
 
 her idolatry, her false teachings, and 
 worship, whereby she has seduced all 
 nations (n ■ 2); (2) the wine of the 
 wrath of God which God shall give 
 to lier in return for her false teachings 
 and leadership (ver. 10 ,■ 16 : 19). In Jer. 
 51 : 7 is the foundation for this figure, 
 making the nations to drink of her 
 wine. God has a holy retribution 
 whereby the one that sins shall find in 
 that sin his own punishment. God's 
 moral laws seem to be slow in their 
 operation, but even the heathen noticed 
 the unvarying character of God's laws. 
 Plutarch, a lieathen man, wrote one 
 of the world's finest treatises on the 
 certainty of God's moral laws in his 
 " Delay of the Deity in Punishing the 
 Wicked. " This passage and 11 : 5 are 
 akin to each other ; the one announcing 
 the removal of the obstruction, the 
 other announcing the establishment of 
 God's kingdom. 
 
 9. And the third angel fol- 
 lowed, rather, And aiiother angel, a 
 third, folloiued. Loud voice, rather, 
 great. It is worth noting that the loud 
 voice is attributed to the first and third 
 angels, but not to the second. In the 
 second series of three angels (ver. 14-I8) 
 the same plan is followed, the loud 
 voice occurring in connection with the 
 first and third, but not with the second. 
 What moral value or teaching, if any, 
 can be attriliuted to the presence and 
 to the omission of the loud voice can- 
 not be known. The entire book is 
 built upon a carefully considered and 
 methodical plan. In the preceding 
 verse is the judgment upon Babylon, 
 wliich may be regarded as approaching 
 in meaning the symbolic second beast 
 (18 : 11), the false prophet (20 : 10); in 
 
Ch. XIV.] 
 
 KEVELATION 
 
 295 
 
 10 his hand, the same i shall drink of the 
 wine of the wrath of God, which is 
 'poured out without mixture into the 
 cup of his indignation ; and he shall 
 be tormented with « fire and hrimstone 
 'in the presence of the holy angels, 
 
 11 and in the presence of the Lamb : and 
 
 10 forehead, or on his hand, he also shall 
 drink of the wine of the wiath of God, 
 which is mingled undiluted in the cup 
 of his wrath, and shall be tormented 
 witli fire and brimstone before the holy 
 
 11 angels, and before the Lamb. And 
 
 q Job 21 : 20. 
 
 r 16 : 19 ; 18 : 6. s 19 : 20 ; Ps. 11 : 6 ; Isa. 31 : 9 ; Ezck. 38 ; 22. 
 
 « Ps. 91 ; 8 ; 2 Thess. 1 : T-10. 
 
 this verse is the judgment upon the 
 worshipers of that beast itself. Tlie 
 dragon, the first beast (i3 : i)> Ba])ylon, 
 the unclean woman ( it : i ) , are all vary- 
 ing forms of organized wickedness 
 warring against Christ. These enemies 
 are summed up, not in any person, or 
 located in any one place or age, i>ut 
 exist in varying forms wherever Satan 
 works. As Jesus is described under 
 the figure of a LamI), his opponent is 
 portrayed as a dragon. The followers 
 of Jesus are holy in nature, compared 
 to virgins (i* : ♦); the allies of Satan 
 are ferocious beasts (i3 : i, n). The 
 holy city is a picture of Christ's cause ; 
 the opposition to Christ is a Babylon. 
 The cause of Christ is given under the 
 figure of a chaste woman ; the cause 
 of Satan is given under the figure of 
 an unclean woman. Reference is found 
 to the mark upon the forehead and the 
 hand, the outward sign of w"orldliness, 
 the identification witli the spirit of the 
 world in 1.3 : 16. There punishment 
 came upon those not in alliance with 
 ungodliness; here, when God's judg- 
 ments begin, the penalty is upon those 
 having that mark. It is vastly better 
 to be punished slightly by the beast 
 than to be punished forever by the 
 Lord. In reality every one not in 
 alliance with God is regarded as ar- 
 rayed against God. It is not needful 
 that one shall announce himself a 
 blasphemer in order that he may be a 
 real foe of Christ and his cause. 
 
 10. In four waj'S mentioned in this 
 and the following verse are the wor- 
 shipers of the l^east puni.shcd. The 
 pictures of the punishment are fearful 
 to contemplate. The figure employed 
 in ver. 8 of Babylon drinking from a 
 cup is here used. First, Wine of the 
 
 wrath of God. (Comp. Ps. 70 : S; Isa. 
 
 61 : n ; Jcr. 25 : 15.) There is a holy in- 
 dignation in God's nature. He is good, 
 and hence, he is holy. Love in God 
 Is not a sentiment merely, but an active 
 
 principle, a love for all good things, 
 and good ends for his universal king- 
 dom. He hates iniquity, he cannot 
 help it, impelled thereto by his own 
 holy nature. Poured out . . . in- 
 dignation, rather, prcjHired unmixed 
 in the cup of his anger. The custom 
 w^as in ancient times to mingle the 
 water with the wine, diluting it, and 
 thereby weakening its power. The 
 meaning here is that no mitigating 
 elements enter into the punishment ; it 
 falls heavy and severe. It is justice 
 untempered with mercy. There are 
 varying degrees of God's wrath ; ac- 
 cording to light, opportunity, and 
 fixedness in sin will be the penalty 
 (Luke 12: 48). Secondly, Tormented 
 . . . brimstone. We are not required 
 to take these terms literally. There 
 may be punishments, eternal in their 
 nature, without involving physical 
 features. The only way in wnich we 
 can understand the future is through 
 the use of figures applicable to the 
 life that now is. The expression re- 
 fers mainly to the punishments in 
 the other existence (i9 : 20; 20 .- 10 ; 
 21 ■■ 8). It is possible, however, to un- 
 derstand it of punishments, severe and 
 just, upon the ungodly in this life. 
 The cities in the jjlain were rained 
 upon by a storm of fare and brimstone, 
 furnishing the figure here employed to 
 indicate the punishment (G^n. 19 : 24), 
 The seven penalties mentioned in chap. 
 XVI, the plagues of the seven bowls, 
 may furnish fitting illustrations of this 
 severe expression, fire and brimstone. 
 Tiie righteous judgments of God have, 
 in general, a beginning in this life. 
 Growing more intense toward the end 
 of the ages they will ripen into the 
 unending penalties of the un.seen ex- 
 istence. In the presence . . .liamb. 
 This does not mean, as Alford main- 
 tains, that there is a literal view of 
 the sufferings of the wicked by the 
 holy angels and the Saviour founded 
 
296 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 [Ch. XIV. 
 
 "the smoke of their torment ascendeth 
 up for ever and ever ; and they have 
 »no rest day uor night, who worship 
 the beast and his image, and whosoever 
 receiveth the mark of his name. 
 
 12 y Here is the patience of the saints : 
 « here are tliey that keep the command- 
 ments of God, ''and the faith of Jesus. 
 
 13 And I heard a voice from lieaven say- 
 ing unto me, Write, ''Blessed are the 
 dead >: which die in the Lord from 
 henceforth : Yea, saith the Spirit, 'J that 
 
 the smoke of their torment goes up 
 forever and ever ; and they nave no 
 rest day and night, those who worship 
 the beast and his image, and whoever 
 receives tlie mark of liis name. 
 
 12 Here is the patience of the saints, 
 those who keep the commandments of 
 God, and the faitli of Jesus. 
 
 13 And I heard a voice out of heaven, 
 saying. Write, Happy are the dead who 
 die in the Lord, henceforth ; yea, says 
 the Spirit, that they may rest from 
 
 u 19 : 3 ; Isa. 34 : 10. x Mark 9 : 43-48. y 13 : 10. z 12 : 17. 
 
 h 20 : 6 ; Isa. 57 : 1, 2 : Phil. 1 : 21-23. c Rom. 14:8; 1 Cor. 15:18; 1 Thess. 4 : 14, 16. 
 
 d 6 : 11 ; 7 : 14-17 ; Job 3 : 17-19 ; 2 Thess. 1 : 6, 7. 
 
 on Luke 16 : 23, which passage is itself 
 a parable. It means that, as taught in 
 2 Thess. 1 : 6-9, the Lamb and the an- 
 gels are the fixecutors of God's holy 
 will. There is certainly taught here 
 an acquiescence and approval on the 
 part of Jesu.s and the angels of the 
 doom that awaits the wicked. The 
 punishment is not arbitrary, inflicted 
 simply because God is almighty. There 
 is reasonableness in God's treatment of 
 all men, both in hell and in heaven. 
 
 11. The third element of the penalty 
 is given, the smoke . . . ever. The 
 foundation of the figure is found in Gen. 
 19 : 28. There is given under a vary- 
 ing figure the same thought contained 
 in the preceding verse. The fourth ele- 
 ment expresses the persistency of the 
 punishment, day and night, as the 
 preceding expression had indicated the 
 endlessness of it. If the design was to 
 express the unendingness of the penalty, 
 it could not have done it in a more forci- 
 ble way. Milligan maintains that the 
 reference here is to punishments in this 
 life only, inasmuch as the article is 
 omitted in the expression forever and 
 ever, literally, unto ages of ages. But 
 the general impression made on the 
 mind is that of timelessness. "The 
 partial punishment inflicted under the 
 trumpets has now given place to a 
 judgment which is final and a sentence 
 without time limits" (SwETE). That 
 the punishment is justified is shown in 
 the words, worship the beast and 
 his image. If there is the eternal 
 mark of the bea.st upon the soul, in this 
 life and the next, even reason would 
 assert the nece.ssity of an eternal 
 punishment. There is a wide con- 
 trast between the use of the term rest 
 here and in 4 : 8. Jesus gives rest ; the 
 
 righteous do not weary of praise ; the 
 wicked have no rest in heart. 
 
 12. Two sayings follow the procla- 
 mations of the angels before we get a 
 sight of the Judge himself. Here 
 . . . saints. While dread penalties 
 come upon the ungodly, both here and 
 hereafter, there is, on the part of the 
 saints, the maintenance of a steadfast, 
 enduring life. Under persecution there 
 is a call for steadfastness. An appeal 
 is made for a patient life, because, in 
 time, reward and penalty will be fully 
 revealed. Here are. Omit these 
 words. They . . . Jesus. Two char- 
 acteristics of the saints are mentioned, 
 obedience toward God, and faith in 
 Jesus. Without these the Christian life 
 cannot exist ; existing abundantly, 
 steadfastness inevitably results. To 
 make the finest Christian life, both in 
 doing and in suffering, there is re- 
 quired, not genius, but an abiding hold 
 on the personal Christ. 
 
 13. A second saying is given. 
 Voice. It is not stated by whom the 
 saying is uttered. It has been conjec- 
 tured that it is the same angel who re- 
 veals the vision to John in 1 : 1 ; 4:1; 
 19 : 9. In the last passage mentioned the 
 angel bids John, as here, to write. If 
 persecution arises, it is not strange that 
 we find the steadfastness of the saints in- 
 curring violent and martyr deaths. The 
 martyr is pronounced a blessed man ; 
 his life is not thrown away; he needs 
 not to ask the pity of his fellows. To 
 die in the Lord is to enter into the 
 unseen life in fellowship with Christ. 
 To be one witli Christ involves a blessed 
 resurrection like unto his own. From 
 henceforth. Some take this to mean 
 from a point toward the closing era, 
 when the last ages have been entered 
 
Ch. XIV.] 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 297 
 
 they may rest from their labours ; 
 •their works do follow them. 
 
 aud 
 
 their labors, for their works follow 
 with them. 
 
 e Matt. 25 : 35-40 ; 1 Cor. 15 : 58 ; Heb. 6 : 10, 11. 
 
 upon, the time of the harvest and the 
 vintage, when the blessedness of the 
 holy dead would be about to come to 
 completion. On this view the refer- 
 ence would not be to all the righteous 
 dead of all the Christian ages, but to 
 those dj'ing for Christ toward the end 
 of this era. It is true, in a general way, 
 that all who die in the Lord enter into 
 a blessed and saved stiite ; their friends 
 need not mourn for them (i Thess. * : 
 13). The promise of blessedness here 
 given is largely for the comfort of those 
 who pass through troublous times, in- 
 curring danger and death. The words 
 do not imply that those who died before 
 Christ, or those falling asleep quietly 
 in their own homes, are not blessed, but 
 they serve as a stimulus and encourage- 
 ment, nerving the Christian to the en- 
 durance of hardship. We may refer 
 thefroDi henceforth to the entire Chris- 
 tian era, during which period the sym- 
 bolic number, the one hundred and 
 forty-four thousand, are being gathered 
 together. It is not taught here that the 
 sainted dead enter at once upon the full 
 possession of their blessedness, but that 
 such faithfulness, even unto death, re- 
 ceives the blessing that God basin store. 
 The full blessedness of no Christian will 
 come until the consummation of all 
 things ; the Christian has only a partial 
 life until the redemption of the body 
 at the resurrection (Rom. 8 : 23). The 
 blessedness spoken of consists, partly at 
 least, in a release from toils and hard- 
 ships. The voice continues through all 
 the words of this verse. The Spirit 
 unites in the declaration already made, 
 and specifies the nature of the blessed- 
 ness promised. Labours. This is a 
 term indicating toil, severe hardship, 
 persecution, inducing a certain weari- 
 ness in life. The endurance of the 
 hardships mentioned in 2 Cor. 11 : 23- 
 29, creates a hungering for the rest of 
 the after life. The saints are fitted by 
 their character for the enjoyment of 
 that life of rest. Their works. A 
 very diflerent word from that rendered 
 labors. Follow them, rather, /o//o?t' 
 with them. They enter, a prepared peo- 
 ple, into a prepared place. Their good 
 
 works will not be forgotten by their 
 Lord at his coming. They are saved by 
 grace ; they are rewarded according to 
 their works. A man and his life are 
 inseparable ; the remembrance by the 
 rich man of his past life justifies his 
 present condition (Luke 16 ; 25). The 
 works of all men follow with them, in- 
 asmuch as Jesus makes the deeds of 
 this life the foundation of the eternal 
 condition (Matt. 25 : sr-ie). The exalta- 
 tion of Jesus followed his life of perfect 
 obedience here. The exaltation was the 
 result of the life here (Ptn. 2:9). 
 
 14-20. The harvest and the 
 VINTAGE. In tlie first section was a 
 vision of the church, its character, its 
 numbers, its union in worship with the 
 heavenly host. In the second section 
 (ver. 613) v?as the vision of the mission 
 of the church in giving the gospel to 
 the world, with its attendant judgments 
 upon the ungodly; the fall of Babylon 
 and the fearful punishments upon all 
 of those arrayed against God ; the ap- 
 peal to patience in the Christian life 
 and a blessing pronounced upon the 
 holy dead. Three angels appeared in 
 ver. 6, 8, 9. In this section is a vision 
 of Jesus occupying the central place 
 among the angels, three preceding and 
 three following his appearance. No 
 one can read the book of Eevelation 
 and have any doubt as to the position 
 accorded to Jesus by God in giving the 
 visions; Jesus occupies the central 
 place, having a name above every name 
 (Phil. 2 : 10). Two scenes are presented, 
 that of the harvest, in which, mainly, 
 the ingathering of the saved is pre- 
 sented, and that of the vintage, in 
 which, mainly, the penalties upon the 
 ungodly are presented. 
 
 14. In this verse is a vision of the 
 coming of Jesus. He has many and 
 varied comings. He comes in judg- 
 ments (^ : ^); he comes through the 
 Holy Spirit (John 14 : 18); he came in the 
 destruction of Jerusalem (Mait. le : 28); 
 he comes at many periods of the present 
 Christian era («»«. 26 : r.i r. v.). He 
 comes also, finally, in his own glorified 
 person. Naturally, he is seen in the cen- 
 tral place of the seven appearances ver. 
 
298 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 [Ch. XIV. 
 
 14 And I looked, and behold /a white 
 cloud, and upon the cloud one sat elike 
 unto the Sou of mau, "^ having on his 
 head a golden crown, and in his hand 
 a sharp sickle. 
 
 15 And another angel ' came out of the 
 temple, crying with a loud voice to 
 him that sat on the cloud, i' Thrust in 
 thy sickle, and reap : for the time is 
 
 14 And I saw, and behold a white 
 cloud, and on the cloud one sitting 
 like a son of man, having on his head 
 a golden crown, and in his hand a 
 
 15 sharp sickle. And another angel came 
 forth out of the temple, crying with a 
 great voice to him who sat on the 
 cloud, Send forth thy sickle, and reap ; 
 
 / 1 : 7 ; Luke 21 : 27. 
 
 3 1 : 13. 
 
 h 6:2; Heb. 2 : 9. 
 
 * Joel 3 : 13 ; Matt. 13 : 39. 
 
 6, 8, 9, 14, 15, 17, 18. Three things indi- 
 cate that the one seeu is the Christ : the 
 white cloud, tlie crown, the appearance 
 as a Son of man. Looked, rather, 
 saw. One sat, rather, one sittiny. 
 White cloud. A bright cloud over- 
 shadowed the apostolic group on the 
 mount of Transfiguration (Matt, n ; 5); 
 a cloud hid the ascending Jesus from 
 the sight of men (Acts i : 9); it was pre- 
 dicted that Jesus would come again in 
 the clouds of heaven (Mark i3 : 2b). 
 Seated upon a cloud, the symbol of 
 sovereignty, Jesus comes to wind up the 
 affairs of men, the history of the race. 
 There was a time when the human race 
 began to be ; there comes a time when 
 another chapter in the history of the 
 race will be ushered in by the coming 
 of Jesus, the Son of man, rather, a 
 Son of man. Without doubt, Jesus is 
 here indicated. It is not one of the an- 
 gelic beings, as in the other six cases, 
 but one having a human form. This 
 can be no other than the incarnate Son 
 of God. In 1 : 13 the same form of ex- 
 pression occurs. The omission of the 
 definite article is no proof in a case of 
 this kind, where the person is well 
 known, that Jesus is not meant. Some 
 regard the appearance here as that of 
 an angel, representing him, but this 
 view is untenable. It is the coming of 
 the Lord himself; nothing else will ex- 
 plain all the surroundings of this event. 
 It is worthy of special notice that 
 Jesus, after his departure from the 
 earth, yet posses.ses his human nature, 
 he is a Son of man, the title that Jesus 
 so frequently used concerning himself. 
 The title is a pledge of his interest in 
 us, a prophecy of the salvation of those 
 trusting in him. Golden crown. 
 This indicates kingship, the assertion 
 of sovereignty, the downfall of opposi- 
 tion, as in ver. 8, and now the judg- 
 ment, in which all men will share. We 
 may not forget that Jesus is to be Lord 
 
 as well as Saviour; judge as well as 
 advocate. A one-sided view of Christ, 
 forgetting his kingship, his rulership, 
 must lead to great errors in belief and 
 in conduct. This is the fifth appear- 
 ance in vision of the Lord Jesus. In 
 the first appearance (i : i«) he holds the 
 stars in his hand ; in the second, he 
 takes the sealed book from the hand of 
 the Father (5 : 6, 7); in the third, he ap- 
 pears under the form of the strong angel 
 (10:2); in the fourth, he is with his 
 church on Mount Ziou (" ■ '). The 
 crown denotes the sovereignty ; the 
 sickle, the end, the consummation of 
 all things. To the farmer the sickle is 
 the symbol of the crowning of the year's 
 work. For ages Jesus has watched over 
 the world in sowing good seed, in culti- 
 vating men through the Holy Spirit; 
 now comes the end. In his earthly 
 ministry Jesus spoke of the harvesting 
 of his people, meaning the ingathering 
 of his saints, through the ministry of 
 
 angels (Matt. 9 : 37, 38 ; 13 : 29, 30). 
 
 15. The angel comes from the tem- 
 ple, which here means the innermost 
 holy shrine, where God symbolically 
 dwells. The meaning is that the mes- 
 sage is from God himself. On earth, 
 as in heaveUj Jesus does nothing of 
 himself, nothing apart from God the 
 Father's will (Johu 5 : 19). Some have 
 thought it incongruous for Jesus, the 
 divine Son of God, to receive a message 
 through an angel, as here represented. 
 We must remember that all this takes 
 place in vision ; the meaning conveyed 
 to us is that Jesus, in his work of sepa- 
 rating between men, in gathering in his 
 own, is acting according to God's will, 
 carrying out the divine purpose. Jesus 
 is to act as the judge of men (John 5 : 22). 
 Thrtist . . . reap, rather, Send 
 forth thy sickle find reap. There is a 
 fitness in reaping at this time, for the 
 time is come to reap. God does not act 
 in haste, nor do untimely things, for he 
 
Ch. XIV.] 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 299 
 
 come for thee to reap ; for the harvest 
 ' of the earth is ripe. 
 
 16 And he that sat ou the cloud " thrust 
 in his sickle on the earth ; and the 
 earth was reaped. 
 
 17 And another angel came out of the 
 temple which is in heaven, he also 
 having a sharp sickle. 
 
 18 And another angel came out from 
 the altar, "which had power over fire ; 
 and cried with a loud cry to him that 
 
 because the hour to reap is come ; be- 
 cause the harvest of tlie earth is ripe. 
 
 16 And he who sat on the cloud cast his 
 sickle on the earth ; and the earth was 
 reaped. 
 
 17 And another angel came forth out of 
 the temple which is in heaven, he also 
 
 18 having a sharp sickle. And another 
 angel came out from the altar, having 
 authority over fire ; and he called with 
 a great voice to him who had the sharp 
 
 I Jer. 51 : 33 ; Matt. 23 : 32 ; 13 : 30 ; I Thess. 2 : 16. 
 
 m John 5 : 22, 
 
 n 16 : 8. 
 
 is a God of reason. Jesus forbids the 
 pulling up the tares, because, in time, 
 the harvest will come (Matt, is : so). 
 Ripe, rather, over-ripe, or dried up. 
 The meaning is that the harvest is per- 
 fectly ripe, so that the stock has become 
 dry. The picture of the harvest has 
 many analogies to the moral world : the 
 sowing of the seed, the varying recep- 
 tion of the seed by the soil, the tares, the 
 long delays in ripening, the hindrances 
 to growth, the wearying results of the 
 harvest. At the last comes a time of 
 reaping. The sickle of Jesus means a 
 ripening of character, a righteous dis- 
 crimination among men, a final end to 
 the present dispensation ou the earth. 
 Ripened goodness means heaven ; ri- 
 pened sinfulness means hell. 
 
 16. The incidents of this verse follow 
 closely upon the preceding. The com- 
 mand to reap is followed by the reap- 
 ing. Thrust . . . earth, rather, cr(s< 
 his sickle upon the earth. The symbolic 
 act in the vision was that of throwing 
 his sickle upon the earth. The act 
 of reaping itself is not described ; 
 who reaped the earth? who were the 
 agents ? how long it took to gather in 
 the redeemed harvest? to these ques- 
 tions no answer is given. It takes 
 place, however, in some way, under the 
 superintending care of the Son of man, 
 not of the angel who speaks to hira. 
 Reaped. We are to understand the 
 reaping and the ingathering of the 
 righteous alone. The analogy of the 
 Scriptures and the general outline of 
 the thought here, as well as the wide 
 contrast presented by the following 
 verses in describing the vintage, show 
 that the reference here is to the in- 
 gathering of the wheat into the granary 
 (Matt. 13 : 30). Jesus in per.son gathers 
 his own ; an angel gathers the wicked 
 (ver. 19). The preaching of the eternal 
 gospel was the occasion of a saved mul- 
 
 titude among men, composing the har- 
 vest of Christ. A great multitude from 
 all quarters, drawn by redeeming love, 
 quickened by the Holy Spirit, will be 
 found walking in white wlien he comes. 
 
 17. We have in the following verses 
 a wide contrast with the preceding in- 
 gathering. We have here portrayed the 
 ingathering of the tares, the ungodly, 
 under the figure of a vintage. This 
 angel also comes from the innermost 
 part of the temple, the holiest of all, 
 implying thereby that he comes with a 
 revelation of God's will. The judg- 
 ment of God and the final separation 
 among men takes place, according to 
 God's holy plans. It is God's purpose 
 (ver. 15) to savc tlic godly ; it is equally 
 his purpose, as expressed in symbol, to 
 destroy the ungodly. It will be ill 
 with the wicked (i»a. 3 : u). In the 
 light of Ezek. 3-3 : 11 ; Deut. 30 : 19; 
 1 Tim. 2 : 4, it may be affirmed that it 
 is no delight to God to punish men ; it 
 is a strange work to him (isa. 28 : 21); it 
 is against God's gracious provisions of 
 mercy, against his appeals and counsels 
 that men are disobedient. 
 
 18. Just as one came to the Son of 
 man with a raes.sage (ver. 15), so here 
 one comes with a message from God to 
 the destroying angel. Swete regards 
 the first reaper as tlie Son of man (ver. 
 i<) : "In the second process the chief 
 part is assigned to an angel, who 
 gathers in the fruit of the vine of tlie 
 earth as the Son of man had gathered 
 in its wheat. . . There is a delicate 
 beauty in the assignment of the in- 
 gathering of the vintage to an angel, 
 while the Son of man himself reaps 
 the wheat harvest. The work of death 
 is fitl.v left in the hands of a minister 
 of justice ; the Saviour of man appears 
 'unto salvation' (Heii.u: 28)." The angel 
 is further described, Avhich . . . fire, 
 rather, he that hath power over the fire. 
 
300 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 [Ch. XIV. 
 
 had the sharp sickle, saying, <> Thrust 
 in thy sharp sickle, and gather the 
 clusters of the vine of the earth ; for 
 her grapes are fully ripe. 
 
 19 And the angel thrust in his sickle 
 into the earth, and gathered the vine 
 of the earth, and cast it into p the great 
 
 20 winepress of the wrath of God. And 
 <ithe winepress was trodden ^ without 
 the city, and » blood came out of the 
 winepress, 'even unto the horse bridles. 
 
 sickle, saying, Send forth thy sharp 
 sickle, and gather the clusters of the 
 vine of the earth ; because its grapes 
 
 19 are fully ripe. And the angel thrust 
 in his sickle into the earth, and gath- 
 ered the vine of the earth, and cast it 
 into the great wine-press of the wrath 
 
 20 of God. And the wine-press M'as trod- 
 den outside of the city, and blood 
 came forth out of the wiiie-press, even 
 
 o Joel 3 : 13. 
 
 p 19 : 15-21. q Isa. 63 ; 1-3 ; Lam. 1 : 15. r Hcb. 13 : 
 
 e Isa. 34 : 5-7 ; Ezek. 39 ; 17-21. t 19 : 14. 
 
 This angel comes from the altar in the 
 holy place ; the angel who presents the 
 prayers of saints to God, who casts fire 
 upon the earth, causing judgments 
 thereby (8 : s-5). It is of the sacred fire, 
 not of fire in general, that John speaks 
 here. We may infer from the connec- 
 tion of this angel with the vision that 
 the ingathering of the vintage is in 
 answer to the prayers of the saints. 
 Their prayers have been beard in 
 heaven ; they now bring answers upon 
 the earth. Few great changes take 
 place upon earth that are not connected 
 with the prayers of God's people. The 
 angel is to gather the clusters of 
 the vine of the earth. This is the 
 vintage of the wicked. The figure of the 
 vintage is often u.sed in the Old Testa- 
 ment (Isa. 68 : 1-4). The usc of the term, 
 cup of his indignation (ver. lo), refer- 
 ring to Babylon, indicates that the 
 meaning here is restricted to the 
 wicked. Ripe. Character always 
 tends toward ripening. Character and 
 destiny will always fit into each other ; 
 every man will go to his own place 
 
 (Acts 1 : 25). 
 
 19. The method of the vintage is de- 
 scribed, thrust . . . earth, rather, 
 cast his sickle into or upon the earth. 
 Gathered the vine, rather, vintage. 
 Great wine-press, rather, the wine- 
 press, that great wine-press. Wrath of 
 God. This marks the wide diflerence 
 l)etween the harvest of the righteous 
 and the vintage of the wicked. At the 
 outcome of liuman afl'airs God separates 
 according to character ; the granary 
 and the furnace represent the final con- 
 ditions of men (Matt. i3 : 30). No farmer 
 would east the grain into the furnace ; 
 God will not put the tares into his gran- 
 aries. Tlie .saving and glorifying of 
 God's people, the work of discovering 
 and punishing the unrighteous, are both 
 
 portrayed here, side by side. The life 
 on earth ripens into heaven and hell. 
 God's love and God's wrath are not an- 
 tagonistic terms, as though both could 
 not abide in the same person at one 
 time. God is always love ; he will 
 never cease to be love, for that is the 
 essence of his nature. God always has 
 wrath against wrong-doing, a fixed atti- 
 tude of indignation against unholiness. 
 As long as the grain is in a formative 
 state the farmer tries to better it by cul- 
 tivation. When tlie harvest comes he 
 can do nothing but cut it down. In 
 like manner there is a time for growth 
 in human character ; with men at this 
 time God deals graciously. There 
 comes a harvest time, when God can do 
 nothing but reap and separate. 
 
 20, Without the city. As in ver. 
 1, there isa reference to the holy city 
 of Jerusalem, not in its literal but its 
 symbolic sense. The meaning here is 
 that the ingathering and the punish- 
 ing of the wicked is unfitted to take 
 place in the city ; it takes place, there- 
 fore, outside of the city. The saved 
 will dwell in the city (21 ^ 2); into it 
 nothing unclean will be allowed to en- 
 ter (21 : 27). Blood. The reference is 
 not to real blood, but to the wine trod- 
 den out of the grapes, which resembles 
 blood. In like manner Jesus spoke of 
 the blood (Matt. 2$ : 28). Blood naturally 
 stands for extreme suffering, for de- 
 struction, for death. The entire pas- 
 sage, like that in ver. 9-11, abounds 
 in the most fearful imagery. We 
 must be careful to avoid giving it 
 any literal interpretation. It has a 
 meaning, intense and real, but ex- 
 pressed in highly wrought figures, poet- 
 ical and material. Horse bridles, 
 rather, bridles of the ho7-ses. The judg- 
 ment is from God, it is the fierceness of 
 his anger. He employs agencies and 
 
Ch. XIV.] 
 
 EEVELATION 
 
 301 
 
 by the spa^e of a thousand and six 
 hundred furlougs. 
 
 to the bridles of the horses, as far as a 
 thousand and six hundred furlougs. 
 
 instruments to execute his purpose. 
 John, ill vision, sees troops of horse- 
 men carrjMiig out God's judgmeuts. 
 The wine, resembling blood, indicating 
 the punishment of the wicked, covers 
 the surrounding country, making a sea 
 of blood, deep aud wide. The meaning 
 is plain, the destruction of the enemies 
 of God will be great and overwhelming, 
 as if an invading army of horsemen 
 were almost covered by the blood. 
 Compare with the passage in 19 : 13-15, 
 for the same figure. There is no allu- 
 sion here to the horsemen of chap. VI, 
 or 9 : 17. By the space, rather, as 
 far as, a thousand and six hun- 
 dred furlongs. This is not to be in- 
 terpreted in a literal waj'^. It is equal, 
 if taken literally, to one hundred and 
 eightj'-three English miles. It does not 
 mean that the land of Palestine is to be 
 covered with blood, or undergo punish- 
 ment ; nor does it refer to any definite 
 part of the earth's surface. It is an ex- 
 pression entirely aud purely symbol- 
 ical. Nor does it mean simply that the 
 penalty will be widespread, covering a 
 large territory. Four is the symbolic 
 number of the world ; the four winds, 
 the four quarters. To know that the en- 
 tire ungodly world will be punished, 
 crushed under the power of God's moral 
 and unchanging laws, we have the 
 number four multiplied by four, and 
 this in turn multiplied by one hundred. 
 It is in a way similar to this that the 
 number one hundred and forty-four 
 thousand is formed. Twelve stands as 
 a number representing the good, the 
 luimber of the tribes of the chosen peo- 
 ple. The twelve is multiplied by itself 
 and this by one thousancl. The num- 
 ber thus found stands for tlie whole 
 number of the saved in all the ages, in 
 all the countries. The meaning, there- 
 fore, is plain wlien we look at this term 
 as having a symbolic meaning ; the 
 entire ungodly world will be, as it 
 were, trodden under foot by God's 
 forces. Some great penalty must cer- 
 tainly be meant to justify the use of 
 such strong terms in a book not de- 
 signed to frighten men witli dangers 
 that have no existence. The book must 
 not be rejected as unworthy of a divine 
 revelation, containing teaching'* not in 
 
 harmony with the cliaracter of God. 
 Correspondingly severe terms are used 
 by Christ in his personal ministry. He 
 speaks of hell, destruction, the left 
 hand, tares, everlasting punishment, 
 the worm thatdieth not, weeping, wail- 
 ing, and gnashing of teeth, the outer 
 darkness, torment, a great gulf. There 
 is a severity in kindly nature if her 
 laws are broken. In the spiritual life, 
 which is under the control of the same 
 God, there is a like severity (Rom. ii : 22). 
 
 Note. Mount Zioisr and Babylon. 
 In this chapter we have the forces of 
 sin and wickedness arrayed against 
 each other. They are symbolized in 
 the tei'ms Mount Ziou and Babylon. In 
 many places in the book we have the 
 same forces, under dilFerent names, the 
 same struggle, the same glorious end- 
 ing. Before the seventh seal was 
 opened we had great tribulations (7 : 
 1*); the martyred souls in heaven, im- 
 ploring God's holy interposition (5: 10). 
 In chap. XIV we have a vision of the 
 church as the Redeemer's one great 
 agency in the world for resisting and 
 overcoming these great foes. The one 
 mission of the church is the preaching 
 of the go.spel (1* ; 6). The gospel proves 
 victorious. For the third time in the 
 book the contest issues in victory for 
 Christ's cause. For the first time the 
 term Babylon is introduced, .standing 
 here for the general agencies denomi- 
 nated the first and second beast in the 
 previous chapter. This is evident from 
 the words used ; the wrath of God is 
 proclaimed agaiust those having the 
 mark of the beast and who worship his 
 image (h : 9-11). In the Old Testament 
 Babylon was a name of fearful import, 
 the very opposite of God's cau.se. It 
 fell in time, and its palaces became 
 heaps of ruins. In like manner the op- 
 position to Jehovah's Son is summed 
 up in the one term, Bal)ylon. John 
 might have closed his book without in- 
 troducing this term. But for the sake 
 of picturesqueness, and for an addi- 
 tional description of the ruin that comes 
 on organized sin, he uses this term. It 
 gives him opportunity, in chap. XVII, 
 for a graphic description of the opposi- 
 tion of Babylon, its greatness, its utter 
 
302 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 [Ch. XIV. 
 
 ruin. In this chapter he does not dwell 
 on the term Babylon, but straightway 
 makes use of the vision of the ingather- 
 ing and the vintage, to give an account 
 of the end. Babylon becomes synony- 
 mous with the vintage, with its wine- 
 press of God's wratli. We come thus 
 in this cliapter to the end, for the third 
 time. The saved ai'e gathered in, the 
 wicked are punished, and God reigns 
 in acknowledged sujjremacy. Here the 
 end of the book might be found, but 
 in the two following chapters we have 
 a detailed account of some of the agen- 
 cies of penalty that God makes use of 
 before the end comes. They cover in 
 point of time, incidents and agencies 
 that are prior to the judgment scene de- 
 picted in this chapter. It is well to re- 
 member tliat tlie book is built upon 
 the plan, not of a continuous chronol- 
 ogy from the first chapter to the closing 
 chapter, but that it gives the entire 
 course of the Redeemer's work, viewed 
 in one aspect under the series of the 
 seals ending in 8 : 1 ; another history 
 of the cause of Christ on the earth, 
 under a second aspect, closing in 11 : 
 15 ; a third history of the develop- 
 ment of God's cause coming to its close 
 in this chapter, but with appendices 
 and illustrations of scenes mentioned 
 in the chapter extending to and con- 
 tained in chap. XVI-XX. 
 
 Practical Remarks. 
 
 1. Where Jesus is his people will be. A 
 church weakened by worldliness can do 
 nothing for him. The power of Christ 
 on the earth is a holy church ; the power 
 of the church is an indwelling Christ 
 (ver. 1). 
 
 2. Heaven is a place of rejoicing ; sing- 
 ing is natural to heaven. Only in the 
 abode of the lost is no singing (ver. 2). 
 
 3. The preparation for the songs of 
 heaven is to know the song of redemption 
 when on the earth. The songs of the 
 saved, there and here, are one. No one 
 can learn the song but one who has 
 learned of Jesus here (ver. 3). 
 
 4. The Christian on the earth is to be 
 pure in heart, separate from the world, set 
 apart to God. To be a (Christian is not to 
 feel right, but to be right and to do right 
 (ver. 4). 
 
 5. Nathanael was praised by Christ for 
 
 his sincerity (John 1 : 47). The heart 
 manifests itself in the mouth. A clean 
 mouth reveals a clean heart. Satan has a 
 lying mouth (ver. 5). 
 
 6. The gospel is worthy of all accepta- 
 tion, Jesus commands its proclamation. 
 The church must be a missionary church, 
 because Christ was a missionary Christ 
 (ver. 6). 
 
 7. God should be worshiped. His holy 
 character, combined with his infinite at- 
 tributes, render it fitting that all men 
 should reverence him. Not to worship 
 such a God is a confes.sion of ingratitude 
 and depravity of heart (ver. 7). 
 
 8. Even the highest will be brought 
 low under God's retributive power. " Fal- 
 len " will be said of everything that is 
 against God. At times great crises in 
 affairs take place quickly. Every spiritual 
 Babylon will fall in time (ver. 8). 
 
 9. Every man, in God's sight, has upon 
 him a mark. Each man identifies him- 
 self with God, or is reckoned as against 
 God. Every man's life centers in Jesus 
 Christ, or in the beast (ver. 9). 
 
 10. Every man who is destroyed, in 
 reality, destroys himself. He places him- 
 self in a position where God's laws must 
 crush him. The chief torment of the lost 
 man will be the self-accusation, the sense 
 of the lost opportunity (ver. 10). 
 
 11. Everlasting punishment is clearly 
 taught in the Scriptures. Everlasting 
 blessedness and everlasting punishment 
 find support in the words of Christ (Matt. 
 2.5 : 46). A fixed character means a fixed 
 condition of blessedness or woe (ver. 11). 
 
 12. The Christian needs an enduring 
 spirit. Bunyan's " Mr. Hold-Fast " is the 
 need of the Christian life— holding up, 
 holding on. To obey God and to love 
 Jesus Christ will insure a steadfastness in 
 the life (ver. 12). 
 
 13. Only those are blessed after death 
 who are blessed before death. Living in 
 the Lord will involve a dying in the Lord 
 (ver. 13). 
 
 14. Jesus in heaven is yet the Son of 
 man. He is not now a .suppliant for man's 
 help, but is sovereign, having the crown 
 of the universe. He is fitted for ruling 
 and forjudging (ver. 14). 
 
 15. God is not hurried, for all the ages 
 are his. Jesus permits men and the age 
 
Ch. XV.] 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 303 
 
 The seven angels and the seven plagues- 
 Song of Muses and the Lamb. 
 15 AND I saw another sign in heaven, 
 great and marvellous, "seven angels 
 having the seven last plagues; »for 
 
 15 AND I saw another sign in heaven, 
 great and wonderful, seven angels 
 having seven plagues ; which are the 
 
 u 16 : 1 ; 21 : 9 ; 2 Sam. 24 : 16, 17 ; 2 Kings 19 : 35 ; Acts 12 : ti. 
 
 X 14 : 10, 19; Dau. 12 : 6, 7, 11, 12. 
 
 to work out their characters before the 
 harvest comes. We cauuot help ripening 
 for the future (ver. 15). 
 
 16. Out of the fifteen hundred million 
 people living on the earth, to be vastly 
 increased as the ages go on, Jesus will 
 gather his own. Not one will be lost. 
 His happiness would not otherwise be 
 complete (ver. 16, 17 ; John 17 : 24). 
 
 17. The wrath of God is just as real as 
 the love of God. It is, in reality, God's 
 love for holiness in activity, manifested 
 in punishment of the finally impenitent. 
 Sinful men should return to God, should 
 kiss the Son while there is an open door 
 for reconciliation (ver. 19 ; Ps. 2 : 12). 
 
 18. The rewards of the righteous will be 
 an exceeding weight of glory; the punish- 
 ments of tlie wicked will be exceedingly 
 great and fearful. In the presence of 
 such results, arising from sin, every one 
 should flee from sin itself, with its con- 
 sequent penalties, to God for forgiveness 
 (ver. 20). 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 The seven angels with their 
 BOWLS. This chapter and the follow- 
 ing are closely bound together, the one 
 being introductory to the other. The 
 third series of visions, that of God's 
 extreme judgments, begins with chap. 
 XVI. Xothing sliows more clearly 
 than the structure of the book that it is 
 not built up on a chronological plan. 
 In the last chapter we came to the time 
 of the end. We now come to scenes that 
 are prior to the events just descriljed. 
 The seven Ijowls, with their judgments, 
 form a part of God's procedure before 
 the time of final separation, preparing 
 the way for that event, bringing men 
 also to a decision for righteousness. In 
 this book we pass over the same perioils 
 of time, looking at the same events 
 under different aspects. In the seals 
 we had the entire course of human his- 
 tory passing before us, bringing out 
 the one teaching, the ultimate issue of 
 
 triumph for Christ's redemptive work 
 on the earth. Victory crowns the 
 struggling church. In the trumpets 
 we pass over the same periods of time. 
 Here we look ou the two agencies by 
 which Christ, through the church, 
 conquers the world, the agencies of 
 God's graciousness in the gospel and 
 his manifested judgmelits. Here again 
 the struggle issues in vietoiy. In the 
 bowls we have the outpouring of God's 
 anger on a wicked world. Here the 
 main aspect is that of severity. The 
 seals had no introductory vision ; the 
 trumpets had one ; this series has two 
 visions in this chapter. This shows 
 how artistically the book is constructed, 
 with what a growing intensity we 
 progress toward the final catastrophe. 
 In this chapter the first verse is intro- 
 ductory — a sight of seven angels with 
 seven bowls. Then is heard the song 
 of Moses and the Lamb, looking for 
 God's judgments to come (ver. 2-4). 
 Seven angels emerge from the temple- 
 there is given to them seven bowls full 
 of God'.s wrath (ver. s-s). 
 
 1. Another sign. A sign had 
 been seen in 12 : 1, 3. The word ren- 
 dered sign does not mean simply some- 
 thing marvelous in it.self, designed to 
 attract attention, but is indicative of 
 something beyond itself, a prophetic 
 sign. It is a sign .significant of some 
 great event impending, great and 
 marvellous. It is a term used to 
 describe the wonderful works of Jesus 
 (Malt. 16 : 4). Tliesc works were in- 
 tended to convey large teachings con- 
 cerning himself and his mission. Jolm 
 describes the sign, seven last 
 plagues, rather, seven angels having 
 seven plagues which are the last. These 
 plagues are God's most destructive 
 agencies ; they are his final and com- 
 plete manifestations against obdurate 
 wickedness. There may be a refer- 
 ence to the plagues iu Egypt that fell 
 with such force upon the enemies of 
 God, especially as we have a plain 
 allusion to the song of triumph at the 
 
304 
 
 EEVELATION 
 
 [Ch. XV. 
 
 in them is filled up the wrath of 
 God. 
 2 And I saw as it were J a sea of glass 
 mingled with lire : and them ' that had 
 gotten the victory over the beast, " and 
 
 last, because in them is finished the 
 wrath of God. 
 2 And I saw as it were a glassy sea, 
 mingled with fire; and those who were 
 victorious over the beast, and over his 
 
 4:6; 21 : 18. 
 
 « 12 : 11 ; 1 Cor. 15 : 57. 
 
 a 13 : 15-17. 
 
 passage through the sea. In the series 
 of the bowls we have the world con- 
 templated simply iu its guilt. The 
 dealings of God are therefore simply 
 and purely judicial, bringing out the 
 severer aspects of God's character, end- 
 ing with the destruction of the parties 
 against whom they are directed. While 
 moving alongside of the trumpets they 
 present the judicial, the punitive char- 
 acter of God's dealings. The word 
 last implies that there liave been pun- 
 ishments heretofore, but these are the 
 last in order of time, and as plagues, 
 are most severe in nature. These will 
 finally crush the wicked. Many pun- 
 ishments have been sent on a wicked 
 world, mingled with mercy, these are 
 unmixed penalty. They occur toward 
 the end of the present order of things, 
 for in them . . . God, rather, /o/- mi 
 them the u'rath of God is finished. The 
 wrath of God is always displayed 
 against sin. God is God because he is 
 holy, and sin is sin because it is against 
 God. Wrath is often restrained by pur- 
 poses of mercy as long as there is hoi)e. 
 In these plagues God's wrath finds its 
 full, final manifestations. The end in 
 view is accomplished, the utter break- 
 ing-down of organized wickedness. It 
 may not cease to be wickedness, but its 
 open warfare, its hindrance to Christ's 
 cause is removed. The wrath is finished 
 because their unrighteousness has come 
 to its full. A like thought is expressed 
 in 14 : 18, where the vintage is over- 
 ripe. In the series of the seals and 
 trumpets there was a synchronous 
 movement, both lying parallel with 
 each other, from the beginning to the 
 ending of the .series. 'These plagues, 
 on the other hand, belong apparently 
 to the latter part of the dispensation. 
 We may regard, however, the plagues 
 as the completion of that .series of events 
 introduced by chap. XII, the introduc- 
 tion of Christianity on the earth. In 
 this verse we have the essence of what 
 will be contained in the next chapter. 
 The angels do not receive the bowls 
 containing the plagues until ver. 7 
 
 These plagues do not include the final 
 judgment, but are prior to it in order 
 of time. 
 
 2-4. The vision of the sea of 
 GLASS. We first get a glimpse of 
 heaven, the throne, the attendant saved 
 jjersons, the heavenly music, showing 
 the redemption in the past and the 
 conquests to be secured. God's holi- 
 ness is praised, and his righteous acts 
 are declared to be manifested. We are 
 fitted thus, bj' the declaration of the 
 holy and righteous character of God, 
 to see the manifestation of his wrath 
 upon the wicked, as made known in 
 the following verses. 
 
 2. Sea of glass. As showing the 
 oneness of the book, we have a vision 
 of this sea revealed once before (* : «). 
 The same features meet us again and 
 again ; the same throne, the sea of glass, 
 the four living creatures, the company 
 of the redeemed, the Lamb of God, 
 these show the continuity of the sacred 
 drama. The sea is in position before 
 the throne, which is not here described ; 
 but it must be in view, for the King 
 upon the throne is praised. 3Iingled 
 with fire. This is indicative of the 
 judgments impending, to be made 
 manifest in the seven plagues. It is 
 not the transparent, calm, quiet sea 
 indicating rest, repo.se, and peace, but 
 the fiery, surging waves that reveal 
 Goer's wrath about to be finished. 
 Before the olden tabernacle stood the 
 laver, the means by Mhich the priest 
 obtained the symbolic cleansing that 
 fitted him to stand in God's holy pres- 
 ence. It stood foi purity, forgiveness, 
 peace of soul. This sea stands for un- 
 rest, disturbance, storm. Without a 
 word the beholder feels that this fiery 
 sea reveals a judgment impending. 
 John sees praising God those A^ho had 
 come off conquerors. And them ... 
 name, rather. And them that came 
 victorious from the beast, and from his 
 image, and from the number of his 
 name. The passages in 13 : 17, 18 
 must be read in connection with this. 
 The beast stands for the worldly spirit 
 
Ch. XV.] 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 305 
 
 over his image, and over his mark, and 
 over the nuuiber of his name, stand on 
 the sea of glass, ''liaving tlie harps of 
 3 God. And they sing "the song of 
 Moses the servant of God, <iand the 
 Sung of the Lamb, saying. 
 
 image, and over the number of his 
 name, standing by the glassy sea, 
 3 having liarps of God. And they sing 
 tlie song of Moses the servant of God, 
 aud the song of the Lamb, saying, 
 
 c II : 3 ; Exod. 15 : 1-18 ; Deut. 31 : 30. 
 
 opposed to the Lamb ; his image and 
 the number of his name are the 
 
 raanifestatious of God's outward repre- 
 sentations of that bestial power. Taken 
 together they constitute the satanic 
 and ungodly opposition to Christ and 
 his cause. Tlie Christian life always 
 has antagonisms and antagonists. 
 Paul speaks of them in the same figu- 
 rative way ill Eph. 6 : 12-18. The 
 term rendered from is literally out of. 
 Its meaning is, perhaps, that they 
 were almost in the power of the beast; 
 they would liave been helpless had 
 they not been cared for by tlie strong 
 Son of G<h1, the Redeemer. Inasmuch 
 as they sing the song of Moses, the 
 Old Testament leader of God's people, 
 it follows that this saved company em- 
 braces the Old Testament saints as well 
 as the New Testament saints. In all ages 
 there has been an organized satanic 
 power, the power of the lieast. In every 
 age Satan has put his mark on his 
 followers; iu every age the man saved 
 has been saved alone by faith in a per- 
 sonal God, who was his redeemer ; iu 
 every age the godly life has been one 
 of contest and overcoming ; in all ages 
 the principle of saintship is the same; 
 the saved of all ages are saved through 
 the vicarious sacrifice of Christ (is : s). 
 On the sea, rather, hy the sea. The 
 words can be rendered literally as a 
 standing upon the surface of the sea. 
 But it is more fitting liere and more in 
 accord with the teaching of the entire 
 passage to regard them as standing 
 upon the edge of the sea, praising Him 
 upon the throne and regarding the sea 
 with its mingled fire, as prophesying a 
 righteous doom upon tlie ungodly. 
 The saved here are in contrast with the 
 saved on the shore of the Red Sea in 
 the days of Moses. The harps of 
 God. We have had allusion to harps 
 in 5 : 8 ; 14 : 2. As the temple had its 
 sacred instruments, so heaven has its 
 songs and joys peculiar to itself. They 
 are harps fitted to worship God, worthy 
 of God, belonging to God, There may 
 
 be the meaning that they are great and 
 glorious as belonging to God himself; 
 everything iu heaven far surpasses the 
 things of earth. The liarps of Miriam 
 give place to the harps of God. 
 
 3. With the harps is the voice of 
 song, sung by the redeemed from the 
 earth. They sing; it is a present and 
 continuous song. 3Ioses the servant 
 of God. When the Israelites passed 
 through the Red Sea, having seen their 
 own deliverance and the destruction of 
 their foes, they sang a song (Kxod. is : 2, 
 13). The great world power of the 
 days of Moses was utterly overthrown. 
 As the saints behold the sea mingled 
 with fire, there is for them the assur- 
 ance and prophecy that the world 
 powers of their own day would, in like 
 manner, be overthrown. The song 
 they sing is like that of Moses ; one of 
 deliverance from powers that threaten 
 to destroy them, one of destruction for 
 their enemies. It was an act of re- 
 demption when God showed his power 
 through Moses, who was, in a pre- 
 eminent way, his servant. He is so 
 
 called elsewhere (Exod. U : 31 ; Heb. s : 5 ; 
 
 Num. 12 : 7). It is a term of the highest 
 honor; Paul delighted to call himself 
 a servant, a slave, of Jesus Christ 
 (Rom. 1:1). The song of the Lamb. 
 We are not to regard this song as com- 
 posed of two parts, one song that of 
 Moses, the other that of the Lamb. It 
 is one undivided song, whose words are 
 given in ver. 3, 4. The salvation 
 wrouglit through Moses is of the same 
 nature as that wrought through the 
 Lamb. The same fatherly love of God 
 was manifested in both Moses and 
 Christ. The Angel of Jehovah (oen. 
 22 : 15), who revealed himself in the 
 Old Testament, was the Jesus of the 
 New Testament. As the eternal Logos 
 (John 1:1), he was at work in the world 
 before his advent as the personal Christ 
 (johD 1 : 4, li). The reference to Moses 
 is occasioned by the consideration that 
 the salvation about to be wrought by 
 the Lamb, the Sou of God, is of a 
 
306 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 [Ch. XV. 
 
 « Great and marvellous are thy works, 
 —Lord God Almighty ; 
 'Just and true are thy ways,— thou 
 King of saints. 
 4 8 Who shall not fear thee, O Lord,— 
 and glorify thy name ? 
 For ^ilwu only art holy :— for ' all na- 
 tions shall come and worship before 
 thee; ''For thy judgments are made 
 manifest. 
 
 Great and wonderful are thy works. 
 Lord God, the Almighty ; righteous 
 and true are thy ways, thou King of 
 4 the ages. Who shall not fear, O Lord, 
 and glorify thy name? Because thou 
 only art holy ; because all the nations 
 shall come "and worship before thee ; 
 because thy righteous acts are made 
 manifest. 
 
 e Ps. Ill : 2 ; 139 : U. / 16 : 7 ; Deut. 32 : '. 
 
 g Exod. 15 : li-16 ; Ps. 89 ; 7 ; Jer. 10 : 7. 
 i 11 : 15 ; Ps. 86 : 9 ; Isa. 66 : 23 , Mai. 1 : 11. 
 
 ; Ps. H5 ; 17 ; Hosea 14 : 9. 
 
 It 1 Sam. 2 : 2. 
 k 19 : 2 ; Ps. 97 : 8 : 105 : 7 
 
 nature like that wrought by Moses, 
 the servant of God, in the Old Testa- 
 ment times ; in both there was a world 
 power, a struggling cause of God, a 
 redemption manifested, a signal tri- 
 umph, a song of deliverance. The 
 beast cannot be Nero, as taught by 
 many modern interpreters, for the Old 
 Testament saints can sing this song 
 equally with the New Testament saints. 
 There began to be a redemption in the 
 Old Testament times ; the redemption 
 is finished through Jesus Christ, the 
 perfect servant of God. The salvation 
 at the Red Sea, and the deatli on the 
 cross, are both parts of one great re- 
 demptive love and plan. The words 
 of the song are, great . . . Almighty, 
 rather, the Almighty. The song covers 
 all periods of time in both dispensa- 
 tions, recalling especially those works 
 in which are manifested the preserving 
 and redeeming power of God. They 
 become him who is the Almighty. All 
 his ways, his marvelous works, are 
 just, rather, righteous, and true 
 
 (Deut. 32:4; Ps. 144:17). When afflic- 
 tions press on God's people, God seems 
 to be forgetful, neglectful of moral dis- 
 tinctions among men. But when the 
 end is seen, it will be apparent that in 
 all the methods of the divine procedure 
 God is righteous and true, true to his 
 promise and his own holy nature. The 
 Seventy-third Psalm was written for a 
 man in trouble of mind over the ap- 
 parent inequalities of life, the pros- 
 perity of the ungodly. In the end, the 
 ■ways of the righteous are seen to be 
 the ways of wi.sdom. God's holiness, 
 without God's patience, would mean 
 our destruction. King of saints, 
 rather, of ages. He is the eternal 
 King. This is a fitting designation to 
 be ascribed to him here, inasmuch as 
 all his acts, in both dispensations, 
 
 come under our vision. The misinter- 
 pretations in reference to God's ad- 
 ministration arise from taking too 
 small periods of time to consider. His 
 righteousness is especially dwelt upon 
 here because of that about to be re- 
 vealed. The plagues are the revela- 
 tions, not of his almightiness, but of 
 his holiness. 
 
 4. This ver.se continues the song of 
 adoration. Omit thee. The first 
 reason for the fear of God and the 
 glorifying of his name arises from the 
 consideration of his holiness. Because 
 God is holy is a more controlling reason 
 for his being worshiped than mere 
 greatness. We might conceive of al- 
 mightiness being centered in a being 
 destitute of moral goodness. The 
 second reason is because of the mani- 
 festation of God's righteous judg- 
 ments, rather, acts. They have been 
 made manifest. The past tense show- 
 ing them as done already in the past 
 completely. The entire future may 
 also be conceived of as so surely mani- 
 festing his righteousness that it is re- 
 garded as already past. The emphasis, 
 in the song, rests on the righteousness 
 of his dealings witli men, both in pre- 
 serving and punishing. This will be 
 so seen by all that all nations . . . 
 before thee. This is not as.serted 
 here as a declaration of the divine will. 
 It is rather the hope, the desire, the 
 expectation on the part of tlie saved 
 that these righteous acts of God will so 
 influence men as to turn them to God. 
 That the expectation might receive its 
 fulfilment it would not be needful that 
 every man in every nation should be 
 renewed in heart. In a general way 
 no one welcomed Christ, tliough per- 
 haps several thousand received him, 
 (luring his personal ministry, as their 
 Saviour (Joim i : 11). According to this 
 
Ch. XV.] 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 307 
 
 5 And after that I looked, and, be- 
 hold, ' the temple of the tabernacle of 
 the testimony m heaven was opened : | 
 
 And after these things I saw, and 
 the temple of the tabernacle of the 
 testimony in heaven was opened ; 
 
 I 11 : 19 ; Num. 1 : 50, 53. 
 
 passage so many may be influenced by 
 the manifestation of God's righteous 
 acts that, in large numbers, they will 
 worship God. Even while the bowls 
 emptied upon those hardened in heart 
 may result in making them yet harder, 
 yet there are others upon whom these 
 severities will have an opposite eflect, 
 awakening them and leading them in 
 brokenness of heart to God. God can 
 work through and upon every part of 
 man's nature, using both tender min- 
 istries and severe judgments to move 
 the hearts of men. God delights not 
 in punishment for its own sake ; it 
 is called his strange work, utterly 
 foreign to his nature, but sometimes a 
 necessity for him (isa. 28 : 21). It is 
 thought by some that these words of 
 the saints, these hopings on the part of 
 all the saved, whether on earth or in 
 heaven, may be realized, to a larger 
 extent than the ages have ever wit- 
 nessed, in the future ages of the church. 
 It is generally the case that times of 
 pestilence, of disaster, of great judg- 
 ments, are times of great spiritual 
 darkness. Afflictions, if rightly used, 
 make the heart obedient; if wrongly 
 used they tend to bitterness of heart 
 and a fixed disobedience. 
 
 5-8. The seven angels with 
 THEIR BOWLS. We have heard the 
 song of the redeemed, proclaiming the 
 righteous acts of God. We now have 
 the seven angels receiving the bowls 
 wherewith they may publicly manifest 
 God's righteousness and power. From 
 the innermost opened shrine of the 
 temple the angels emerge, becoming 
 the instruments of God's holy wrath. 
 The penalties come, not by accident, 
 but in due process of law, becau.se 
 God's holy laws have been broken. A 
 smoke that renders the temple inac- 
 cessible to any accompanies the going 
 forth of the angels, God thus adding 
 terror to the scene. The days of mercy 
 are now over, so that no one might in- 
 tercede in the temple or make oflerings 
 for transgression. 
 
 5. After . . . looked, rather, After 
 these things I saw. In the movement 
 
 of the sacred dramatic representation 
 we have a sight first of the saved and 
 redeemed throng (ver. 'i-i) • then of the 
 fearful ministrations of the angels with 
 their plagues, revealing God's wrath. 
 The eye and the ear of the seer are 
 both atteni on the scene. Behold. 
 This is to be omitted. Tabernacle. 
 In the wilderness the tabernacle was 
 the movable temple of God. For 
 several centuries this was the sj'mbolic 
 dw-elling-place of God until the days of 
 Solomon, when a temple was built for 
 his worship. Thenceforth this place 
 was the center of the Jewish worship. 
 But the memory of that tabernacle 
 was enshrined in the phrase, temple 
 of the tabernacle. This term can- 
 not be applied to the outer court, but 
 the reference is to the inner shrine, the 
 dwelling-place, as it were, of God him- 
 self, with the attendant cloud of glory. 
 We are dealing here with the most 
 sacred things, the going forth of the 
 angels on their mission of avenging 
 God's broken laws. In 11 : 19 the tem- 
 ple was opened, but the purpose of the 
 opened temple diflers here from that 
 of the former occasion. In that vision 
 was a sight of the ark of the covenant, 
 the symbol of God's grace and mercy. 
 God was revealed as a covenant-keep- 
 ing God. The vision was, therefore, 
 one of grace to God's people, including 
 also, at the same time, the keeping of 
 his word to those breaking the cove- 
 nant. Here the eye rests on the tes- 
 timony, that is, the tables of stone, on 
 which were written the Ten Command- 
 ments. These tables of testimony bear 
 witness to God's holiness ; they are the 
 revelations of his righteous will. It is 
 because men have l)roken these statutes 
 that the angels now go forth on their 
 errand of .severity. Stephen speaks of 
 the " taljernacle of witness " (Acts 7 .- 44). 
 In Exod. 31 : 18 the stones are called 
 the "tables of testimony." No one 
 can break God's laws w'ilh impunity. 
 In time the holy angels will go forth 
 on their visitations of punishment. 
 Opened. It was a marvelous event, 
 the opening of the holy places, reserved 
 
308 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 [Ch. XV. 
 
 6 and the seven angels came out of the 
 temple, having the seven plagues, 
 ""clothed in pure and white linen, 
 and having their breasts girded with 
 "golden girdles. 
 
 7 "And one of the four beasts gave unto 
 the seven angels p seven golden vials 
 
 6 and there came out from the temple 
 the seven angels that had the seven 
 plagues, clothed with a pure, bright 
 stone, and girded about the breasts 
 
 7 with golden girdles. And one of the 
 four living creatures gave to the seven 
 angels seven golden bowls, full of the 
 
 »i 1 : 13 ; Exod. 28 : 5-8 ; Ezek. 44 : 17, 18. 
 
 71 Dan. 10 : 5. 
 
 i) 16 : 2, etc.; Ps. 75 : 
 
 in the Old Testament times for the eyes 
 of the priests and high priests alone. 
 Inasmuch as all are now priests of God 
 it is fitting to open them to the gaze of 
 all believers. 
 
 6. And . . . temple, rather, And 
 there came out of the temple. The 
 angels come forth from the holy of 
 holies where God alone has his dwell- 
 ing-place. The meaning is, therefore, 
 that they come with the divine ap- 
 proval. The penalties brought by 
 them will not be something apart from 
 God's sanction, but having his ap- 
 proval. Their work will be one of 
 judgment mainly, for it is as the min- 
 isters of God's wrath that they come 
 forth. God's laws obeyed are a pledge 
 of security and blessing, but disobeyed 
 they bring God's judgments. Every- 
 where in the Old Testament, when God 
 announced himself as the God of his 
 covenant people, this relationship in- 
 volved always the puni.'ihment of the 
 
 ungodly (Ps. 80 : 8 ; 90 : 13 ; 110 : 6). The 
 
 seven angels alluded to in ver. 1 are 
 now fully seen ; the number seven 
 implying that the series of judgments 
 here announced will be perfect in their 
 nature, accomplishing perfectly the 
 work designed. Their office is that of 
 administering the plagues. These an- 
 gels have a priestly office, as shown in 
 their garments and in tlieir girdles. 
 Clothed in pure and white linen. 
 The Revised version renders, Arrayed 
 with precious stone pure and, bright. So 
 also the Improved Bible Union version. 
 Both put in linen" in the margin. 
 A change of one letter in the Greek 
 makes the difference between linen and 
 stone. The high priest wore a garment 
 set with twelve precious stones on his 
 breast. In Ezek. 28 : 13 the king of 
 Tyre is described as covered with pre- 
 cious stones. The representation here 
 is that these angels are covered with 
 precious stones as with a garment. As 
 a rule the angels are described as 
 clothed with linen pure and white 
 
 (Acts 10 : 30; Matt. 17 : 2 ; Rev. 19 : 8). The 
 
 golden girdle reminds one of the 
 vision of the Son of man so clothed 
 (1 : 18). The thought here may be that 
 the angels are so far superior to the 
 high priests of earth tliat, while clothed 
 in the ordinary priestly garments, they 
 are so far superior to the high priests 
 of earth that their garments are covered 
 with jewels. God's angels are worthy 
 of God in their appearance and char- 
 acter. 
 
 7. The work of the angels is pointed 
 out, and they are commissioned for 
 their work by one of the four beasts, 
 rather, living creatures. We have had 
 references in this book already to these 
 living creatures sixteen times ; re- 
 peatedly they join -with the redeemed 
 in singing praises to the Father and to 
 the Lamb. They display an interest 
 in redemption . If they be looked upon 
 as the representatives of the entire crea- 
 tion then, as the bow Is are to be poured 
 out upon all departments of nature, 
 the sun, the earth, the rivers, and 
 fountains, it is fitting that these repre- 
 sentatives of nature shall give their 
 approval to this work. God works 
 through creation with its manifold 
 laws, w hich may become the channels 
 through which his anger may be made 
 manifest. Nature itself also, when re- 
 demption shall have fini.shed its work, 
 shall be delivered from the bondage 
 into M'hich it passed by the fall. (See 
 Rom. 8 : 21.) If tlic living crcaturcs be 
 the highest created beings, then tlie 
 vision teaches that they, standing for 
 all good intelligences, coincide with 
 God in his punishments about to be 
 brought upon the nations of the un- 
 godly. Vials, rather, boivls. These 
 are vessels broad and shallow, resem- 
 bling our saucers. They are the basons 
 of the Old Testament (E^^od. 12 : 32). 
 They were used to carry the incense 
 lighted with coals from the altar in the 
 holy place. They are fitted, therefore, 
 to represent a sudden and full punish- 
 
Ch. XV.] 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 309 
 
 full of the wrath of God, i who liveth 
 8 for ever and ever. And nhe temple 
 was filled with smoke from the gloiy 
 of God, and from his power: and ■ no 
 man was able to enter into the tern- 
 pie, till the seven plagues of the seven 
 angels were fulfilled. 
 
 wrath of God, who lives forever and 
 8 ever. And the temple was filled with 
 smoke from the glory of God, and from 
 his power ; and no one was able to 
 enter into the temple, until the seven 
 plagues of the seven angels should be 
 finished. 
 
 9 4 : 9 ; 10 : 6 ; 1 Thess. 1 : 
 
 r Exod. 40 : 34 ; 1 Kiogs 8 : 10 ; 2 Chron. 5:14; Pa. IS : 9 ; Isa. 6 : 
 < Exod. 40 : 33 : 2 Chron. 5 : 14. 
 
 ment, that can be poured out at once 
 upon the ungodly in the earth. There 
 is a wide contrast between the bowls of 
 wrath and the bowls full of odors, the 
 prayers of saints (5 ; 8). Wrath of 
 God. Man's anger is usually mali- 
 cious, passionate, vengeful. God's 
 wrath is the necessary manifestation 
 of a holy nature against the unholy 
 and the wicked. Real holiness must 
 be antagonistic to that which is wrong 
 in itself. The wrath of God does not 
 come to its full manifestation until the 
 opportunity to forgive and save is past. 
 Jesus came not to destroy, but to save 
 (John 3 : 17); but he will cousign the 
 finally impenitent to everla.sting pun- 
 ishment. There is a wrath of the 
 Lamb (6:i6). God is love, but God 
 has wrath. God manifests his wrath 
 through the angels, which here repre- 
 sent ministries of all kinds, whether 
 they be the activities of nature, or the 
 retributive laws of conscience. God 
 can make his angels out of men or 
 laws or things. This wrath may be 
 perpetual, for God is an ever-living 
 God. 
 
 8. The angels having received the 
 bowls proceed at once to pour them 
 out. The scene is one of terror. In 
 vision John beholds the temple filled 
 with smoke. This smoke is not that 
 arising from the 1)urning incense, which 
 is the symbol of praise and prayer 
 ascending to God as a sweet savor. It 
 is not the cloud of glory which at times 
 filled the temple, as when Isaiah had a 
 vision of Jehovah (isa. e : 4)_ or as wlien 
 the temple was dedicated to God (i 
 Kings 8 : u). It is hcrc rather the smoke 
 that is conceived of as coming from the 
 fire of God's anger. A fitting illustra- 
 tion is found in Exod. 19 : 19, when 
 smoke covered Mount Sinai when the 
 commandments were given. God has 
 begun his retributive work, has come 
 in penalty ; the smoke symbolizes this 
 teaching. No man . . . temple. 
 
 This, in vision, is the announcement 
 that their doom is past intercession, the 
 penalty is fixed. God is easy to be 
 entreated, and plenteous in mercy (Ps. 
 80 : 15) ; the high priest entered the 
 holiest of all yearly, making interces- 
 sion for the sins of 'the people. But 
 there comes a time when God's wrath 
 is manifest, and he will not listen to 
 intercession. Notice the impressive 
 statements in Deut. 32 : 49-51 ; Jer. 
 15 : 1. Fulfilled, rather, finished. 
 God cannot be approached when he is 
 manifesting himself in this fearful 
 manner. When God sits as judge no 
 one may intercede. The laws of nature 
 are helpful to men if used aright, but 
 these laws have no mercy if disobeyed. 
 We are exhorted to kiss the Son while 
 opportunity is given (ps. 2 : 12). The 
 plagues are now about to receive the 
 beginning of their fulfilment; the time 
 comes, in the order of events, when the 
 plagues will cease. When the wrath- 
 ful ministries of God's holy indigna- 
 tion shall be withdrawn by these min- 
 istries coming to an end, then the 
 temple will a^ain be open for interces- 
 sion. The vision brings out clearly 
 into view this teaching — God's holy 
 and heavy penalties will assuredly 
 come u]jon the ungodly ; nothing can 
 restrain them. God's longsuftering 
 will pass into God's rertributive justice. 
 
 Pkactical Remarks. 
 
 1. God's nature is so manifold and per- 
 fect that to each one will come that which 
 is fitted to his character. Heaven means 
 the perfect fulness of his rewards. Pen- 
 alty here, in its full sense, and hell here- 
 after come to the one whose iniquities are 
 full (ver. 1). 
 
 2. Satan is strong, but not too strong to 
 be overcome by any saint, with God's 
 help. Jesus was an overcoming Christ 
 that he might be a helping Saviour 
 (ver. 2). 
 
310 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 [Ch. XVI. 
 
 3. God is king of the ages. He is fitted 
 to carry out his everlastiug plans, because 
 he has all ages in which to work. No 
 wicked man, living for one age, can de- 
 feat Grod, whose dwelling-place is in 
 eternity (ver. 3). 
 
 4. God's almightiness is under the con- 
 trol of his holiness. Because he is holy, 
 penalties must come on the ungodly. 
 God's manifested righteousness means 
 wicked men put down and righteous men 
 crowned with God's approval (ver. 4). 
 
 5. The commands of God bear testimony 
 to his character and our duties. They 
 were kept in the holiest of all ; they 
 should be enshrined to-day in our inner- 
 most heart. The tables of stone are lost. 
 But God's laws are written on the heart, 
 and contained in the holy Scriptures 
 (ver. 5). 
 
 6. God's ministers are clothed in beau- 
 tiful garments. Every Christian should 
 be clothed upon as a priest of God to in- 
 tercede for men. The Christian has put 
 on Christ as a covering, a creed, a rule of 
 daily conduct (ver. 6; Gal. 3 : 27). 
 
 7. God's mercy means a salvation pro- 
 vided for the guilty ; God's delay means 
 our salvation (2 Peter 3 : 15). God's wrath 
 means an utter destruction for the wicked. 
 No one is compelled to be lost, it is a 
 matter of choice (ver. 7). 
 
 8. There is a sin unto death (1 John 5 : 
 16). There is a time when the door is 
 shut (Matt. 25 : 10) ; when intercession 
 has no promise (ver. 8). 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 The seven last plagues. We 
 come now to the pouring out of the 
 contents of the bowls upon the enemies 
 of God wherever situated. We see the 
 fearful efifects of these j)lagues upon 
 God's foes. In one continuous order > 
 they follow each other ; no breathing * 
 time is given for these foes to recover 
 themselves. This is tlie third time that 
 the seer is going over the same events. 
 It is evident that we have a threefold 
 representation of a contest of God's 
 forces with the satanic hosts from the 
 similarity of the structure of the three 
 series of visions. In many respects 
 there is a noticeable likeness between 
 the three series; there is a complete 
 conformity in the objects subject to 
 God's visitation in the trumpets and 
 the bowls. In all the series there is a 
 division of the seven visions into two 
 groups; the first group of four, the 
 second group of three. Between these 
 two groups there is in all the series a 
 marked dividing line. A glance at the 
 first four visions in the three series will 
 make this plain : 
 
 SEALS. 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 1.(6-'') 
 o'/jijsaflFecting the earth. 
 
 TRUMPETS. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 1.(8:7) earth 
 
 llsiiojaffectingthe^f^; 
 
 4.(8:13) 
 
 rivers, 
 sun. 
 
 BOWLS. 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 1.(16:2) earth. 
 
 2;;;:;:jaffectingthe^^;r3, 
 
 4.(i6'*) sun. 
 
 In all cases the earth, in its entirety 
 of land and sea, the sun as the source 
 of life and strength, the fountains and 
 rivers which are essential to the exist- 
 ence of life, all these are affected. The 
 same objects are represented and in the 
 same order. In all the series there is a 
 
 break at the fifth number. At this 
 number we pass from earth, with its 
 physical objects, to look upon the spirit 
 world ; we get a glimpse of the unseen 
 world — unseen to the ej'e, but really 
 existing. This is made apparent by a 
 glance at the fifth number. 
 
 SEALS. 
 
 6:9. 
 
 An altar in heaven. 
 
 TRUMPETS. 
 
 9 : 11. 
 
 The pit of the abyss. 
 
 BOWLS. 
 
 16 : 10. 
 
 The throne of the beast. 
 
 The scries of the trumpets and the 
 bowls difl'er from that of the seals, in 
 that they arc far more minute than the 
 
 seals, entering into details. They are 
 explanatory of the more general state- 
 ments of tlie seals. 
 
Ch. XVI.] 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 311 
 
 There is the unclean woman, the 
 parody of the pure woman, clothed in 
 white, the bride of Christ (n : s). We 
 may exi)ect a greater similarity between 
 the series of the trumpets and tlie 
 
 bowls than between the seals and the 
 other two- the trumpets and bowls 
 deal mainly with penalty. The com- 
 plete similarity between the trumpets 
 and the bowls is manifest. 
 
 SIXTH NUMBER. 
 
 TRUMPETS. 
 
 9 : 13. 
 
 The river Euphrates. 
 
 BOWLS. 
 
 16 : 12. 
 The river Euphrates. 
 
 TRUMPETS. 
 
 11 : 15. 
 
 The end of all things. 
 
 SEVENTH NUMBER. 
 
 BOWLS. 
 
 16 : 17. 
 The end of dll things. 
 
 All three groups bring us to the end 
 when the Judge appears. In the seals 
 the end comes in 8 : 1. The Judge ap- 
 pears; the Lamb in his wrath and the 
 silence indicate that all opposition has 
 broken down. In the trumpets the 
 dead are raised and the kingdom has 
 become Christ's in 11 : 15. In the 
 bowls there comes the cry, "It is 
 finished," in 16 : 17. It must be evi- 
 dent that these are different aspects of 
 substantially the same course of pro- 
 cedure, the same i)arties standing in a 
 different relation to each other in the 
 different series. In the interpretation 
 of the visions in this series of the bowls 
 no attempt will be made to find a dis- 
 tinct and literal event, or some distinct 
 spiritual teaching for each detail of the 
 representation. AH such attempts have 
 been failures in the past; they all 
 must be in the very nature of the case. 
 These visions are intended to give to us 
 poetic and scenic prophecies, to present 
 in a highly figurative way general out- 
 lines of God's dealings with his ene- 
 mies both inside the church and outside 
 of it. The expressions are designed to 
 be general in tlieir character. God 
 purposes to destroy his foes utterly. 
 He does this in a spiritual way, just as 
 if he were to touch every part of man's 
 outward life, the earth, the sea, the 
 river, the sun, the atmosphere, with 
 the blight of his curse. Were God to 
 touch the physical world in this way, 
 all life would become bitter and in- 
 tolerable. These visions express, in a 
 figurative way, tlie fearful woes that 
 God will bring to pass upon liis foes. 
 These woes may not, of necessity, be 
 
 mainly physical or material in their 
 nature, for God has all resources at his 
 command. Man's entire surroundings, 
 his social life, his intellectual nature, 
 his moral nature, his political rela- 
 tions, may all of them be made agen- 
 cies through which God will bring 
 fearful miseries upon the wicked as 
 the result of their wickedness. The 
 one great fact stands before us here in 
 these visions, that God, because he is 
 holy, will bring heaviest judgments 
 upcni his foes as overwhelming as if he 
 were to make the land and sun and 
 waters their inveterate enemies. God 
 smites once and again the things on 
 which life and its happiness rest; the 
 means of life he makes burdensome. 
 Under these attacks the ungodly world 
 stands utterly helpless. The seven 
 plagues are an expression, in detail, of 
 the vision of the vintage, the destruc- 
 tion of the wicked in 14 : 18-20. 
 
 In like manner we find, in ver. 6, an 
 anticipative allusion to the destruction 
 of Babylon, the details of which are 
 given in IS : 24. In ver. 14 we have 
 also an anticipative allusion to the 
 great war between holiness and un- 
 holiness, noticed fully in 19 : 17-21. In 
 ver. 19 we have a reference to the de- 
 struction of the great Babylon, the full 
 mention of whicli fills up chap. XVII 
 and XVIII. In ver.20 we have the great 
 day simply alluded to, and described 
 more fully in 20 : 11-15. This is one of 
 the features of tliis Ijook, to make men- 
 tion of an incident or teaching, and 
 then afterward enter upon the more 
 full consideration of it. The chapter 
 falls naturally into two divisions, the 
 
312 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 [Ch. XVI. 
 
 The seven bowls of plagues poured otit. 
 16 AND I heard 'a great voice out of 
 the temple saying "to the seven angels, 
 Go your ways, and pour out the vials 
 ^ of the wrath of God upon the earth. 
 2 And the first went, and poured out 
 his vial y upon the earth ; and ^^ there 
 fell a noisome and grievous sore upon 
 
 16 AND I heard a great voice out of the 
 temple, saying to the seven angels. Go, 
 and pour out the seven bowls of the 
 wrath of God into the earth. 
 2 And the first went, and poured out 
 his bowl into the earth ; and there 
 came a noisome and grievous sore upon 
 
 « 9 : 13 ; 18 : 4 ; 19 : 5. 
 
 « 15 .1. X 14:10; 15 : 7. 
 2 Exod. 9 : 9-11 ; Deut. 28 : 35. 
 
 8:7; Isa. 8 : 22. 
 
 vision of the first four bowls, the visions 
 of the final group of three. 
 
 In the first division we have the 
 bowls emptied on the earth, the sea, 
 the springs, the sun (ver. 2-9) ; in the 
 second, the bowls are emptied on the 
 throne of the beast, upon the Eu- 
 phrates, upon the air, and great Bab- 
 ylon falls (ver. 11-21). 
 
 1-9. The first four bowls. 
 These four bowls have reference to the 
 earth and its immediate surroundings. 
 The earth, the sea, the waters, the sun, 
 become sources of plagues. All of 
 these are a necessity to the physical 
 life of man ; here they are touched 
 successively with God's blighting 
 power. 
 
 1. This verse is introductory, the 
 commission is given to the seven angels 
 to fulfil their mission. This verse 
 shows that the work of the angels is 
 not a mere revengeful putting forth of 
 
 Eower, but is the work of Jehovah 
 imself. Heard . . . temple. The 
 voice is that of God himself. The 
 people on the earth struggle in vain 
 unless God come to their assistance. 
 God now interposes in their behalf. 
 Milton calls upon God to interpose on 
 behalf of his persecuted saints : 
 
 Avenge, O Lord, thy slaughtered saints, 
 
 whose bones 
 Lie scattered on the Alpine mountains 
 
 cold. 
 
 Go . . . ways, rather, Go ye. The 
 temple filled with smoke (i5 : 8) pre- 
 vents the entrance of any person there, 
 God alone dwells there; it is his voice 
 that the seer hears. Vials, rather, 
 bowls. These have in tliem the wrath 
 of God. A holy God must have the 
 power to exercise wrath. There may 
 be a restraint during a time of proba- 
 tion; during a period of the ripening 
 of the harvest, there conies a time for 
 the manifestation of the wrath. Pun- 
 
 ishments do not come in their fulness 
 until iniquities have also reached their 
 
 fulness (Geu. 15 ; 16 ; comp. Rev. 14 : 18). 
 
 God permits sin and wrong-doing to 
 continue and grow, but he does not 
 approve. His existence is a continued 
 protest against all wrong. He bears 
 patiently with it; but shows, at the 
 last, his disapproval, and sends his 
 judgments. Upon the earth, rather, 
 into the earth. The expression is more 
 intense than simply to cast something 
 on the surface. The same expression 
 is used in 8 : 5, where the angel casts 
 fire into the earth. The angels waiting 
 expectantly to know his will, proceed 
 at once to perform their mission. As 
 the scene takes place in vision, John 
 beholds them standing in such a rela- 
 tion to the earth that they can pour 
 their bowls into it. 
 
 2. The first bowl. The first . . . 
 earth. The angel takes a position, in 
 the vision, from which he may do as 
 bidden. In ver. 1 the term earth is 
 used as a general description of the 
 entire world, the earth and the sea 
 embracing all. Here it is used for the 
 part occupied bj' man, the part opposed 
 to sea. And . . . sore, rather, a^id 
 it became a noisome and griei'ous sore. 
 The historical foundation for this is 
 found in the sixth plague (Exod. 9 : lo), 
 when ulcers came upon the Egyptians. 
 The world beast, mentioned in 13 : 11, 
 came up out of the earth. This beast 
 is explained by many to mean the 
 Antichrist, mainly centered in the 
 papal apostasy. It is doubtful whether 
 we are to find a symbolic or spiritual 
 meaning in the terms here employed. 
 The rather may we simply take the 
 general teaching that God attacks every 
 part of man's surroundings, the founda- 
 tions of his existence. The earth and 
 springs and sun constitute the physical 
 essentials of human life and happiness. 
 To destroy them is to destroy life, to 
 
Ch. XVI.] 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 313 
 
 the men * which had the mark of the 
 beast, and upon them ^ which wor- 
 shipped his image. 
 3 And the second angel poured out his 
 vial " upon tlie sea ; aud <i it became as 
 the blood of a dead man: i^aud every 
 living soul died iu the sea. 
 
 the men who had the mark of the 
 beast, aud who worshiped his image. 
 
 And the second poured out liis bowl 
 inW) the sea ; and it became blood, as 
 of a dead man ; and every living soul 
 died, the things that were iu the sea. 
 
 h 13 : 14. 
 
 d Eiod. 7 : 17-21. 
 
 infringe on their operations is to place 
 limitations on life. Under these figures 
 John means to assert that God makes a 
 warfare upon man that cannot be re- 
 sisted. The liistorical aud allegorical 
 interpretations vary exceedingly, and 
 are unsatisfactory. The second beast 
 compelled the earthly minded to re- 
 ceive the mark of the first beast in 
 their right hand and in their forehead, 
 and to make and worship the image of 
 the beast. By the retributive power 
 of the divine justice the ungodly men 
 have another mark put upon them, 
 ulcers and sores. This is not to be 
 taken literally. We cannot take the 
 sixth vision of this series in a literal 
 way, nor can we this. All are founded 
 on the same plan, all are to be inter- 
 preted in the same way. The meaning 
 is that God begins, through the seven 
 plagues, to make life unbearable to the 
 ungodly, causing those who found their 
 enjoyment iu certain modes of life, to 
 find these sources of enjoyment turned 
 into mockeries. They worshiped the 
 beast aud had his mark ; God gi ves 
 them ulcerous sores, painful, noisome. 
 God is stronger than the beast ; he puts 
 his mark upon the worshipers of the 
 beast. For the mark see 13 : 15 ; 14 : 
 9. The first bowl teaches that God 
 will, in time, openly make the lives of 
 those identified with Satan and world- 
 liuess intolerable and loathsome even 
 to themselves. God will curse their 
 blessings. God could make every sin- 
 ful life pliysically burdened as was the 
 life of Job (Job 2 : 7). God will make 
 life as burdensome as if he were to 
 touch men's bodies with painful sores. 
 There may not be any physical afflic- 
 tion to make this vi.sion come true in 
 its completeness, for oftentimes the 
 severest punishments are not material, 
 but mental. Remorse, disappointment, 
 the sense of guilt, the certain fearful 
 looking for of judgment (Heb, lo : 27), 
 these are more intolerable than mere 
 bodily sufferings. 
 
 3. The second bowl. Without a 
 break the second angel performs his 
 mission. This bowl is emptied into 
 the sea. This vision, with the former, 
 comprehends the entire surface of the 
 earth. Those who find a spiritual 
 meaning in all these terms interpret 
 the sea to mean the worldly life of 
 States and nations, the impulses and 
 passions of the mas.ses of the people. 
 On this theory the land stands for the 
 fixed order of nations, alluding es- 
 pecially to the Jewish nation, the sea 
 standing for the restless mass of outside 
 Gentile nations. It is out of the sea 
 that the ten-horned beast arises (i3 : 1). 
 Without giving the term sea any 
 metaphorical meaning, it may be re- 
 garded as embracing with the term 
 earth (ver. 2) the whole life of man. 
 God will make the whole life, the en- 
 tire worldly existence of the ungodly 
 burdensome to him. He will find no 
 rest anywhere. On sea and on land 
 God will be his enemy. Became 
 . . • man, rather, it became blood as 
 of a dead man. In 8 : 8 one-third of 
 the sea became blood, here all is 
 changed into blood. It is not simply 
 blood, but the clotted offensive blood 
 of a dead man, horrible to look upon. 
 The sea, which ordinarily is a scene of 
 beauty and grandeur, health-giving, a 
 means of pleasure and business asso- 
 ciation, is changed into a thing cor- 
 rupt and corrupting. It is no longer a 
 source of help, but a hindrance and a 
 curse. As a result, every . . . died, 
 rather, every living soul died, even (he 
 things that were in the sea. In 8 : 9 
 one-third died, here it was the reign of 
 a universal death. For a historical 
 foundation of this vision see Exod. 7 : 
 20, the first plague in Egypt. Pharaoh 
 was an illustration of the world power 
 of his day; God took from him the u.se 
 of the Nile, in which he trusted. The 
 teaching of this bowl is that God will 
 so afflict the ungodly as if he should 
 change the material sea into a noisome 
 
314 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 [Ch. XVI. 
 
 4 And the third angel poured out his 
 vial 'upon the rivers and fountains of 
 waters ; sand they became blood. 
 
 5 And I heard the angel of the waters 
 say, ""Thou art righteous, O Lord, 
 ■which art, and wast, and shalt be. 
 
 4 And the third poured out his bowl 
 into the rivers, and the fountains of 
 
 5 the \v;iter.s ; and it became blood. And 
 1 heard the angel of the waters say- 
 ing, Righteous art thou, who art, and 
 who wast, the holy One, because thou 
 
 / 8 : 10, 11. 
 
 g Exod. 7 ; 20. 
 
 ft 15 : 3. 
 
 i 1 :4, 8; 4 :8; 11 : 17. 
 
 mass of clotted blood ; that what Lad 
 been a source of blessing should become 
 a fearful curse. In this manner God can 
 make the social life, the political life, 
 the business relations of men, the ties 
 binding society together, these things 
 essential to the well-being of man, God 
 can make them, through the perverted 
 hearts of men, become a source of un- 
 told woes to men. Many events in his- 
 tory will be found that find their pro- 
 j)hetic desci'iptiou in this vision. It 
 will, however, serve its best purpose 
 by allowing it to have only a general 
 meaning that God can cause that things 
 of beauty, and things on which they 
 depend, shall become sources of horror 
 and hostility. It shall be ill with the 
 wicked ; this the vision teaches in a 
 most forcible but figurative way. John 
 does not aim to write history or give 
 minute details. Where he is silent we 
 may not seem to be wise. 
 
 4, 5. The third boivl. The entire sur- 
 face of the earth, land and sea, having 
 been put under a curse in the two pre- 
 ceding bowls, God's anger now rests 
 upon specific portions of their physical 
 life. Vial, boiol, upon rivers and 
 fountains, rather, into. Something 
 of the same kind took place in con- 
 nection with the third trumpet, when 
 the third part of the waters were made 
 bitter, and many died from the efi'ects. 
 Here all the waters are turned into 
 blood. The statement is that it be- 
 came blood, not that they were changed 
 into blood. Meyer suggests that the 
 blood flowed into the streams, render- 
 ing them, of course, unfit for use. The 
 historical foundation for this is found 
 in Exod. 7 : 20, when the Nile was 
 turned into blood. We may not at- 
 tempt to find any prophetical allusion 
 to any definite event in any part of 
 the world's history. In Egypt God 
 touched one part of nature after an- 
 other, making use of nature to bring 
 Pharaoh into subjection, cutting on 
 one avenue of enjoyment and life after 
 another, so tliut he was compelled to 
 
 surrender. In like manner here, in a 
 figurative way, John sees God making 
 the life of the ungodly exceeding bitter 
 by changing the things on which they 
 depended for life and enjoyment, into 
 sources of loathing. The reference is 
 not to literal rivers and fountains, but 
 to things in the life as essential to them 
 as these are to the physical life. God 
 caused the proud heart of Pharaoh to 
 melt into submission, the heart of 
 Nebuchadnezzar to become humble. 
 God's retributive laws, whereby sin 
 becomes its own punishment, have 
 often rendered life so liurdensome that 
 it has not seemed worth living ; hope 
 departed from life. It is a picture like 
 this that John brings before us. The 
 angel who presides over the waters is 
 the first to recognize the righteousness 
 of the manifestation of the divine 
 Miath. Those who interpret the angel 
 of the waters to mean the angel who 
 poured tlie bowl into the waters, are 
 incorrect. Meyer contends that a defi- 
 nite angel is meant, to whom has been 
 assigned this province of nature, just 
 as in Daniel a particular angel is put 
 in charge of a definite people (nan. lo : 
 13-21). It is better to regard the angel 
 as purely a symbolic being who is in- 
 troduced in this scenic representation 
 as the voice of the waters themselves. 
 The waters themselves, upon whom the 
 judgments have come, respond to the 
 judgment that it is just. Even the 
 enemies of God will, in the end, admit 
 the justice and equity of God's moral 
 administration. The words of the an- 
 gel are, Thou . . . judged, rather, 
 Righteovs art thou ichich art, and 
 irhich wast, thou holy One, because thou 
 didst judge. God is holy in nature, 
 and tlierefore righteous in his dealings 
 with men. The expres.sion, and shalt 
 he, describing God, is to be omitted, 
 for tlie reason that God has now come, 
 is manifested in judgment. Special 
 cmpliasis is laid in this book upon 
 God's perfect righteousness, inasmuch 
 as so often his dealings as judge are 
 
Ch. XVI.] 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 315 
 
 6 because thou hast judged thus. For 
 I' they have shed the blood 'of siiiuts 
 and prophets, "and thou hast given 
 them blood to drink ; for they are 
 worthy. 
 
 7 And I heard another "out of the 
 altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty. 
 • true and righteous are tliy judgments. 
 
 8 And the fourth angel poured out his 
 vial p upon the sun : i and power was 
 given unto him to scorch men with 
 
 6 did.st tlius judge ; because they poured 
 out the blood of saints and prophets, 
 and thou hast given them blood to 
 
 7 drink : they are worthy. And I heard 
 tlie altar saying. Even so, Lord God, 
 the Almighty, true and righteous are 
 thy judgments. 
 
 8 And the fourth poured out his bowl 
 on the sun ; and it was given to it to 
 
 & 6 : 10, II ; 13 : 15 ; 17:6; Matt. 23 : 31, 35. ( 11 : 18 ; 18 : 20. m Isa. 49 : 26. n 6 : 9. 
 13 : 10 ; 11 : 10 ; 19 : 2. p 6 : 12 ; 8 : 12. { 9 : IT. 18 : 11 : 18 ; Isa. 66 : 16. 
 
 represented. The almightiness of God 
 is less dwelt upon than his holiness 
 and righteousness. 
 
 6. This verse is an anticipation of 
 18 : 20-24, where Babylon is destroyed ; 
 it shows the righteousness of God in 
 turning the waters into blood. Shed 
 > . . drink, rather, poured oat the 
 blood of saints and prophets, and blood 
 thou hast given them to drink. Thi.s 
 reveals a time of persecution for God's 
 people and God's leaders among men, 
 for which God now sends a punish- 
 ment in kind. They had shed blood, 
 they must now drink blood. They 
 persecuted God's people ; God now 
 punishes them on account of his peo- 
 ple. Prophets. This alludes, not to 
 Old Testament prophets as such, but 
 to the interpreters and unfolders of 
 God's will in the New Testament 
 
 times. (See Eph. 4 : 11.) Fot . . . 
 
 worthy, rather, they are worthy. The 
 ungodly have merited their punish- 
 ment. God's people shall walk in 
 heaven in white, for they are worthy 
 (3 : *) ; these are worthy of penalty. 
 God always judges according to char- 
 acter. No person will be saved on 
 account of his works, but no person 
 will be saved apart from his works. 
 Every person suffering eternal loss 
 will be deserving of it. 
 
 7. Heard . . . altar, rather, I 
 heard the altar. The altar itself, in 
 the vision, speaks. Tiiis is the altar 
 mentioned in 6 : t), under which the 
 souls of the martyrs were resting. 
 They had cried unto God for the exert- 
 ing of his retributive power. Now 
 that it has come they .see tliat God's 
 judgments are true and righteous. He 
 is ijraised as the almighty God, whose 
 actions correspond with his holy char- 
 acter and his promises; he is true. In 
 
 ver. 5 the ungodly recognize God's 
 righteousness ; here the church of 
 Christ recognizes his righteous deal- 
 ings. The prayers and sacrifices of- 
 fered on the altar often seem powerless 
 to bring about results. But, in the 
 end, the prayers will be an.swered, and 
 the sacrifices find acceptance. The 
 altar is a source of great power with 
 God, and in the end in the affairs of 
 the world. From the days of righteous 
 Abel the blood of all tlie martyrs has 
 cried for retribution, and God's law is 
 that blood is the punishment for shed- 
 ding blood. 
 
 8. The fourth bowl. Men, that is, 
 the ungodly portion of the world, have 
 been touched in all parts of their life 
 and surroundings, represented by the 
 land, the sea, the waters. Now God 
 touches the .sun, the source of life and 
 heat and motion. Upon the sun. 
 In the fourth trumpet (a : u) the third 
 part of the sun was affected ; here the 
 entire body of the sun is touched. 
 There is a growing intensity in the 
 judgment as we come toward the end. 
 We find a historical basis for this vision 
 in Exod. 10 : 21-23, where the sun re- 
 fu.sed to give its light, and darkness 
 settled down on Egypt. Here, on the 
 other hand, the sun has added power, 
 and scorches and burns men with its 
 intense heat. Give unto him, rather, 
 unto it, that is the sun. Notliing could 
 be more intoleral)h' than a burning, 
 scorching sun, that should wither and 
 torture men and things. Those who 
 find a spiritual meaning in all the 
 terms emi)loyfd, interpret this vision 
 as depicting the abuses of revelation, 
 compared to the sun, wdierebj' tlie 
 teachings of revelaticm become, through 
 their perversion, a source of peril and 
 death. In this way God's best gifts, 
 
316 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 [Ch. XVI. 
 
 9 fire. And men were scorched with 
 great heat, and ' blasphemed the name 
 of God, which hath power over these 
 plagues : ' and they repented not ' to 
 give him glory. 
 
 9 scorch men with fire. And men were 
 scorched with great heat, and blas- 
 phemed the name of God, who has the 
 authority over these plagues ; and they 
 repented not to give him glory. 
 
 ■ Ver. 11, 21 ; Isa. 8 : 21. 
 
 » 9 : 20 ; Exod. 8 : 15 ; Dan. 5 : 22, 23. 
 
 « 11 : 13 ; 14 : T. 
 
 salvation by faith, the wideness of 
 God's mercy, the freedom from the 
 law as a means of salvation — these all 
 may be perverted into agencies for 
 destruction. Others interpret the added 
 power of the sun to indicate a fearful 
 oppressive tyranny on the part of the 
 rulers of the people. Without attempt- 
 ing to find any special meaning in this 
 vision, it will have a large teaching for 
 us of God punishing men in all parts 
 of their life — mental, spiritual, social, 
 political, just as if in the physical 
 world he were to add a fierce power to 
 the sun in the heavens. If God were 
 to darken the sun, all life would soon 
 perish. If God were to make the sun 
 a fiery furnace it would soon, in like 
 manner, destroy all men and all life. 
 In some way like this God will bring 
 his retributive powers to bear upon the 
 wicked in all the parts and surround- 
 ings of their existence, in the last 
 days. 
 
 9. They were scorched with heat. As 
 a result they blasphemed . . . God, 
 rather, blasphemed the name of the 
 God. Back of the plagues they recog- 
 nized God. Instead of turning to God 
 in repentance and obedience they blas- 
 phemed God, reproached him, hardened 
 their heart with an additional hatred. 
 It is implied that the sun has this 
 added scorching power on account of 
 their increased wickedness. While 
 suffering under this heavy visitation 
 they add to their wickedness by a 
 growing impiety and hardness of heart. 
 For a like effect of punishment see 
 9:2; for the opposite eflect, the 
 changed heart on account of God's 
 retribution, see 11 : 13. There is no 
 power in punishment as such to trans- 
 form the heart. Pharaoh constantly 
 grew more fixed in his purpose to resist 
 God with each added plague. Even 
 when he submitted, for a time, the 
 heart was not radically changed. Pun- 
 ishment in hell will have no tendency 
 to make it a heaven. Only God's 
 Spirit, and the thorough repentance 
 
 for sin because it is sin, can work out 
 a change in the inner life. Byron 
 writes of 
 
 Souls who dare look the Omnipotent 
 
 tyrant in 
 His everlasting face and tell him that 
 His evil is not good. 
 
 Penalty did not lead to repentance, so 
 that God might be recognized as such 
 and receive their homage. Not to 
 worship God is a mark of the hardened 
 heart. 
 
 The general sense in these four 
 visions is obvious : the men whose 
 souls continued to reject the truth that 
 they might continue to live in con- 
 formity with the plans of the world, 
 would find the entire circle of worldly 
 powers and influences turned into in- 
 struments of destruction. From the 
 world in its settled state, from the con- 
 vulsions and agitations of the world, 
 from those things that naturally con- 
 tribute to comfort, from all these tor- 
 menting and injurious effects would 
 come. These recurring visitations of 
 disaster, with increasing power, would 
 show clearly that nothing could be 
 gained by opposing God ; they would 
 show how helpless the world is to 
 oppose God when he rises in his might ; 
 they Mould show that the world, in its 
 sin, has against it the holiness and 
 might of God. God's penalties come, 
 of necessity, against wrong-doing be- 
 cause it deserves punishment ; if rightly 
 used penalties would lead to an opened 
 vision of the moral nature, and a re- 
 turn to God in humility and repent- 
 ance. 
 
 10-21. The last three bowls. 
 We now pass from the judgments upon 
 material things to the judgment upon 
 the spiritual foes and forces. A like 
 transition occurs at the fifth seal (« : »), 
 and at the fifth trumpet (9 : i), when 
 the bottomless pit was opened. Here 
 the throne of Satan's agent in the 
 world is smitten (ver. 10-21). Satan's 
 power is mighty, but not almighty. 
 
Ch. XVI.] 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 317 
 
 10 And the fifth angel pouied out liis 
 vial " upon the seat of the beast ; » aud 
 his kingdom was full of darkness ; 
 J and they gnawed their tongues for 
 
 11 pain, aud 'blasphemed the God of 
 heaveu because of their pains and 
 
 u 13 : 2 ; 17 : 9, 17, 18. x 9 : : 
 
 10 And the fifth poured out his lx)wl on 
 the throne of the beast ; and liis king- 
 dom became darkened ; and they 
 
 11 gnawed their tongues for pain, and 
 blasphemed the God of heaven, be- 
 
 y 11 ; 10; Zech. 14 : Vi. 
 
 10. The fifth howl. Seat of the 
 beast, rather, throne. The dragon, 
 that is, Satan, gave his throne to the 
 beast (13 ; 2). Satan planned to do his 
 work among men through the agency 
 of the beast, the great world powers, 
 the spirit of worldliness in whatever 
 shape it be found ; it is to exercise his 
 
 Eower. There is a real power exercised 
 y Satan on the earth, represented by 
 throne. Satan is called the god of 
 this world (2 Cor. 4 : 4). To pour out 
 the bowl upon the throne of the beast 
 is to send judgments upon the agencies 
 of Satan in the world, whereby their 
 effectiveness and power are restrained. 
 In all coiuitries Satan does his work, 
 but he may work with special effective- 
 ness in particular places or countries 
 where his strongholds are. (Comp. 2 : 13. ) 
 There is a noticeable advance over the 
 fifth trumpet, where the hosts of the 
 bottomless pit issue to torment men. 
 Here the king himself is attacked and 
 plagued. By throne no particular city 
 is meant, but the ruling agencies of 
 Satan in the world, wherever they are 
 found, the actual center of his entire 
 earthly influence. If Satan be en- 
 trenched in the selfishness and aggran- 
 dizement of the great world powers, 
 in politics whereby laws are corrupted, 
 in social intercourse whereby the spir- 
 itual life is weakened, in business rela- 
 tions so that the good are hindered in 
 tlieir material life (i3 : 17); wherever 
 Satan has his throne tlie plague comes 
 upon his rule. Kingdom is dark- 
 ened. The historical allusion is to 
 Exod. 10 : 21, where darkness came 
 upon Egypt with the result that busi- 
 ness must stop, social intercourse be 
 interfered with, and joy depart from 
 life. The figure here is that of a dark- 
 ness as of an eclipse of the sun coming 
 upon a kingdom with all its attendant 
 ills. It is as if the blighting eliects of 
 a moral bewilderment and a joyless 
 condition should settle upon Satan's 
 dominion on the earth. If an outward 
 darkness prevailed, disorder, confusion, 
 
 and crime would increase, health would 
 pass away. Here John, in vision, sees 
 confusion, disorder, unrest, disunity of 
 action coming upon Satan's kingdom 
 in the world. Moral darkness is al waj's 
 an incident and picture of sin ; God's 
 kingdom is light, while Satan's king- 
 dom is darkness. Satan, as the prince 
 of darkness, is smitteh with the plague 
 of darkness. The main thought here 
 is that of the confusion and weakness 
 that result from the disappearance of 
 that element of life by which enterprise 
 and conquest are made possible. Satan's 
 kingdom suffers an eclipse whereby 
 weakness, alarm, aud panic ensue. 
 Gnawed . . . pain. The darkness is 
 itself a plague, but the pain and sores 
 cannot result from darkness unless 
 hunger and famine set in as the result 
 of a darkened condition of life. It is 
 better to regard the pains and the sores 
 as occasioned by the second bowl (>"er. 
 2). The effect of the first bowl did not 
 pass away when the second plague 
 came upon them. These last plagues 
 are not separated from each other by a 
 distinct dividing line, but they are 
 cumulative, each one heaped upon the 
 preceding. Each one added to the pre- 
 ceding its own distress and torment. 
 We cannot, therefore, understand these 
 plagues in any literal way, nor can we 
 refer them to distinct historical events. 
 Jesus joins the gnashing of teeth with 
 the punishment of hell, occasioned 
 partly by pain and by the disappoint- 
 ment of their ho])es mingled with their 
 rage. Meyer notices that these plagues 
 are more intense than tlie plagues in 
 the former series, inasmuch as each 
 one is comliined with the preceding. 
 In this view the f(mr preceding plagues 
 may be yet operative while the fifth is 
 in progress. 
 
 11. The effect of the fifth plague is 
 the same as in the fourth plague (ver. 
 9). Heaven. Inasmuch as the dark- 
 ness has come upon them from God, 
 the ligiit being hidden, they reproach 
 the God of heaven. They recog- 
 
318 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 [Ch. XVI. 
 
 their sores, and repeuted not of their 
 deeds. 
 12 And the sixth angel poured out liis 
 vial »upou the great river Euphrates ; 
 band the water thereof was dried up, 
 « that the way of the kings of tlie east 
 might be prepared. 
 
 cause of their pains and their sores ; 
 and they repented not of their works. 
 12 And the sixth poured out his bowl 
 upon the great river, the Euphrates; 
 and its water was dried up, that the 
 \vay of the kings, who come from the 
 rising of the sun, might be prepared. 
 
 b Isa. 42 : 15; Jer. 50 : 38-40 ; 51 : 
 
 Isa. 11 : 11, 12, 16; Zech. 10 : 6-11. 
 
 nize the work as the work of God ; 
 they notice his might and his holiness, 
 but they hate him and blaspheme him. 
 They regard the pains simply as pains, 
 not as the fruits of their own sinning. 
 J. A. Smith thinks that this vision has 
 reference to the Roman Antichrist, the 
 papacy. Fairbairn thinks that the 
 comfortless, ignorant, deluded, and en- 
 slaved condition of papal kingdoms 
 generally during the dark ages, formed 
 the most extensive and striking exem- 
 plification of the vision. It is wiser 
 not to attempt to fix upon any definite 
 announcement as portrayed in the 
 vision. It is better to regard it only 
 in a general way, as a prophecy in out- 
 line of what may find illustration in 
 many countries in many ages, but find- 
 ing its fullest meaning in the disasters 
 upon the wicked in the last periods. 
 For these plagues are the last plagues 
 (15 ; 1) which God reserves for the last, 
 that he may, through them, utterly 
 break down the power of the ungodly. 
 12. The s'i.vth bowl. And the sixth 
 angel. Omit angel, as also in ver. 
 3, 4, 8, 10. Great river Euphrates, 
 rather, the great river, the river Eu- 
 phrates. We have met with this name 
 before in 9 : 14. It had great signifi- 
 cance for the Jewish people, for it was 
 the dividing line between their nation 
 and the formidable kingdoms of Assyria 
 and Babylon. To them it was The 
 River. John notices in the vision the 
 size, the location of the river, and the 
 kings prepared to cross it. Hence he 
 recognizes it as the ri^er Euphrates. 
 It was from the Euphrates, in the sixth 
 trumpet (a ; '''-21), that the countless 
 hosts of Satan came to destroy the 
 third of men. The river was a defense 
 to Israel, preventing the irreligion and 
 idolatry of the countries beyond from 
 flowing over and destroying the life of 
 the chosen people. In this vision the 
 water thereof Avas dried up. The 
 purpose of this drying up was that 
 . . . prepared, rather, that the way 
 
 might be made ready for the kings that 
 came from the sun rising. Who are 
 these kings? whence came they? for 
 what purpose? Are they hostile to 
 Christ or friends of Christ? It is held 
 by some that these kings are friendly 
 to God's cau.se, representing the con- 
 version of the Jewish people to Christ. 
 This is argued from the use of the ex- 
 pression stin rising, which ajipears 
 also in 7 : 12 ; and from the drying up 
 of the river, which elsewhere, as at the 
 Red Sea and Jericho, was in behalf of 
 Israel. But it is better to regard them 
 as a part of the kings of the earth (ver. 
 1*) gathered together for the mighty 
 conflict against God. It is in harmony 
 with the spirit of the last plagues, 
 which are full of the wrath of God 
 that brings destruction to the foes of 
 God. Nowhere here do we find the 
 friends of God, but the enemies only. 
 The meaning of the vision is that the 
 enemies of God find nothing in their 
 way that proves to be a hindrance to 
 them in their march. The great river 
 Euphrates is to them just as if it were 
 dried up before them. In days when 
 there were almost no bridges, a great 
 river presented a mighty obstacle to 
 armies. Almost all the danger for cen- 
 turies for the Israelitish people came 
 from beyond this river. Hence the dry- 
 ing up of this river, in vision, is seized 
 upon as a type of the removal of all hin- 
 drances to the gathering together of 
 the enemies of Christ. These kings 
 come as types of all the forces from 
 every quarter to make war upon Christ's 
 cause. They come as kings against 
 the one who is in reality King of 
 kings and Lord of lords (is : i«). They 
 appear as leaders of the inhabitants of 
 the whole earth, instruments of the 
 dragon and the beast, who go to make 
 war, not against Babylon, but against 
 believers. 
 
 13. This verse reveals the means 
 employed by Satan and his agents to 
 overthrow God's cause on the earth. 
 
Ch. XVI.] 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 319 
 
 13 And I saw three ■> unclean spirits like I 13 And I saw coming out of the mouth of 
 frogs come out of the mouth of 'the the dragon, and out of the mouth of 
 dragon, and out of the mouth of the the beast, and out of the mouth of the 
 beast, and out of the mouth of 'the | false prophet, three uucleau spirits like 
 
 d 2 Thess. 2 : 9-11 ; 1 Tim. 4:1-3; 1 John 4 : 1-3. 
 
 e 12 : 3, 9. 
 
 / 19 :! 
 
 They embrace, in reality, all that can 
 rise up against Christ and his church. 
 John sees the tilings noted in this 
 verse ; he hears nothing, but the mean- 
 ing is plain. The three great and 
 abiding Ibes of Christ are the dragon, 
 the beast, tlie false prophet. Back of 
 all, and first of all, is the dragon stand- 
 ing for Satan. Satan is not all-power- 
 ful or all-knowing, h\ii he is revealed 
 as a being of great power, full of wiles, 
 of great master-mi ndedness and malice. 
 The beast is that fearful monster rising 
 out of the sea with its seven heads and 
 ten horns (i!" = i). He is the figure of 
 the world's l)usiness and power, the 
 world's governments, and the system 
 of outward things that Satan can make 
 use of to oppose Christ. It may be 
 worldliness, tyrannj', politics, persecu- 
 tion. The false prophet is the second 
 beast rising out of the earth with its 
 two horns (is : n). It is plausible, de- 
 ceptive, lamblike in appearance, but 
 beastlike in nature and in alliance. 
 It works in behalf of the first beast. 
 It stands for the education, the polish 
 and culture, the science and knowl- 
 edge, the philosophy and sophistry, 
 and especiallj' for the false conceptions 
 of religion, the combination of religion 
 with worldliness and unspirituality. 
 These three are pictures of all that 
 Satan does by means of all his agencies 
 in the world. These are not persons, 
 not literal thing.s, they are pictures of 
 the great currents of influence that 
 Satan makes use of to pervert Christ's 
 true religion, and to break down 
 Christ's cause in the world. Three 
 unclean spirits. These do not refer 
 to tliree definitepersons, as even Luther 
 thouglit. They are pictures, in vision, 
 of all the forms of Satan's working, 
 especially toward the end. Satan stirs 
 up men to a hatred of the truth, to a 
 distrust of God, to a love for present 
 and seen things. He tempted the first 
 parents to a dislike of God on account 
 of the limitations of life. This is the 
 spirit that issues from Satan's mouth. 
 'The beast and false prophet emit un- 
 clean spirits. The meaning is that the 
 
 powers and forces of the world, the 
 learning and science of the world, the 
 seeming religion that is mainly out- 
 ward, that is devoid of spiritual power, 
 these are Satan's instruments for lead- 
 ing people astray from God. The un- 
 cleauuess may not be utter sensuality. 
 Satan may work equally well through 
 a refined selfishness, a life that rests on 
 its own righteousness and denies the 
 saving power of Christ (Rom. lo : 3). In 
 the New Testament we read much of 
 unclean spirits, demoniacal beings at 
 work from Satan and for Satan, tortur- 
 ing men (Mark i : 25; s : ii). Frogs. 
 In the Egyptian plagues the frogs went 
 everywhere (Kxo.i. s : 3). They were 
 regarded as unclean, low, and loath- 
 some. These agencies employed by 
 Satan are unclean, because they speak 
 against the spread of God's holiness in 
 the world. The mouth from which the 
 frogs issue is the symbol of persuasion, 
 appeal, reason, enticement. Lying 
 reasons will be given for the service of 
 Satan and opposition to God. All 
 three powers combine in their last at- 
 tempt. Oratory and poetry, the fine 
 arts and paintings, light, literature, 
 and the drama, per.seeution and politics, 
 governments and business, all may be 
 employed by Satan for his work. The 
 wonder-working power of science, the 
 pride of learning, the spirit of law- 
 lessness and anarchy, may unite to lift 
 up the heart of man against God and 
 his rule. It is worthy of notice that in 
 Chicago in the last years of the nine- 
 teenth century, the name of God has 
 been eliminated from the school books, 
 so that the young minds may not l)e 
 favorably impressed on the side of God 
 in their formative years. There is 
 needed but the development of this 
 spirit to create the reality of that seen 
 in vision by John. Satan begets in- 
 fidelity; the beast puts man above 
 God ; the false prophet teaches delu- 
 sions and deceptions in the place of the 
 truth. Christ himself is the entire 
 truth. This is the satanic trinity over 
 against the divine trinity of Father, 
 Son, Spirit. 
 
320 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 [Ch. XVI. 
 
 14 false prophet, e For they are the spirits 
 of devils, h working miracles, ivhich go 
 forth unto the kings of the earth and 
 of the whole world, to gather them to 
 'the battle of that great day of God 
 Almighty. 
 
 14 frogs; for they are spirits of demons, 
 working signs, which go forth upon 
 the kings of the whole habitable earth, 
 to gather them to the battle of the 
 great day of God, the Almighty. 
 
 g Ver. 13 ; 1 Kings 22 : 19-23. ft 13 : 13, U ; 19 : 20 ; 2 Thess. 2 : 9. 
 
 f 19 : 19 ; 20 : 8 ; Isa. 31 : 1-8 ; Zeph. 1 : 14 ; Zech. U : 1-3. 
 
 14, The acts of the evil spirits are 
 announced. Spirits . . . devils, 
 
 rather, spirits of demons working si^ns. 
 As we see the contest in the world, it is 
 men through wliom Satan works. But 
 back of the outward appearance and 
 forces are evil inlluences, the direct 
 outcome of evil agencies, d e m ons. 
 The New Testament speaks elsewhere 
 of signs wrouglit by evil agencies in 
 behalf of falsehood: "All power and 
 signs and lying wonders with all de- 
 ceivableness of unrighteousness" (2 
 Thess. 2 : 9). They are not real divine 
 signs, but lying wonders ; just as spir- 
 itualism is, in its claims, a mocking 
 imitation of Jesus' revelations from 
 the unseen world. Their mission is to 
 go forth . . . world, rather, to go 
 forth unto the kings of the whole world. 
 Their mission is like that of the lying 
 spirits in 1 Kings 22 : 19-22. Power is 
 lent them from the satanic world, that 
 they may win the hearts of men, blind- 
 ing and deluding them. These bad 
 agencies get hold of the ruling forces, 
 and enlist them on the side of evil. 
 They will not all openly avow them- 
 selves the allies of Satan, but under 
 deceptive guises they will work eti"ect- 
 ively for him. Under the plea of 
 liberty there will be the claimed license 
 for evil; the Lord's Day is changed 
 into a holiday, ignoring its spiritual 
 claims; purity is derided by stigma- 
 tizing it as narrow-mindedness. A 
 materialistic philosopliy denying the 
 existence of the soul, the future life, 
 the claims of an eternal morality will 
 be a strong ally of Satan. Tlie pur- 
 pose of the assembling is to . . . 
 Almighty, rather, unto the tvar of the 
 great day of God the almighty. So the 
 Standard Revised version, (comp. 20 : 8.) 
 It is not a battle, as though there were 
 but a single contest, but a war, a long- 
 continued struggle, a long contest be- 
 tween the forces of good and evil. This 
 contest may continue for centuries. It 
 has been a prevalent misconception 
 
 that the reference is to a single decisive 
 battle, as it were. The proper reading 
 gives us, on the one side, all false views 
 of life, all satanic agencies, false re- 
 ligions, persecutions, and on the other 
 side Jesus Christ, with all his multi- 
 plied agencies at work against them. 
 In this contest, however long it may 
 continue, however unequal may seem 
 the struggle at times, the only issue can 
 be that of an utter victory for the 
 Lamb, the Son of God. Kings. This 
 term stands for the leadership of the 
 forces against Christ, the organized op- 
 position. Whole Avorld. This shows 
 the world-wide character of the con- 
 flict. It is not limited to a definite 
 locality or country. In all parts of the 
 world there will be an outbreak of sin, 
 men making war upon God's cause, 
 upon the church, the holy ordinances, 
 the Bible, the Lord's Day, the su- 
 premacy of Christ, the spirituality of 
 Christ's religion. That great day 
 is another designation for the last 
 period of the world's history, approach- 
 ing the day of final judgment. It is a 
 time when God will so overwhelm 
 wrong-doers, and will so manifest his 
 own power, that the period will be 
 known as his day. In like manner 
 that time when Satan seemed to have 
 the supremacy in the affairs of men, 
 when Jesus was under the power of 
 death, was called " your hour and the 
 power of darkness" (Luke 22 : 6S). Often- 
 times, now, the age seems to be under 
 the power of Satan ; but, in that period, 
 it will be seen by all to be the great 
 day of the almighty God. For this 
 day all other days were made. 
 
 i5. This verse is parenthetical, in- 
 troduced as a word of counsel and ap- 
 peal to the saints. It is in reality the 
 voice of Jesus Christ, the leader and 
 shepherd of his people, though spoken 
 by John. The coming referred to is 
 the second final personal appearance of 
 the Lord Jesus. Many preparatory 
 comings have been noticed, but all 
 
Ch. XVI.] 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 321 
 
 15 * Behold, I come as a thief. ' Blessed 
 is he that watcheth, and keepeth his 
 garments, lest he wallc uaked, and 
 they see his shame. 
 
 16 ""And he gathered them together 
 iuto a place called in the Hebrew 
 tongue " Armageddon. 
 
 \'i Behold, I come as a thief. Happy is 
 he that watches, and keeps his gar- 
 ments, that he may not walk naked 
 and they see his shame. 
 
 10 And they gathered them into the 
 place which is called iu Hebrew, Har- 
 Magedou. 
 
 m 19 : 19 ; Ezek. 39 : 17 ; Joel 3 : 9-U. 
 
 I Luke n : 39, 40. 
 
 n Judg. 5 : 19; 2 Kings 23 : 29, 30; Zech. 12 : 11. 
 
 were anticipatory and preparatory to 
 this. Thief. This term suggests sud- 
 denness ou his part and unprepared- 
 uess on their part. To the ungodly, 
 confident of victory, " the coming will 
 be as sudden and unexpected as it will 
 be unwelcome." To the Christian 
 also, in this day, when the forces of 
 evil are so outspoken and defiant, there 
 might naturally be a faint-heartedness 
 as to his coming. He may come soon ; 
 his coming will be at any time, unex- 
 pected (Matt. 24 : 43 ; 2 Peter 3 : 10). Shame. 
 
 The figure is that of a man with his 
 clothing on, so that if the thief should 
 come the man will be girded for meet- 
 ing him, prepared for his coming. The 
 Christian must always be clothed upon 
 with the garments of pardon, the jus- 
 tified life, a daily sanctification that 
 will issue in holiness in the life to 
 come. Having put on Christ at conver- 
 sion and in his baptism, he must walk 
 after Christ («»'. 3 : S7). The shame 
 does not mean an utter loss of the soul, 
 but denotes a certain loss of standing. 
 Having heard the voice of the Captain 
 of their salvation (ueb. 2 : lo), the hearts 
 of the saints must be full of confidence 
 and peace. Above the din of the con- 
 flict, the raging of the sea of human 
 passions and hatreds, is the voice of 
 Jesus, "Peace, be still." There arises 
 the assurance of ultimate, certain, 
 abiding triumph. 
 
 16. He gathered them, rather, 
 they gather them. The reference is to 
 three unclean spirits at work in the 
 hearts of men. They meet at Arma- 
 geddon, rather, Har-3Iagedon. The 
 place of the conflict is mentioned, but 
 the description of the contest does not 
 occur until 19 : 19-21. This is in ac- 
 cord with the structure of the book ; it 
 is needful to know the entire book in 
 order to understand definite parts. We 
 are told that it is in the Hebrew 
 tongue that it is called by this name. 
 We are invited, therefore, to think 
 either of the meaning of the word it- 
 
 self, its etymological meaning, or its 
 association with the events of Hebrew 
 history. Har means mountain ; Ma- 
 gedon is that extensive plain in the 
 central part of Palestine, the plain of 
 Esdraelun. Here took place that de- 
 cisive conflict between the Canaaiiites_ 
 on the one hand, and the Israelites* 
 under Deborah and Barak on the other. 
 The victory here gave rise to the tri- 
 umphant song of Deborah (Judg- 5 : ly). 
 Here the enemies of God's people were 
 completely routed. It was to thein a 
 synonym of triumph, the discomfiture 
 of their foes. Its remembrance w as to 
 them an inspiration in the dark hours 
 of their national life. Here also, iu 
 later years, the people of Israel w ere 
 overcome in a conflict with the Egyp- 
 tians, when Josiah, their pious leader, 
 was slain (2 Kings 23 : 29). This defeat 
 is spoken of in the lamentation given 
 in 2 Chrou. 35 : 25. The prophet Zech- 
 ariah also alludes to it in his prophecy 
 (12 : 9). The reference here cannot be 
 to this disastrous conflict when Josiah 
 fell, for this meant disaster. The refer- 
 ence must be to the first struggle men- 
 tioned, when the national life was pre- 
 served and the nation's enemies were 
 utterly defeated. To the Hebrew mind 
 Megiddo, in the days of Deborah, was 
 the symbol of victory. It is so used 
 in this place. The three unclean spi rits 
 gather their forces together in a spir- 
 itual plain of Megiddo. Through tlieir 
 deceptive words the assembled kings 
 confidently hope for a triumph. But, in 
 in God's purpo.se, it is to be to them what 
 it was in the olden days of their hi.story. 
 John, in his early Galilean life, lived 
 in sigiitof the plain and the mountains 
 of Megi<ldo. From his home he could 
 see the sun resting on these mountain- 
 tops. In the vision he sees these same 
 mountain-tops. He recognizes them 
 as the familiar sights of liis Galilean 
 life. It is to this definite place the 
 enemies of God are led and the con- 
 flict is joined. Into a place called, 
 
322 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 [Ch. XVI. 
 
 17 And the seventh angel poured out I 17 And the seventh poured out his bowl 
 his vial into tlie air; and there came on the air; and there came forth a 
 " a great voice out of the temple of | great voice out of the temple, from 
 
 o Isa. 66 : 6. 
 
 rather, into the place u'kich is called. 
 John seeing the mountain in vision, 
 knowing who God is in his great power, 
 remembering the incidents of Hebrew 
 history, sees that the issue must of 
 necessity be a signal victory for the 
 Lamb. In the fulfilment of the his- 
 tory no definite place in Palestine, or 
 elsewhere, is thought of. Everything 
 is used in its symbolic sense. The 
 term Euphrates does not mean the 
 river of that name. If the river of 
 that name had entirely disappeared in 
 the days of John, or if it were to dis- 
 appear in our days, the projihecy would 
 lose none of its force. It is used in its 
 symbolic meaning, that of the barrier 
 that separated the Israelitish people 
 from the countless numbers and irre- 
 sistible might of the heathen peoples 
 living on the other side. Jehoshaphat 
 means " Jehovah judges." When the 
 prophet Joel mentions that the nations 
 will be gathered together in the valley 
 of Jehoshaphat, it is not meant that 
 they will be literally a.ssembled here 
 (3:2). It has the broader meaning 
 that Jehovah will gather the nations 
 together and judge them. The literal 
 meaning disappears in the larger and 
 symbolic meaning. In like manner 
 here the term Har-Magedon means that 
 in the final and long-continued conflict 
 between the powers of tlie Lamb and 
 of Satan, the issue must be favorable 
 to the cause of Christ. In this figura- 
 tive way it is announced that another 
 song, like that of Deborah, may be 
 sung when the conflict is over. AVc 
 have in our language a phrase of 
 .similar import, " It will be a Waterloo 
 for them," meaning tliereby that an 
 overwhelming defeat will be theirs. 
 Har-Magedon means a spiritual Water- 
 loo for Satan. Similarly Swete : " Me- 
 giddo fitly symbolizes the world-wide 
 distress of the nations at the over- 
 throw of their kings in the final 
 war." 
 
 17-21. The seventh bowl. 
 
 17. The seventh angel. Omit 
 angel. This bowl is emptied, not 
 upon any definite object, as in the six 
 
 preceding bowls, but into the air, 
 
 rather, upon. Some take this term as 
 a metaphorical description of the king- 
 dom of Satan, inasmuch as Satan is 
 called the prince of tlie power of the 
 air (Kiih. 2:2). If this were so, the 
 meaning would not vary much from 
 the teaching of the fifth bowl, which 
 was emptied upon the seat of the beast 
 (ver. 10). The term air is made use of, 
 not because of any supposed connection 
 between the air and evil spirits, but 
 with reference to the air as that region 
 on which the earth immediately de- 
 pends for life, the region from which 
 descends, in ordinary times, the most 
 blessed and genial influences, but from 
 Avhich, when things are disarranged, 
 come the most severe disturbances, 
 fraught with ills of all kinds, dangers, 
 and death. As God has already loucheu 
 with his blighting power the §arth, in 
 its land and sea and springs, and the 
 sun above, there remains only one ele- 
 ment essential to life and happiness 
 that is untouched, the air about them. 
 The sea has become a festering mass of 
 blood, the sun burns them, the springs 
 are blood, now the air they breathe is 
 touched, and becomes a curse to them. 
 Everything about them becomes their 
 enemy, just as if the all-embracing air 
 were changed into a source of ill to 
 them. They lean on earth and sun and 
 air for their very life, and they all, in 
 turn, like serpents, sting them. It is 
 a striking and feaiful picture of the 
 encompassing elements of every kind 
 turning against them. Everything 
 that makes up life, friendship, social 
 ties, business relations, political asso- 
 ciations, all become hurtful to them. 
 Straightway came a great voice 
 out of . . . throne, rather, out 
 of the temple, from the throne. The 
 voice is that of God speaking. It is 
 the great voice of Ciod ; it is from 
 the temple where God dwells; it is 
 from the throtte on which God sits. It 
 was God who, at the beginning (>«. i), 
 gave the command to the seven angels. 
 Fittingly now lie speaks wlien they 
 have done his work. The utterance is, 
 
Ch. XVI.] 
 
 REVEL7VTION 
 
 323 
 
 heaven, from the throne, saying, rit 
 is done. 
 18 And 1 there were voices, and tlum- 
 ders, and liglitnings; 'and tiiere was 
 a great earllaqualwe, "such as was not 
 since men were upon the cartli, so 
 mighty an earthquake, and so great. 
 
 18 the throne, saying. It is done. And 
 there were lightnings, and voices, and 
 tlumders; and there was a great eartli- 
 quake, such as was not since there 
 were men ou the earth, so mighty an 
 
 p 21 : 6 ; Ezek. 39 : 8 ; Dan. 12 : 7-13. 
 
 J 8:5; 11 : 19. 
 
 11 : 13; Isa. 29: 
 
 « Dan. 12 : I. 
 
 It is done. This does not mean I 
 merely that the seven angels have ac- 
 complished what was put upon them ; 
 that would assuredly he unworthy the 
 announcement by God himself. Rather 
 it means, the consummation of all 
 things has now come, the end has been 
 reached, the fulness of God's wrath 
 has been poured out. It is the distinct 
 announcement that the warfare and 
 plans of the dragon, the beast, and the 
 false prophet, have come to an end, 
 final and irreversible. It is the finish- 
 ing of the mystery of God spoken of in 
 10 : 7. When Jesus came to the close 
 of his life, he said, "It is finished," 
 meaning not simply that his life was 
 ended, but that his work of expiation, 
 his plans involving the reconciliation 
 of the human race, his complete 
 manifestation of God, these were now 
 finished. In like manner the judg- 
 ments of God upon the ungodly world 
 have now come to a close. 
 
 18. The eSects of the plague on the 
 air are now seen. Through the dis- 
 turbances in the air come naturally 
 thunderings, storms, cyclones, destruc- 
 tion. Instead of being balmy and life- 
 giving, the air has become a source of 
 alarm and peril to men. Voices . . . 
 lightnings, rather, lightnings, and 
 voices, and thunders. Toward the con- 
 clusion of the series of the seals there 
 was an earthquake, and nature had 
 great convulsions («: 12-15). Toward 
 the conclusion of the series of the 
 trumpets also was an earthquake (n : 
 13). Here for a third time, in the series 
 of the bowls, are great convulsions in 
 nature, symbols and prophecies of great 
 convulsions in the real world where 
 man lives, the intellectual, moral, 
 social, and spiritual worlds. Tiiat 
 these visions may receive a real fnltil- 
 ment it is not needful to think that 
 there will be any actual convulsions in 
 the material world. Everything is 
 seen in vision, is a picture of some real 
 thing that shall come to pass. Through 
 
 the thunders and heavingsof the stable 
 earth, the shaking of things seemingly 
 immovable, John sees tliat great de- 
 structions and convulsions will take 
 place, aftecting man on every side. 
 Great systems of unbelief will crumble 
 and fall ; great falsehoods will be seen 
 to be untruths ; great delusions will lose 
 their hold on men ; great agencies for 
 wickedness will give way before God's 
 spiritual revelations of himself. In 
 11 : 19, when the seventh trumpet 
 sounded, there were like destructive 
 forces in nature and an earthquake. 
 But as is seen in this entire series, 
 when contrasted with the series of the 
 trumpets, the effects here are more 
 serious and complete in their results. 
 Emphasis is laid upon the earthquake. 
 Great earthquake ... great, 
 rather, great earthquake, such as was 
 not since there were men upon the earth, 
 so great an earthquake, so mighty. In 
 11 : 13, at the resurrection of the wit- 
 nesses, before the seventh trumpet 
 sounded, an earthquake shook the city 
 and one-tenth fell, and many were 
 V)rought to repentance. Here, at a 
 later period, the entire city, represent- 
 ing the organized opposition to God, 
 falls. There have been many convul- 
 sions in the histoiy of the race, when 
 the forces organized against Christ 
 have met with disasters. The wide 
 circulation of the Scriptures, the Kef- 
 ormation, the growth of the mission- 
 ary enterprise, the enlarged desires 
 for the training of the young, all these 
 might be fittingly portrayed as earth- 
 quakes whereby Satan's kingdom was 
 weakened. The future has in store 
 yet mightier movements for righteous- 
 ness, and mightier judgments for 
 wickedness. It has been noted that 
 this scene of judgment is described in 
 a sevenfold way, therel>y indicating its 
 completeness and finality. We iiave 
 (1) the lightnings and voices and thun- 
 ders; (2) a great earthquake; (3) the 
 great city destroyed; (4) the cities of 
 
324 
 
 EEVELATION 
 
 [Ch. XVI. 
 
 19 And tthe great city was divided into 
 three parts, and the cities of the na- 
 tious fell: and "great Babylon ^came 
 in remembrance before God, y to give 
 unto her the cup of the wine of the 
 fierceness of his wrath. 
 
 20 And ^ every island tied away, and 
 
 19 earthquake, so great. And the great 
 city was divided into three parts, and 
 the cities of the nations fell ; and Bab- 
 ylon the great was remembered before 
 God, to give to her the cup of the wine 
 
 20 of the fierceness of his wrath. And 
 every island fled away, and mountains 
 
 : 5. y U:10; Isa. 51 : 17-23 ; Jer. 25 : 15, 16 ; 51 : 6, etc. 
 
 z 6: 14; Isa. 2 : 14-17. 
 
 the nations foil ; (.5) Babylon the great 
 is rememliered ; (6) every island flees 
 away ; (7) a great hailstorm. Every- 
 thing tends to heighten the sublimity 
 of the last scenes of judgment. 
 
 19. The great city is the symbol 
 of the organized and concentrated op- 
 position to God. The city, as opposed 
 to the country, is the center of a highly 
 complex organized society, fertile in 
 resources and power, where botli good- 
 ness and badness reach a full develop- 
 ment. Cities have always been the 
 centers of the world's civilization and 
 power; men flocked to them. The 
 great cities dominated the great world 
 empires. Rome was, in reality, the 
 Eoman Empire. Nineveh and Bab- 
 ylon summed up in themselves the 
 Assyrian and Babylonian empires. In 
 this verse and in the following chap- 
 ters the city appears as Babylon. The 
 overthrow, here mentioned, is given in 
 detail in these chapters. In the Old 
 Testament Jerusalem is the symbol of 
 God's kingdom, "the city beautiful 
 for situation." Mount Zion stands for 
 the heavenly life. To enter into the 
 hill of the Lord is a symbol of entrance 
 into the after blessed life (ps. i5 : i). 
 The position occupied by Babylon, in 
 history, as a great opposing force, ma- 
 king war upon the chosen people,crush- 
 ing them and taking them into captiv- 
 ity, this, in the corresponding spiritual 
 sphere, is occupied by the organized 
 wickedness of the Christian era. T/ie 
 great city stands here as the synonym 
 of whatever is opposed to God — wick- 
 edness, disbelief, unbelief, sensuality, 
 apostasy, embracing all who are, in 
 reality, hostile to Chri.st. Three 
 parts. This does not mean that one- 
 third of the city fell, but that it Avas 
 broken up into parts, disorganized, 
 and thrown into confusion, and thus 
 more effectually destroyed. The entire 
 city, in all its three parts, falls. In 
 this respect it differs from the judgment 
 
 in 11 : 13, where one-tenth of the city 
 fell. Cities of the uations. As 
 
 Babylon, regarded as the center of the 
 world's heathenism and opposition to 
 God, fell, so in like manner all the 
 forces and powers in subordination to 
 it and in affiliation with it, fell. Just 
 as in actual war the fall of a capital 
 city, like Babylon, involves the fall of 
 all the allied places in the empire, so 
 here the fall of the central stronghold 
 of the opposition to God involves the 
 fall of every affiliated agency. In this 
 way it is set forth, under the figure of 
 a military campaign, that the organ- 
 ized kingdom of Satan in the world 
 will be utterly overthrown from its 
 center to its circumference. There is 
 a beastlike power in the world, hav- 
 ing a throne (is : 2), making war on 
 the saints (is : '); this beast, this Bab- 
 ylon is to be overthrown. And great 
 . . . God, rather, and Babylon the 
 great was remembered in the sight of 
 God. This expression sums up the 
 preceding statement. The great city, 
 Babylon, comes before God, to make 
 use of a luiman expression, for a visita- 
 tion of judgment. For a time, even 
 for centuries, it seems that God has no 
 holy remembrance ; there comes a time, 
 as here, when God's holy nature asserts 
 itself. This passage is also an antici- 
 patory statement of what will fill up 
 chapters XVII and XVIII. The cup 
 has been already introduced in 14 : 10 ; 
 the wrath of God is severe, as shown 
 by the term fierceness. 
 
 20. The figure is now changed from 
 tliat of a fierce armed contest to that 
 of convulsions in nature. Every 
 island . . . found. As in the 
 sixth seal (« ; u), everything in nature 
 seems to be rushing to destruction. 
 The fixed landmarks, islands and 
 mountains disapi>ear. If i.slands were 
 actually swallowed up by the ocean, if 
 mountain ranges were to disappear, 
 we would naturally think that nature 
 
Ch. XVI.] 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 325 
 
 21 the mountains were not found. •And 
 there fell upon men a great hail out of 
 heaven, every stone about tlie weight of 
 a talent: aud ^meu blasplieiued Go<l 
 because of "the plague of the hail; 
 for the plague thereof was exceeding 
 great. 
 
 21 were not found. And great hail, as of 
 a talent's weight, comes down out of 
 heaven on men ; and men blasphemed 
 God on account of the plague of the 
 hail ; because its plague is exceeding 
 great. 
 
 a 8: 7; 11 : 19; Josh. 10: 11. 
 
 c Exod. 9 : 23-25. 
 
 was giving way and a universal ruin 
 was impending. Convulsions in the 
 business, political, social, and moral 
 worlds, under God's direction, would 
 in like manner compel the thought 
 that a new era wa.s impending, the old 
 systems giving way under the power 
 of God's judgments. It does not at all 
 follow that when God's severest judg- 
 ments come, aud organized wicked- 
 ness breaks down, that any physical 
 changes such as are here described 
 will take place. We are dwelling in 
 this book in the domain, not of the 
 
 Ehysical world and material forces, 
 ut in the spiritual world. The forces 
 that are meant are the spiritual agen- 
 cies under God's control and guidance. 
 21. And . . . talent, rather, And 
 great hail, every stone about the weight 
 of a talent, comefh down out of heaven 
 upon men. From the air, touched 
 with the plague (ver. n), comes this 
 great storm of hail. In the Old Testa- 
 ment, hail is frequently the symbol of 
 severe afflictions, calamities, misfor- 
 tunes. We find allusions to hail in 
 Isa. 30 : 30 ; Ezek. 13 : 11. " Thus a 
 great hail became the symbol of divine 
 wrath against the foes of Israel (comp. 
 
 I8». 38:2: Ezek. 38 : 22) " (SWETE). An au- 
 
 cient writer, Diodorus Siculus, speaks 
 of hailstones being incredibly great 
 that were only one-sixtieth the size of 
 a talent. A talent weighs about fifty 
 pounds. Joseph us speaks of stones 
 thrown by the Roman catapults weigh- 
 ing a talent, very destructive in their 
 effects. The figure here is of the 
 strongest kind, hailstones of such a 
 nature as would destroy all vegetation, 
 trees, the material civilization, life 
 itself. Everything is on a vast scale ; 
 what God does, whether in mercy or 
 punishment, is done in a godlike way. 
 God, at times, has helped his cause by 
 storms, nature thus helping the super- 
 natural (Josh. 10 : 1-10). In time to come 
 there will be great convulsions in na- 
 ture, spoken of by Jesus (M«tt. 21 : 29). 
 
 Those not struck l)y the hail, did not 
 repent, but blasphemed God. Re- 
 pentance, instant and complete, ought 
 to have been theirs; but, as revealing 
 the utter hardness of heart, they re- 
 proach God. Nothing can show more 
 plainly the utter aud fixed hardness of 
 the heart than this ;• punishment only 
 hardens the heart the more. The hail 
 fell ui^on men, a term used here in a 
 bad sense, meaning persons whose por- 
 tion is in this life, men of an earthly 
 nature. Milton describes Satan and 
 the spirits of the lost as growing more 
 hard and bitter in heart, surrounded 
 by the fires of hell. This is not poetry 
 or exaggeration, but is in accord with 
 the Scripture teachings and with human 
 experience. For an unlike scene, see 
 11 : 13. When hail came upon the 
 land of Egypt, God drew a dividing 
 line between his friends and his foes so 
 that no hail fell upon the Israelites 
 (Exod. 9 : 26). God knows how to keep 
 his own, both in this life and in the 
 next. 
 
 Note 1. The meaning of Har- 
 Magedon. Many fanciful notions 
 have been entertained concerning the 
 conflict that takes place at Har-Mage- 
 don. It has been conjectured by many 
 that this vision predicts and portends 
 an actual armed conflict in days to 
 come, at some definite locality. Many 
 have connected this conflict in some 
 way with Mohammedanism, inasmuch 
 as the historical place mentioned is in 
 the domain of the Turkish Empire. 
 Others have located the scene of this 
 conflict in our own countrj', and in 
 some definite part of it. But all 
 thoughts of an armed conflict must be 
 utterly dismissed from the mind, either 
 in the plain of E.sdraelon or elsewhere. 
 
 Megiddo or Magedon was situated six 
 miles from Carmel, at the southwestern 
 edge of the great central plain of 
 Palestine, the present Leijun. Conder 
 places it at the present Mejedda, ten 
 
326 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 [Ch. XVI. 
 
 miles from Jenin. This plain has been 
 one of the great battlefields of the 
 world ; here empires rose and fell. 
 Stanley calls it the great battlefield of 
 Palestine. Here armies from the days 
 of Nebuchadnezzar to Napoleon met 
 each other in conflict. Near this plain 
 also was the larger part of our Lord's 
 earthly ministry. Here on this plain 
 took place four critical events in He- 
 bz'ew history. Here took place the 
 great victory of Barak over the Ca- 
 naanites (Juflg. *. s); the victory of 
 Gideon over the Midianites (Judg. 7). 
 Here also came two great disasters — 
 the death of Saul (i sam. si : s), and the 
 death of Josiah {'f Kings 23 : 29). As na- 
 tions long keep in memory the places 
 associated with critical periods of the 
 national life, Megiddo became inter- 
 woven with the successes of Barak and 
 Gideon. When John sees in vision 
 the well-known features of Megiddo 
 with the associated mountaiuj notices 
 the assembling groups of hostile kings 
 gathered from all quarters, gathered 
 to assail and overcome the Redeemer 
 and his cause, he instinctively asso- 
 ciates with the scene the impending 
 victory. Here at Megiddo will appear 
 a divine Barak, a divine Gideon. An 
 entirely new and enlarged conception 
 is given to this vision and its teachings 
 by the disijlacing of the term battle by 
 the term war. It is not a definite, 
 short, decisive action that is here 
 spoken of, but a long-continued strug- 
 gle, denominated a war. On the one 
 side are the three allied forces of the 
 dragon, the beast, the false prophet. 
 They are summoned by the three un- 
 clean spirits that proceed out of the 
 mouths of the three great foes. These 
 foes are not material and physical, but 
 moral, intellectual, spiritual ; they pro- 
 ceed out of the mouth. Here gathered 
 together are all kinds of wickedness, 
 uncleanness, sensuality ; the forces of 
 the great world powers with their at- 
 tractiveness and persecution, worldli- 
 ness, unbelief, disbelief; learning with 
 its false philosophies, outward forms of 
 religion, ritualism, claiming a magical 
 power, new forms of deception — all 
 these combine against the Redeemer 
 and his cause. In the closing days of 
 the nineteenth century assaults were 
 made on the Christian system under 
 the guise of science. Atheistic views 
 
 of evolution and materialism, a view 
 of nature that admits of no super- 
 naturalism, have blinded the minds of 
 many. False systems of philosophy, 
 
 E an theism, mingling God with nature, 
 ave led others astray. 
 This conflict is world-wide in its 
 range. There is no place or age where 
 Satan does not stir up enmity against 
 the cause of Christ. This vision is, 
 therefore, only a figurative way of de- 
 claring that Satan will make a supreme 
 and world-wide etfort to destroy the 
 power of Christ, making use of all 
 agencies. What we have yet seen of 
 the virulence of his attacks, the de- 
 ceptive agencies employed, may be as 
 nothing to what will be revealed. The 
 hearts of men sometimes fail them for 
 fear; they put forth their hands to 
 steady the ark. But with Jesus Christ 
 is victory in the end. Nothing can 
 withstand the truth and the power of 
 Christ. He is life itself; he is the 
 truth itself ; he has all power in heaven 
 and on earth. When the smoke and 
 din of the conflict are over, it will be 
 seen that Christ reigns supreme, and 
 that his enemies are under his feet. 
 In this book the familiar names of 
 Babylon, Jerusalem, Euphrates, 
 Sodom, Egypt, Megiddo are not used 
 in their physical sense, but as standing 
 for certain well-known moral concep- 
 tions. We misuse the teaching of the 
 book to make it teach history or geog- 
 raphy. This vision teaches (1) a 
 world-wide conflict between the forces 
 of Christ and Satan; (2) a contest in 
 nature like that which took place at 
 Megiddo in the Old Testament times ; 
 (3) a struggle growing in intensity as 
 the ages go on ; (4) a struggle that ends 
 in a complete and final victory for 
 Christ. It is, therefore, in correspond- 
 ence with the New Testament teach- 
 ing everywhere that there comes a time 
 when He whose right it is to reign will 
 reign in acknowledged supremacy. 
 
 " The fancy of Guiikel that the refer- 
 ence is not to Megiddo, but to an old 
 myth, though accepted by Bousset and 
 by Cheyne (JE'hc. Bibl., I. c.) does not 
 merit serious consideration " (SWETE). 
 
 Note 2. Meaning of the seven 
 BOWLS. The series of the bowls con- 
 stitutes the last of the three great series 
 that makeup, with their accompanying 
 
Ch. XVI.] 
 
 KEVELATION 
 
 327 
 
 and supplementary visions, this entire 
 book. In some respects they resemble 
 the other series. This series has re- 
 semblances to the otliers: (1) in the 
 number of the visions — seven. This 
 indicates a completeness in the series; 
 
 (2) in the division into two groups, a 
 group of four and a second group of 
 three. The dividing line is very 
 marked in all three series; (3) the 
 visions have a continuing eS'ect. The 
 first bowl does not exhaust all its 
 effects before the second begins. In 
 the sixth bowl the sores of a preceding 
 bowl are noticeable. It is perhaps 
 true in all the series that the results of 
 each vision continue into the next, 
 and pexhaps through all the succeeding 
 visions. 
 
 There are dissimilarities between this 
 series and the preceding series. This 
 is noticed (1) in the growing intensity 
 of the plagues here mentioned in con- 
 trast with the penalties in the trum- 
 pets. In the trumpets only one-third 
 of the sea, the waters, and the trees 
 were touched. Here the entire sea 
 and all the springs become blood. 
 This entireuess of the plague is brought 
 out in a marked manner. (2) These 
 are the last plagues. Others were in- 
 itiatory, these are the last in order of 
 time. They introduce the final stage. 
 
 (3) The pouring out of the bowls takes 
 place in the most speedy and con- 
 tinuous manner. There are no breaks 
 in the procedure. It is as if God were 
 now in haste to break down all oppo- 
 sition. 
 
 (4) No saving or regenerating char- 
 acter rests in these last plagues. The 
 only effect is to aggravate the hardness 
 and bitterness of the heart. In other 
 parts of the book, at an earlier stage, 
 sufferings at times brought thoughtful- 
 uess and repentance, (see ii : is.) in 
 this series penalties lead to blasphemy. 
 (5) These plagues have in them many 
 reminiscences of the ten plagues in 
 Egypt. At that time Jehovah and 
 Pharaoh were in conflict. Jeliovah 
 was bent on bringing out his people 
 into a land of promise. At this period, 
 God is about to break down the latter- 
 day Pharaohs of every kind. Hence 
 he makes use of his plagues to crush 
 opposition. In this case, as in that, 
 only hardness of heart resulted. The 
 second and third plagues remind us of 
 
 the first plague in Egypt. The first 
 plague here reminds us of tiie sixth 
 plague in Egypt. The entire chapter 
 is full of expressed and implied allu- 
 sions to the Old Testament times. 
 
 Fittingly these plagues are contained, 
 not in vials, but in broad, open bowls 
 from which the contents may be 
 emptied entire at once. The two fol- 
 lowing chaj)ters belong, in reality, to 
 this series, inasmuch as tliey are but 
 the full explanation of the nature and 
 destruction of Babylon mentioned in 
 ver. 19. Nothing is more impossible 
 than to interpret ihesc plagues literally, 
 or to attempt to liiid in the records of 
 history the definite events to which they 
 refer. If they are uiiderstood as giving 
 general princij)les of the divine gov- 
 ernment they are exceedingly valuable 
 and luminous with lessons of warning 
 and guidauce for the church. 
 
 Practical Remarks. 
 
 1. It is in great mercy that God re- 
 strains his wrath that men may repent. 
 An instant and full punishment would 
 mean a universal destruction. God's 
 poured-out wrath means a judgment be- 
 gun. The emptied bowl of God's wrath 
 means an utter destruction and hope- 
 lessness (ver. 1). 
 
 2. The angels obey at once. Prompt- 
 ness in service is a secret of the angelic 
 service. We pray tbat God's will may be 
 done on earth as in heaven. The prayer 
 answered means whole-hearteduess, glad- 
 ness, and unhesitating service (ver. 2). 
 
 3. The mark of the beast, at times, 
 brings outward prosperity and enjoyment. 
 The wicked often prosper in worldly 
 affairs (Ps. 73 : 1-6). But God will, in the 
 end, make a dividing line between the 
 pious and the ungodly. Wickedness will 
 be seen to he ungodliness and loathsome- 
 ness (ver. 2). 
 
 4. Even the men punished will ac- 
 knowledge God's justice. The eyes of 
 all will be opened so that they see their 
 own character as in God's sight, and will 
 confess his goodness and righteousness 
 (ver. 5). 
 
 5. There will be a congruity between a 
 man's character and his surroundings in 
 the after existence. The basis of judg- 
 
328 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 [Ch. XVII. 
 
 meat is worthiness, not caprice or mere 
 power on God's part (ver. 6). 
 
 6. Sometimes God delays and men mis- 
 understand him (6 : 10). When God 
 speaks and acts, in a final way, his truth 
 and righteousness are manifest (ver. 7). 
 
 7. The sources of blessings may be turned 
 into a curse. The avenues of enjoyment 
 may become highways of sorrow. The 
 memory that may miui.ster highest pleas- 
 ure, may be full of stings for the soul, the 
 sense of lost opportunities, of blighted 
 lives, of possibilities that cannot be 
 realized (ver. 8). 
 
 8. Punishment and pain will not, in 
 themselves, work out repentance. Pun- 
 ishment, if there is an ugly and impeni- 
 tent heart, will create additional bitter- 
 ness against God. There is a tremendous 
 power in the human will whereby God's 
 goodness and God's punishments work 
 out results contrary to the design of these 
 agencies (ver. 9). 
 
 9. Evil is sometimes concentrated in 
 men and in places. Men become the will- 
 ing servants of Satan led captive by him 
 (Acts 13 : 10). Places may be full of 
 Satan's power (2 : 13). Hell is that place 
 where God's loving-kindness is not found. 
 Heaven is full of God's presence and glory 
 (ver. 10, 11). 
 
 10. Moral uucleanness is the worst un- 
 cleanness. Every age will have its special 
 form, defiling the heart and opposing God. 
 Politics, learning, position in social life, 
 business, may be set apart as consecrated 
 or may be satanic (ver. 13). 
 
 11. Satan has many delusions at work 
 in the world to deceive men. It requires 
 wisdom to distinguish between the truth 
 of God and Satan's lies. We must test 
 every spirit by the Scriptures and by its 
 attitude toward Christ (ver. 14 ; 1 John 
 4:1). 
 
 12. Because Christ will come in a sudden 
 and unexpected way, every one should 
 be found watching. The believer cannot 
 be surprised, for he abides in Christ. The 
 attitude of the Christian and the church 
 must be, "Even .so, come. Lord Jesus" 
 (ver. W; 22 : 20). 
 
 13. How many soever there be of God's 
 enemies, their cause cannot prosper. Or- 
 ganized wickedness must go down be- 
 cause God is God. He can make use of 
 
 the locust, the wind, and all agencies 
 to work out his purpose. Sometimes 
 God's saints are discouraged because 
 they cannot see all God's assembled 
 forces (ver. 16). 
 
 14. God's plans come to a completion. 
 He leaves nothing unfinished, either of 
 blessedness for his people or penalty for 
 his obdurate enemies. His plans reach 
 from the beginning to the end. Human 
 history stretches through long periods, 
 but there comes a time when another stage 
 begins (ver. 17). 
 
 15. Sometimes events ripen slowly, and 
 ages pass between a promise and a fulfil- 
 ment. At other times moral movements 
 go with great rapidity. Moral earth- 
 quakes can shatter bad institutions in a 
 moment. It is right to pray that God 
 will hasten the coming of his kingdom 
 and the breaking down of wickedness 
 (ver. 18). 
 
 16. God cannot forget anything, for 
 memory is an essential part of God's na- 
 ture. If God remembers unforgiveu sin, 
 this means a constant punishment. If 
 God remembers a faithful life and deeds 
 of righteousness, this means a blessed 
 after life (ver. 19 ; Heb. 6 : 10). 
 
 17. When God rises up in judgment 
 nothing can stand before him. Every 
 sinful thing will flee from his presence of 
 its own accord. Good people and good 
 institutions have nothing to fear from 
 God. To them he will say, "Come, ye 
 blessed " (ver. 20). 
 
 18. God can surround his people as 
 with a wall of fire, so that nothing can 
 harm them. In this life he makes his 
 sun shine on the just and the unjust. 
 In the days of moral separation he will 
 discriminate between the holy and the 
 unholy (ver. 21). 
 
 Section 8. Chap. XVII-XIX : 10. 
 Destruction of the haelot and 
 Babylon. This section is explanatory 
 of references in the preceding section. 
 In the series of the bowls (" : 8) an 
 angel announced, "Babylon is fallen, 
 Babylon is fallen." In 16 : 19 it was 
 stated that God had called Babylon 
 into remembrance, implying that it 
 was now God's plan to punish her. In 
 this section we have a full treatment 
 
Ch. XVII.] 
 
 KEVELATION 
 
 329 
 
 The harlot sitting on the beast. Exposition 
 of the virion. 
 
 17 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 
 
 17 AND there came one of the seven 
 angels who had the seven bowls, and 
 spoke with me, saying, Come hither, I 
 
 d 16 : 1 ; 21 : 9. 
 
 e 16 : 19 ; 18 : 16-19 ; Isa. 50, 51. 
 
 of Babylon itself. No passage in the i 
 Bible is more graphic than that of tlie 
 destruction of this great city in chap. 
 XVIII. Three figures come before us 
 in this section, the beast, the unclean 
 woman, Babylon. 
 
 This woman ia a Babylon, a great 
 and corrupt city, an oppressor of God's 
 people, debauching nations by her idol- 
 atries and her commerce. In order 
 that he maj- present the magnitude of 
 the corrupt forces that wear the name 
 of Christ in an unworthy way, tlieir 
 magnificence, their seeming impreg- 
 nability, their power over many na- 
 tions, their seductions, he changes 
 from the figure of the woman burned 
 in the fire to that of the destruction of 
 a great city, the smoke of whose con- 
 flagration may be seen from afar. John 
 presents the faithful church of Christ 
 under three aspects, the figure of a 
 woman dwelling apart (chap. xii)^a bride 
 adorned for lier husband (chap, xix)^ 
 the holy city descending out of heaven 
 from God (21 ■ 12). He presents also the 
 unfaithful under three aspects. This 
 element is represented as "the great 
 city "; that is, an unholy Jerusalem (n ■• 
 8). In 17 : 1 it is represented under 
 the figure of a harlot. In chap. XVIII 
 it is portrayed under the figure of a 
 great and mighty Babylon that is 
 arrayed against Jesus Christ. Against 
 the unclean woman, against the mighty 
 Babylon is the power of the gospel, 
 the unseen Lamb that through many 
 agencies makes war upon them and 
 overcomes them (n : u). The section 
 extends to the time of the closing of 
 the age. 
 
 One topic only, that of the destruc- 
 tion of Babylon, mentioned in 14 : 8 ; 
 16 : 19, fills up this portion of the book. 
 It is something vastly important in 
 itself, and in relation to the general 
 plan of the book, because it occupies 
 so much space, and it amplifies so 
 largely w-hat has already been men- 
 tioned iu a conci.se way. It is one of 
 the most impressive portions of the 
 
 book, presenting, in a graphic way, 
 the strong opposition to Christ, the 
 means of its overthrow, the rejoicing 
 on the part of the church at its down- 
 fall. This section forms a part of the 
 series of the bowls because it is only 
 the explanation of what is given in 
 16 : 10. From chap. XII onward there 
 are presented first the dragon, an in- 
 carnation, as it were, of Satan ; then 
 the beast, the secular world power ; 
 then the false prophet, working for the 
 beast. In the inverse order we have 
 the judgments of God upon them, one 
 by one. We have fir.st the destruction 
 of the combined beast and the fal.se 
 prophet, here represented in the main 
 by the unclean woman. Then, finally, 
 in chap. XX, we have the destruction 
 of Satan himself. 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 The vision of Babylon the 
 Great. In this chapter we have two 
 main thoughts. We have first the 
 vision of Babylon under the form of a 
 drunken harlot sitting on a beast, 
 fearful in appearance, and controlling 
 it. We have secondly, the explanation 
 of the mystery of the bea.st and of the 
 woman by the angel. We are left, 
 therefore, not to a human guessing, 
 but have a divine certitude. 
 
 1-6. Babylon is portrayed 
 
 UNDER the figure OF A DRUNKEN 
 HARLOT UPON A BEAST. 
 
 1. And ... vials, rather, bowls. 
 We are not informed which one of the 
 seven angels spoke to John. It is 
 pr()l)able that it was the seventh, in- 
 asmuch as it was this one that an- 
 nounced the fall of Babylon (is : i9). 
 The words Come hither do not in- 
 dicate any change of place by John, 
 but there is a change in the vision so 
 that it was as if John had gone into a 
 different locality. In ver. .3 it is said 
 that he went "in spirit" into the wil- 
 derness. Who is meant by the woman 
 will be discussed afterward in the ex- 
 
330 
 
 EEVELATION 
 
 [Ch. XVII. 
 
 judgment of fthe great whore sthat 
 
 2 sitteth upon many waters ; i" with whom 
 the kings of the earth have committed 
 fornication, and "the inhabitants of 
 the earth have been made drunlc with 
 the wine of her fornication. 
 
 3 So he carried me away in the spirit 
 
 will show thee the judgment of the 
 great harlot, that sits on many waters ; 
 with wliom tlie kings of the earth com- 
 mitted fornication, and those who 
 dwell in the earth were made drunken 
 with the wine of lier fornication. And 
 lie carried me away in the Spirit into a 
 
 / Ver. 4,5; 19 : 2 ; Isa. 23 : 17 ; Nahum 3:4. g Ver. 15 ; Jer. 51 : 13. h 18 : 
 
 i 14 : 8 ; 18 : 3 ; Jer. 51 : 7. 
 
 planationsas well as in a note. Judg- 
 ment . • . whore, rather, harlot. 
 The term harlot is in complete con- 
 trast with the figure of the woman 
 clothed in splendor in 12 : 1, and with 
 the woman dressed in white, the Lamb's 
 wife, in 19 : 7, 8. The harlot is after- 
 ward seen to be Babylon (ver. 5), but in 
 a mystical, figurative sense. The term 
 indicates moral uncleanness; a .spirit- 
 ual fornication involving idolatry. In 
 three places the term is applied to 
 heathen cities. The prevailing mean- 
 ing of the term is that of alienation 
 from the true God and his worship. 
 
 (.See Isa. 1 : 21 ; Jer. 2 : 20 ; Ezek. 16 : 15.) 
 
 Waters. This term is explained in 
 ver. 15, as referring to peoples, and 
 multitudes, and nations, and tongues ; 
 that is, to the entire world indicated 
 here by the use of this fourfold ex- 
 pression. The sitting indicates the 
 authority and dominion possessed by 
 her. The figure itself is taken from 
 Jer. 51 : 13. In a figurative Avay this 
 is the declaration that the woman ex- 
 ercises a world-wide power over the 
 nations of the earth, not a civil domina- 
 tion, but a corrupt religious control. 
 This Scripture figure involves the ele- 
 ments of hostility to God, and also 
 portrays an extensive exercise of power 
 over the nations of the earth. 
 
 2. This verse introduces two features 
 of the woman, she is vile in character 
 and also drunken. Kings of the 
 earth. The woman, on her part, ex- 
 hibits uncleanness of character, and 
 seduces, by her attractions, the nations 
 of the earth. The civil and political 
 powers of the eartli are represented as 
 in alliance with, and under the con- 
 trol of, a false religious spirit. The 
 term fornication must be used here 
 as embracing what is false and per- 
 nicious in religion. There may be a 
 real idolatry when there is no outward 
 idol. The more spiritual an idolatry 
 may be, the more specious and se- 
 
 ductive it will be over intelligent 
 minds. The woman is the tempter, 
 leading the nations into the support of 
 a false worship. Exemplifications can 
 be found everywhere of nations as 
 .'iuch using their power for impurity 
 in teaching and worship. For ages 
 the truth of God, as found in the 
 Scriptures, was completely suppressed, 
 so far as the outward expression was 
 concerned, by the political power stand- 
 ing in the defense of the error. Not 
 only kings, but the inhabitants of 
 the earth, rather, they that dwell in 
 the earth, are made drunk, enticed 
 by the harlot with her false teachings. 
 This passage reveals a world-wide in- 
 fluence over the minds of the ungodly, 
 so that they are turned from the truth. 
 It is just as if they were made actually 
 drunken, and then while drunken, 
 ■seduced into wickedness. There is an 
 intoxication, a delirium that comes 
 from sin. In their wild earnestness 
 the priests of Baal cut themselves (i 
 Kings 18 : 28). Those who siu are beside 
 themselves (i'«ke is : i') ; the opening 
 of the eyes of the soul is the beginning 
 
 of the godly life (Acts 26 : 18). 
 
 3. He. This refers to the an^el. 
 In the spirit. The Revised version 
 renders in the Spirit, meaning thereby 
 the Holy Spirit. We have had the 
 same expression in 1 : 10, "I was in 
 the Spirit," where the reference is un- 
 doubtedly to the Holy Spirit as that 
 element under whose guidance the 
 entire book is given. Here the thought 
 is different. It is not meant that Joliii 
 sees this through the Holy Spirit, but 
 that, without any actual physical 
 change, in the domain of his spiritual 
 nature, through his mental imagery 
 he sees the following vision. The 
 vision takes a new direction ; he is 
 transported, as it were, into a new 
 locality. The term spirit is used in 
 this sense in 21 : 10; the same thought 
 is expressed in other terms in 2 Cor, 
 
Ch. XVII. ] 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 331 
 
 *into the wilderness: and I saw 'a 
 woman sit upou a scarlet coloured 
 beast, full of ™ names of blasphemy, 
 "having seven beads and ten horns. 
 
 wilderness. And I saw a woman sit- 
 ting on a scarlet beast, names full of 
 blasphemy, having seven heads and 
 
 kl2:6, U. 
 
 I Ver. 18 ; 12 : S. 
 
 n Ter. 9, 12. 
 
 12 : 2. Into the Avilderness. Tlie 
 Revised version translates into a wilder- 
 ness, inasmuch as the article is omitted. 
 It is an open question whether the 
 article should not be inserted in the 
 translation, as Alford maintains, on 
 grammatical grounds. We had in 
 12 : 6 a reference to a wilderness into 
 w^hicli the woman fled. If the refer- 
 ence is to that wilderness, it should be 
 rendered with the article even if it 
 were not expressed. The term wilder- 
 ness reveals the judgment that is im- 
 pending on Babylon. Instead of being 
 a center of trade, of pomp, of glory, 
 the center of the world's power, the 
 city with a crown on its head, it is 
 portrayed as a wilderness, a place de- 
 serted and lonely. The fate that has 
 come on the Old Testament Babylon 
 whereby it is now only a heap of ruins, 
 its magnificence changed into unsightly 
 mounds, is that same fate that will 
 come on its New Testament namesake, 
 the cause that uplifts itself against 
 Jesus. By a prophetic foresight John 
 sees the coming desolation, and in this 
 manner indicates it in vision. He sees 
 in his vision a woman, a beast, a wilder- 
 ness. Each word is a prophecy. The 
 woman is fully described in the follow- 
 ing verse. The beast is here described 
 as to its color, a scarlet color ; as to 
 its character, full of names of 
 blasphemy ; as to its appearance, 
 having seven heads and ten 
 horns ; as to its nature, a beast. 
 As to this beast the question arises 
 whether this is the same beast as that 
 described in 13 : 1, 2. That it is tiie 
 same beast is evident from the follow- 
 ing considerations : (1) It has the same 
 number of heads and horns. The gen- 
 eral impression on the mind is that of 
 siimeness. (2) Here, as there, the beast 
 has upon it the name of blasphemy. 
 This name is expressed in the one case 
 upon the heads ; in the other upon the 
 entire body. The beast, by its revealed 
 and open character, is antagonistic to 
 God. Every one looking upon it sees 
 the term blasphemy. (3) The same 
 attitude is exhibited in 13 : 17; 19: 
 
 19, that of hostility to the Lamb and 
 his cause. It makes war upon him 
 that sits on the horse ; tliat is, the Ke- 
 deemer. (comp. n ; u with i9 ; 20.) (4) 
 Tlie beast in 13 : 11 has a close fellow- 
 ship vi'ith the second beast, lamblike 
 in ajjpcarance and working miracles, 
 called also the false prophet, and joined 
 wuth this beast in destruction in chap. 
 XIX. It may be regarded as settled that 
 this beast is the one that appears in 13 : 
 1, 2. There are diSerences in descrip- 
 tion between the two, but not atiecting 
 (heir identity. (1) In 13 : 1 the beast 
 has ten horns and seven heads; here 
 the order is reversed, the beast having 
 seven heads and ten horns. In 13 : 1 
 the attention is called first naturally to 
 the ten horns, because they emerge 
 first from the sea. When seen in open 
 vision, the beast standing before us, 
 not in its origin, but in its complete- 
 ness, the first sight naturally is of the 
 heads. Admitting their sameness, the 
 dill'erence as to the point of view is 
 easily explained. (2 ) In 13 : 1 the heads 
 bear the name of blasphemy ; here the 
 entire body is covered with names of 
 blasphemy. In this is no conflict. It 
 is not declared, in the first vision, that 
 the body is not covered with blasphe- 
 mous titles, but only that the heads, 
 W'hen first seen, w'ere thus covered. It 
 might also be that in the development 
 of the beast, in subsequent ages, the 
 hostility and lilasphemous nature might 
 be more fully developed and revealed. 
 In this case the two visions would ex- 
 hibit the beast in different stages of its 
 work. (3) The composite character of 
 the beast is expressed in 13 : 2, but not 
 here. But the omission here of the 
 composite nature does not involve the 
 assertion of their unlikeness; it may 
 be composite, though not definitely 
 expressed. (4) The color of tlie beast 
 in chap. XIII is not stated, tho-igh the 
 dragon conferring on the beast liis own 
 power is fiery red in color (!■■' : '). We 
 might, tlierefore, infer that the beast 
 in chap. XIII would have this color. 
 The color of this l^east is scarlet, akin 
 to the red, having the color of the 
 
332 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 [Ch. XVII. 
 
 4 And the woman » was arrayed in pur- 
 ple and scarlet colour, Pand dected 
 with gold and precious stones and 
 pearls, « having a golden cup in her 
 hand f full of abominations and lilthi- 
 
 5 ness of her fornication : » and upon 
 her forehead was a name written. 
 
 4 ten horns. Andthe woman was clothed 
 in purple and scarlet, and gilded with 
 gold and precious stone and pearls, 
 having in her hand a golden cup, full 
 of abominations and the impurities of 
 
 5 her fornication, and on her forehead a 
 
 18 : 12, 16. 
 
 p Dan. 11 : 
 
 q 18: 
 < Isa. 3 : S 
 
 3 ; Jer. 51 : 7. 
 Jer. 3 : 3. 
 
 r 14:8; Isa. 47 ; 57 : 3-10. 
 
 blood shed by the woman and the 
 beast jointly. Scarlet was the color of 
 the imperial power of Rome. With- 
 out affirming that the beast represents 
 Borne, iu any form, it may be suggested 
 to John, inasmuch as everywhere in 
 the world Rome was the world's great 
 and governing power, that this beast 
 has an imperial power akin to that of 
 Rome. It is dressed in its imperial 
 scarlet, having its wide sway. It is 
 full of names of blasphemy ; the body 
 is covered with them, signifying that 
 its entire nature is irreligious. It is 
 full of the assumption of the divine 
 prerogative ; it claims an alliance with 
 God in its nature, acts, and power. 
 The term blasphemy involves a claim 
 to act in the divine name. The Caesars 
 of Rome were regarded as divine 
 beings. Men like Caligula and Nero, 
 monsters in iniquity, were deified by 
 the State religion. In English history 
 men of unclean lives, like James II and 
 Henry VIII, were called defenders of 
 the faith. The beast, with its seven 
 heads and ten horns, the terms seven 
 and ten indicating a completeness in 
 conception and power, stands as the 
 representative of the worldly power in 
 any and every age. It embraces As- 
 syria, Babylon, Egypt, Rome, and 
 powers yet unborn when John wrote. 
 It is a figure of all worldly powers by 
 whatever name called, wherever sit- 
 uated. This subject will be further 
 discussed iu the after vei'ses. The 
 angel acts as an expositor in ver. 7-12. 
 4. Following the description of the 
 beast we have the description of the 
 woman. The woman sits upon the 
 beast. In ver. 7 the beast carries the 
 woman. The thought here is that the 
 woman occupies her place on the beast 
 as a throne. She controls it and makes 
 use of it to carry out her will. Purple 
 and scarlet. In the most gorgeous 
 robes, attractive, significant of Oriental 
 luxury and of imperial position, she 
 
 sits on her throne. It is held by some 
 that the reference is direct to the papal 
 church, with its cardinals and popes 
 clothed iu purple and scarlet. With- 
 out any doubt the church of Rome has 
 often exhibited the character of this 
 woman clothed in scarlet, but we must 
 not limit the large and universal teach- 
 ing here to that definite object. All 
 that is meant here is that she is clothed 
 in the highly colored robes of an un- 
 clean woman. The impure woman of 
 to-day decks herself in gaudy, attrac- 
 tive attire ; in like manner this figura- 
 tively unclean woman of the vision. 
 She makes claim to occupy a high 
 position, she asserts her wealth and 
 social standing. There is the claim to 
 sovereignty. This woman is utterly 
 unlike the woman, the bride of Christ, 
 clothed in the simplicity and purity of 
 white (19:8). As a rule the vile 
 woman, seeking to allure others from 
 the life of purity, will be clothed in a 
 deceitful splendor. Peter counsels the 
 Christian woman to be modest in attire, 
 to be decked with moral beauty rather 
 than with jewels (i Peter 3 : s, 4). She 
 has in her hand a golden cup . . . 
 fornication. She seduces Avith her 
 enticements, presented in a most at- 
 tractive way, in a golden cup. AVithin 
 it is full of that which morally in- 
 toxicates, leading astray from God. 
 Outwardly beautiful, the woman and 
 her teachings are filthiness in God's 
 sight. The enticement is to idolatry, 
 to false conceptions of religion, to the 
 vices that naturally follow wrong con- 
 ceptions of life. 
 
 5. The inner nature of the woman, 
 the essence of her being, is brought out 
 iu this verse. Forehead, name 
 written. Seneca and Juvenal, Boman 
 writers of the finst century, declare that 
 it was the custom of the harlot to mark 
 upon the forehead the manner of her 
 life. The saints of God are marked 
 with the seal of God (' : s ; u -. 1), The 
 
Ch. XVII.] 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 333 
 
 'Mystery, "Babylon the Great, »the 
 mother of harlots and abominations of 
 the earth. 
 6 And I saw J the woman drunken 
 • with the blood of the saints, and witli 
 the blood of "the martyrs of Jesus: 
 and when I saw her, >> I wondered with 
 great admiration. 
 
 name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON 
 TlIK CKICAT, THE MOTHER Of THE 
 HAKI-OTS AND OF THE ABOMINA- 
 TIOiNS OF THE EARTH. 
 G And 1 saw the woman drunken with 
 the blood of the saints, and with the 
 blood of the martyrs of Jesus ; and I 
 wondered when I saw her, with great 
 
 t 2 Thess. 2:7. « U : 8. i 18 : 9 ; 19 : 2; Nahuni S : 4. y 18 : 24. 
 
 z 13 : 15 ; 16 : 6 ; Ps. 79 : 2, 3. a 6 : 9, 10. 5 Pa. 73 : 12, 16. 
 
 worshiper of the beast had a mark 
 upon the forehead (is : i, e ; is : 20). In 
 neither case was there any actual mark 
 as though it were a pliysical marking. 
 It is a figurative way of saying tliat 
 the inner character and the outward 
 life correspond, that God knows who 
 are his, that Satan has his recognized 
 followers. The high priest had upon 
 the forehead a plate with the inscrip- 
 tion, "Holiness to the Lord" (E-tod. 
 28 : 36). lu vision John sees the 
 woman, upon the forehead stands an 
 inscription, Mystery ... earth. 
 It is a question whether the term 
 mystery is to be taken as a part of 
 the name, as Alford maintains, or that 
 it is to be understood as the key to the 
 interpretation of the words following; 
 that they are to be taken in a figurative 
 sense, not in a plain, literal way. The 
 latter supposition is the more probable. 
 It is scarcely probable that the name 
 itself would be declared, in this open 
 way, to be unreal. The term mystery 
 has the same meaning as " spiritually " 
 in 11 : 8. Some would limit the \vords 
 upon the forehead to Babylon the 
 Great, regarding the other words as 
 explanatory of that term, and as God's 
 interpretation of what the woman 
 really is. We have this shorter form 
 used in 14 : 8 ; 16 : 19. The term mystery 
 occurs four times in this book, three of 
 whicli refer to Babylon (10 : 7 ; n : 5, 7); 
 one refers to the seven churches (1 : 20). 
 The woman is called liahylon the 
 Great, because she occupies tlie .same 
 position in the world that Ba!)ylon, as 
 a city, occupied in its day in relation 
 to God and his cause. A city like 
 Babylon was in reality the entire em- 
 pire ; its customs, luxuries, idolatries, 
 sensualities, were copied everywhere. 
 Resembling her is this woman, the 
 mother of harlots. Not simply 
 is slie a harlot, but .she is a bearer 
 of harlots and 'of moral abomina- 
 
 tions. She occupies a commanding 
 first place in the world of unclean ness, 
 and leads others astray. Her own 
 claims are that she is a religious teach- 
 er ; but utterly apart from this is God's 
 revealed opinion staniped on the fore- 
 head, that she is vile in character, re- 
 joicing in iniquity, and causing others 
 to sin. 
 
 6. Her attitude toward the church 
 is here exhibited. It is as if she had 
 killed the witnesses of Jesus, and in 
 her fury had drunk the blood ; or it 
 may refer to the fuiy kindled in her, 
 the sight of the blood leading to a 
 frenzy of heart, and causing additional 
 bloodshed. Saints. This term ex- 
 presses the holiness of the people killed. 
 Because they were saints they became 
 martyrs ; that is, witnesses for Jesus, 
 who counted not their lives dear unto 
 them. Both terms represent the same 
 persons in different relations. The 
 killed belong to the church of Christ. 
 Wondered . . . admiration, rather, 
 iconder. John is full of amazement. 
 What causes the wonder? Several 
 motives doubtless co-operate. It would 
 be a matter of sui-prise to see the alli- 
 ance of a woman with a beast, and the 
 l)east under her control. That a beast 
 .should kill and destroy would be 
 natural, but that the woman should 
 have a bea.stlike nature would, at the 
 first sight, seem unnatural. It would 
 be a matter of surprise to see in the 
 wilderness a woman engaged in this 
 work. Before this, in vision, he had 
 seen a woman in the wilderness (12 : 6) 
 representing God's cause on the earth, 
 and under God's protection wliile there. 
 Does the woman in this wilderness 
 bear any relation to the first woman 
 seen in the wilderness ? Has the church 
 of Christ become a seemingly corrupt 
 tiling? Is there an organization call- 
 ing itself Christian, bearing this hal- 
 lowed name, that is in reality against 
 
334 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 [Cn. XVII. 
 
 7 And the angel saifl unto me, Where- 
 fore didst thou marvel? I will tell 
 thee the mystery of the woman, and 
 of the beast that carrieth her, which 
 hath the seven heads and ten iiorns. 
 
 8 " The tji'ust that thou sawest was, and 
 is not; and ''shall ascend out of the 
 bottomless pit, and «go into perdition : 
 
 7 wonder. And the angel said to me. 
 Why didst thou wonder? I will tell 
 thee the mystery of the woman, and of 
 the beast that carries her, which has 
 the seven heads and the ten horns. 
 
 8 The beast that thou sawest was, and is 
 not, and is about to come up out of the 
 abyss, and to go into perdition ; and 
 
 c 13 : 1-11. 
 
 d 11 :7. 
 
 e Ver. II ; 13 : 10 ; 18 ; Dan. 7 : 11 ; 11 : 36, 45 ; 2 Tbesa. 2 : 3-8. 
 
 Jesus, killing liis servants? In 12 : ti 
 the woman stands for Christ's cause on 
 the earth ; here tiie woman stands for 
 the bitter foe of Christ's cause. The 
 angel notes tiie per))lexity in his face. 
 It ought to be a matter of surprise to 
 men and angels that any one should be 
 against God, openly or secretly ; that 
 any one should oppose the work of 
 Jesus and kill the servants of Jesus. 
 All sin is a surprising thing as well as 
 an abominable thing. " Who was this 
 •woman? What was the meaning of 
 the beast? The seer had lost his 
 clue; he was bewildered by a vision so 
 widely diflerent from that for which 
 he looked. An interpreter is needed, 
 and lie is at hand in the person of the 
 angel who had undertaken to act as 
 
 guide (blc ver. 7) " (SWliTE). 
 
 7-18. Explanation by the 
 angel op the mystery of the 
 beast and op the woman. we 
 have the explanation resolving itself 
 into two parts: first, the explanation 
 of the mystery of the beast h^r. 7-i4) ; 
 secondly, of the woman (ver. 15-18). 
 
 7. Both as to the present and as to 
 the future the human mind unaided 
 cannot fathom the hidden mysteries. 
 The angel throws light upon both. 
 The explanation stands alone in the 
 book for fulness. From this we may 
 infer the diliiculty of the teachings 
 and the importance of understanding 
 them. The two figures, the Avomnii 
 and the beast, represent the combined 
 forces in opposition to (Jhrist, con- 
 tinuing through the centuries until 
 the close of the age. We have had, 
 heretofore, Satan and the two beasts 
 doing his will. In the main, the 
 woman takes the j>lace largely of the 
 second beast, inasmuch as it would lie 
 impossible to combine both working to- 
 getiier, except through one controlling 
 mind, here represented by the woman. 
 We have largely the same ground 
 covered as in chap. XIII, except that 
 
 here we have revealed the fate that 
 befalls them, their utter destruction. 
 In ver. 3 the woman sits upon the 
 beast ; here the beast carries the woman, 
 both conveying the idea of tlie beast 
 doing the woman's will. The term 
 mystery, in the uniform usage of the 
 Scriptures, denotes something lying 
 beyond tlie power of the merely 
 natural apprehension, and is revealed 
 only 10 such as have the mind of the 
 
 Spirit. (Conip. koDi. I6 : S5 ; 1 Cor. 3 : 7-10; 
 
 1 Cor. 15 : 51 : Eph. 3 : 3, 5.) John also, in 
 this book, uses the term with the same 
 meaning, implying that the real mean- 
 ing is not that which lies on the sur- 
 face, (conip. 1 ; 20; 10 : 7.) There would 
 have been no my.stery had the power 
 referred to here been simply an openly 
 ungodly power, and hence called Bab- 
 ylon. But there was a deep mystery 
 if the power so designated professed to 
 be the very opposite of that which it 
 really was. 
 
 8. This verse has been the center 
 of many conflicting interpretations. 
 Four things are affirmed of the beast: 
 it was, it is not; it shall as- 
 cend . . . pit, rather, is about to 
 come up out of the abyss; it shall go 
 into perdition. We have here the 
 great world power in several of its 
 manifestations, disappearing and then 
 reappearing in a diflerent shape. Was. 
 From the first there was an organized 
 enmity ngaiiLst God, breaking out into 
 persccntion, causing a great enmity 
 tow,'u-(l Christ. Is not. In some sense 
 the ))ea.st ceased to exercise its beast- 
 like nature for a period of time. The 
 similarity l)etweeii this beast and that 
 noticed in chap. XllI is worthy of 
 consideration. In both cases there are 
 seven heads and ten horns. In both 
 cases all the world wonders after the 
 beast (1^ ■ ^: " : »). In both cases, here 
 and in \Z : 8, tho.se alone do not wor- 
 ship the beast whose names are en- 
 rolled in the book of life. In 13 : 3 
 
Ch, XVII.] 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 oiiO 
 
 and they that dwell on the earth 'shall 
 wonder, s whose names were not writ- 
 ten in the book of life from the founda- 
 tion of tlie world, when they behold 
 the beast that was, and is not, and 
 yet is. 
 
 And hhere is the mind which hath 
 wisdom. ' The seven heads are seven 
 mountains, on which the woman sit- 
 
 they will wonder who dwell on the 
 
 earth, whose name is not written in 
 the book of life from the foundation 
 of the world, when tliey see the beast, 
 that he wiis, and is not, and shull 
 9 come. Here is the mind that has 
 wisdom. The seven heads are seven 
 mountains, on which the woman sits. 
 
 / 13 : 3, 4. 
 
 <7 13 : 8. 
 
 h 13 : 18 ; Daa. 12 : 10. 
 
 one of the heads was slauglitered, 
 here tlie entire body is regarded as 
 non-existent. There came a time in 
 the history of the beast when it Ijecaiue 
 as though it was not. But the beast 
 was not destroyed. Tlie third stage in 
 the history of the beast is, it is about 
 to come out of the abyss. In l.'J : 4 the 
 expression, "the deadly wound was 
 healed," corresponds in meaning with 
 the assertion here that it is about to 
 ascend from the abyss, the recovering 
 from the suspended hostility to Christ, 
 the entering upon a new era of hostility 
 to the kingdom of God. The beast 
 will again resume his sway in the 
 world witli a fresh inspiration of the 
 Satanic spirit, more violent, more in- 
 tolerant, than before. Perdition. This 
 statement is not made concerning the 
 beast in chap. XIII ; now, at a later 
 stage, it is seen that its end must be 
 destruction. The world powers them- 
 selves cannot be punished in the future 
 ages, but they can be destroyed here so 
 far as their influence is concerned, and 
 the persons controlling tliem can be 
 judged before the Imr of God. In 13 : 
 3 the world wonders after the beast as 
 here, they that dwell on the earth, 
 that is, the earthl.y minded people. 
 The spiritually minded, whose 
 names ... \ifc,r\xthev,ii!hoseiiame 
 hath not been luritten in the book of life. 
 This book h:is in it the names of those 
 really living, those whose lives are in 
 fellowship with God. They are pre- 
 served from perdition because tliey have 
 life in them. They see the real char- 
 acter of the beast and its rider, their 
 minds are not seduced. ( For the i)ook of 
 life see Luke 10: 20; Phil. 4: 3; Rev. 20: 
 15.) Foundation. As in 13 : 8 there 
 is a relation between the saved and the 
 Saviour that antedates the creation of 
 the world. The creation was made for 
 the saved man, not the man for the 
 creation. Redemption was no sudden 
 
 or transitory thought on the part of 
 God, it lies deep down in his lieart and 
 plans. It is not possible that a plan 
 so long-reaching and so wide-reaching 
 can be broken in upon by the beast. 
 Was, and is not, and yet is, rather, 
 Was, and is not, and shall come. 
 
 9. And . . . wisdom. Omit And. 
 Wisdom is required that we get hold 
 of the teachings of the Spirit. Wisdom 
 is required here that we rest not in 
 literal fulfilment, but may fathom the 
 mystery contained in the statement. 
 In 13 : 9, 18 is a statement of the same 
 kind. Divine wisdom is shown in tiie 
 explanation. Seven heads, seven 
 mountains. One figure gives way 
 to another figure. The head is the 
 prominent part of the body, the moun- 
 tain stands forth conspicuous above 
 the plain. According to Bil)le usage 
 the seven mountains stand for seven 
 kingdoms, for political power. Bab- 
 ylon, situated in a plain, is called a 
 destroying mountain (Jer. 51 : 25). For 
 similar illustrations see Ps. 68 : 16, 17; 
 Isa. 40 : 4 ; Ezek. 35 : 2. In like man- 
 ner Daniel speaks of a stone l)ecoming 
 a mountain ; that is, Messiah's kingdom 
 growing to be a great ])ower in the 
 world (i)nn. 2 : 35). Tbcse seven moun- 
 tains are not to be literally understood 
 as seven mountains, as though tlie seven 
 hills of Rome were meant. The num- 
 ber seven itself is never used in this 
 book in a strict mathematical sen.se, as 
 though it stood for a real accurate 
 .seven ; it stands here, as everywhere, a 
 symbol of completeness, a perfect num- 
 ber. In l.'> : 3 one head was slaugli- 
 tered, but assuredly this does not mean 
 that one literal mountain wasdestroyed. 
 The seven mountains represent seven 
 political powers; that is, in accordance 
 with the symbols in the book, it stands 
 for and represents the entire system of 
 the great world powers arrayed again.st 
 Christ. It is not impossible that John, 
 
336 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 [Ch. XVII. 
 
 10 teth. And there are seven kings: five 
 are fallen, and one is, and the other is 
 not yet come ; and when he cometh, 
 
 11 he must continue a short space. And 
 the beast that was, and is not, even he 
 is the eighth, and is of the seventh, 
 I' and goeth into perdition. 
 
 10 And they are seven kings ; the five are 
 fallen, the one is, the other is not yet 
 come ; and when he comes, he must 
 
 11 remain a little time. And the beast 
 that was, and is not, he also is an 
 eighth, and is of the seven, and goes 
 
 k Ver. 8 ; 19 : 20. 
 
 living in the domain of the Roman em- 
 pire, and inasmuch as Rome at that 
 time was the embodiment of the world's 
 great and almost supreme power, may 
 have found in Rome an illustration of 
 the beast. 
 
 10. And there are seven kings, 
 rather, and they are seven kings. They 
 refers to the mountains of the pre- 
 ceding verse ; these mountains stand 
 for kings. Five are fallen. The 
 word fallen indicates a violent fall, as 
 when a kingdom is overthrown. It is 
 the term applied to Babylon itself 
 (i*:8). John wrote at a time when 
 Rome was the controlling power of the 
 world. It is indicated here in the 
 vision, in a general way, that a large 
 part of the antagonists of the kingdom 
 of God have already appeared and 
 been destroyed. In the time then pre- 
 sent there was an organized opposition 
 to Christ; this opposition to Christ 
 would continue into the future. But 
 whenever and wherever any peoples 
 placed themselves in opposition to 
 Christ, their downfall must come in 
 time. A violent end will come to all 
 peoples arrayed against Christ. All 
 alike, in time, will meet their doom. 
 Continue a short space, a little 
 while. The emphasis rests on the 
 shortness of the time. Compare ver. 
 12 for another indication of a short 
 period. Centuries have passed since 
 John wrote this. We must take this 
 description of the short period of time 
 as a shortness in the divine conception 
 of things. Even one thousand years 
 are but as yesterday. God's days have 
 more than twenty-four hours in them. 
 The expressions in this book, indica- 
 ting an extreme shortness, must be con- 
 strued in the light of experience as a 
 short period as compared with eternal 
 things, not as asserting an absolute 
 shortness (i : i ; 12 : 12). The length of 
 the period may also be conditioned on 
 the faithfulness of God's people. At 
 times God's promises depend upon cer- 
 
 tain human conditions, so that men 
 may restrain or hasten the fulfilment 
 
 (2 Peter 3 : 12, R. V.). 
 
 11. This verse depicts the seven heads 
 as destroyed, but the beast yet living. 
 The eighth form is not represented as 
 one of the heads transformed into an 
 eighth, but as a principle or power that 
 springs out of the seven, summing up, 
 as it were, the principle and spirit of 
 all. He is not spoken of as one of the 
 seven, but as the successor and result- 
 ant of them all, springing out of them. 
 The preposition of being here a term 
 of origin, he springs out of them all. 
 In the Greek the he is emphatic, allu- 
 ding, in the view of many, to some one 
 who will sum up in himself the spirit 
 of the Antichrist. It is better to re- 
 gard this as having allusion to the last 
 and highest manifestation of the world's 
 ungodly power in whatever shape it 
 appears. Daniel speaks of a "little 
 horn," with eyes like the eyes of a 
 man, and speaking great things (Dan- 8 : 
 9-12). Paul speaks of a " son of perdi- 
 tion," to be destroyed by the coming of 
 Christ (2 Theas. 2 : 3-8). It is Said of this 
 eighth manifestation, not that he falls, 
 but that he goeth into perdition. 
 He is the final form of the destructive 
 opposition to Christ. It conies after the 
 seven ; the complete organized forces 
 arrayed against the Redeemer is num- 
 liered an eighth, and represents the un- 
 godly power in its highest and ultimate 
 manifestation. He does not conceive 
 of the beast as living without heads, 
 that would be a monstrosity. He is 
 thinking only of the ideas involved, 
 the principle of evil as existing after 
 the chief forms of opposition have 
 passed away. John brings before us 
 tlie idealized conception contained in 
 this figure ; that is, the world power in 
 the shape of a beast with seven heads. 
 By these heads he represents, in a figu- 
 rative way, the successive forms of this 
 manifestation. As one by one the 
 varying forms are destroyed, the beast 
 
Ch. XVII.] 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 337 
 
 12 And ' the ten lionis which thou saw- 
 est are ten kings, which have received 
 no kingdom as yet; but receive power 
 as kings one hour with the ueast. 
 
 13 These have one mind, ""and shall give 
 their power and strength unto the 
 
 14 beast. "These shall make war with 
 the Lamb, "and the Lamb shall over- 
 come them : p for he is Lord of lords, 
 and King of kings : i and they that are 
 
 12 into perdition. And the ten horns 
 which thou sawest are ten kings, who 
 received no kingdom as yet ; but re- 
 ceive authority as kings one liour, 
 
 13 along with the beast. These have one 
 mind, and they give their power and 
 
 14 authority to the beast. These will 
 make war with the Lamb, and the 
 Lamb will overcome them ; because 
 he is Lord of lords, and King of kings. 
 
 ! IS : 1 ; Zech. 1 : 18, 19, 21. 
 
 m Ver. 17. n 16 : U ; 19 : 19 ; Dan. 7 : 21, 25 ; 8 : 25 ; AcU 4 : 26. 
 
 Ps. 2:9; 110:5,6; 119 
 
 5-9 ; Daa. 2 : « ; 7 : 26, 27. p 19 : 16 ; Deut. 10 : 17 ; 1 Tim. 6 : 15. 
 
 
 q U : 1-4 ; John 15 : 16 ; 1 Peter 2 : 9. 
 
 itself seems to have a life even when 
 the main forms of an organized un- 
 godly power have passed away. 
 
 13. This verse deals with the horns. 
 These are all centered upon the sev- 
 enth head, growing togetner upon it. 
 These are tea kings ; that is, ten 
 kingdoms. By ten we are not to un- 
 derstand this exact number ; it stands 
 rather for all the organized forces that 
 should arise subordinate to the great or- 
 ganized world powers. The number is 
 entirely symbolical ; there may be, so 
 far as the number itself isconcerned, ten 
 or one hundred. However many there 
 are, they are conceived of as ten — an en- 
 tire number. It is folly to attempt to 
 construct a list of exactly ten kingdoms 
 that have arisen as the fulfilment of 
 this statement. No kingdom as yet. 
 This part of the vision refers to days 
 beyond the period of John's time. 
 John conceives of his own day as em- 
 braced in the sixth head of the beast, 
 inasmuch as five have fallen. Re- 
 ceive power, rather, authority. 
 The beast receives authority from the 
 dragon (is : 4) ; the authority here 
 si)oken of comes from the same source. 
 With the beast. This means in sub- 
 ordination to the beast, and also con- 
 terminous with it. The six heads all 
 ruled through and with the beast. 
 A.fter they fell the ten horns appear 
 on the seventh head, and apparently 
 they also seem to be perpetuated in the 
 bea.st as such, after all the heads have 
 disappeared. They rule one hour ; a 
 short period. This shortness is also 
 expressed in ver. 10. This liour may 
 eml)race centuries ; we are dealing, not 
 with human ways of reckoning time, 
 but with God's method of reckoning. 
 Alford declares that these ten horns 
 stand for ten kingdoms that shall arise 
 
 W 
 
 out of the destroyed Roman empire ; 
 ten European powers which, in the 
 last ages, in concert with the Antichrist 
 and in subordination to it, shall make 
 war against Christ. Similarly Swete. 
 This is too mathematical an explana- 
 tion of this expression, not sufficiently 
 regarding the symbolical usage of the 
 entire book. 
 
 13. These have one mind. They 
 are spoken of in the present tense, 
 although they have not yet, in John'.s 
 time, arisen. And shall give . . . 
 beast, rather, and they give their au- 
 thority and poiver to the beast. They 
 have one mind, one intent and pur- 
 pose ; that is, to help the beast in his 
 attack ui3on Christ and his cause. The 
 second beast had helped the first beast 
 in a like manner (i3 : 12). The harlot 
 also was in clo.se alliance with the 
 beast (n : 3. 1). The brute power of 
 the world is stirred up and helped by 
 the false prophet, the second beast ; 
 and by the harlot, a corrupt church ; 
 and by the kings stirred up by the 
 false church (n : 2). 
 
 14. These shall make war with 
 the Lamb, rather, against. There 
 has been from the first a warfare 
 against Jesus, begun at his birth, and 
 continuing to the present day. Tin; 
 reference liere is to a final and convul- 
 sive war against him. It is alluded to 
 in 19 : 19. The Lamb has already been 
 introduced in this book in chap. V, 
 VI. He now appears in his character 
 as the conquering Lord. They cannot 
 overcome him because of the divinity 
 of his person, for . . . kings. They 
 are kings; he is King of kings. It 
 is foolish and futile for them to wage 
 war against such a person, so high in 
 character, so mighty in power. It is 
 foolish and wicked to fight against God 
 
838 
 
 EEVELATION 
 
 [Ch. XVII. 
 
 with him are called, and choseu, and 
 faithful. 
 
 15 And he saith unto me, ^The waters 
 which thou sawcst, where the whore 
 sitteth, "are peoples, and multitudes, 
 
 16 and nations, and tongues. And tlie 
 ten horns which thou sawest upon tlie 
 beast, 'these sliall hate the whore, and 
 shall make her desolate "and naked, 
 and shall eat her flesh, and ^^ burn her 
 
 and they who are with him are called, 
 
 15 and elect, and faithful. And he says 
 to me, The waters which thou sawest, 
 where the harlot sits, are peoples and 
 multitudes, and nations and tongues. 
 
 16 And tlie ten horns which thou sawest 
 and the beast, these will hate the 
 harlot, and will make her desolate and 
 naked, and will eat her flesh, and will 
 
 r Ver. 1 ; Isa, 8:7; 17 : 12, 13. s 13 : 7, 8. 
 
 u 18 : 16, 17 ; Kzek. 16 : 37-U. 
 
 t Jer. 50 : 41, 42. 
 
 (Acts 5:39). Jehovah shall laugh at 
 his discomfited foes (ps. 2 : 4). Jesus 
 fights and overcomes, not only iu him- 
 self, but also in and through his serv- 
 ants who are his allies. And they 
 . . . faithful, ratlier, and they also 
 shall overcome that are with him, called 
 and chosen and faithful. In all his 
 ministry upon the earth Jesus works 
 through and by means of his faithful 
 men and women. They are his wit- 
 nesses ; he blesses their labors. Those 
 Avho receive tliem, receive him (Matt. 
 10 : 40). Those who are faithful work- 
 ers with Christ will share in the glory 
 of his triumph, it is their victory as 
 well as his. No one will be forgotten 
 by him iu the hour of triumph. They 
 are described in a threefold way — 
 called, chosen, faithful. A person may 
 be called, but not chosen (Matt. 22 : u). A 
 person may l)e chosen, but not faithful 
 to the highest degree (Luke 19 : le, is). 
 These three terms indicate the highest 
 kind of Christians. Every Christian 
 may be one of this kind, realizing 
 Christ's ideal. Jesus was, in his earthly 
 ministry, a patient sufferer. lie is 
 now a patient Saviour. He will be 
 manifest, in time, as a royal monarch. 
 He will be, in manifestation, what he 
 is in character. 
 
 The second part of the explanation 
 by tlie angel begins here. Having 
 spoken of the beast the author now 
 gives some additional particulars con- 
 cerning the woman not mentioned 
 before. 
 
 1.5. The angel speaks of the uni- 
 versal sway of the woman. In tlie 
 wilderness John sees in the vision 
 many Avaters, the meaning of wliich 
 is given. As tlie woman is spoken of 
 as Babylon, it is fitting to associate 
 with this name many waters, inasmuch 
 as that city was situated on the Eu- 
 
 phrates. In chap. XIII the beast arose 
 out of the sea with its mighty waters. 
 These waters passionate, stirred by the 
 wind, form a picture of lier domain. 
 The four terms, as elsewhere in this 
 book, signify her widespread sway. 
 Jehovah sits above the waters and 
 reigns as king (ps. 29 : 10). By a mock- 
 ing imitation of God's wide rule she 
 claims also a like wide rule. 
 
 16. And the ten . . . beast, 
 rather. And the ten hori^s that thou 
 sawest and the beast. John is now be- 
 holding, in the vision, a time when the 
 seven heads have passed away, and the 
 ten horns and the beast continue (^er. 
 11). The horns and the beast itself are 
 represented as yet existing. It is the 
 last stages of the history of the church. 
 The great organized forces have been 
 broken down, but the principle of evil 
 yet remains. These have one mind ; 
 but that mind is now turned, in a de- 
 structive way, upon the harlot, fulfilling 
 thereby God's vengeance upon her. 
 Four statements are made concerning 
 her fate. (1) They shall hate the 
 whore, rather, the harlot. It is not 
 stated what will lead to this changed at- 
 titude. She has been described as sitting 
 upon the beast, ruling it. The fate of the 
 woman was not revealed in the vision 
 itself, it is now made known as an 
 added feature. The hatred is the source 
 of the results that follow. (2) Deso- 
 late and naked. She who liad found 
 allies and willing servants in the beast 
 and liorns, now finds herself deserted 
 by them. She is deserted by all. 
 Naked. She is stripped of her gaudy 
 clothing and her power. (3) Eat her 
 flesh. In the original this term is 
 in the plural, indicating, perhaps, the 
 masses of her flesh, the body having 
 grown Heshy by luxuriant living. All 
 her power she loses at once. The Old 
 
Ch. XVII.] 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 339 
 
 17 with fire, y For God hath put in their 
 hearts to fulfil his will ; aud to agree, 
 aud ^ive thoir kingdom unto the beast, 
 » until the words of God shall be fiil- 
 
 18 filled. Aud the woman which thou 
 sawest » is that great city, which reigu- 
 eth over the kiugs of the earth. 
 
 17 burn her up with fire. For God put 
 it iuto thoir hearts to do his will, even 
 to do his jjurpose, and to give thuir 
 kingdom to the beast, until the words 
 
 18 of God shall be accomplished. And 
 the woman whom thou sawest is the 
 great city, w^hich has a kingdom over 
 the kings of the earth. 
 
 y Prov. 21 : 1 ; 2 Tliess. 2 : 11. 
 
 z 10 : 7 ; Prov. 19 : 21 ; Isa. 46 : 10. 11. 
 
 a 1« : 3 ; 16 : 19. 
 
 Testament makes use of this expres- 
 sion, " to eat the fle.sh," meaniug injury 
 to person and the despoiling of property 
 (Pa. 27 : 2). (4) Bum her with fire, 
 rather, buDi, utterly ivith fire. Tlii.s 
 was the Old Testament punishment for 
 fornication (Lev. 20 -. u). What a con- 
 trast between tlie harlot now and in 
 her queenly, reigning state. She re- 
 mains a harlot still, but a destroyed 
 harlot. It is again and again declared 
 by one angel after another that judg- 
 ment must come on the woman, on 
 Babylon (18:1,4-20,21-24), We shall 
 find it wise not to attempt to locate our 
 age in the prophetic scheme. Nor 
 may we attempt to locate in history 
 the definite events which will be the 
 perfect fulfilment of this vision. We 
 ojay find many illustrations of the 
 general principles here given, with 
 this we should be content. The gen- 
 eral principle is true tliat all unholy 
 alliances will fall to pieces, that no 
 weapon formed against God will pros- 
 per, that guilty men will turn upon 
 each other, that God will make use of 
 wicked men to bring punishment upon 
 other wicked men, that God rules and 
 overrules, making even sinful men 
 work out his own righteous plans. 
 
 17. This verse gives an insight into 
 the divine plan. The nations that 
 spoil the harlot, act from their own 
 motives. Back of all these, over and 
 above them all, is God. For expresses 
 the divine purpose that was operating 
 in and through these secular rulers, 
 the ten horns. God hath put, rather, 
 did put. The pa.st tense here is made 
 use of to express the future. Hearts 
 . . . agree, rather, hearts to do his 
 mind and to come to one mind. They 
 had no thought of God iu their mind, 
 their purpose was not to glorify hira. 
 But God, far above them, had his plan 
 to strip the harlot of her beauty and 
 her power. All unconsciously they 
 carry out his purpose. In planning to 
 
 do their own will, they did also God's 
 will. For a like use of malice and 
 treachery so that they, in the end, 
 served God's purpose, see the case of 
 Joseph and his brotliers (<ii;u- 45 = s). It 
 is better to do God's will in love tlian 
 to be used in a kind of piechanical way. 
 Beast. It is not meant tiiat it was 
 God's approving design to have them 
 serve the beast ; he never approves of 
 wrong-doing, for he is holy. This ex- 
 pression must be taken in connection 
 with the next phra.se, until . . . ful- 
 filled, ratlier, accomplished. It is 
 God's purpose that his words, his 
 threats, his promises of a universal 
 sovereignty, the triumph of his cause 
 should be accomplished. In God's 
 permission the horns served the beast 
 until the time came for the powers, 
 represented by the horns, to turn upon 
 the woman and rend her. God can 
 work upon and through his enemies 
 without intruding upon their freedom 
 of will or destroying their sense of re- 
 sponsibility, or taking away the sense 
 of guilt. It is the wicked motive that 
 makes the guilt. It was God's pur- 
 pose that Bal)ylon should fall ; it had 
 been so predicted, it must come to 
 pass. We see that this result was 
 brought about, not directly by bis holy 
 agencies, but indirectly through wicked 
 agencies, working out at the same time 
 their will and his will. God can make 
 the wratli of man to serve him (p». 
 
 76 : 10). 
 
 18. This verse forms the transition 
 to the next chapter, in which the figure 
 of the woman is dropped, and Babylon 
 takes her place. Both refer to the same 
 thing. Sometimes she is a woman, a 
 harlot, corrupting the world. And 
 then she is a city, great in size, .sov- 
 ereign, full of enticements. Reign- 
 eth. Babj'lon liad long since fallen. 
 In .John's day Rome was the great city 
 of tlie world, having the widest sway. 
 He may have had Rome in mind. In 
 
340 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 [Ch. XVIII. 
 
 both figures there is the symbol of an 
 evil power. The two greatest seducing 
 forces in the world may be a city re- 
 splendent with outward attractions, 
 and a woman beautiful in person and 
 attire, but corrupt in lieart. Both of 
 these John uses to depict the attractive 
 powers that make war upon the Re- 
 deemer in all the ages. 
 
 Practical Remarks. 
 
 1. Unfaithfulness to God begins in small 
 ways, and grows insensibly. What Satan 
 cannot do by violence he often succeeds 
 in doing through the allurements of the 
 world. Worldliness is more dangerous 
 than persecution. It is a monstrous thing 
 for a woman to become a harlot. It is 
 equally monstrous for a follower of Christ 
 to become faithless to Christ (ver. 1). 
 
 2. Causing others to sin is a deeper 
 wrong than the sinning itself. This was 
 the sin of Jeroboam (1 Kings 22 : 52). No 
 one can go astray himself without lead- 
 ing others astray. It is impossible for a 
 man to shut in his influence so as not to 
 help or hinder others (ver. 2). 
 
 3. The bride and the Lamb are joined 
 together ; the harlot and the beast are 
 joined together. The true Christian and 
 the true church find delight in Christ ; 
 the apostate Christian and the apostate 
 church find a delight in the world. 
 Worldliness and godliness are the ex- 
 tremes of life (ver. 3). 
 
 4. Sin may present a gaudy attire. 
 Piety may be clothed in rags and dwell 
 in caves of the earth (Heb. 11 : 38). But 
 it is better to follow Christ in rags than to 
 be clothed in purple and fine linen and 
 live in hell afterward (ver. 4 ; Luke 16 : 
 19, 23). 
 
 5. We must not look simply on the out- 
 side, the gold covering, but see what is 
 inside. Hypocrisy, wickedness, abomina- 
 tions do not become morally beautiful 
 because they are presented in enticing 
 ways. Sin in a gold cup is more seductive 
 than in an earthen jar (ver. 4). 
 
 6. It is a great help to Christ when his 
 people wear his name up)on the forehead, 
 present him openly to men. It is a help 
 to all when sin openly announces itself 
 as sin (ver. f)). 
 
 7. To be a martyr is to be a witness. 
 
 Every age needs living witnesses. There 
 may be no call to stand by the stake, but 
 there is a great opportunity to live in such 
 a way as to commend Christ to others. 
 More courage is required to stand alone, 
 to brave a corrupt public opinion than to 
 suft'er the loss of property (ver. 6). 
 
 8. What is beyond the power of our 
 reason to understand we may accept. It 
 is not unreasonable to accept teachings 
 on the authority of Jesus. It is irrational 
 to make our knowledge the measure of 
 our belief. The teachable mind God will 
 teach (ver. 8, 7). 
 
 9. God safeguards his people. He guides, 
 guards, preserves, saves. He ministers 
 help in the inner life, and by the con- 
 straints and restraints of his providence 
 (ver. 8; Luke 22: 31). 
 
 10. The census enrolls the names of the 
 physically living. The church roll regis- 
 ters the names of the professedly regen- 
 erate. The book of life has the names of 
 tho.se who are really and spiritually alive 
 (ver. 8; Luke 10 : 20). 
 
 11. There is sufficient light in the Scrip- 
 tures to make plain the path to life for 
 the honest inquirer. The hard places 
 will be illuminated, at times, by the Holy 
 Spirit, by earnest study, by an interpret- 
 ing providence. Some Scriptures will 
 remain unsolved until time explains 
 them, some will not be plain until the 
 light of eternity falls upon them (ver. 9). 
 
 12. The great kingdoms that once 
 flourished are now dead. They perished, 
 as a rule, through their wickedness and 
 forgetfulness of God. Whatever opposes 
 Christ miist, in the end, come to an end 
 (ver. 10). 
 
 13. Jesus is Lord as well as Saviour. He 
 is strong as well as tender. We must not 
 forget, misled by his forbearance, that he 
 is judge and Lord. In his presence all 
 kings are but as the dust of the earth. 
 How should men fear to disobey him 
 (ver. 14). 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 The fall of Babylon. In chap. 
 XVII we had the picture of the un- 
 clean woman riding upon the beast. 
 The process of destruction of God's 
 foes has already begun. The judgment 
 upon Babylon has a fearful prominence 
 
Ch. XVIIL] 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 341 
 
 The /aU of Babylon. Lamentation over her 
 on eartii. 
 
 18 AND * after these thiugs I saw an- 
 other angel come down from heaven, 
 having great power; "and the earth 
 2 was lightened with his glory. And he 
 
 18 AFTER these things I saw another 
 
 angel coming down out of heaven, 
 
 having great authority ; and the earth 
 
 2 was lightened with his glory. And he 
 
 J 17 : 1. 
 
 c Ezek. 43 : 2 ; 2 Tbess. 2 : 8. 
 
 assigned to it. Its fall is brought to a 
 close before the war against the kings 
 of the earth ; together with the beast 
 and false propliet it is brought upon the 
 stage, in the subsequent chapters. We 
 deal, in this chapter, with figures and 
 illustrations of outward things. But 
 these outward things are but symbols 
 of moral and spiritual forces at work 
 in the world. Wrongs are put down 
 and truth established in the earth, 
 not by mechanical means, not by earth- 
 quakes, convulsions, and wars, but only 
 by the prevalence of the truth, by the 
 might of the Holy Spirit. In this 
 chapter we have the same vision that 
 we nad in the last, but under another 
 figure. It is no longer a woman, un- 
 clean, unfaithful, with intelligence and 
 a perverted will, but a city large, 
 dominant, unclean, a center of luxury, 
 a source of corruption. It is unclean, 
 as in the former case, but the teaching 
 of degeneracy, the clean woman having 
 given place to unclean ness, this is not 
 emphasized. Babylon filled a large 
 place in Old Testament history. At 
 one time it was the mistress of Western 
 Asia, a city, world-ruling in its sway, 
 magnificent in its material aspect. 
 There looms up in vision, before John, 
 such a city, mighty, splendid in ap- 
 pearance, but destined to go down. 
 We have the prophetic announcement 
 of its fall {•'"■ i-s); the summons to the 
 Lord's people to leave it (^er. 4-8); the 
 world's lamentation over its fall {''«'■ 
 9-20) ; the suddenness and irremediable- 
 ness of its fall (ver. 21-24). 
 
 1-3. The fall of Babylon an- 
 nounced. We have met with the 
 term Babylon before (1* : « ; 17 : 5). Its 
 destruction has already been foretold 
 (1* : 8). John does not here see the de- 
 struction of the city ; the announce- 
 ment is made by an angel. It is 
 worthy of notice that nowhere does a 
 judgment come without the distinct 
 association of the judgment with sin 
 and guilt. God is not at all the 
 almignty God, apart from a shining 
 
 holiness of nature that is compelled by 
 its own holiness to assert itself in 
 punishment. 
 
 1. After these things. This vision 
 comes after the preceding in order of 
 time. But it is evident that the book 
 is not built up on a chronological plan, 
 for it is stated in ver. 5 that the city 
 has not yet fallen, after the assertion 
 that it is fallen. And, omit. Another 
 angel. This distinguishes this angel 
 from the one introduced in the preced- 
 ing chapter. Some regarding especially 
 the phrase, come down from 
 heaven, distinguish this angel from 
 the one announced in 10 : 1. Three 
 statements are made concerning this 
 angel: (1) the source whence it came, 
 heaven ; (2) its rank, having great 
 power, rather, authority; (3) its 
 splendor, lightening the earth. 
 The coming from heaven shows the 
 certainty of the events predicted, also 
 the holiness of the punishment. It is 
 fanciful to refer this appearance to 
 Jesus or the Holy Spirit, or Luther, 
 introducing the Eeformation. The 
 great authority is shown in the an- 
 nouncement itself, and in the destruc- 
 tion of tlie city, as tltough the angel 
 were the means of the fall. It would 
 be unfitting for an inferior angel to 
 come with so great an announcement. 
 There are gradations in the higlier 
 order of beings, as in nature and in 
 tlie heavens. In like manner there 
 will be gradations among the saved 
 (Luke 19 : 17, 18). Tlic liist Statement is 
 taken from Ezek. -13 : 2. The earth 
 became liiniinous with the glory of the 
 angel. The entire earth will be 
 brightened with the enlarging knowl- 
 edge of God, the manifestation <if Gml's 
 holiness, the disai)pearance of the dark- 
 ening powers of wickedness. There 
 is a symbolic statement of this teach- 
 ing — God purposes, as the result of his 
 power anil holiness, to overthrow ut- 
 terly the spiritual Bal)jlon, and this 
 will be as though the earth were filled 
 with light. 
 
342 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 [Ch. XVIII. 
 
 cried mightily with a strong voice, 
 saying, d Babylon the great is fallen, is 
 fallen, and «is become the habitation 
 of devils, and the hold of every foul 
 spirit, and fa cage of every unclean 
 3 and hateful bird. For all nations 
 shave drunk of the wine of the wrath 
 of her fornication, and the kings of the 
 earth have committed fornication with 
 her, iiand the merchants of the earth 
 are waxed rich through the abundance 
 of her delicacies. 
 
 cried with a strong voice, saying. 
 Fallen, fallen, is Babylon the great, 
 and is become a habitation of demons, 
 and a hold of every unclean spirit, 
 and a cage of every unclean and hate- 
 3 ful bird. Because bj* the wine of 
 the wrath of her fornication all the 
 nations have fallen ; and the kings of 
 the earth committed fornication with 
 her, and the merchants of the earth 
 became rich by the power of her 
 luxury. 
 
 d 14 : 8. e Isa. 13 : 19-22 ; Jer. 51 ; 37. / Isa. U : 23. 
 
 ft Ver. 11, 15; Isa. « : 15. 
 
 S 14 : 8 ; 17 : 2. 
 
 \ 
 
 , , . bird, rather, hold. The unclean 
 bird inhabits the place of pollution 
 and filth. Through these expressions 
 John emphasizes the utter ruin of the 
 place, and depicts its ruins as centers 
 of uncleanness, moral filth, where the 
 unclean spirits and birds find a fitting 
 abode. Isaiah has a like picture in 
 13 : 21. See the prophecy concerning 
 Babylon in Jer. 50 : 39. 
 
 3. This verse assigns the reason for 
 its fall. The city sowed sin, it reaped 
 judgment. For . . . fornication, 
 rather, For by the %vme of the wrath 
 of her fornication all the nations are 
 fallen. The words are a reminiscence 
 of 17 : 2. The city has proved a curse 
 to other nations, leading them astray 
 by her uncleanness. The complete- 
 ness of her wrong-doing is shown by 
 her enticements to three classes, na- 
 tions, kings, merchants. She has 
 poisoned, by her seductions, the na- 
 tional life, political authorities, the 
 business relations of men. Abun- 
 dance of her delicacies, rather, 
 by the power of her wantonness. The 
 picture is that of a great city making 
 all tributary to her through her traffic. 
 Rome has been and is called by many 
 Babylon, on account of its haughtiness, 
 its cruel spirit in persecution, its vast 
 power in the past over nations and 
 kings. There is a wide contrast here 
 between the former splendor, attract- 
 ing all nations, and her present con- 
 dition, the dwelling-place of unclean 
 birds and beasts. Her sin is that of 
 greed, of gluttonous living, of ungod- 
 liness. 
 
 4-8. The summons to the godly 
 TO LEAVE THE CITY. We have here 
 another stage in the sacred drama. A 
 vision meets us that shows us that the 
 city has not yet been destroyed. The 
 
 3. Cried . . . voice, rather, cried 
 with a mighty voice, that it might sound 
 through every part of the great city. 
 In a real way Jonah went through 
 Nineveh announcing its fall (Jonah a : 4). 
 Babylon . . . fallen, rather. Fallen, 
 fallen is Babylon the great. The key 
 to this statement is found in the last 
 verse of the preceding chapter,^ " and 
 the woman which thou sawest is that 
 great city." The city is the woman 
 under another aspect. Having used 
 the figure of the unclean woman to 
 show her uncleanness and her degen- 
 eracy, in a manner wliich could not 
 be shown by the figure of a city, he 
 now passes to another figure, that of a 
 city, to show its greatness, its luxury, 
 its profligacy, and the sudden and ir- 
 remediable downfall. Through this 
 entire chapter the figure is rigorously 
 and perfectly kept hold of. It is a 
 figure very striking and bold. The 
 term fallen shows the certainty of the 
 prophecy. It is as though it_ were 
 already completed. The repetition of 
 the words, as in the case of the Saviour's 
 " verily," is very impressive. It is the 
 death knell of the ungodly system. 
 The following expressions show how 
 profound the desolation is, the . . . 
 devils, rather, habitation of demons. 
 Tlie great city is conceived of as a mass 
 of ruins, where the demons that de- 
 light in calamity and desolation dwell. 
 Jesus speaks in a figurative way of 
 evil spirits traversing desert places 
 (Matt. 12 : 43). The Arabians of to-day 
 regard all the mounds of deserted cities 
 as inhabited by evil spirits. Hold 
 . . . spirit. The word rendered hold 
 means a cage or prison. Unclean 
 spirits love unclean and foul places, 
 hence, figuratively, they are said to 
 dwell here as in a prison house. Cage 
 
Ch. XVI IL] 
 
 REVELATIOX 
 
 343 
 
 4 And I heard another voice from 
 heaven, saying, ■ Come out of her, my 
 people, that ye be not partakers of. her 
 sins, and tluit ye receive not of her 
 
 5 plagues. ''For her sins have reached 
 unto heaven, and 'fiod huth rcmeni- 
 
 6 bered her iniquities. ■" Rewanl hereven 
 as she rewarded you. and double unto 
 her double according to her works : 
 "in the cup which she hath filled "fill 
 
 4 And I heard another voice out of 
 heaven, saying. Come out of her, my 
 ]>eople, that ye have no fellowship 
 with her sins, and that ye receive not 
 
 Ti of her plagues. Because her sins clave 
 togetlier even to lieaven, and God re- 
 
 6 membered her iniquities. Reward her 
 as she also rewarded, and double the 
 double according to her works ; in the 
 cup which she mingled, mingle for her 
 
 t Isa. 48 : 20 ; Zech. 2 : 7 ; 2 Cor. 6 : 17 ; Geu. 19. * Gen. 18 : 20, 21 ; Jer. 51 : 9 ; Jonah 1 ; 
 I 16 : 19. m 13 : 10 ; Ps. 137 : 8 ; Jer. 50 : 15, 29 ; 51 : 24, 49 ; 2 Tim. 4 : 14. 
 n 17:4; Jer. 51 : 7. o 16 : 19. 
 
 preceding announcement must be 
 taken, therefore, in a prophetic waj% 
 the certain doom i.s soon to follow. 
 Before the doom comes the people of 
 God must be called from the city. 
 This thought is not a new one in this 
 book, and in the entire Scripttires. 
 Noah was called out of the world of 
 the wicked before the flood came. Lot 
 was led out of Sodom because Jehovah 
 could do nothing until he had escaped 
 (oen. 19 ; 22). [t is a part of God's holy 
 nature, when he sends a judgment upon 
 the world, to draw a dividing line be- 
 tween the righteous and the wicked 
 
 (Mai. 3 : 18). 
 
 4. Another voice. We must not 
 understand this as the voice of Christ. 
 As in other cases, it is a symbolic 
 representation of God's will. Come 
 . . . her, rather, Come forth out of 
 her. There must be an entire separa- 
 tion, as when Pilgrim fled from the 
 city of destruction. My people. Tlie 
 angel speaks not from himself, but for 
 God, whose he is. He speaks in the 
 divine behalf. Two reasons are as- 
 signed, one arising from fear of per- 
 sonal moral defilement, the other from 
 fear of personal danger. Not par- 
 takers of her sins, rather, /lavr no 
 fellowship. It is perilous to dwell in 
 the midst of sin, even for tlie godly. 
 Sin is contagious?, enervating and 
 weakening the moral nature. If sealed 
 with God's seal, even yet must God's 
 people walk with care, watching over 
 
 the steps (7:3; 1 Cor. 5 : 6). PlagUPS. 
 
 Jeremiah the prophet, announcing tlie 
 fall of Bal)ylon, exhorted the people 
 to flee from it (so : 8 ; 51 : 6). The people 
 of Israel were exhorted to flee from 
 the tents of the guilty conspirators 
 against Moaes (n'"'"- is : 28). Je.sus 
 warned his own disciples to escape 
 from Jerusalem when the Roman 
 
 armies encamped before the city (Matt. 
 2+ : 16). In God's ordinary procedure 
 the sun and hail conie equally upon 
 all, regardless of character (Matt. 5 : 45). 
 But when he sends penalties for sin he 
 discriminates. The Judge of all the 
 earth does rigliteousness (Geu. 18 : 25). 
 We find this truth in many passages 
 (Isa. 48 : 20 ; 52 : u). A wicked Babylon 
 might feel that all within her walls 
 were safe ; a righteous prophet outside 
 might feel that all in the city would be 
 rightfully condemned. Tlie holy God 
 sees some of his own people in the city. 
 He desires their separation and their 
 salvation. 
 
 5. This verse gives a reason for the 
 plagues that are coming. For . . . 
 unto heaven, rather, even unto 
 heaven. The figure is that of sins 
 piled up until they reach the heaven. 
 Some sins are more aggravated than 
 others. Remembered. The right- 
 eous sometimes forget that God re- 
 members, and discouragement comes. 
 Tlie wicked forget that God remembers, 
 and there arises a comfort in sin and 
 increasing wickedness. The remem- 
 brance here indicated is the same as 
 retribution. 
 
 6. Reward . . . you, rather, Een- 
 der unto her even as she rendered. This 
 is spoken by the angel, and is ad- 
 dressed, not to the saints in the city, 
 but to the ministries of justice ap- 
 pointed by God to act as his agents. 
 We see in 17 : 16 the ten horns rending 
 the unclean woman. According to the 
 law of retribution in Exod. 22 : J, 7, 9, 
 she is to receive double. (See nim jer. 
 16 : 18.) Her punishment will be in 
 proportion to her sins. See for this 
 principle the words of Jesus in Luke 
 12:47,48. Compare also Isa. 40:2; 
 Jer. 17:18. Ilath filled, ratlier, 
 mingled. This presents, as in Hebrew 
 
344 
 
 EEVELATION 
 
 [Ch. XVIII. 
 
 7 to her double, p How much she hath 
 glorified herself, and lived deliciously, 
 so much torment and sorrow give her : 
 for she saith in her heart, I sit a 
 1 queen, and am no widow, and shall 
 
 8 see no sorrow. Therefore shall her 
 plagues come ■'in one day, death, and 
 mourning, and famine ; and 'she shall 
 be utterly burned with lire: 'for strong 
 is the Lord God who judgeth her. 
 
 9 And "the kings of the earth, who 
 
 7 twofold. By as much as she glorified 
 herself, and lived luxuriously, so much 
 torment and mourning give her; be- 
 cause in her heart she says, I sit a 
 queen, and am not a widow, and shall 
 
 8 see no mourning. Therefore shall her 
 plagues come in one day, death, and 
 mourning, and famine; and she shall 
 be burned up witli fire ; because strong 
 is the Lord God who judged her. 
 
 9 And the kings of the earth, who com- 
 
 p Isa. 47 : 1-3 ; Ezek. 28 : 2, etc. 5 Isa. 47 : 7, 8 ; Zeph. 2 : 15. 
 5 17:16; Jer. 51 : 58. t 11 : 17 ; Job 9 : 19 ; Isa. 27 : 1 ; Jer. 50 : 34. 
 
 r Ver. 10 ; 
 M Ver. 3 ; 17 : 
 
 a. 47 : 9-11. 
 ; Kzek. 26 : 
 
 poetry, the same thought as in the pre- 
 ceding statement. She gave the cup 
 of her fornication to others, she will 
 be compelled to drink the cup of 
 wrath. 
 
 7. How much . . , heart. Her 
 heart was lifted high in boasting; for 
 her boasting will come, a correspond- 
 ing humiliation. Her pride precedes 
 an utter destruction. Deliciously, 
 rather, wantonly. Luxury in living is 
 often joined with a wantonness in life, 
 the one inducing the other. In her 
 heart. The heart is the man ; what 
 a man really thinks, that he is. There 
 is a deep-seated nature of sinful boast- 
 ing which comes out in words and in 
 actions. Three things formed the 
 foundation of the boasting: (1) her 
 position of honor, a ruler, a queen 
 among cities. I sit a queen. Such 
 was the literal Babylon ; (2) she is not 
 deserted, exposed to poverty, in the 
 abject state in which widows were in 
 the East, where too often no justice is 
 found, widoAV ; (3) her life had not 
 been filled with sorrow, rather, 
 mourning, as if for the dead. On the 
 other hand her life had been filled 
 with peace and joy. For a mistaken 
 estimate of life see the words of Jesus 
 in 3 : 17. 
 
 8. Therefore shows the moral con- 
 nection between the two verses. Break- 
 ing God's laws will always bring a 
 harvest, if we wait long enough. She 
 was a queen, but plagues came on 
 her. They come suddenly and in 
 triumph, in one day. Death causes 
 a widowhood in actual life. In like 
 manner here, as if by the death of a 
 husband or supporter, an utter destruc- 
 tion brings a widowhood, mourning, 
 famine, complete helplessness. 
 Burned. As in actual warfare the 
 fire finished what the armv did not 
 
 destroy, so here the destruction shall 
 be as if it were burned with fire. Fire 
 was also, in certain cases, the punish- 
 ment of the harlot (Lev. 20 : u). This 
 will happen in accordance with God's 
 moral laws. He is a strong God. 
 He is a holy God, and therefore he 
 judgeth, rather, judged her. God 
 will make use of direct and indirect 
 agencies to serve his purpose in break- 
 ing down his foes. In 18 : 16 we see 
 one method of God's working to de- 
 stroy the unclean woman, who is also 
 Babylon. God sent a flood, opened the 
 earth, struck a man dead. He sends 
 confusion to the counsels of the wicked, 
 frustrates the plans of the ungodly, 
 adds new power to the truth, gives in 
 larger measure the Holy Spirit, blesses 
 the endeavors of his people. God has 
 pledged his word to build up the walls 
 of the holy Jerusalem, to break down 
 the walls of wicked Babylon. 
 
 9-20. Lamentations over the 
 FALL OF THE CITY. Judgment is now 
 supposed to have fallen upon the city. 
 As a result we see the world mourning 
 over her fall. In 11 : 10 the world re- 
 joiced over the death of the two wit- 
 nesses; here it sorrows over the fall of 
 the harlot, the wicked city. The 
 mourners are divided into three classes. 
 As there are three groups of visions, 
 so here are three groups of mourners, 
 embracing all those who mourn the 
 fall of the city. The entire lament is 
 like that of Jeremiah over the fall of 
 Jerusalem in his lamentation, though 
 the moral and spiritual tone is entirely 
 difierent. The structure and spirit of 
 the entire pa!3.sage are founded iipon 
 the lamentation over the fall of Tyi'C 
 in Ezek. 26, 27. 
 
 The mourning of the kings, ver. 
 9, 10. 
 
 9. Kings. When the harlot fell it 
 
Ch. XVIII.] 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 345 
 
 have committed fornication and lived i 
 deliciously with her, shall bewail her, 
 and lament for her 'when they shall ' 
 see the smoke of her burning, standing 
 afar off for the fear of her torment, 
 
 10 saying, r Alas ! alas ! that great city 
 Babylon, that mighty city ! ^ for in one i 
 hour is thy judgment come. | 
 
 11 And «the merchants of the earth | 
 shall weep and mourn over her; for j 
 no man buyeth their merchandise any | 
 
 12 more: ^the merchandise of gold, and sil- 
 ver, and precious stones, and of pearls, 
 and fine linen, and purple, and silk, 
 and scarlet,and all thyine wood, and all 
 manner vessels of ivory, and all man- 
 ner vessels of most precious wood, and 
 
 13 of brass, and iron, and marble, and 
 cinnamon, and odours, and ointments. 
 
 mitted fornication and lived luxuri- 
 ously with her, shall weep and wail 
 over her, when they see the smoke of 
 
 10 her burning; standing afar off for the 
 fear of her torment, saying. Woe, woe, 
 the great city Babylon, the strong city ! 
 Because in one hour thy judgment is 
 come. 
 
 11 Anil the merchants of the earth weep 
 and mourn over her, because no one 
 
 13 buys their merchandise any more ; the 
 merchandise of gold, and silver, and 
 precious stones, and pearls, and fine 
 linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, 
 and all citron wood, and every vessel 
 of ivory, and every vessel of most pre- 
 cious wood, and brass, and iron, and 
 
 13 marble, and cinnamon, and amoinum, 
 and odours, and oiu'tment, and frank- 
 
 ; Ver. 18 ; 19 : 3. 
 
 » 14: 6; laa. 13 : 19 ; 14 : 4 ; 21 : 9. 
 a Ver. 3 ; Isa. 47 : 15 ; Ezek. 27 : 27-36. 
 
 2 Ver. 17, 19 ; Jer. 51 : 8, 9. 
 6 17 : 4. 
 
 was because she was made desolate 
 through the ten horns (" : ib) which 
 stand, in some way, for great world 
 powers, ungodly in their nature, yet 
 doing God's will. By kings here John 
 means simply one class of the many in 
 the world who hate God's kingdom, 
 who love unrighteousness, and who 
 have followed the false teachings of 
 the great city. Deliciously, rather, 
 wantonly. These have lived spirit- 
 ually unclean lives, denoted by the 
 terms fornication and wantonness. It 
 usually happens that a departure from 
 God leads to moral uncleanness, as was 
 the ease in Greece and Kome, and is 
 now true in India, where licentious- 
 ness is in many eases a recognized 
 feature of worship. Shall bewail 
 . . . her, rather, shall weep and be- 
 wail over her. For the effect of the 
 fall of the Old Testament Babylon, 
 read Jer. 50 : 46. The sorrow is spoken 
 of as in the future. 
 
 10. The kings are represented as 
 standing afar off lest they be injured 
 by the conflagration. It is not sym- 
 pathy so much as a selfish caring for 
 themselves. Alas . . . Babylon, 
 rather, Woe, woe, the great city Bab- 
 ylon. Something similar is said of 
 Tyre in Ezek. 26 : 15, 16. The various 
 appellations, great city, strong city, 
 show how great must he the power 
 that could destroy it, and liow great 
 the guilt also that could bring down 
 such a heavy judgment. In one 
 hour. This .same expres.sion occurs 
 iu 17 : 19. A few days would suffice 
 
 to destroy a large city. God's judg- 
 ments sometimes come very rapidly. 
 Great moral forces, by which wrongs 
 are overcome and right effected, often 
 accumulate slowly, but work with 
 rapidity and force at the last. 
 
 Lamentation of the merchants, ver. 
 11-16. The second group of mourners 
 is the mercantile class. 
 
 11. 3Ierchants of the earth. 
 In this case, as in the case of the kings, 
 they are people of the earth, earthly 
 minded. Shall weep, rather, %oeep. 
 The narrative passes to the present 
 tense. It is as though the destruction 
 were drawing nearer and nearer. A 
 great citj' like Babylon puts the whole 
 world under tribute for its supplies of 
 necessity and luxury. In ver. 3 the 
 merchants grow rich through traffic 
 with her. 
 
 12, 13. In these ver.ses we have a 
 long list of articles that were in de- 
 mand in a city like Babylon. AVe are 
 not called upon to give a definite spir- 
 itual meaning for each term used. This 
 is not in John's mind. Objects such 
 as tliese would be in constant demand 
 in such a city, and as such they are 
 named. Tlie larger the list, the more 
 impres.sive is the desolation that fol- 
 lows. We have^ first, a group of the 
 trea.sures of civilized life, gold ... 
 pearls; we have next the luxurious 
 clothing, fine linen . . . scarlet; the 
 materials u.sed in costly dwellings, 
 thyine (sweet .scented wood) . . . 
 marble ; aromatics and spices, cin- 
 namon . . . frankincense ; articles 
 
346 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 [Ch. XVIII. 
 
 and frankincense, and wine, and oil, 
 and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, 
 and slieep ; and horses, and chariots, 
 
 14 and slaves, and = souls of men. And 
 the fruits that thy soul lusted after 
 ^ are departed from thee, and all things 
 which were dainty and goodly are de- 
 
 . parted from thee, and thou shalt find 
 ' them no more at all. 
 
 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, and saying, 
 
 16 Alas! alas! that great city, 'that was 
 clothed in fine linen, and purple, and 
 scarlet, decked with gold, and precious 
 
 17 stones, and pearls ! s for in one hour so 
 great riches is come to nought. 
 
 And t every shipmaster, and all the 
 
 incense, and wine, and oil, and fine 
 flour, and wheat, and cattle, and 
 sheep ; and of horses, and chariots, 
 
 14 and slaves ; and souls of men. And 
 the fruit that thy soul desired departed 
 from thee, and all the dainty and 
 goodly things perished from thee, and 
 
 15 they shall find them no more. The 
 merchants of these things, who be- 
 came rich by her, shall stand afar off 
 for the fear of her torment, weeping 
 
 16 and mourning, saying, Woe, woe, the 
 great city, that was clothed in fine 
 linen, and purple, and scarlet, and 
 gilded with gold and precious stone 
 
 17 and pearl ; because in one hour so 
 great riches are made desolate. And 
 every shipmaster, and every one that 
 
 c Ezek. 27 : 13. d Luke 12 : 20 ; 16 : 25. e Ver. 3, 11. 
 
 g Ver. 10 ; Isa. 47 : 11. ft Isa. 23 : 14 ; Ezek. 27 ; 
 
 / 17 ; 4. 
 
 of food and drink, wine . . . flour; 
 the adjuncts of toil and war, horses, 
 . . . chariots ; their attendants, 
 slaves, and souls of men. The 
 
 articles are named in a methodical 
 way. They show that everything is 
 under tribute to supply the necessities 
 and luxuries of the great city. Some 
 have conceived of the expression souls 
 of men, as indicating a traffic in the 
 spiritual part of man as distinct from 
 the body, as though Babylon were deal- 
 ing in the souls of men as an article of 
 merchandise, and causing their loss. 
 But the expression cannot mean this. 
 The word rendered sou/s means as in 
 Ezek. 27 : 13, persons, in this case re- 
 ferring to slaves. The word rendered 
 slaves means literally bodies, and refers 
 here, inasmuch as it is joined to horses 
 and chariots, to hired persons as dis- 
 tinguished from slaves. This is the 
 view of Meyer and Alford. It is true 
 that false systems of faith have dealt 
 in the souls of men, beguiling them 
 with falsities that were ruinous to the 
 soul. But this is not tlie meaning of 
 this passage. We must not crowd in 
 spiritual meanings, unless the pas.sage 
 itself calls for them. Human slavery 
 was everywhere, in ancient times, rec- 
 ognized as an essential part of society. 
 While Jesus gave no express com- 
 mand forbidding slavery, the spirit 
 of his teachings has everywhere de- 
 stroyed it. 
 
 14. Ver. 14 is an apostrophe to the 
 doomed city. Goodly, rather, sump- 
 tuous. Thou shalt find, rather, 
 
 men shall find. Luxurioiisness and 
 gluttony are mentioned as sins of the 
 city. Like a dream, all the things 
 that contributed to their pleasure have 
 departed from them. 
 
 15, 16. These verses correspond with 
 ver. 9, 10. They stand afar off in self- 
 ish fear of being injured by the burn- 
 ing city. They also weep, not so much 
 in sympathy, as for the loss of trade. 
 Every incident mentioned is suggestive. 
 They cry Alas, rather, Woe. The 
 city, pictured as a woman, is clothed 
 in the finest apparel, decked with 
 jewelry. The material splendors alone 
 are mourned for. The scarlet is a 
 reminiscence of 17 : 4. 
 
 17, 18. Come to nought, rather, 
 is made desolate. The one hour in- 
 volves the idea of suddenness. It does 
 not mean the one hour of our time. 
 Long ages may even be embraced in 
 this expression. It is easier to tear 
 down than to build up. 
 
 The lament of the shipmasters, ver. 
 17-19. The third class of mourners is 
 now introduced, that of the sailor 
 class. These also lament the loss of 
 trade. Taken altogether they embrace 
 the varied interests of commerce and 
 material concerns. 
 
 Heretofore we had the dwellers on 
 land, now to make the description 
 all-comprehensive, we have all those 
 on the sea or connected with it. We 
 have four classes mentioned : (1) Ship- 
 master. In the original the word 
 means steersman, but it corresponds 
 very nearly with our shipmaster. (2) 
 
Ch. XVIII.] 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 347 
 
 company iu ships, and sailors, and as 
 manj' as trade oy sea, stood afar off, 
 
 18 'and cried when they saw the smoke 
 of her burning, sayiiiR, ''What city is 
 
 19 like unto this great city! 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 iu 
 one hour is she made desolate. 
 
 20 "Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and 
 ye holy apostles and prophets ; for 
 »God hath avenged you on her. 
 
 t Ter. 9 ; Iss. 34 : 10 ; Ezek. 27 : 30, 31. * 13 : 4. 
 
 m Ver. 8. n 19 : 1-3 ; Isa. 49 : 13 ; Jer. 51 
 
 sails to any place, and seamen, and a.s 
 many as do ijusiness at sea, stood afar 
 
 18 off, and cried out wlien they saw the 
 smoke of her burning, saying. What 
 
 19 city is like the great city ? And they 
 cast dust on their heads, and cried out, 
 weeping and mourning, saying, Woe, 
 woe, the great city, wherein all that 
 have the ships in tlie sea became rich 
 by reason of her costliness; because 
 
 20 in one hour she is made desolate. Re- 
 joice over her, thou heaven, and ye 
 saints, and ye apostles, and ye proph- 
 ets; because God judged your judg- 
 ment on her. 
 
 I Josh. 7 
 6: 
 
 6 ; 1 Sam. 4 ; 12 ; Job 2 : 12 ; Ezek. 27 : 30- 
 10 ; 19 : 2 ; Lake U : 49, 50 ; 18 : 7, 8. 
 
 All the company in ships, rather, 
 and every one that sailcth anyirhere. 
 This embraces all who are connected 
 with the management of ships. (.S) 
 Sailors, rather, mariners. (4) Trade 
 by sea, rather, gain their living. This 
 embraces fishermen, and all. persons 
 in any way gaining a livelihood from 
 the .sea. It is a picturesque and graphic 
 description, giving in detail all classes 
 of persons connected with the sea. 
 Cried. We pa.ss here from the future 
 tense of ver. 9, from the present tense 
 of ver. 11, to the past tense, where the 
 destruction is looked at as though 
 already in the past. What city. The 
 same praise is given to the beast in 
 13:4. 
 
 19. Cast dust. This is the Oriental 
 expression of deepest sorrow. The 
 same custom may be observed in the 
 East to-day. Wailing, rather, monrn- 
 ing. Alas, alas, rather, Woe, woe. 
 Costliness. This refers to the costly 
 things used by her, making demand 
 for tiie use of vessels. Desolate. 
 This sad refrain is found in ver. 10, 17, 
 and here. The desolation and its sud- 
 denness are emphasized. The imageiy 
 of the entire chapter is largely taken 
 from Ezek. 26, 27, where tlie capture 
 and destruction of Tyre are spoken of. 
 In character Tj're resembled Babylon, 
 insomuch that it is called in Isa. 24 : 
 10 a city of confusion, that is, a Bab- 
 ylon. 
 
 20. This verse stands in a wide con- 
 tra.st with the preceding ela.sses of 
 mourners. The judgment is now re- 
 garded as having taken place. The 
 righteous everywhere, in heaven and 
 on earth, are called upon to rejoice. 
 
 The voice that speaks is that of the 
 angel. Heaven is called upon to re- 
 joice, as in 13 : 12. The believers on 
 earth are divided into tlnee classes, as 
 in the case of the mourners. Heaven 
 is also mentioned to show, in tins direct 
 way, that the destruction conies from 
 the holy God, and is justified by the 
 facts of the case. Saints. This is a 
 general designation of all believers on 
 earth. They are regarded as set apart 
 to God's service; they are also thereby 
 holy in character. iHoly apostles, 
 rather, apostles, prophets. These two 
 classes are mentioned, embraced in the 
 general term of saint.s, because on 
 them would fir.st and principally fall 
 the vengeance of a persecuting worldly 
 power. They would feel especially 
 thankful. If the term prophet is used 
 in its Old Testament .sense, then the 
 vision has reference to persecutions 
 under both covenants. If it is used in 
 its New Testament sense (Eph. 4 : lo) the 
 vision has reference to the New Tes- 
 tament times only. Hath avenged 
 you on her, ratlier, hath judged your 
 judgment upon her. God had treasured 
 up in his mind all the injustice and 
 wiong done to his saints. In now visit- 
 ing upon Bal)ylon his judgment, it is 
 fittingl.y called your judgment. Through 
 it God expresses his satisfaction with 
 believers, and ju.stifies their conduct in 
 opposing and condemning their great 
 foe. God seems to forget, but in time 
 his judgments will be made manifest. 
 He identifies the wrongs done to his 
 people as done to iiimself. His judg- 
 ment is, at the same time, their judg- 
 ment. This is a legitimate rejoicing 
 in which all holy men may join over 
 
348 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 [Ch. XVIII. 
 
 21 And a mighty angel took up a stone 
 like a great millstone, and cast it into 
 the sea, saying, pThus with violence 
 shall that great city Babylon be thrown 
 down, and i shall be found no more at 
 
 22 all. 'And the voice of harpers, and 
 musicians, and of pipers, and trumpet- 
 ers, shall be heard no more at all in 
 thee ; and no craftsman, of whatsoever 
 craft he he, shall be found any more in 
 thee ; and the sound of a millstone 
 shall be heard no more at all in thee ; 
 
 23 "and the light of a caudle shall shine 
 no more at all in thee ; ' and the voice 
 of the bridegroom and of the bride 
 shall be heard no more at all in thee. 
 For "thy merchants were the great 
 men of the earth ; 'for by thy sorceries 
 were all nations deceived. 
 
 24 And J in her was found the blood of 
 prophets, and of saints, and of all that 
 » were slain upon the earth. 
 
 21 And a strong angel took up a stone 
 like a great millstone, and cast it into 
 the sea, saying, Thus with violence 
 shall Babylon the great city be cast 
 down, and shall be found "no more. 
 
 22 And the voice of harpers and musicians 
 and flute-players and trumpeters shall 
 be heard in thee no more ; and no 
 craftsman, of whatever craft, shall be 
 found any more in thee, and the voice 
 of a millstone shall be heard in thee 
 
 23 no more ; and the light of a lamp shall 
 shine in thee no mure ; and the voice 
 of bridegroom and of bride shall be 
 heard in thee no more ; because thy 
 merchants were the great men of the 
 earth ; because by thy sorcery all the 
 
 24 nations were led astray. And in her 
 was found the blood of prophets and 
 of saints and of all that have been 
 slain on the earth. 
 
 p 
 
 Exod. 
 
 15: 
 
 5 ; Jer. 
 
 51: 
 
 63 
 
 64. 
 
 
 9 
 
 12 
 
 8; Ezek. 26 
 
 24. 
 
 
 r 
 
 Isa. 24 
 
 :8 
 
 Jer 
 
 16 
 
 :9 
 
 25 
 
 10 
 
 Ezek 
 
 28 
 
 13. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 8 
 
 Jer 
 
 25 
 
 : 10. t Jer. 
 
 7:34. 
 
 
 
 « Isa. 
 
 23 
 
 8,9. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 X 
 
 12:9 
 
 i 13 
 
 : 13-16 
 
 IT 
 
 :2 
 
 5; 
 
 Isa. 
 
 47 
 
 9; 
 
 Nahum 3 : 4 
 
 
 y 
 
 16 
 
 :6; 17 
 
 :6. 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 Jer 
 
 51 
 
 49; 
 
 Matt. 
 
 23 
 
 35. 
 
 the downfall of the wicked (e ■• lo). 
 Wrong-doing always begets a fearful 
 penalty (is : 5-7). 
 
 21-24. The fate of Babylon 
 shown by the stone cast into the 
 SEA. A third angel is introduced, the 
 first having appeared in 17 : 1, the 
 second in 18 : 1. This mighty angel is 
 depicted as easting a great stone into 
 the sea, whereby is significantly shown 
 the utter and sudden desolation of the 
 city. He not only performs the act, 
 but explains the meaning of the act. 
 
 21. Mighty, rather, strong. Tliis 
 is a fitting attribute of an angel who 
 performs so great an act. Stone. 
 One has but to read Jer. 51 : 60-64 to 
 see how this reproduces an Old Testa- 
 ment scene in reference to Baljylon. 
 What took place there literally, takes 
 place here figuratively in reference to 
 the mystical Babylon. The millstone 
 is not a small one turned by hand (Matt. 
 2t : 41), but a large one turned by an 
 ass (Mark 9 : 42), better fitted to symbolize 
 the destruction of a great city. The 
 angel adds the words: Thus . . . 
 down, rather. Thus vnth a mighty 
 fall shall Bahylon, the great city, be 
 cast down. The imagerj^ here changes, 
 but without any change in the thought 
 presented. In the preceding verses the 
 city is destroyed by fire ; here it is, as 
 it were, thrown into the sea and disap- 
 pears from sight. 
 
 23, 23. These verses dwell on the 
 desolation of the city. Pipers, rather, 
 flute players. Music would die out. 
 
 (comp. Isa. 24 : 8.) In a Striking way he 
 recounts the utter solitude of the place. 
 Candle, rather, lamp. All is dark- 
 ness, family life is extinct, trade is 
 dead. (comp. Jer. 25 : 10.) Three reasons 
 are assigned by the angel for the fall 
 of the city. (1) For . . . earth. 
 Those who brought to Babylon the 
 objects of her luxurious life, found in 
 her wealth and extravagance the 
 sources of their own wealth, whereby 
 they became the great men of the earth. 
 (2) Sorceries . . . deceived. Her 
 licentiousness had led astray nations 
 and kings, as she brought them into 
 her service. The word rendered sor- 
 cery means, in the original, the love 
 potion given bj' a harlot to excite the 
 animal passions. It is applied here to 
 any seduction to sinful living. The 
 third reason is given in the next verse. 
 
 24. Here is shown her hostility to 
 the saints. Persecutions had killed 
 the prophets, the spokesmen for God, 
 and the saints, the holy men, because 
 they were holy. Compare the words 
 of Jesus in Matt. 23 : 35, 36. 
 
 Swete takes Babylon to signify Rome. 
 He explains: "But Rome does not, 
 of course, exhaust St. John's concep- 
 tion of Babylon. His vi.sion sounds a 
 note of warning, which may well be 
 
Ch. XVIII.] 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 349 
 
 taken to heart by any great metropolis 
 which prostitutes its wealtii ana in- 
 tiueace to base or self-sueliing ends. . . 
 Otlier ages may witness the rise and 
 fall of otlier mistresses of the world not 
 less magnificent and depraved" — on 
 17 : 18. Many recent commentators 
 take Babylon to signify pagan Home. 
 But see Appendix. 
 
 Practical Remarks. 
 
 1. The angels are a superior order of 
 beings, having authority, glorious in per- 
 son. They delight to serve God iu all 
 ways. How they act for men in daily 
 affairs, influencing life, we may not know. 
 They are helpers of God, servants of the 
 saints (ver. 1 ; Heb. 1 : 14). 
 
 2. Babylon was great, but God was 
 greater. God is supremely holy, there- 
 fore Babylon went down finally and 
 utterly. We sometimes see how God 
 works that we may know the principles 
 on which, in time, he will bring all un- 
 godliness under condemnation (ver. 2). 
 
 3. Judgments do not come by chance. 
 They always result from God's broken 
 moral laws. He keeps track of broken 
 laws and sinful lives, whether of men or 
 nations (ver. 3). 
 
 4. Christians are to be a separate people. 
 A church that goes down to the world 
 will lose its spirituality, and have no 
 power to lift the world up (ver. 4). 
 
 5. The Christian must not desert the 
 world, but leaven it by his presence. He 
 must take an interest in men, living close 
 to them that he may lift them up (ver. 4). 
 
 6. God remembers unpardoned iniqui- 
 ties. There is a blessed forgetfulness in 
 God in that he remembers pardoned sins 
 no more (Jer. 31 : 34). They are as if they 
 had not been. God's remembrance is the 
 foundation for an equitable administra- 
 tion of justice in the future life (ver. 5). 
 
 7. The law of increase is one of God's 
 laws. A man reaps more than he sows. 
 God will graciously reward his people ac- 
 cording to their works. Sins also will 
 bring a recompense of reward. God does 
 not retaliate, but he has so framed his 
 moral laws that what a man sows that he 
 also reaps (ver. 6). 
 
 8. Pride of heart goes before destruc- 
 tion. Nebuchadnezzar's pride brought 
 him to the condition of the beast of the 
 
 field. The man who humbles himself 
 shall be exalted. Sin always blinds a 
 man to the real condition of his heart 
 (ver. 7). 
 
 9. Notliing is too hard for God. He is 
 strong and holy. Therefore judgments 
 come from his administration. Pharaoh 
 resisted God and failed. Every pharaoh 
 must fail, whoever he be (ver. 8). 
 
 10. The cause of mourning should be, 
 not the punishment, but the sin from 
 which the punishment comes. Sin 
 mourned over will .secure pardon. Pun- 
 ishment mourned over brings no change 
 of heart, but adds only additional sorrow. 
 The sorrow of the world works death ; 
 the godly sorrow works life and peace 
 (ver. 9). 
 
 11. Sometimes God works with great 
 rapidity and suddenness. He patiently 
 waits for years and then, in a moment, 
 the judgment comes. In the twinkling 
 of an eye the living will be changed (1 
 Cor. 15 : 52). When he comes in judg- 
 ment, none can hinder (ver. 10). 
 
 12. If riches consist of outward and 
 material things only, they must be tem- 
 porary. Fire or storm may destroy them. 
 Abiding riches are unseen (ver. 12, 13). 
 
 13. If a good man fall he will rise again. 
 Even seven falls will not destroy him 
 (Prov. 24 : 16). His fall may even prove 
 a blessing to him and to others (Luke 22 : 
 32). The fall of the wicked is absolute 
 and final (ver. 14 ; 1 John 2 : 11). 
 
 14. In troubles God is with his people 
 to share their troubles with them. The 
 wicked are quite apt to stand afar ofl 
 when their friends come under God's 
 judgments. They can be of no help 
 (ver. 15). 
 
 15. Outward adornments and beautiful 
 possessions are not wrong in themselves. 
 Riches and power are not wrong. When 
 outward things minister to pride, and 
 cause men to forget God, they will soon 
 give place to garments of mourning. The 
 rich man changed places with the beggar 
 in rags (ver. 16 ; Luke 16 : 19-23). 
 
 16. If nations are punished, they must 
 be punished in the present existence, for 
 they have no resurrection. God does 
 deal with nations that do not do his will. 
 Heavy penalties come on nations that 
 traffic in unrighteousness. God has a 
 
350 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 [Ch. XIX. 
 
 The fall oj Babylon— Fourfold joy and 
 praise in heaven. 
 19 AND after these things "I heard a 
 great voice of much people in heaveu, 
 saying, 
 
 19 AFTER these things, I heard as it 
 were a great voice of a great multitude 
 
 a 11 : 15 ; 18 : 20. 
 
 judgment day for nations in the present 
 life (ver. 19). 
 
 17. The saints do not rejoice in mis- 
 fortunes to the ungodly. They ought to 
 rejoice at the downfall of the plans of the 
 ungodly, and the triumph of righteous- 
 ness. When God introduces a triumphant 
 righteousness, the saints cannot help re- 
 joicing (ver. 20). 
 
 18. All the prophecies in the Bible must 
 be fulfilled. Nothing can stand against 
 God's word. Nature will help bring to 
 pass the supernatural prediction. Wicked 
 men will unconsciously bring the promise 
 to pass. Jesus proclaims his word as more 
 enduring than the laws of nature (ver. 
 21; Mark 13: 31). 
 
 19. A great change takes place for the 
 wicked when God comes in judgment. 
 The rich man takes his place in a world 
 of torment. The rich farmer leaves all 
 to others (Luke 12 : 20). Music, luxury, 
 and enjoyment give way to darkness, 
 wretchedness, and pain (ver. 22). 
 
 20. Two places will have no candles. 
 Heaven will need none, for all is light. 
 God's presence makes constant sunshine. 
 Hell will have none, for the outer dark- 
 ness dwells there. No joy or light comes 
 there at all (ver. 23). 
 
 21. The blood of the martyrs has been 
 the seed of the church. None have lived 
 more really after their death than those 
 who were faithful unto death. But God 
 will hold guilty those who laid violent 
 hands on his witnesses. In our day wit- 
 nesses are needed more to live for Christ 
 than to die for him (ver. 24). 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 1-10. A SONG OF TRIUMPH OVER 
 THE FALL OF BABYLON. In this 
 chapter we have two leading thoughts. 
 The first is the song of rejoicing over 
 the fall of Babylon. The second is 
 tlie destruction of the other foes of 
 Christ and his church, the beast and 
 the false prophet. The song of this 
 
 chapter is the natural outcome and 
 conclusion of the two preceding chap- 
 ters, in which an account is given of 
 the destruction of the unclean woman 
 and of the great Babylon. It ought 
 fittingly to be joined to chap. XVIII. 
 In 18 : 6 an appeal is made to God's 
 holy agencies to punish the city, and 
 then the heavens, with their holy in- 
 habitants, are called upon to rejoice. 
 Here we have heaven opened to us 
 that we may behold the rejoicing there. 
 Heaven and earth are close togetlier, in- 
 asmuch as that which takes place here 
 interests the world above. We must 
 not infer from the pictorial represen- 
 tation here that the rejoicing will, in 
 a historical and actual way, take place 
 before the other enemies are destroyed. 
 In this book the three series of visions 
 run side by side, so that all the series 
 are in process of fulfilment at the same 
 time. In like manner, there is a con- 
 stant warfare waged against all the 
 foes of Christ. In a vision we can see 
 only one teaching at a time. As a 
 matter of fact, there is always the 
 manifestation of God's opposition to 
 the unclean woman, the beast, and 
 false prophet. In 18 : 14, before the 
 fall of the great city, it is stated that 
 there exists a war between the Lamb 
 and the kings of the earth. We must 
 not expect to find in this chapter a 
 precise and orderly manifestation of 
 the steps by which God will subjugate 
 the world with its powers to himself. 
 Following the destruction of the harlot 
 there comes naturally an enlarged suc- 
 cess of the gospel in winning souls 
 from sin, the renewed power of the 
 true church, and the preparation of 
 the bride to meet her Lord. The mar- 
 riage of the Lamb, the close intimacy 
 of the redeemed people with the Re- 
 deemer, comes naturally, as Ave hasten 
 toward the closing scenes of this holy 
 drama. 
 
 1. Omit And. This takes place in 
 close connection with the preceding. 
 Heard . . . heaven, rather, heard, 
 (US it were, a great voice of a great mul- 
 
Ch. XIX.] 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 351 
 
 *> Alleluia! 
 " Salvation, and glory, and honour, and 
 power, unto the Lord our God : 
 2 For "itrue and righteous are his judg- 
 ments:— « for he hath judged the great 
 whore, 
 
 Which did corrupt the earth with her 
 fornication, 
 
 in heaven, saying. Hallelujah ; the 
 salvation, and the glory, and the 
 power, are our Go<l's ; because true and 
 righteous are his judgments; because 
 he judged the great harlot, who cor- 
 rupted the earth with her fornication, 
 
 b Ps. 150 : 1. 
 
 c 4:11; 7: 10, 12; 12: 10. 
 
 d 15 : 3; 16 : 7. 
 
 titade. The term heaven, as used here, 
 does not necessarily mean the region 
 beyond the grave, but rather the col- 
 lection of the righteous, the spiritual, 
 the unworldly, whether on earth or in 
 heaven. Miriam sung over the triumph 
 at the Red Sea (exo.j. 15). Deborah 
 sung when the Israelites triumphed 
 over the Canaanites (Judg. 5). The be- 
 ginning of Luke's Gospel is full of the 
 songs of rejoicing at the successive dis- 
 closures of the plan of redemption. 
 In this book we have a succcssiou of 
 songs. Every new disclosure of God's 
 power and mercy calls for a song. In 
 
 4 : 18 we have a song at the introduc- 
 tion of the entire sacred drama; in 
 
 5 : 9 the creation bursts into song when 
 the Lamb takes the book from the 
 hand of the Father ; in 7 : 10 and 11 : 
 15 there is rejoicing when God's hand 
 falls heavily at the sounding of the 
 seventh trumpet ; in 15 : 3 there is a 
 song at the introduction of the vials; 
 in 16 : 5 we have a song at the pouring 
 out of the third bowl. The song is an 
 intelligent recognition of the progress 
 of God's cause. There is a wide con- 
 trast between the lamentations of chap. 
 XVIII and the praises of this chapter. 
 It is an index of the moral character 
 to know what gives occasion for re- 
 joicing. Alleluia, rather, Hallelujah. 
 This means "Praise to Jehovah." It 
 is fouml in the New Testament in this 
 book alone (^er. 3, i, 6). Some have in- 
 ferred from its use here now for tlie 
 first time, that it signifies that the 
 Jews, making use of this Old Testa- 
 ment expression, have now l)een con- 
 verted to Christ and join in the song. 
 This interpretation lays an undue 
 stress upon the expression. We move, 
 in this book, among Old Testament 
 expressions and figures. The expres- 
 sion here means simply that now, when 
 the cause of Christ has received a final 
 and supreme evidence of God's favor, 
 that the heart finds it a fitting tribute 
 
 of praise to a covenant-keeping Je- 
 hovah, God over all. Salvation . . . 
 God, rather, salvation and glory and 
 power belong to our God. In the Greek, 
 the definite article stands before each 
 term, making it more impressive. God 
 has now wrought out a salvation for 
 Ids cause as a whole, as well as for his 
 people one by one. Salvation is here 
 used in a large sense as involving the 
 removal of all things tliat resist, and 
 the introduction of all blessed agencies. 
 He is a God whose glory shines in and 
 through his power. God's moral ex- 
 cellencies awake their praise. 
 
 2. For shows that the praise pro- 
 ceeds from moral considerations. 
 True, righteous. The term, trite, 
 does not mean the opposite of false- 
 hood, but the opposite of that which 
 has only an appearance. Christ is the 
 truth ; that is, not only veracity, but 
 reality, as opposed to a .seeming. The 
 foundation of God's government is not 
 his almightiness, but his truth and 
 righteousness. Whore, rather, harlot. 
 Corrupted. The imperfect tense of 
 this verb shows that it was the con- 
 tinuous manner of the harlot to work 
 corruption. Earth shows the world- 
 wide extent of the destroying work. 
 Two crimes are laid to her charge, 
 seduction and persecution. The figure 
 has been changed here to that of the 
 unclean woman as in cliap. XVII. 
 What she did in shedding blood has 
 now, in God's retributive power, come 
 back upon her again. The corruption 
 of the harlot was the seed, the judg- 
 ment of God is the ripened harvest. 
 The term judgment cannot be defined 
 accurately. In tliis book, in accord- 
 ance with the nature of the visions, 
 every act of judgment is pictured in 
 an outward way. But it is not of ne- 
 cessity any outward penalty. It in- 
 volves rather all the dealings of God 
 in his providence, and all intellectual, 
 moral, and spiritual agencies by which 
 
352 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 [Ch. XIX. 
 
 And fhath avenged the blood of his 
 servants at her lumd. 
 
 3 And again they said, Alleluia! 
 
 And 8 her smoke rose up for ever and 
 eTer. 
 
 4 And ""the four and twenty elders 
 and the four beasts fell down and 
 worshipped God that sat on the throne, 
 saying, ' Amen, Alleluia ! 
 
 5 And a voice came out of the throne, 
 
 and avenged the blood of his servants 
 
 3 at her hand. And a second time they 
 said, Hallelujah. And her smoke goes 
 
 4 up forever and ever. And the twenty- 
 four elders, and the four living crea- 
 tures, fell down and worshiped God, 
 who sits on the throne, saying, Amen, 
 
 5 Hallelujah. And a voice came out 
 
 /6 : 10; 18 : 20; Deut. 32 : 43. 
 
 J 14 : 11 ; 18 : 9, 18 ; Isa. 34 : 10. 
 1 Chrou. 16 : 36 ; Neb. 8:6; Matt. 6 : 13. 
 
 h 4 : 4-10 ; 5 : 14. 
 
 God displays his opposition, and 
 through which he would weaken the 
 power of an apostate church to corrupt 
 the minds of men. Blood. God 
 made provision for avenging the shed- 
 ding of all human blood (Ge°- 9 6). 
 How much more will he care for the 
 blood of his own children. It has 
 been .suggested also that the spirit of 
 hatred would be, in reality, something 
 akin to blood that has been shed (i 
 
 John 3 : 15). 
 
 3. Again, rather, a second time. 
 The more the mind perceives of God's 
 judgments, the more profound is the 
 praise. Smoke. The figure is de- 
 rived from chap. XVIII, the fall of 
 Babylon destroyed by tire. The pic- 
 ture is that of a city utterly ruined, 
 with the impossibility of being rebuilt, 
 inasmuch as from its ruins arise eter- 
 nally the smoke, the symbol of the 
 smoldering fire. It is questionable 
 whether there is a reference here to the 
 eternal punishment of men, the lost 
 spirits of disobedient men, the willing 
 violators of God's moral laws. The 
 design here is rather to point out the 
 utter and final ruin of apostasy as such. 
 It is just as if there were a real city 
 whose smoldering ruins would not per- 
 mit its reconstruction . Every immoral 
 Babylon of every kind must be finally 
 destroyed. Nowhere are we taught 
 that sin will be completely abolished 
 from the universe. We are taught 
 that its organized opposition to God, 
 whereby it causes corruption among 
 men, its aggressive work, its encroach- 
 ments upon God's kingdom, this will 
 be crushed. 
 
 4. We have here a more detailed 
 description of the song. Elders. We 
 first met the elders in 4:4. Eleven 
 times in the book thus far we have had 
 glimpses of these who represent the 
 
 redeemed of the Old and New Testa- 
 ment times. They stand out as the 
 symbolic representation of the saved. 
 They do not difl'er essentially from the 
 great multitude of 5 : 1. The song was 
 that of the multitude saved from the 
 oppression of the harlot, together with 
 the voice of holy angels. The elders 
 are not the people themselves so much 
 as the symbolic representation of the 
 entire host of the redeemed. They 
 have a deep sympathy with God, re- 
 joicing with him because he rejoices. 
 They have a deep sympathy with men, 
 rejoicing with them in that they are 
 now delivered full}' from their oppres- 
 sions. We last saw the elders in 11 : 
 16, when they fell down to worship 
 God at the sounding of the seventh 
 trumpet. Beasts, rather, living crea- 
 tures. It was one of the four living 
 creatures who gave into the hands of 
 the seven angels the bowls having the 
 last plagues (is : 7). It is fitting that 
 they now rejoice when the opposition 
 of God's enemies is overcome, when 
 his judgments have done their work. 
 Siding with God's holiness, they rejoice 
 at the downfall of Babylon. The re- 
 joicing host is made up of the living 
 creatures, elders, holy angels, the saved 
 ho.st of men. 
 
 5. Two classes in heaven, the elders 
 and the living creatures, have thus far 
 praised God. A voice . . . throne, 
 rather, a voice came forth from the 
 throne. This indicates, not so much 
 the origin of the voice, as the direction 
 from which it comes. This voice has 
 been attributed to the elders, to the 
 living creatures, to Christ. It cannot 
 be the voice of God himself, who sits 
 on the throne. It cannot be the voice 
 of Christ, for he could not join himself 
 with men, as implied in the term our. 
 On earth he said, "Your God, my 
 
Ch. XIX.] 
 
 REVPXATION 
 
 353 
 
 saying, upraise our God, all ye his 
 servants, and ye tliat fear him, both 
 .small and great. 
 
 6 ' And 1 heard as it were the voice of 
 a great multitude, and as the voice of 
 many waters, °>aud as the voice of 
 mighty thunderings, saying. 
 
 Alleluia ! — for ■> the Lord God omnip- 
 otent reigneth. 
 
 7 ° Let us be glad and rejoice,— and give 
 honour to him : 
 
 For Pthe marriage of the Lamb is 
 
 from the throne, saying, Praise our 
 God, all ye his servants ye who fear 
 
 6 him, the small and the great. And I 
 heard a.s it were the voice of a great 
 multitude, and as the voice of many 
 waters, and as the voice of mighty 
 thunders, saying, Hallcinjah ; because 
 tlie Lord our God, the AInjighty, has 
 
 7 become king. Let us rejoiceand exult, 
 and we will give to him the glory ; be- 
 cause the marriage of the Lamb is 
 
 k Ps. 103 : 20-22 ; 134 : 1 ; 135 : 1 ; 148 : 1 1-13. 
 
 n 11 : 15-18. o Ps. 48 : 11 ; 97 
 
 p 21:2,9; Is». 54 : 5 ; Hoseii 2 : 
 
 Z 14 : 2 ; Ezek. 43 : 2. 
 Isa. 66 : 10, 14 ; Zcch. 9 : 9. 
 -Matt. 22 : a ; EpU. 5 : 32. 
 
 God." They stood in very different 
 relationship toward God, so that he 
 did not say, " Oar God." It is implied 
 here that this voice, coining from the 
 direction of the throne, has thereby 
 the divine sanction. We are left, on 
 account of the indefiniteness of the 
 statement, in ignorance as to the origin 
 of the voice. Praise ... God, 
 rather. Give praise to our God all ye 
 his servants, ye that fear him, small 
 and great. Every heart is summoned 
 
 to praise God. (Comp. Pb. 134 : l ; us : 13.) 
 
 God desires the praise of all. It is 
 fitting that deliverance should create 
 praise. A praiseless heart must be a 
 thoughtless, a thankless, a godless 
 heart. Jesus insisted on the public 
 recognition of himself as worthy of 
 praise (Lake 19 : 40). 
 
 6. An immediate response follows. 
 A great chorus of praise, rising higher 
 and higher, is heard at once. The 
 sound ri.ses from that of a great mul- 
 titude, to the noise of the ocean's roar, 
 then to the sound of mighty thunder- 
 ings, rather, thunders. It is a ma- 
 jestic response, revealing the great in- 
 terest manifested in the triumph of 
 God's enlarging kingdom. Alleluia 
 . . . reigneth, rather, Hallelnjah ; 
 for the Lord our God, the Almighty, 
 reigneth. God has always reigned in a 
 glorious way, doing his will in heaven 
 and among men (oan. 4 : 35). But his 
 
 Eatience has permitted assaults upon 
 is kingdom, and his commands have 
 been disobeyed. Satan and bad men 
 have combined to re.sist his holy and re- 
 vealed will, and make war upon him (ps. 
 2). Sometimes, as the Bible shows, there 
 has been a seeming defeat for God[s 
 cause. Satan is called the god of this 
 world (2 Cor. 4:4); there have been 
 
 days of Satan's seeming triumph (Lnke 
 22 : 53). This verse coiitains the thank- 
 ful acknowledgment that God's sov- 
 ereignty has been manifested and rec- 
 ognized in the recent events described. 
 The tense of the verb here shows that, 
 at a distinct time in the past, God 
 asserted his sovereignty. God, at this 
 time, gets no new attributes, but he 
 reveals himself as the active, ruling 
 God. The song here has a wider range 
 than that mentioned in ver. 1, 2. That 
 celebrated his victory over the harlot. 
 This assumes that all his enemies have 
 been put down, though this has not yet 
 been shown in vision. It required an 
 almighty king to overthrow Babylon. 
 He has not only given his judgments 
 upon his enemies, but he has entered 
 upon his open and kingly reign. God 
 has taken to himself that which rightly 
 belongs to him. Tliere is also a tran- 
 sition in God's moral government from 
 the time of probation, of passiveness 
 on his part, in order that character 
 may develop itself according to its own 
 naturCj to that of retribution, of award 
 according to desert, of open assertion 
 of his rights as king and Lord. When 
 the harlot goes down, then it is seen 
 that all the foes of Christ, in rapid 
 succession, also go di)wn. 
 
 7. The real churcli of Christ has 
 long enough mourned, sometimes sit- 
 ting clothed in sackclotli; a time of 
 rejoicing has come, and this too, an 
 everlasting rejoicing. These are the 
 words of the heavenly chorus. Let 
 us . . . him, rather. Let us rejoice 
 and be exceeding glad, and let us give 
 the glory unto him. Hell has no 
 thanksgiving days, heaven has all 
 thanksgiving days. 3Iarriage of 
 the Lamb has come. The figure 
 
354 
 
 BEVELATION 
 
 [Ch. XIX. 
 
 come— and his wife hath made herself I come, and his wife has prepared her- 
 ready. I 
 
 of a marriage between the Lamb and 
 his people pervades the entire Scrip- 
 tures. ( See I»a. 54 : 1-8 ; Ezek. 16 : 7 ; Hoeea U : 
 19 ; Matt. 9 : 15 ; 22 : 2-14 : 25 : 1-13 ; 2 Cor. 11 : 
 2 ; John 3 : 29 ; Eph. 5 : 25. ) Marriage, ill 
 
 its essence, signifies oneness, complete- 
 ness of identity, so that no loiiKer are 
 there two, but one. It signifies, when the 
 marriage is real, joy, peace, increasing 
 blessedness. It implies, in this case, 
 a most intimate and personal relation 
 between Jesus and his people, whereby 
 affection, oneness in all glorious at- 
 tributes, and protection are all'orded. 
 It is a relation that is entered upon at 
 the time when the soul enters into a 
 personal covenant with him. This is 
 the betrothal to be consummated into a 
 marriage when the Lord and the be- 
 liever shall be brought face to face 
 with each other. Tlie joy will be an 
 enlarging one, until there comes its 
 completion at the personal appearing 
 of Christ. It must be understood that 
 in this passage tlie reference is not so 
 much to the individual believer as to 
 the assembled collection of believers. 
 As there is one bridegroom, the glorified 
 Lord, so in like manner there can be 
 only one bride, the collective church 
 of Christ. There will be a personal 
 relation between each believer and the 
 Lord, so that each one Avill receive 
 according to the life on the earth. But 
 the church, at large, as a whole will 
 be received into a new life of glory, 
 and enter upon a course of life larger 
 than any heretofore experienced. As 
 the marriage upon earth makes a sepa- 
 ration from old ties and relationships, 
 and involves new ties, relationships, 
 and residence, in like manner, in a 
 way transcending lunnan thought and 
 language, there will be a period of 
 glory, honor, and blessedness for the 
 entire body of believers, and the entire 
 life of each believer. The tense em- 
 ployed here is in the past, signifying 
 that this new life is already, once for 
 all, entered upon. It is evident, how- 
 ever, that it is used in a prophetic 
 sense, for sonietliing not yet secured. 
 The marriage, in its proper sense, does 
 not take place until many large events, 
 spoken of in the succeeding chapters, 
 are fulfilled. Tlie marriage cannot take 
 
 place until all the enemies of Christ 
 have been destroyed, until Satan has 
 been bound, until the reign of blessed- 
 ness has been entered upon, until the 
 new heavens and the new earth have 
 come into sight, until Christ comes in 
 person. There can be no wedding 
 until the glorified bridegroom appears 
 from the heavens. The initial steps 
 have been taken when the harlot has 
 been destroyed. The succeeding events 
 are made sure to the waiting church 
 by the promise of Christ. Many things 
 in the last stages of human aft'airs are 
 regarded in Avidely ditferent ways. 
 Among the controverted points are, 
 will Christ appear in person before or 
 after the millennium ? Will there be 
 a personal reign of Christ on the earth ? 
 What is to be the nature of the mil- 
 lennium ? In what way will the mil- 
 lennium be introduced ? Will the 
 Jews be converted before or during the 
 millennium ? Will the Jewish church 
 assume a kind of leadership during 
 this period ? Will there be a rapture 
 of the saints at the beginning of this 
 blessed reign ? Most of these questions 
 will receive discussion in the Notes 
 on the closing chapters. Wife . . . 
 ready. A certain adornment is need- 
 ful ; a work of preparation is regarded 
 as essential. There is a moral and 
 spiritual development of character that 
 is now complete. For marriage with 
 such a Lord there must be a fine char- 
 acter represented by beautiful cloth- 
 ing. Among the Jews a long time in- 
 tervened between the betrothal, which 
 was in reality the initial step of the 
 married life, and the wedding itself, 
 when the bridegroom took the bride to 
 himself. See the Bilde Dictionaries 
 for the full account of the preparations 
 made for the consummated marriage. 
 The spiritual bride has waited a long 
 time for tlie manifestations of the 
 Lord's ownership. For the first time 
 in this book we read of tlie marriage, 
 though there is a reference to a tender 
 personal relationship between the Lord 
 and the believer in 3 : 20. He will sup 
 in the heart in the personal blessed- 
 ness experienced. He will publicly 
 own his people, and give them a share 
 in all that he has. No one of the de- 
 
Ch. XIX.] 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 355 
 
 8 And ito her was granted that she 
 should be arrayed in tine linen, clean 
 and white: 'for the tine linen is the 
 righteousness of saints. 
 
 9 And he saith unto me, Write, 'bless- 
 ed are they which are called unto the 
 
 8 self. And it was given her that she 
 should clothe herself in line linen, 
 shining, pure ; for the line linen is the 
 
 9 righteous acts of the saints. And he 
 says to me, Write, Happy are they who 
 
 q 3:4,5,18; Ps. 45 : 13, 14 ; Isa. 61 : 10. r Ps. 132 . 9 ; Phil, 
 
 s Matt. 22 : 2-4 ; Luke 14 : 15, 16. 
 
 parted saints has yet partaken of this 
 marriage supper. This blessedness is 
 reserved until that time when all shall 
 share in it together. Glorious thing.s 
 are spoken of and to the church. 
 
 8. This verse amplifies the prece- 
 ding. And . . . %vhite, rather, .4h(Z 
 it was given unto her to array herself 
 in fine linen^ bright and pure. We 
 come now, in all probability, to the 
 words of John given in explanation. 
 Giv^n. This refers to the divine ele- 
 ment of the preparation. Through 
 God's free grace provision has been 
 made hj which the bride may array 
 herself in beautiful clothing. God's 
 grace began the work, not working 
 upon people in an irresistible way, but 
 in such a manner that she may array 
 herself. Heaven aud tlie glorified life 
 are for prepared people. As in Matt. 
 22 : 12, those not arrayed in the wedding 
 garment have no part in the marriage 
 feast. The clothing is splendid and 
 
 spotless (7 : 15: EpU. 5 : J7). Right- 
 
 eousness, rather, righteous acts. This 
 word is in the plural. Some take this 
 term as meaning righteousness, the 
 pardon and justification that Christ 
 gives, the plural number here imply- 
 ing that each one will have his own 
 righteousness. The better way is not to 
 regard this term as meaning tiie com- 
 pleted act of justification whicli takes 
 place once for all, at the beginning of 
 the Christian life, but the righteous 
 acts, the holy living, the beautiful 
 character witli which, through God's 
 grace, the believer is clothed. Christ's 
 grace received into tlie life, Christ's 
 spirit received into the heart, the re- 
 sult is that a Christly life and conduct 
 are developed. Tlie person of the be- 
 liever, and of the church at large, is 
 not simply covered with forgiveness 
 while the character is imperfect, but 
 the character is one with Christ's, his 
 holiness becomes theirs in a real way. 
 John does not hesitate to say that the 
 church will be presented before God 
 
 clothed in righteous acts. This is not 
 a salvation on account of works, as all 
 comes tlnough God's grace. There is 
 no salvation through works, but there 
 is no salvation apart from works. The 
 believer is saved for Christ's sake, and 
 is also changed into his image. An 
 imputed righteousness is wortliless un- 
 less there be also an indwelling right- 
 eousness. 
 
 9. He saith. Many interpreta- 
 tions are given as to the personality of 
 the one here speaking. Some identify 
 him with the angel mentioned in 17 : 1 ; 
 others with the one mentioned in 18 : 21. 
 Both here and in 22 : 9 John is forbid- 
 den to worsiiip him, inasmuch as he is 
 a fellow-servant. In all probability 
 the angel is to be identified witli the 
 one appearing in 1 : 1, 10, a real angel, 
 not a symbolic being, whose province 
 it is to interpret to John and suggest 
 what is to be written. After the 
 wedding comes the marriage supper. 
 Blessed . . . called, rather, Blessed 
 are they who are bidden. "We are not 
 to make two classes of persons, the one 
 constituting tlie host of the saved, the 
 Lamb's wife, the other part embracing 
 those who are the guests. We must 
 not draw any dividing line between 
 the two. The same persons constitute 
 both the bride and the guests. There 
 is not between the two groups men- 
 tioned any division as though one were 
 a more highly favored class than the 
 other. _ There is a change in the im- 
 agery in order that the picture of the 
 feast may be complete, inasmuch as 
 there can l)e no feast without guests. 
 Six times in this book we have a say- 
 ing introduced by the word " Blessed " 
 
 (1:3; 14 : IS ; 20 : 6 ; 22 : 7, 14). Bidden. 
 
 In the earthly life of Jesus all were 
 invited to share in the benefits and 
 blessings of Christ's salvation, all were 
 invited to the supper (Mmt. 22). Many 
 rejected the offer, and would not come. 
 Those who partook of the spiritual 
 supper on the earth are those who, in 
 
356 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 [Ch. XIX. 
 
 marriage supper of the Lamb. And 
 he saith unto me, ' These are the true 
 sayings of God. 
 10 And "I fell at his feet to worship 
 him. And he said unto me, ^See thoii. 
 
 are called to the marriage supper of 
 the Lamb. And he says to me, These 
 10 are true words of God. And I fell be- 
 fore his feet to worship him. And he 
 says to me, See thou do it not. I am a 
 
 t 21 : 5 ; 22 : 6. 
 
 X 2? : 9 ; Acts 10 : 26 ; 14 : 14, 15 ; Col. 2 ; 18. 
 
 this passage, are found worthy to par- 
 take of the supper that afibrds a fore- 
 taste of the heavenly life. Marriage 
 s'.jpper. For the first time in this 
 book we read of the marriage and the 
 wedding supper. A marriage involves 
 the personal presence of the bride and 
 the bridegroom. In tliis part of the 
 vision Jesus appears, in a veiy real 
 way, and there ensues to the church a 
 time of blessedness, joy, triumph, and 
 rejoicing, such as it had never known 
 before. The general idea of a supping 
 with the Lord appears in 3 : 20. We 
 have many allusions in the Scriptures 
 to a wedlock between the individual 
 believer and the congregation of the 
 Lord's people and the Lord himself 
 
 (Ps. 45 : 9-15 ; Isa. 54 : 5 ; Hoeea 2 : 19 ; Matt. 23 : 
 
 2 ; Eph. 5 : 32). John the Baptist speaks 
 of Jesus as the bridegroom and of the 
 wedding (John s : 28, 29). The supper 
 does not refer to the joy of the in- 
 dividual believer, but applies to the 
 joy of the collective people of Christ. 
 It is the great host of Christ's people 
 that makes up the Inside clothed in 
 white. The supper does not refer to 
 the heavenly life as such, for that is 
 not introduced until the following chap- 
 ters. At the supper will be music, 
 joy, and peace ; tlie social fellowship, 
 the sight of tlie face of the bridegroom. 
 The days of mourning, of separation 
 are past. From this ti me on the church 
 will be clothed in festive garments, her 
 days of rejoicing will continue. Her 
 times of defeat and struggle, her times 
 of persecution and shame are gone. 
 It is such an era of blessedness and 
 triumph for her that it is a foretaste of 
 heaven itself. The Lord's Supper on 
 the earth is a sign and a prophecy of 
 this marriage supper. In this supper 
 .Tesus himself is tlie sul>stance of the 
 feast. In him and through him his 
 people have all tlieir life. Jesus and 
 his people, both individually and col- 
 lectively, are one. A wrong done to a 
 believer is a wrong done to Clirist (Acts 
 9:4). A wrong done to a believer is a 
 sin against Christ (i Cor. s : 12). At the 
 
 time of the vision there is such an open 
 union between Christ and his people 
 that the glory of Christ is manifested 
 in the life of the church. The church 
 is dressed in white, and is clothed in 
 righteousness. It is, as it were, the 
 public espousal of the church by tlie 
 heavenly bridegroom. The blessed- 
 ness is such that it can be compared to 
 nothing but a marriage supper. The 
 blessedness will keep on growing until 
 the earthly life is merged into the 
 heavenly life. True sayings. The 
 events about to happen will abundantly 
 attest their truth. This statement does 
 not merely affirm that, in general, all 
 God's words are true, nor in particular 
 tliat these statements are true, but more 
 than this, that their truth will be made 
 gloriously plain and evident in the 
 events about to happen. When one 
 comes to the feast he will see how true 
 it is that the guests there gathered are 
 blessed. 
 
 10. And ... him, x&iher. And 1 
 fell down before his feet to worship him. 
 The splendor of his person, and the 
 greatness and gloriousness of the teach- 
 ings imparted, overwhelm the mind of 
 John. Unconscious, perhaps, of what 
 he was doing, feeling probably that 
 something divine must be inherent in 
 his person, he profiers such worship 
 as ought to be rendered only to the 
 really divine. Worship is instinctive 
 to a thoughtful mind. Only a divine 
 being can rightfully claim it. Paul 
 refused to accept the worship of fellow- 
 men (Act8 14 : 14) ; Jesus acccptcd the 
 worship of men (John 20 : 28). Even an 
 apostle may make a mistake in judg- 
 ment. Said, rather, sttiY/t. The same 
 prohibition occurs in 22 : 9. No created 
 being, however high, is entitled to the 
 homage that belongs to God. He will 
 not share his glory with another. Rev- 
 erence is becoming before^ God, inso- 
 much that angels cover their faces (is«- 
 6:2). Moses removed his sandals when 
 drawing near to the visible token of 
 God's presence (Exoa. s : 5). The three 
 Hebrews would not bow before the 
 
Ch. XIX.] 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 357 
 
 do ii not : I am thy fellowservant, and | 
 of thy brethren J that have the testi- 
 mony of Jesus : ' worship God : " for 
 the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of 
 prophecy. | 
 
 fellow-servant of thee and of thy 
 brethren who have the testimony of 
 Jesus; worship God. For the testi- 
 mony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. 
 
 y 1:9; I John 5 : 10. 
 
 z Exod. 34 : 1« ; Isa. 12 : 8 ; Matt. 4 : 10 ; Pbil. 2 : 10. 
 
 a Joho 5 : 39. 
 
 image made by Nebuchadnezzar (d»q. 
 3 : i»). The prostrations before a su- 
 perior or a bonefactor, especially com- 
 mon to the Orientals, are not forbidden 
 by this passage. The uncovering of 
 the head in the presence of another, 
 or in the presence of the constituted 
 authorities, is not forbidden. The 
 angels are high in position, but they 
 are, in common with the saints, ser- 
 vants of God. Some have misinter- 
 preted the passage to mean, " I am a 
 fellow-servant of thine, and a brother, 
 hence inferring that the angel is a 
 depailed spirit from the earth." The 
 connection makes it clear that this 
 cannot be the meaning. lam a fellow- 
 servant with thee and with thy brethren. 
 Have, rather, hold. Testimony of 
 Jesus. This means a testimony for 
 and concerning Jesus. The one su- 
 
 Ereme efibrt of angels and saints is to 
 ring men to Jesus, to give right views 
 of Jesus, to think in a fitting manner 
 of Jesus. Hence the angels rejoice 
 when men accept Jesus, and experience 
 a spiritual change in the life (Luke is). 
 God alone is the fitting object of wor- 
 ship. .Tesus is worshifjed because he 
 is God manifest to us in humau form 
 (1 Tim. 3 : 16). In hcavcu they make no 
 separation between worship rendered 
 to the Father and that given to the 
 Lamb (5 : i3j. For . . . prophecy. 
 The angel desires to show that all the 
 servants of God — prophets, angels, 
 saints — are brothers, in order to justify 
 his use of the term, brethren. The 
 prophets of the Old Testament had the 
 Spirit of Christ (i Peter i:ii) in fore- 
 telling the sufferings and glories of the 
 Saviour; the angels are moved by the 
 love of Christ, as they behold his work 
 in honoring God's law and saving men ; 
 the saints, including John, constituting 
 the bride of the Laml), have him as 
 the source of their life and the crown 
 of their glory. All have drunk of one 
 and the same spirit. Prophecy is used 
 here in a large sense, not meaning pre- 
 diction alone, which is but a small part 
 of prophecy, but iucludes all inspired 
 
 utterance in all ways. The testimony 
 for Jesus, common alike to all classes 
 of the followers of Christ, is the one 
 common spirit of propliccy. The wit- 
 ness for Christ, by all the parties here 
 mentioned, iias the one common char- 
 acteristic that it is prophetic. Inas- 
 much as they all are brothers by virtue 
 of a common relation to Ciiristj it is 
 not fitting that one should worship an- 
 other, but that all alike should worship 
 God. This justifies the use of the term 
 for. We are brothers because of a like 
 relation to God, and a common wit- 
 nessing for Jesus, and a common teach- 
 ing concerning him. It is plainly 
 taught here that we need no angel 
 mediators to stand between us and God. 
 It is a prime heresy of the Romish 
 church tnat it places angels between 
 the Saviour and penitent men. If 
 saints are not yet equal to angels (Lake 
 20 : 36) it is true that all are so near to 
 God that no angel can bring the be- 
 liever nearer. 
 
 Section IX. XIX : U-XXII. The 
 END. We are now approaching the 
 consummation, the end of all human 
 affairs. There is no trace in the Scrip- 
 tures of the annihilation either of the 
 earth or of men. But there are frequent 
 allusions in the teachings of Jesus and 
 the inspired writers, to an approach- 
 ing end of the present order of things. 
 Jesus sijeaks of a regeneration, when 
 there shall be for society, as for a per- 
 son, a regeneration, a complete recon- 
 struction of alFairs (Matt. i9 : 28). Peter 
 speaks of a restoration to a former state 
 of things (Acts 3 : 21). lie speaks also 
 of a new heavens and a new earth 
 wherein righteousness shall dwell, pre- 
 ceded by a reconstruction of the phys- 
 ical world (2 Peter 3 : 13). Paul speaks 
 of the entire creation sharing in the 
 blessed results of Clirist's redeeming 
 work (Kom. 8:21). Tlicre has been a 
 long past for the physical life of the 
 world, involving, perhaps, millions of 
 years. There has been a past in the 
 history of the human race reaching 
 
358 
 
 EEVELATION 
 
 [Ch. XIX. 
 
 back to thousands of years, far longer 
 than is indicated by the chronology of 
 Archbishop Usher. As there was a 
 beginning to the physical universe and 
 to the human race, so also there will 
 be an ending to both in their present 
 order of existence. There came a par- 
 tial beginning to the race at the deluge. 
 There came a new moral era when 
 Jesus Christ came into the world. 
 There comes a new era when Jesus 
 shall again come in power to introduce 
 for his people an age of blessedness, 
 for his enemies an era of judgment. 
 We come, in the closing part of this 
 chapter, and in the following chapters, 
 to the consummation of the work of 
 Jesus. His work was planned in 
 heaven, in the ages before the human 
 race began to be (is : 8). His work 
 was foretold in the Old Testament 
 Scriptures (Luke n -. u). His birth, his 
 death, resurrection, and ascension are 
 mentioned in the New Testament as 
 essential facts, also the seemingly small 
 results of his ministry in getting dis- 
 ciples. We have here, at the end of 
 centuries of his work, the closing of 
 his mediatorial function. We come 
 to the breaking down of all opposition. 
 The great monsters of opposition of 
 all kinds, political powers, false sys- 
 tems of faith, corrupt religious organ- 
 izations, Satan himself, all these will 
 be put down finally and corapletely. 
 The great facts of judgment, the mani- 
 festation of God's almighty power and 
 holiness are brought into view. The 
 resurrection of the dead, the banish- 
 ment of death for the righteous, meets 
 us as a blessed experience. The triumph 
 of evil, the hideous wars, the disorders 
 that for centuries filled the earth, these 
 all disappear from sight. The church 
 puts on beautiful garments so that 
 by her new spiritual endowments she 
 transforms the world and shares in the 
 glory of her Lord. The physical world 
 itself will share in the glorious results 
 tiiat come from the mediatorial work 
 of Jesus. Heaven will open before 
 the eyes of the redeemed, and the lake 
 of fire will receive the foes of Christ. 
 The cause of Clirist is seen, at the end, 
 to be not a failure, but a triumphant 
 and conquering kingdom. The crowns 
 rest, not upon the beasts, but upon 
 Christ. The closing part of this book 
 is a sublime poem, presenting in a 
 
 symbolic way the most glorious scenes 
 for the believer and the church. The 
 symbols, in this part of the book, pre- 
 sent in the most impressive way the 
 complete triumph of the Redeemer. 
 The book itself would be a disappoint- 
 ment were it not for the closing part. 
 We have seen the ravages of Satan, 
 the persecutions of the beast, the cor- 
 ruptions wrought by the unclean 
 woman, the seductions of the false 
 prophet, the oppression of the godly. 
 If the book closed with these, the ques- 
 tion would arise, Did Christ die in 
 vain? Has he a kingdom that pre- 
 vails ? Is God the almighty and holy 
 one ? These questions are all answered 
 in this closing section. It is undoubt- 
 edly the greatest symbolic representa- 
 tion brought before the eyes of men. 
 The ruin wrought by sin is now undone 
 by the vision of a new earth ; a bitter 
 and unceasing warfare on the part of 
 Satan now comes to a close by the 
 banishment of the arch foe. The suf- 
 fering and patient Christ is transformed 
 into the acknowledged and conquering 
 Christ, the King of kings. The be- 
 liever, after living so long clothed in 
 sackcloth, is now a guest at the wed- 
 ding supper, in close fellowship with 
 the glorified Redeemer. What takes 
 place in symbol, in a moment of time, 
 may require centuries to accomplish 
 in the actual fulfilment on the earth. 
 Great moral changes are contained in 
 a single paragraph. One symbolic 
 event may involve changes that will 
 work a complete revolution in human 
 society. We are moving, in these clo- 
 sing scenes, in the midst of mighty 
 changes, the winding up of the present 
 dispensation and the ushering in of a 
 new, complete, and eternal state, both 
 for the righteous and the unrighteous. 
 We see a triumphant Christ, a glorified 
 church, a renovated society, a trans- 
 figured earth, the doom of Satan, the 
 banishment of ignorance, corruption, 
 and oppression from the church. The 
 agencies by which these changes take 
 place are the heavy weight of judg- 
 ments, the presence of Christ, the 
 power of the truth as borne witness to 
 by the church, the indwelling power 
 of the Holy Spirit. 
 
 11-31. The conquering Cheis.t 
 destroys the beast and the false 
 PROPHET. We have had the destruc- 
 
Ch. XIX.] 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 359 
 
 The triumph of " The Word of God" and 
 his followers over the beast and 
 the false prophet. 
 11 I" AND I saw hciiven opened, and be- 
 hold °a white horse ; <iand he that sal 
 upon him ivas called "Faithful and 
 True; and 'iu righteousuebs he doth 
 
 11 And I saw heaven opened, and lo, a 
 white horse, and he who sat on him, 
 called Faithful and True ; and in right- 
 eousness he judges, and makes war. 
 
 6 4:1; 
 
 15 : 5. c 6 : 2. d Hab. 3 : 3-13. « 1:5; 3 : 7, 14. 
 
 / Ps. 45 : 3-7 ; Isa. 11 : 4 ; 59 : 17 ; 63 : 1-6. 
 
 tion of the corrupt woman, the ungodly 
 Babylon, in the preceding chapter. 
 Judgment now comes upon the other 
 foes of Christ. We have here por- 
 trayed the downfall of the beast (is : i) 
 and the second bea.st, here deuoininated 
 the fiilse prophet (is : u). They are de- 
 stroj'^ed in a symbolic way by the 
 Saviour. A great slaughter, in symbol, 
 follows, such as we might expect in a 
 terrible Oriental conflict. It is not a 
 war, a long-continued struggle, but as 
 seen here in picture, the Almighty 
 finishes liis work in a moment. We 
 are not to think, however, in the actual 
 progress of Christ's cause on the earth, 
 that great moral changes take place iu 
 an instant of time. As seen here the 
 great political powers of the earth, and 
 the allied powers that deceive men by 
 pretended miracles, are both destroyed. 
 These two, never separated in their 
 work, are both destroyed together. 
 After their destruction comes, in the 
 next chapter, the destruction of Satan 
 himself, the evil one back of all evil 
 agencies. It may be well to notice, in 
 the interpretation of these predictive 
 symbols, that we cannot always in- 
 dicate a certain definite order of events 
 so that we can tell what is first and 
 what is second in order of time. In 
 the destractiou of the image in Daniel 
 (chap. II), the stone destroys the feet of 
 the image first, and then gradually 
 cruslies the remaining parts until all is 
 destroyed. But in order of time this 
 takes place in tlie reverse order, the 
 head farst, the feet last. We may not 
 know in detail the order of events ; we 
 cannot construct a diary of the changes 
 that will ensue ; but we may be assured 
 of this, that in time all the agencies 
 opposed to Christ will be utterly de- 
 stroyed, and Christ will win his way 
 as a great and conquering power among 
 men. 
 
 11. Heaven, rather, the heaven. In 
 ver. 1 John hears voices from heaven, 
 
 the heaven of the vision. He hears, but 
 he has no glimpse into it. Here it is 
 opened. In 4 : 1, where we get the first 
 sight of the conquering Christ, the door 
 is opened into heaven. White horse. 
 The horse stands for conquest, for war. 
 Centuries have passed away, thousands 
 of years perhaps, great empires have 
 been concerned iu helping or hindering 
 Christ, vast stretches of territory have 
 been covered, but through all these ages 
 and these agencies, God's plan has been 
 that Jesus should be the world's Lord 
 as well as its Redeemer. He comes 
 now to send judgments on his foes, 
 and to iiitroiluce the church into a 
 transfigured state, to change her justifi- 
 cation into a glorification. And . . * 
 True, rather, he that sat thereon, 
 called Faithful and True. Some MSS. 
 omit the woid called. In the vision 
 in 6 : 2 the rider is nameless. He is 
 here defined in two resiiects, both re- 
 lating to the moral character, Faith- 
 ful, True. Jesus is the faitliful one 
 in respect to his promises. He is su- 
 premely faithful to the Father, to his 
 own mission, and to his people. His 
 words may be relied on more assuredly 
 than the laws of nature (^ii^rk i3 : 3i). 
 IVue is opposed not simply to the 
 false, but mainly to the unreal and 
 shadowy. .Jesus is himself the truth, 
 and therefore he is true. The glory of 
 Josus, as displayed here, is not in the 
 greatness of liis power, but in the fine- 
 ness of his character, liis faitlifulness, 
 his trueness. H'ar. His cause is su- 
 premely holy. He wars in behalf of 
 rigliteousncss and tlirough righteous 
 agencies. What he opposes is the anti- 
 christian element in the world. The 
 Holy Spirit and holy men are his in- 
 .struincnts of warfare. He pa.sscs judg- 
 ment on all tilings, because he is all 
 holy and all knowing. To judge, as 
 here usedj means to l)ring penalty upon 
 wrong-doing. What befi)re had de- 
 served punishment, but had been passed 
 
360 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 [Ch. XIX. 
 
 12 judge and make war. eHIs eyes were 
 as a flame of tire, ''and ou his head 
 were many crowns; >aud he had a 
 name written, that no man knew, but 
 
 13 he himself. "^ And he was clothed 
 with a vesture dipped in blood : and 
 
 12 And his eyes are as a flame of fire, and 
 on his head are many diadems ; and he 
 had a name written, which no one 
 
 13 knows but he himself. And he is 
 clothed with a garment dipped in 
 
 jr 1 : 14 ; 2 : 18. 
 
 ft Matt. 28 : 18; Phil. 2 : 11. 
 
 2 : 17 ; Gen. 32 : 29. 
 
 k Isa. 63 : 2, 3. 
 
 over in God's forbearance, now receives 
 the deserved penalty. The coming of 
 Christ is not personal, as the one at 
 Bethlehem, and as will be his final ap- 
 pearing (Acts 1 : 11). Nor is this the 
 end of all things, as spoken of in Matt. 
 25 : 31 ; 1 Cor. 15 : 23. To regard this 
 as a definite statement of a personal 
 appearance of Jesus, is to mistake the 
 symbolism of the book. This is not a 
 liifstory, but a vision. There has always 
 been the carrying on of a war, on the 
 part of Christ. The reference here is 
 to an intensive effort, the result of 
 which is to overwhelm his enemies. 
 
 12. His eyes . . . fire, rather, 
 And his eyes were as aflame of fire. 
 These words are a reminiscence of 1 : 
 14. The soul shines through the eye. 
 Here there is the penetrating look, the 
 flashing energy, an enkindled wrath 
 against the enemy. It is this aspect 
 that he presents, not to his people, but 
 to his foes. Jesus can utter the " Come 
 unto me " of Matt. 11 : 28, and the re- 
 peated woes of Matt. 23. Tenderness 
 and severity are inextricably and hap- 
 pily blended in his nature. Many 
 crowns, rather, diadems. The word 
 rendered crown signifies victorj^ ; the 
 diadem means royalty. Jesus has won 
 a victory because he is a king. The 
 many signifies the wideness of his 
 reign — Kina of kings. Each king con- 
 quered, each new triumph on the earth, 
 adds a new luster to his person and 
 his power. While here Jesus had no 
 place where he miglit lay his head ; 
 now he is the possessor of a universal 
 dominion. The dragon had seven 
 diadems (12 : 3) ; the beast had ten 
 diadems (is : 1). These were usurpers, 
 having a real dominion for a time. 
 Jesus is that one whose right it is to 
 reign (Ezek. 21 : 37). Jesus will be the 
 ruler over the kingdoms on the earth 
 and over the powers on high (Pi^'i- 2 : 
 10). Had, rather, fiafh. Knew, 
 rather, knoweth. No man, rather, /io 
 07ie. The name stands for the nature 
 itself; to know what the name is is to 
 
 know the innermost nature. A change 
 of condition or nature involves a 
 change of name. In this manner 
 Abram became Abraham; Sarai be- 
 came Sarah ; Jacob became Israel. As 
 God became known more and more, as 
 he revealed himself more graciously, 
 he was known under different titles. 
 Known first as the Almighty God, he 
 was revealed afterward under the name 
 of Jehovah ( Exod. 6:3). We had Christ 
 revealed in ver. 11 as Faithful and 
 True ; in ver. 13 he was the Word of 
 God; in ver. 26 as King of kings. It 
 is probable that the name was written 
 on the forehead, (comp. s : 12.) What 
 is meant by this symbol is that in the 
 ages to come there will be such a rev- 
 elation of the nature and glory of 
 Christ's person, and the glory of his 
 mission and the blessedness of his rela- 
 tion to his people, that it cannot be 
 expressed in the present known words 
 of the language ; no name will explain 
 it. Back of all that we know of Christ, 
 of his person and work, there is yet 
 much that remains unknown. Each 
 age will have for itself a larger Christ, 
 with a new and a larger name to reveal 
 him to the believer. 
 
 13. Clothed . . . blood, rather, 
 arrayed in a garment sprinkled with 
 blood. Some ancient MSS have dipped 
 instead of sprinkled. The Greek words 
 for sprinkle and dip are difl'erent in 
 form, ba/pto, meaning to dip, rantizo, 
 to sprinkle. There is no instance in 
 the New Testament where these two 
 terms are confounded ; the acts are en- 
 tirely distinct from each other. Whose 
 blood is this ? the blood of Jesus him- 
 self signifying the blood shed for the 
 remission of sins (Matt. 26 : 28), or the 
 blood of his enemies ? It is evidently 
 the latter. He appears here, not under 
 the aspect of Redeemer, a Saviour 
 from sin, but as a conquerorj triumph- 
 ing over his enemies, as a judge con- 
 demning guilty men. The basis of the 
 imagery will be found in Isa. 63 : 1-3. 
 It is the blood, not of atonement, but of 
 
Ch. XIX. 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 361 
 
 his name is called 'The Word of 
 God. 
 
 14 ■" And the armies which were in 
 heaven followed him upon white 
 horses, "clothed in flue linen, white 
 and clean. 
 
 15 And "out of his mouth goeth a sharp 
 sword, that with it he should smite the 
 nations: and Plie shall rule them witli 
 a rod of iron : and i he treadeth the 
 
 blood : and his name Is called. The 
 
 14 Word of God. And the armies which 
 are in heaven followed him on white 
 horses, clothed in flue linen, white, 
 
 15 pure. And outof his mouth goes forth 
 a sharp sword, that with it he may 
 smite the nations ; and he will shep- 
 herd them with a rod of iron ; and he 
 
 ( John 1:1. m 14 : 20 ; 2 Kiiigs 6 : 17 ; Ps. 68 : 17 ; Judc U. 
 
 Ver. 21 ; 1 : 16 ; Ua. 11 : 4 ; 2 Thesa. 2:8. p 2 : 27 ; Ft. 2 : 9. 
 
 11 7 ; 9; Matt. 28 : 
 q 14 : 17-20. 
 
 punishment. The people are trodden 
 down in the wine-press of God's retri- 
 bution. The beast and the harlot .shed 
 the blood of the godly (i^-': " = *), 
 the righteous Judge now sheds the 
 blood of the ungodly. The Word 
 of God. John alone in the New 
 Testament applies this term to Jesus 
 in his preexistent state (.John i : i). It 
 was he through whom the worlds were 
 made ; it was he who reconciled the 
 world to God by his death. A word 
 reveals the thought; in like manner 
 Jesus is that word by which God is re- 
 vealed to us. He is the way to God 
 for us ; he is the way to us for God, so 
 that through him God is made known 
 to us. God becomes known in his judg- 
 ments through Jesus Christ. God is 
 partially made known to us in the 
 physical and moral natures, he is com- 
 pletely known in Jesus Christ. The 
 term may also indicate the manner in 
 which Jesus breaks down opposition 
 and wins his way in the world. It is 
 through the spread of his gospel, the 
 revealed will of God, that Jesus 
 triumphs among men. The gospel is 
 the power of God unto salvation. In 
 14 : 7 the general announcement of the 
 gospel immediately precedes the fall of 
 Bal)ylou, indicating thereby that the 
 truth of God was the instrument by 
 which the wicked city was overthrown. 
 14. Armies . . . were in heaven, 
 rather, are. Some understand by tliis 
 term the great hosts of angels, whicli 
 in some way are helpers of Christ, and 
 who attend him at his final coming 
 (Matt. 25 : 31). But John is not liere 
 describing the final appearing of Jesus, 
 or any personal coming at all, but a 
 coming in great spiritual power. In 
 17 : 14 reference is made to a contest 
 between the Lamb and his foes. In 
 that contest the Lamb overcomes them 
 
 through his forces, who are his saved 
 people on the earth. The armies here 
 spoken of embrace the moral and 
 spiritual forces of Christ upon the 
 earth, all the agencies of the church. 
 Jesus will win his victories in the 
 earth through his people clothed with 
 new power through the Holy Spirit. 
 The Avhite horse signifies victory. 
 The robes of white signify both vic- 
 tory and purity. They are clad rather 
 for a triumplial procession than for a 
 sanguinary war. In the vision it docs 
 not appear that the armies come into 
 a real struggle at all ; the enemies are 
 defeated by the Lord himself. Their 
 garments remain white. God some- 
 times works directly upon men in 
 judgment, as in the plagues, though 
 even here he made use of natural laws. 
 Usually God works upon men tlirough 
 other men, and through the power of 
 the truth, through the moral laws that 
 he has established. 
 
 15. Out of his mouth ... 
 sword. The same figure is employed 
 in 1 : 16 ; 2 : 12. The promises, the 
 warnings, the commands that proceed 
 from his mouth are like swords, they 
 seem to be almost self-executing. The 
 sword of the Spirit convicts (Ki't. 6 : i"); 
 the threatenings of God bring down 
 penalties at once, and overwhelm the 
 foe. This is a symbol of the absolute 
 power of God, that his words are like 
 swords that crush all opposition. His 
 expressed will reveals tlie standard of 
 judging, and is itself a power that 
 breaks ilown all opposition. His words 
 for the penitent are so tender that he 
 will not break the bruised reed (Matt. 
 12 ; 20). To the impenitent his words 
 are swords that divide asunder. The 
 work of judging, God has given to the 
 Son (John s : 22). Rod of iron. Tiie 
 idea of the shepherd is found in 2 : 27 ; 
 
862 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 [Ch. XIX. 
 
 winepress of the fierceness and wrath 
 
 16 of Almighty God. And 'he hath ou 
 his vesture and on his thigh a name 
 written, "King of kings, and Lord of 
 
 LORDS. 
 
 17 And I saw an angel standing in the 
 sun ; and he cried with a loud voice, 
 saying 'to all the fowls that fly in the 
 midst of heaven, "Come and gather 
 yourselves together unto the supper of 
 
 treads the wine-press of the fierceness 
 of the wrath of God, the Almighty. 
 
 16 And he has on his garment, and on 
 his thigh, a name written, KING OF 
 KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS. 
 
 17 And I saw an angel standing in the 
 sun. And he cried with a great voice, 
 saying to all the birds that fly in mid 
 heaven. Come, gather yourselves to- 
 gether to the great supper of God ; 
 
 s n : 14 ; Dan. 2 : 47. 
 
 u Isa. 18 : 6 ; 56 : 9 ; Jer. 7 : 33 ; Ezek. 39 : 17. 
 
 12 : 5. To his people Je.sus is a tender 
 shepherd guarding them from all harm 
 (John 10 : 11) ; to liis enemies he is a 
 shepherd of destruction, beating down 
 the enemies of his people with a club 
 of iron. Opposition must be put down, 
 for God is a ruler as well as a Father. 
 The iron, in the vision, emphasizes the 
 opposition that he meets with, and his 
 resolute determination to put it down. 
 Jesus will be a staii' of love or of iron, 
 according to character. (Comp. Ps. 2.) 
 If men will submit to his sway, his 
 staff of iron becomes one of guardian- 
 ship. The judgments here indicated 
 may involve physical calamities, 
 plagues sent as in Egypt, and tiie 
 thousandfold ways in which God may 
 make life burdensome. If God be 
 against us who can be for us ? Fierce- 
 iie.ss . . . God, rather, the fierceness 
 of the wrath of God the Almighty. The 
 words expressive of the severity of the 
 punishment are heaped up, the one on 
 the other. The figure is that of the 
 vintage, taken from Isa. 63 : 1-6. These 
 words are concerning the actions of 
 one who is all righteousness and love, 
 not a cruel God, like a Moloch. It is 
 not an arbitrary punishment or a de- 
 light in suffering, for God has im- 
 planted in the human heart the feeling 
 of tenderness. It is the symbol of the 
 necessary hatred of a supreme holiness 
 toward persistent wickedness. The 
 puni.shment is under the charge of one 
 who is holy, therefore, it will not be 
 unfitting or unnecessary. It is the 
 punishment of one who is almighty, 
 it will therefore be heavy. 
 
 16. This verse further enlarges on 
 the character of the person of Christ, 
 and the greatness of his triumph. Be- 
 cause he is the Word of God, the Faith- 
 ful and True, having a nature too large 
 to be communicated in any definite 
 name, he will be a conqueror over all 
 
 his foes. The name here indicated is 
 on his garment and on his thigh, where 
 the sword would be bound {?'• *5 : 3). 
 The Lamb makes war, and overcomes 
 in the completest way. (comp. Ps. 72 : 11.) 
 Oriental sovereigns are fond of claim- 
 ing large powers and large domains, 
 also a kinship with the gods. Here 
 the claim is in accord with the stricte.'<t 
 truth. At all times Jesus is entitled 
 to the allegiance of all powers on the 
 earth, but his claims have been resisted 
 or ignored. Like Pharaoh, many re- 
 sist God's manifested will. At the time 
 indicated in the vision Jesus will be 
 the recognized head of the organized 
 governments among men. 
 
 17. This verse shows the wide de- 
 struction that the Lamb works among 
 his enemies. Angel . . . sun. Noth- 
 ing would be more striking in actual 
 life than one standing in the sun, in 
 the view of all nations, that no one 
 could help seeing. In vision John 
 announces a proclamation as distinct 
 as though one were in the sun, speak- 
 ing to all peoples. Loud voice. 
 All nations hear. God announces be- 
 forehand the coming of the flood, the 
 impending disaster here. No man can 
 have any cloak for his sin and obdu- 
 racy. Before God strikes, he warns. 
 Fowls, rather, birds. These are the 
 vultures and carrion birds that feed 
 upon the dead. Come . . . God, 
 rather. Come and be gathered together 
 unto the great supper of God. There has 
 been noticed a wedding supper of the 
 Lamb — great, splendid — to which all 
 God's friends are invited. This picture 
 is that of a great battlefield, when the 
 contest is over, when victory has come 
 to God's side, and an overwhelming 
 and final defeat has come to the un- 
 godly party. It is a ghastly sight in 
 itself, but" it pictures, in a striking 
 way, the issue of the contest between 
 
Ch. XIX.] 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 363 
 
 18 the great God ; » that ye may eat tlie 
 flesh of kiugs, and the flesh of cap- 
 tains, and the flesh of mighty men, 
 and the flesh of horses, and of them 
 that sit on them, and the flesh of all 
 men, J both free and bond, both small 
 and great. 
 
 19 « And I saw the beast, and the kings 
 of the earth, and their armies, gathered 
 together to make war "agaia.st liim 
 that sat ou the horse, and against his 
 army. 
 
 18 that ye may eat the flesh of kings, and 
 the flesh of captains of thousands, and 
 the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh 
 of horses and of those who sit on 
 them, and the flesh of all, both free 
 and bond, and small and great. 
 
 19 And I saw the beast, and the kings 
 of the earth, and their armies, gathered 
 together to make war with him who 
 sat ou the horse, and with liis army. 
 
 z Ezek. 39 : 18, 20. 
 
 y 6 :I5; 13 : IG. 
 
 a 13: I; 16: 16; 17: 12-14. 
 
 God and his foes. The Old Testament 
 foundation for this picture is found 
 in Ezek. .39 : 17-22. No persons are 
 meant by the birds of this passage. 
 Inasmuch as birds flock to the battle- 
 field for their prey, in like manner 
 John sees them come, in vision, to this 
 symbolic battlefield. The world re- 
 joices in its seeming strength, but God 
 sees defeat staring it in the face. On 
 the earth a snowstorm could over- 
 whelm a Napoleon ; a blast from God's 
 nostrils destroyed the hosts of Sen- 
 nacherib (3Kiug. 19:35); in like manner 
 here there is a carnival for the birds 
 of prey. It is always, in the end, ill 
 for the wicked. In the first century 
 God sent judgment on the chosen peo- 
 ple in destroying the city and scatter- 
 ing the nation. This was a battlefield 
 showing God's retributive power. In 
 the same century he changed, through 
 the Holy Spirit, the hearts of ene- 
 mies, so that they became his friends, 
 as at Pentecost. This was a battlefield 
 revealing God's gracious power and 
 mercy. 
 
 18. We have here a list of the de- 
 feated — kings, captains of thousands, 
 mighty men, horses with their riders, 
 freemen and slaves, high and low. 
 All are involved in one common dis- 
 aster. The term flesh, occurring in 
 the plural in the Greek, is used five 
 times, as if to emphasize the purely 
 carnal character of the enemies of God. 
 There is a wide contrast between this 
 feast and that described in ver. 9. God 
 makes a separation among men at the 
 last (Mai. 3 : 18 ; Matt. 25 ; 32). The friends 
 of Jesus are the guests at the marriage 
 supper, the enemies of the Lord are a 
 feast for the birds. In this purely out- 
 ward way, and for Oriental peoples 
 who cared nothing for the wounded 
 and helpless, this vision emphasizes 
 
 the defeat that awaits all organized 
 evil influences among men. ("<^^i'i •'"• 2.) 
 ^Ve make a great mistake when we re- 
 gard sins of the flesh as the greatest 
 enemies of God. A spirit of selfisli- 
 ness, philosophical speculations that 
 deny the reality of sin and the deity of 
 .Jesus, may work far wider and more 
 disastrous results than sins of seii- 
 su<ality. 
 
 19. In this and the following verses 
 we have a view of the one-sided con- 
 test. We have two foes, the beast and 
 the allied kings joined together against 
 the one who sits on the horse, the Lord 
 Jesus. The beast is tliat of 13 : 1 ; 17 : 
 3. The kings are those in allegiance 
 to it, the wicked powers of the earth 
 symbolized by the ten kings of 17 : 12. 
 The contest is that spoken of in 16 : 14, 
 the contest at Armageddon. The 
 armies and the army denote the 
 forces at work against and for the 
 Lamb. There has always been a war 
 between God and the evil one since the 
 opening daj'S in Genesis (Geu. s : 15), 
 but growing more intense toward the 
 last. The attack here is made by the 
 enemies of the Lamb ; they make war 
 upon him. There is, of course, no 
 literal battle, but in figure is set forth 
 the unmixed and undying hatred of 
 the world toward God and Ins people. 
 Tiic victory of the Lamb is not won 
 by his own direct interposition and 
 unaided power, I)ut through his army. 
 It is by tne church making use of tlie 
 Spirit of truth and holiness, not by 
 palling fire down from heaven, that 
 the triumphs on the eartli are won. 
 It was i)y holy living, l>y earnest tes- 
 timony, l)y steadfast endurance, by un- 
 selfish help to otiiers, not by startling 
 miracdes or wonders in nature, that 
 Christianity won its great triumphs in 
 the first centuries, overthrowing heath- 
 
364 
 
 KEVELATION 
 
 [Ch. XIX. 
 
 20 •> And the beast was taken, and with 
 him the false prophet that wrought 
 miracles before him, with which he 
 deceived them that had received the 
 mark of the beast, and "them that 
 worshipped his image. * These both 
 were cast alive into a lake of fire 
 
 20 And the beast was seized, and with 
 him the false prophet that wrought 
 the signs in his sight, with which he 
 led astray those who received the 
 mark of the beast, and who worshiped 
 his image. The two were cast alive 
 into the lake of fire, that burns with 
 
 6 13 : 11-17 ; 16 : 13, 14 ; 1 Tim. i : 1. 
 
 d 20 : 10, 14 ; Dan. 1 : 11. 
 
 enism in the Roman empire. There 
 may be also pliysical convulsions and 
 fearful troubles that will drive the 
 ungodly from their accustomed sources 
 of comfort, but in the main the Lamb 
 will work through his church by spir- 
 itual agencies as alone effective to 
 break down evils, and turn men from 
 the love of unrighteousness to the love 
 of the truth. Great calamities may 
 startle and awaken, but the truth and 
 the Holy Spirit alone can work a 
 change in the heart. "In what form 
 this prediction will fulfil itself cannot 
 be conjectured. But it seems to point 
 to a last struggle between society and 
 the church, or rather between Christ 
 and antichrist. Those who take note 
 of the tendencies of modern civiliza- 
 tion, will not find it impossible to 
 conceive that a time may come when, 
 throughout Christendom, the spirit of 
 antichrist will, with the support of 
 the State, make a final stand against 
 a Christianity which is loyal to 
 the person and teaching of Christ" 
 (Swete). 
 
 30. Of the four great enemies of 
 the church, the first and second beasts 
 of chap. XIII, XVII, the unclean 
 woman of chap. XVII, and the great 
 dragon of chap. XII, one has already 
 been symbolically destroyed (i' : i6). 
 Two are here destroyed, the beast and 
 the false prophet ; the remaining one 
 will be destroyed in the next chapter. 
 The beast is destroyed apparently with- 
 out any struggle on his part, no men- 
 tion is made of any fighting. They 
 are consigned to the fate that they 
 have brought upon themselves. The 
 beast last appears in chap. XVII, in 
 its highest ana most antichristian form. 
 The false prophet is, without doubt, 
 the second beast of chap. XIII, work- 
 ing signs in the presence of the first 
 beast. The worldly power and the 
 worldly wisdom that had both been 
 arrayed against God, are overthrown, 
 disarmed entirely of their power. 
 
 They are, so far as their opposition is 
 concerned, taken and destroyed. In 
 Dan. 8 : 11 we see that one method of 
 punishment was to cast alive into the 
 tire. Here that representation is given 
 as the fate of these foes. We are not 
 to think of either of these a8 repre- 
 senting persons. All that takes place 
 here is symbolical. It is as if two 
 living beasts were cast into the fire. 
 What John presents in this symbolic 
 teaching is that these two great forces 
 that opposed God are now, through the 
 force of the truth, and the energy of 
 the church, stripped of their pow er to 
 hurt or hinder. It is tnie that all in- 
 corrigible sinners, whether represented 
 by the first beast as a persecuting 
 power, or by the false prophet as using 
 its wisdom and its priesthood to seduce 
 men from the truth, will be sent into 
 etei-nal punishment. But the main 
 thought here is that the great systems 
 of persecution and false teaching will 
 be as utterly destroyed as if two beasts, 
 that stood for these forces, were cast 
 into the burning lake. This passage 
 shows that the two beasts are intimately 
 associated ; where one is found, the 
 other also is found. For the mark of 
 the beast, and the image of the beast, 
 see 13 : 14, 16. These both, rather, 
 they tivain. Lake of fire. In this 
 is represented the second death of 2 : 
 11 ; 20 : 14; 21 : 8. It is the hell or 
 gehenna of Matt. 5 : 22. It is a place 
 of punishment and, as we are else- 
 where taught, it is everlasting in its 
 nature. It does not end in extinction 
 of being. The vision is a pictorial 
 presentation of this teaching ; the open 
 foes of God will be severely punished, 
 as though in a lake of fire. Govern- 
 ments and false systems of religion, as 
 such, cannot be punished, for they 
 have no personal existence. There is 
 no real beast to be punished, but there 
 are real beastlike persons who will be 
 dealt with in this manner. The human 
 enemies of God are not cast into this 
 
Ch. XIX.] 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 865 
 
 21 •burning with brimstone. And the 
 remnant 'were slain with the sword of 
 him that sat upon the horse, which 
 sivord proceeded out of liis mouth : 
 sand all the fowls were filled with 
 their flesh. 
 
 21 brimstone. And the rest were killed 
 with ilie sword of him who sat on the 
 horse, whicli came forth out of his 
 mouth ; and all the birds were filled 
 with their flesh. 
 
 « 14 : 10 ; 21 : 8. 
 
 / Ver. IS; 2 Them. 2 : 8. 
 
 g Ver. IT, 18 ; 1 Sam. 17 : 46. 
 
 place in the vision until after the judg- 
 ment scene in chap. XX. Brim- 
 stone. We are not forced to accept 
 all the descriptions of the future bless- 
 edness and misery in a literal way. It 
 is possible for us to understaud the 
 nature of the future scenes only under 
 the terms of this life. Under all the 
 varying descriptions of the punish- 
 ment of the ungodly, there remains 
 this solemn teaching, that there is a 
 place of penalty, retributive in its 
 nature, unendingin itsduration. There 
 will be a body in the future existence. 
 Jesus speaks of a punishment for the 
 body (Matt. 10 : J8). But we may not 
 emphasize unduly the physical aspects 
 of the unseen existence. The chief 
 delights and penalties will be spiritual 
 in their nature. It is not stated by 
 whom the two beasts were taken, 
 though it is reasonable to refer the act 
 to the army of the all-conquering 
 King. 
 
 21. And the remnant, rather, 
 and the rest. The allusion is to the 
 confederates and followers of the two 
 beasts. With the sword. In the 
 vision none of the followers of the 
 Lamb have occasion to take part iu 
 the struggle. The victory is plainly 
 wrought by spiritual means, so that 
 we need not interpret this of any 
 armies to be overtiirown, or any actual 
 military confederacy. It is probable 
 that the confederations and alliances 
 of the last days will not be outward 
 organizations, but a junction of intel- 
 lectual and spiritual forces. In one 
 indiscriminate mass the armies are 
 overthrown. In ver. 18 we have the 
 parts of the armies specified. The 
 slaughter was so gr(;at that the birds 
 of prey were glutted with their feast. 
 As noticed in ver. 17, we may not find 
 specific allusion to any persons or 
 parties under the terra, birds. It is 
 fanciful to attempt to find any specific 
 reference. The birds are spoken of 
 simply to fill out the scene, to add to 
 its naturalness, to show the greatness 
 
 of the slaughter. The vision has thus 
 far revealed to us the destruction of 
 the harlot, the first beast, the false 
 prophet. God's cause marches on 
 steadily and triumphantly. It has 
 required centuries to bring about this 
 result, to show the weakness aud the 
 wickedness of sin, the greatness of the 
 person, the power, and the mission of 
 Jesus. It is pleasing, as we draw near 
 the end, to see the person of Jesus 
 stand out alone iu its grandeur. 
 
 Practical Remarks. 
 
 1. Great mercies demand great praise. 
 Each new revelation of God's power and 
 holiness calls forth fresh outbursts of 
 praise (Ps. 107). No Christian should 
 have dumb lips (ver. 1). 
 
 2. God is holy, and therefore he is a 
 judge. He is strong, and therefore he in- 
 flicts heavy penalties. He is patient, and 
 therefore he waits. He Iovqs his people, 
 and therefore he makes their cause his 
 own. God's moral nature will shine out 
 like the sun, that all may see the right- 
 ness of his dealings (ver. 2). 
 
 3. As long as men are holy, so long 
 heaven will continue. As long as men 
 are unholy, so long must hell continue. 
 Future blessedness and misery are not 
 uiirea.sonable when one remembers that 
 God has joined together holiness and 
 happiness, unholiness and unhappiness. 
 Heaven and hell are not accidents in a 
 moral universe. They spring out of a 
 moral necessity (ver. 3). 
 
 4. The redeemed may well rejoice when 
 God triumphs, when temptations and 
 trials are taken out of the way. It is not 
 the gratification of a personal revenge, 
 but the sharing in God's rejoicing when 
 all his enemies are put down and his 
 name is glorified (ver. 4). 
 
 .'). There are gradations among the 
 servants of God, but all are insignificant 
 when compared with him. The highest 
 angel and the weakest believer must do 
 
366 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 [Ch. XX. 
 
 their best; this God requires. Nothing 
 less than this will satisfy him, or ought 
 to satisfy his people (ver. 5). 
 
 6. The disorders in life, the temporary 
 triumphs of wrong seem to reveal a God 
 who does not care or cannot control 
 affairs. In time he will be seen to be the 
 Lord of all. It is the highest wisdom to 
 be governed by such a being (ver. 6). 
 
 7. There is a growing blessedness for 
 the Christian. It is blessed to live for 
 Christ, it is blessed to depart and be with 
 Christ (Phil. 1 : 21). It is blessed when 
 the assembled people of God shall be 
 brought into a full fellowship with their 
 Lord (ver. 7). 
 
 8. Holiness of heart marks those who 
 dwell where God is. The holiness iu the 
 believer is of the same quality as the 
 holiness of God, for he is a child of God. 
 The holiness iu the heart is not native 
 there, but is the fruit of the Holy Spirit. 
 In heaven the holiness is all-controlling 
 ever. 8). 
 
 9. Words axe too weak to express the 
 blessedness of the life with Christ. There 
 is a blessedness now, in the midst of 
 obloquy and poverty, if Christ dwells in 
 the heart. The blessedness there is in 
 union with a glorified body, a glorified 
 mind and moral nature, a glorified Christ, 
 and a glorified society (ver. 9). 
 
 10. The worship of God is fitting and 
 necessary. We may respect good men, 
 love the church and its ordinances, but 
 we must reserve acts of worship for God 
 alone. We should pray to no one lower 
 than God (ver. 10). 
 
 11. Jesus is a faithful and true Saviour. 
 Satan is a liar, the world may prove de- 
 ceptive, but Jesus can be leaned on. His 
 word is a rod and staff. His people should 
 imitate him in faithfulness (ver. 11). 
 
 12. Jesus had once a crown of thorns, 
 he now has many crowns. He is worthy 
 of them. The angels adore him, nature 
 obeys him, men should give him their 
 love and worship (ver. 12). 
 
 13. Jesus, as a Saviour, shed his blood 
 for men. Jesus, as a judge, sheds the 
 blood of the guilty. These two sides of 
 the work of Jesus must not be forgotten 
 (ver. 13). 
 
 14. The church of Christ is not simply 
 a rejoicing and saved host, it is to be an 
 
 army. Its duty and privilege is to help 
 Jesus conquer the world, to put down all 
 its iniquities. Each Christian is to be a 
 soldier. Jesus is the captain of our sal- 
 vation (ver. 14 ; Heb. 2 : 10). 
 
 15. Jesus has a shepherd's crook, a 
 strong arm, a watchful eye, a tender 
 heart for his sheep. He has an iron staff, 
 a sharp sword, and fearful punishments 
 for his foes. Those who trust him as 
 Saviour will find in him a loving shep- 
 herd (John 10). The ungodly will share 
 in his iron staff (ver. 15). 
 
 16. It is the purpose of God that Jesus 
 shall be a universal sovereign. Jesus 
 waits until his enemies are under his 
 feet (Heb. 10 : 13). Each new penitent 
 adds to the power and extent of his king- 
 dom. He will be King of kings, whether 
 we accept him or not (ver. 16). 
 
 17. Heaven and hell are far apart in 
 their nature. They are far apart because 
 godliness is very far from ungodliness. 
 Each one must find a dwelling-place in 
 the future. Each one makes his own 
 choice now in accepting or rejecting 
 Christ (ver. 17). 
 
 18. The seeming triumphs of the wicked 
 will end in crushing defeats. It cannot 
 be otherwise, for God has all power and 
 all ages in which to work. God is now 
 so patient that his patience obscures, for 
 many, his power, his holiness, his warn- 
 ings (ver. 18). 
 
 19. It is unreasonable to make war upon 
 Christ. Neutrality is an act of unfriend- 
 liness and disloyalty. The peril to us is, 
 not the intellectual rejection of Christ, 
 but the ignoring of Christ and his claims 
 (ver. 19). 
 
 20. Men have jails for the wicked, God 
 also has a jail for the finally impenitent. 
 The punishment will arise from a troubled 
 conscience, also from outward penalty. 
 The punishment does not destroy con- 
 science or personal existence. Life goes 
 on, a living death (ver. 20, 21). 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 The VICTORY over Satan and 
 
 THE COMPLETED TRIUMPH. This 
 chapter is intimately connected with 
 the preceding. We are now rapidly 
 approaching the consummation of all 
 things, and the consequent triumph of 
 
Ch. XX.] 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 867 
 
 Satan bound; the first resurrection, and 
 millennial kingdom. 
 20 AND I saw au ansel come down from 
 heaven, ^ having the key of the bottom- 
 less pit and a great cliaiu in his hand. 
 2 ' And he laid hold on ^ the dragon, that 
 old serpent, which is the Devil, and 
 Satan, and bound him a thousand 
 
 20 AND I saw an angel coming down 
 out of heaven, having the key of the 
 abyss, and a great chain in his hand. 
 2 And he laid hold of the dragon, the 
 old serpent, which is the Devil and 
 Hatau, and bound him a thousand 
 
 ft 1 : 18 i 9 ; 1, 2 ; Luke 8 : 31. i Gen. S : 15 ; I,sa. 27 : 1 ; John 12 : SI ; Rom. 16 : 20 ; Hcb. 2 : U. 
 
 ft 9 : 11 ; 12 : 9 ; 2 Peter 2:4; Jude 6. 
 
 the cause of Christ. Satan has ravaged 
 the world for centuries, incitiug to 
 persecutions, tempting God's people, 
 and perverting the doctrines of the 
 gospel. His sway has been so wide- 
 spread that he is called the god of this 
 world (2 Cor. 4:4). Above all opposition 
 this work has revealed God alone upon 
 his throne, observing the failure of all 
 plans formed against him (ps. 2)^ holy 
 and almighty. Under his strokes of 
 judgment we have seen the foes of 
 God going down one by one, the first 
 and second beasts, the false prophet, 
 Babylon the apostate church — all of 
 these, ill vision, have been destroyed. 
 Back of all these hostile forces has 
 been the personal agency of Satan. 
 This work would not be complete if 
 we were to have the visions come to a 
 close, and he be undestroyed. In this 
 chapter we have the limitations of his 
 power, the comparative annihilation, 
 not of his person, but of his effective 
 work again.st the cause of Christ. The 
 breaking down of evil is of necessity 
 the building up of the ^ood. We 
 have, therefore, now in vision the de- 
 struction of Satan's power, and the 
 consequent ushering in of a brighter 
 era, tlie millennium. 
 
 1-3. ThKBINDIXG OF THE DRAGON. 
 The entire book, beginning with 12 : 1, 
 should now be read. At that point the 
 dragon is introduced, warring against 
 Christ and his cause. The character 
 of God, the redemptive work of Christ, 
 the triumph of the Christian cause, all 
 re(iuire that, in symbol, we shall see 
 Satan himself removed as an ob- 
 structive force. 
 
 1. And I saw. Beginning with 
 19 : 11 we have seven vision.s, each in- 
 troduced by the expression, "and I 
 saw," 19 : 11, 17, 19 ; 20 : 1, 4, 11 ; 21 : 
 1. Angel. In 19 : 11 we have a sight 
 of the conquering Redeemer hini-self ; 
 in 19 : 17 we have an angel summoning 
 
 the birds to a feast, feeding up<:)n the 
 corpses of God's foes. This is a second 
 angel from heaven, rather, out of 
 heaven. This indicates the divine ap- 
 proval; none but oueso eomiui.ssioned 
 of God could perform so mighty a task. 
 Uottoniless pit, rather, abyss. This 
 is looked upon as Satan's abode, and 
 hence entered by a door. This word is 
 used elsewhere, in 9 : 1, 2; 11 : 7; 17 : 
 18. Key. This is spoken of in 1 : 18 
 as deposited in the hands of Jesus, 
 who has all power. In 9 : 2 the pit is 
 opened by au angel, here the pit is 
 represented as closed. Great chain. 
 This hangs over the open hands, drop- 
 ping down on both sides. It is great 
 because of the power needed to restrain 
 so mighty a foe. The three physical 
 terms used, abyss, chain, key, are 
 figurative terms of agencies to be em- 
 ployed to limit, restrain, confine so 
 great a spiritual being, limiting just as 
 if a ringleader of wickedness were 
 shut up in jail. A Samson may be re- 
 strained by physical chains, a Satan 
 m list be restrai ned by spiritual 
 agencies. 
 
 2, 3. Five distinct statements are 
 mentioned concerning the angel, laid 
 hold on the dras^on, bound, 
 cast, shnt him up, rather, shut it. 
 Set a seal upon him, rather, sealed 
 it over him. The dragon has been 
 met with in 12 : 3, 9; 13 : 2, 4; IG : 13. 
 He is the summing up, the embodiment 
 of all the enemies of Christ, giving 
 power to the faint heart, worshiped by 
 the ungodly. Three other names are 
 given him. Serpent, the bewitching, 
 crafty foe, through the centuries de- 
 ceiving men; devil, meaning slan- 
 derer, misrepresenting God and his 
 cause to men; Satan, meaning the 
 adversary, the chief opponent of God, 
 of Jesus, of good things, of good men. 
 The binding, the casting into the pit, 
 the sealing, would be exceedingly 
 
368 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 [Ch. XX. 
 
 3 years, and cast hiiti into the bottom- 
 less pit, aud shut liim up, and 'set a 
 seal upon him, »ithat he should de- 
 ceive the nations no more, till the 
 thousand years should be fulfilled : 
 
 3 years, and cast him into the abyss, and 
 shut it, aud sealed it over him, that he 
 should lead the nations astray no more, 
 until the thousand years should be 
 
 I Dan. 6 : 17 ; Matt. 27 : 
 
 Ver. 8 ; 16 : 14, 16. 
 
 dramatic, as seen in vision, aud would 
 be easy of comprelieusion by all. A 
 being who is spirit will naturally not 
 be subject to a merely mechanical 
 treatment ; what takes place in vision, 
 in perfect naturalness, cannot actually 
 occur in a physical way. As a finite 
 being subject to limitation in time and 
 space, he may be confined within a 
 definite region, or restricted in power, 
 just as if he were shut up. The refer- 
 ence is not so much to the person of 
 Satan, as to the limiting of his in- 
 fluence against the kingdom of Christ. 
 The Scriptures dwell not so much on 
 his personal history, as on his method 
 of working and his final subjection to 
 Christ. Jesus speaks of Satan as fallen 
 from heaven (Luke lo : is) ; a being cast 
 out of his position of power (John le : ii). 
 In 12 : 9 he is cast down from heaven 
 to earth ; in 2 Peter 2 : 4 Satan is said 
 to be bound, awaiting the judgment of 
 the last day. The death of Chri.st, and 
 the advancement of Christ's kingdom 
 in the past, have limited Satan's power ; 
 it is asserted here that his cause, as an 
 organized system, will ultimately go 
 down through the supremacy of Christ's 
 cause. At times he has seemed to be 
 all powerful ; he controlled business 
 (13 : 17). Now his power is limited and 
 impaired. His imprisonment in vision 
 is the declaration that his power and 
 influence will be largely destroyed. 
 Men will still have fleshly bodies and 
 human hearts, but the life set apart for 
 Christ, the increased power of the 
 truth, the work of the Hf)ly Spirit 
 within, these will close the mind to the 
 entrance and control of Satan. The 
 recognition of God's authority, devo- 
 tion to God's cause, fellowship with 
 holy activities, love of the truth, if 
 these were to prevail in the world, 
 they would so limit his power it would 
 be as if he were shut up, and could do 
 nothing among men. With the limit- 
 ing of his power will come naturally 
 . an enlarged efiectiveiiess of good 
 agencies. Shut. The door is closed 
 and locked. Set a seal. Jesus was 
 
 under seal in the sepulcher of stone, 
 he broke the seal of empire. Each 
 word adds to the impressiveness of the 
 teaching. The purpose of the binding 
 and the character of Satan are revealed 
 in deceive. His whole nature is that 
 of deception ; if he worked openly he 
 would lo.se power among men. He de- 
 ceived our first parents in Gen. 3:4; 
 he tried to deceive Jesus. Nations 
 has reference, not to uncultivated na- 
 tions as distinct from the cultivated, 
 but as elsewhere to the godless classes. 
 In ver, 8 the same word occurs, allud- 
 ing to tho.se far from God, indicating 
 this by their remoteness from the holy 
 city. As we are moving in the range 
 of symbols, we cannot understand this 
 to be a complete suppression of Satan's 
 power. In John 16 : 11 Jesus said : 
 "The prince of this world has been 
 judged." This did not imply a sud- 
 den, complete, and permanent cessa- 
 tion of his work among men, nor may 
 we understand this vision to make that 
 declaration. It may imply a complete 
 cessation of demoniacal possession, so 
 prevalent in the first century. It may 
 also involve large accessions to the 
 power of good, the investing of the 
 church with power so that, compara- 
 tively speaking, it will be as if his 
 power for evil were suppressed. Satan, 
 during his temporaiy imprisonment, 
 will retain his satanic character, and 
 men will remain imperfect and tempt- 
 able. Thousand years. This is 
 the number ten multiplied by itself 
 twice, implying a large and complete 
 period. It stands not for a thousand 
 literal years, nor for any definite time. 
 So far as the number itself is concerned, 
 it might be less than this period, it 
 might" equally represent untold ages. 
 John is not giving a scheme of chro- 
 nology, but affirming the completeness 
 of Christ's triumph. We may not ex- 
 pect definite numbers and dates in a 
 book of symbols. Satan had his hour 
 of triumph (Luke 22:63). Jcsus has 
 triumph during this long period of 
 years. Cast, shut, sealed, declare in a 
 
Ch. XX.] 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 369 
 
 ■> and after that he must be loosed a 
 little season. 
 4 And I saw "thrones, and they sat 
 up)ou them and p judgment was given 
 unto theiD : and J saw i the souls of 
 them that were beheaded for the wit- 
 ne.ss of Jesus, and for the word of 
 God, and 'which had not worshipped 
 the beast, neither his image, neither 
 had received his mark upon tlieir fore- 
 heads, or in their hands; and they 
 lived and " reigned with Christ a thou- 
 
 finisbed : after these he must be loosed 
 a little time. 
 4 And 1 saw thrones, and they sat on 
 them, aud judj^ment was given to 
 them ; and the souls of those tliat had 
 beeu beheaded ou account of the tes- 
 timony of Jesus, and on account of the 
 word of God, and whoever did not 
 woi-ship the Ijeast, nor his ima^e, and 
 did not receive the mark on their fore- 
 head, and on their hand ; and they 
 lived and reigned with Christ a thou- 
 
 n Vcr. 7-10 ; la : 12. 
 « 6:9. 
 
 Dan. 7 ; 9, 18, 22, 27 ; .Matt. 19 : 28 ; Luke 22 : SO. p Ps.U9 : 9 ; 1 Cor. 6 : 2, S. 
 
 r 13 : 12. < 5 : 9, 10 ; Dan. 2 : U ; Uoiu. 8 : 17 ; 2 Tim. 2 : 12. 
 
 forcible way the removal of Satan from 
 the seat of his activities, the impos- 
 sibility of his working as even he did. 
 He is, as it were, a Napoleon on St. 
 Helena, having the same malignity, 
 but stripped of his power to seduce aiul 
 lead men astray. During a great re- 
 vival Satan has almost no power in a 
 community ; his power remain.Sj but he 
 finds no opportunity for plying his 
 trade. If a revival were world-wide 
 and ages long, it would be as if Satan 
 were shut up in the abyss. During the 
 millennial period, when righteousness 
 shall reign in the world, and Jesus 
 will be crowned King of the earth, the 
 hearts of men will still maintain their 
 sinful bias, and the reign of goodness 
 will, in time, come to an end. This 
 symbolic picture of the binding of 
 Satan has been misapprehended by 
 supposing it to imply the cessation of 
 all evil among men. It is too readily 
 a.ssuined tliat if Satan be shut up and 
 .sealed in the abyss, the angels of Satan 
 and wicked men can have no more 
 place in the world. The final defeat 
 of Satan does not come until ver. 10. 
 Loosed has reference to a brief after- 
 period, preceding the close of human 
 history, when wickedness will be the 
 controlling power. This is shown by 
 the vision of the unloosing of Satan. 
 The must does not afhrm any moral 
 necessity for this, but means the or- 
 dering of events in God's providence 
 whereby men have a final exhibition 
 of what wickedness can do — tlie con- 
 trast between Christ's reign and Satan's 
 reign. Little season. The same 
 expression is found in 6 : 11, a period 
 that has stretched over many centuries. 
 The.se two expressions, a thousand 
 years and a little season, standing side 
 by side, show how complete will be 
 
 Christ's triumph, how utter the defeat 
 of Satan. This is all that they are 
 meant to couvey. 
 
 4-G. The millennial kingdom 
 OF Christ. Here is given a descrip- 
 tion of the manner of life upon the 
 earth during that period when Satan 
 is bound and Christ reigus. 
 
 4. Thrones. The predominant 
 thought here is not that of reigning, 
 but of rejoicing; thrones are for kings. 
 Tho.se who rejoice are those who laid 
 down their lives for Christ's sake, those 
 having the martyr spirit. In God's 
 sight equally worthy of praise with 
 the martyrs are those who were faith- 
 ful in life, wlio lived lives of piety 
 when such living meant ostracism and 
 loss of business (John 9 : 22). Tiiose who 
 were despised on earth will now be 
 found sitting on thrones (s : 21). Judg- 
 ment. This is usually interpreted to 
 mean that they sit in judgment with 
 (^hrist, judging during the thousand 
 years. But the word rendered judg- 
 ment does not mean the act of judging, 
 l)ut the results of judgment. Tlie 
 natural meaning is that to them is 
 given the assurance of acquittal, of 
 acceptance, so that they would them- 
 selves come under no jud(jnient. John 
 saw souls ; we are reminded by this 
 term of 6:9, where was a vision of 
 disembodied spirits, not having had 
 any resurrection. In that place tliey 
 cried to God, imploring tlie divine 
 vengeance, here they are regarded as 
 avenged and rejoicing. There was a 
 time when God's people were perse- 
 cuted, now in symbol they have tri- 
 umphed. Lived and reigned. 
 During their lifetime they were re- 
 garded as the ofl'scouring of the world. 
 During all this period the spirit of tlie 
 martyrs lived and reigned, controlling 
 
370 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 [Ch. XX. 
 
 5 sand years. But the rest of the dead 
 lived not again until the thousand 
 years were finished. 'This is the first 
 resurrection. 
 
 6 "Blessed and holy is he that hath 
 part in the lirst resurrection. On such 
 ' the second death hath no power ; but 
 they shall be y priests of God and of 
 Christ, ^and shall reign with him a 
 thousand years. 
 
 5 sand years. The rest of the dead lived 
 not until the thousand years should be 
 finished. This is the first resurrection. 
 
 6 Happy and holy is he that has part in 
 the first resurrection ; over these the 
 second death has no authority, but 
 lliey shall be priests of God and of 
 Christ, and shall reign with him a 
 thousand years. 
 
 t Luke 14 : 14 ; 20 : 56 ; 1 Thess. 4 : 16. « 14 : 13 ; Dan. 12 : 12. x 2 : 11 ; 21 : 8. 
 
 y 1:6; 5 : 10 ; Isa. 61 : 6 : 1 Peter 2:9. z Ver. 4. 
 
 affairs among men. It is not of them 
 risen and glorified tluit he speaks, but 
 of tlieir souls ; these were regarded as 
 living and reigning during this blessed 
 period. The ideas they died for now 
 were in the ascendency, molding the 
 business, the social spirit, the policies 
 of the age. It was just as if the olden 
 martyrs and godly men were actually 
 living and leading the age in a holy 
 way. Christ reigned, and they reigned, 
 with, in, and through him. 
 
 5. This verse, in another form, ex- 
 presses the same teaching, the triumph 
 of goodness and good men. Rest of 
 the dead. This is the opposite of the 
 martyrs and those who served Christ, 
 meaning the ungodly. During the 
 millennial period the ungodly men 
 had no controlling power, the faithful 
 were those who led affairs. At the 
 end of this period the ungodly have 
 again the controlling power. It is now 
 as if all the wicked dead rose from 
 their graves and lived over again. 
 First resurrection. The living and 
 reigning with Christ is the first resur- 
 rection. This resurrection is to he un- 
 derstood as a part of a series of great 
 symbolic pictures. Nothing is said of 
 a rising from the dust of the earth, or 
 a resuscitation of mortal bodies. The 
 term resurrection is no more to be 
 pressed into a literal significance than 
 the words thrones, books, and lake of 
 fire ; but it is shown to be a living and 
 reigning with Christ. Alford insists 
 that this passage requires us to under- 
 stand a literal resurrection, but the 
 whole trend of the passage is against 
 this. Swete's view is .similar to this here 
 given. "The Seer of the Apocalypse 
 does not anticipate history ; he is con- 
 tent to emphasize and express in apoca- 
 lyptic language principles which guide 
 the Divine government of the world. 
 
 That the age of the martyrs, howevei 
 long it might last, would be followed 
 by a longer period of Christian su- 
 premacy, during which the faith for 
 which the martyrs died would live and 
 reign, is the essential teaching of the 
 present vision. When, under what 
 circumstances, or by what means, this 
 happy result would be attained, St. 
 John does not see, and has not at- 
 tempted to explain. It might have 
 been well if students of this book had 
 always followed this wise reserve " 
 (Swete). 
 
 6. Those who share in the first res- 
 urrection, who have the spirit of the 
 martyrs and the faithful, are holy, and 
 therefore blessed. The first resur- 
 rection and second death stand in 
 contrast with each other. By this 
 term is meant being cast into the lake 
 of fire (ver. u). The first death may 
 be met in a joyful way by the Christian 
 (1 Cor. 15 : 55) ; the sccoud death hurts 
 (2 : 11). Those not sharing in the first 
 resurrection, having the spirit of un- 
 godliness in them, are under the power 
 of sin and death. The others are 
 priests of God and of Christ (1:6; 
 5 : 10). No second resurrection is spoken 
 of; if one is conceived of in the vision, 
 it will be found in the living of " the 
 rest of the dead," a resurrection of the 
 ungodly spirit, so that a new era of 
 wickedness begins on the earth. 
 
 7-10. The final victoey over 
 Satan. The millennial period is to 
 end with the utter defeat of the old 
 serpent, fulfilling the prediction of Gen. 
 3 : 15. To enhance the final and de- 
 cisive character of the victory over 
 Satan, John depicts him as loosed from 
 his prison house for a season. The old 
 enemy is then granted a second proba- 
 tion, in order to show that his nature 
 is wholly that of deception. 
 
Ch. XX.] 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 371 
 
 Satan loosed; his last battle and defeat; 
 the final judgment. 
 
 7 AND when the thousand years are 
 expired, "Satan shall be loosed out of 
 
 8 his prison, and shall go out ''to deceive 
 the nations which are in the four 
 quarters of the earth, "Gog and ''Ma- 
 gog, « to gather them together to battle : 
 the number of whom is as the sand of 
 
 9 the sea. 'And they went up on the 
 breadth of the earth, and compassed 
 the camp of the saints about, and b the 
 beloved city: ""and fire came down 
 from God out of heaven and devoured 
 
 10 them. 'And the devil that deceived 
 them was cast into the lake of tire and 
 
 7 And when the thousand yeaTS are 
 finished, Satan will be loosed out of his 
 
 8 prison, and will go out to lead astray 
 the nations that are in the four cor- 
 ners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to 
 gather them together to tlie war, the 
 number of whom is as the sand of the 
 
 9 sea. And tliey went upon the breadth 
 of the earth, and encompassed the 
 camp of the saints, and the beloved 
 city; and tire came down out of heaven, 
 
 10 and devoured them. And the Devil 
 who led them astray was cast into the 
 lake of fire and brimstone, where are 
 
 a Ver. 2. b Ver. 3, 10. c Ezck. 38, 39. d Gen. 10 : 2, 5. ■ e 16 : 14. 
 
 /IM. 8:8; Hab. 1 :6. j Pa. 78 ; 68. A Gun. 19 ; Kzek. 38 ; 22. i Vtr. 8 ; Dan. 7 : 11. 
 
 7. Loosed. Nothing is said of the 
 method of this release. The long 
 reigu of goodness and prosperity may 
 have caused spiritual pride, a neg- 
 lect of watchcare over the soul, a de- 
 pendence upon an outward religion. 
 Whether there \vas a sudden relapse 
 into impiety, or whether it was the 
 result of long periods of a moral and 
 spiritual declension, we may not know. 
 Spiritual forces usually work slowly 
 and silently. At a certain period a 
 vision presents a different spiritual 
 condition in the world, occasioning 
 Satan's release, and occasioned by it. 
 This means renewed conflict, the 
 awakening of latent sinful tendencies, 
 and the manifestation of God's holy 
 agencies. 
 
 8, 9. Four quarters, or, corners. 
 The same expression is used in 7 : 1. 
 These most remote from religious 
 centers are least influenced for good, 
 and are most open to deception. By 
 corners, John indicates those least de- 
 vout, wherever situated. The further 
 statement shows that all parts of the 
 land were open to the temptations of 
 Satan. This shows that the millennial 
 era, with its world-wide triumph of 
 piety, is not destined to eliminate all 
 evil from every man, but that at the 
 very last there will be found, in all 
 quarters, those who can be deceived by 
 Satan. John now turns to Ezekiel, 
 and finds there (Js : I8-23) a similar 
 prophetic picture, which is also an 
 ideal scene. Gog was the prince of a 
 country called Magog, lying, perhaps, 
 north of the Caucasus. They gathered 
 against God's people, and were utterly 
 
 destroyed. In vision something like 
 that takes place at the end of this long 
 period of the church's prosperity. To 
 think here of actual nations lying in 
 remote parts of the earth, is entirely 
 foreign to the thought of the book. "In 
 the rabbinical writings Gog and Magog 
 appear as the enemies of the Messiah " 
 (Swete). Breadth of the earth. 
 (Comp. Hal). 1:6.) Camp. The imagery 
 is that of a fortified camp, rather than a 
 moving army, as in 19 : 14, conforming 
 to the ideal scene in Ezekiel. Be- 
 loved city. The reference is not to 
 the actual city of Jerusalem, nor to 
 the New Jerusalem which has not yet 
 descended from heaven (^i : s-i), but to 
 God's cause on the earth. Jeru.salem 
 was the holy city, the symbol of God's 
 dwelling-place, the prophecy of future 
 blessedness (ps. is : i ; 78 : 68). Nothing 
 more worthy could be found to repre- 
 sent God's cause upon the earth. The 
 two terms, camp and saints, reveal a 
 preparedness on the part of God's 
 people — shown subsequently to be un- 
 conquerable. Fire. Allusion is made 
 to the event in Elijah's history (2 Kings 
 1 : 10, 12)^ ill ready referred to in this 
 vision (11 : 5). 
 
 10. Devil. He is everywhere por- 
 trayed as a person of vast power and 
 malignity, at the head of the op- 
 posing kingdom. Cast down to the 
 earth in 12 : 9, 13, he now is cast into a 
 final and remediless perdition. Com- 
 pare the words of Jesus, JIatt. 25 : 41 ; 
 also Ezek. 38 : 22. Fire. The pun- 
 ishment is described in terms of pliys- 
 ical nenalty. Even if the penalty were 
 purely spiritual for a being with no 
 
372 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 [Oh. XX. 
 
 brimstone, i where the beast and the 
 false prophet are, and ''shall be tor- 
 mented day and night for ever and 
 ever. 
 
 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 
 
 12 for them. <> And I saw the dead, small 
 and great, stand before God ; pand tlie 
 books were opened : and another i book 
 
 also the beast and the false prophet ; 
 and they will be tormented day and 
 night forever and ever. 
 
 11 And I saw a great white throne, and 
 him who sat on it, from whose face the 
 earth and the heaven fled away, and 
 
 12 no place was found for them. And I 
 saw the dead, the great and the small, 
 standing before the throne. And books 
 were opened ; and another book was 
 
 j 19 : 20 ; Matt. 25 : 41. * 14 : 9-11. I Matt. 25 : 31. 
 
 m 6 : 14 ; 2 Peter 3 : 7, 10, 11 ; Ps. 18 : 7-15 ; 114 : 3-5. n 16 : 20 ; Dan. 2 : 35. 
 
 o John 5 : 28, 29 ; Rom. 14 : 10-12 ; 2 Cor. 5 : 10. p Dan. 7 : 10. j 3 : 5 ; 13 : 8 ; Ps. 69 : ! 
 
 physical nature, even theu in vision 
 it would be needful to represent the 
 punishments as physical. All that is 
 essential is that we hold to a fitting 
 and unfailing judgment for Satan and 
 his incorrigible followers. Beast. 
 
 (Comp. 19 : 20.) Tormeilted. (see 14 : 
 
 10, 11.) Vindictiveness is not found 
 in God, but there is a vindication of 
 God's moral government. Forever. 
 Nothing can more plainly indicate the 
 endlessness of the punishment. Re- 
 maining a Satan forever, the penalty, 
 by a moral necessity, goes on forever. 
 If it be said that the beast and false 
 prophet are not, in reality, persons, 
 but only figuratively such, the answer 
 is that all having the nature of the 
 beast and false prophet are meant. 
 These verses indicate the last great 
 struggle of Satan and his forces to 
 overcome the .saints of God, and their 
 utter defeat. The one great teaching 
 is that, beyond the possibility of doubt, 
 the organized forces of evil must ulti- 
 mately perish. This is written for the 
 comfort and assurance of the saints. 
 The final victory may be far in the 
 future, but it is assured. 
 
 11-15. The final judgment of 
 THE WICKED. The day of judgment 
 and of the final consummation has 
 come. Although the kings and their 
 armies have been defeated, and the 
 beast, the fal.se prophet, and Satan 
 himself, have been cast into the lake 
 of fire, the apocalyptic scheme is not 
 yet completed, we have the further 
 vision of the judgment upon the 
 wicked, and upon death itself. We 
 have seen (ver. 6) the honor put upon 
 the martyrs and those who kept their 
 garments unspotted; in contrast we 
 now have t-he judgment upon the un- 
 godly. 
 
 11. John sees in vision a throne, 
 significant of judgment. The great 
 indicates the greatness of the person 
 who acts as judge, and the wide-reach- 
 ing results. The white afiirms the 
 holy cliaracter of the entire proceed- 
 ing. Him that sat refers to God the 
 Father, as in 4 : 2. Although the 
 Father has given all judgment to the 
 Son (Joiin 5 : 22)^ yet all rcccive their 
 judgment before the Father. There is 
 only one throne, that of God and of 
 the Lamb (22 : i). Fled away. This 
 is an enlargement of Ps. 114 : 3-7, and 
 is designed to give an awful impression 
 of the majesty of the judge. The 
 earth and heaven are thought of as so 
 terrified that they vanish utterly, they 
 disappear from view. In 2 Peter 3 : 
 10-12 we have the declaration that the 
 old physical nature of the world will 
 give way to something higher and 
 more glorious. Paul teaches the same 
 in Rom. 8 : 22. There is no place in 
 God's plans for the extinction of matter 
 or soul. 
 
 12. Dead. Is the reference to all 
 the dead or only to the wicked dead ? 
 John has used the word dead in ver. 5 
 as applicable to the ungodly dead alone. 
 The expression great and small, is 
 taken from 19 : 18, referring to the un- 
 godly. In the entire passage there is 
 no word indicative of l)lessedness to 
 come to these dead. These do not sit 
 upon thrones, but stand, like culprits, 
 before the throne ; there is no evi- 
 dence that the names of any of these 
 are found written in the book of 
 
 life. Books. (Comp. Dan. 7 : 20.) In 
 
 the Scriptures books are spoken of as 
 registering human actions (p»- 5«:8; 
 
 Mai. 3 : 16; Matt. 12 : 37). Hengstenbcrg 
 
 declares that the books are those of 
 guilt, condemnation, and death, and 
 
Ch. XX.] 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 373 
 
 was opened, which is the book of life : 
 and the dead were judged out of those 
 things which were written in the books, 
 
 13 'according to their worlis. 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 worlis. 
 
 14 And 'death and hell were cast into 
 the lake of fire. "Tliis is the second 
 
 15 death. And whosoever was not found 
 written in the book of life was cast 
 into the lake of fire. 
 
 op)ened, which is [the book] of life ; 
 and the dead were judged out of the 
 thineis that were written in the books, 
 
 13 according to their works. And the 
 sea gave up the dead who were in it; 
 and death and Hades gave up the dead 
 wlio were in them ; and tiiey were 
 judged every one according to their 
 
 14 works. And death and Hndes were 
 cast into the lake of lire. This is the 
 
 15 second death, the lake of fire. And if 
 any one was not found written in the 
 book of life, he was cast into the lake 
 of fire. 
 
 r 2 : 23 ; Luke 12 : 17, 18 ; Rom. 2 : 6. 
 
 s Hosea 13 : U. 
 
 t 1 Cor. 15 : 26, 54, 55. 
 
 u Vcr. 6 ; 21:8. 
 
 that a name cannot be written both in 
 the books and in the book of life. 
 There is no indication that the book of 
 life is opened for judgment. The only 
 purpose for which it is used is that 
 referred to in ver. 15. For the book 
 of life see Dan. 12 : 1 ; Luke 10 : 20 ; 
 Phil. 4 : 1.3. It is implied that the dead 
 do not have their names in the book of 
 life, which contains only the names of 
 those who are spiritually alive, having 
 that life which is life indeed (i Tim. 
 
 8 : 19). Works. (Comp. Rom. 2 : 6; 2 Cor. 
 
 5 : 10.) There will be gradations in 
 punishment, as we might expect in 
 the government of a wise and reasona- 
 ble moral government. 
 
 13. All the ungodly dead are gath- 
 ered together. Sea not being used in 
 contrast with the land cannot, with 
 certainty, be held to mean the ocean, 
 where men have been drowned. It is 
 often used symbolically to represent 
 the troubled and evil world (is ; i; 21 = 
 1). Associated as it is here with death 
 and hell, rather, hades, both of them 
 enemies of the saints, it may be re- 
 garded as one of the sources from 
 which the ungodly come for judgment. 
 In 6 : 8 death and hades form one of 
 the judgments coming on the world ; 
 powers exercising sway over the 
 wicked, and having the wicked only 
 under their control. This is established 
 by the fact stated in the next verse, 
 that death and hades not only come to 
 an end, but are sent into punishment 
 togetlier with Satan and the beast and 
 false prophet. No mention is made 
 here of the dust of the earth giving up 
 its dead, for the thought expressed is 
 not .so much of a resurrection of bodies 
 from their graves as the gathering to- 
 gether of all the ungodly dead in con- 
 
 scious personality before the throne 
 for judgment. 
 
 14. Death . . . fire. This is the 
 apocalyptic equivalent of the state- 
 ment in 1 Cor. 15 : 26. Compare also 
 Isa. 25 : 8 ; Hosea 13 : 14. Death may- 
 be looked upon as a ruler of hades, 
 the unseen world of departed spirits. 
 These two terms are used, by a figure 
 of speech, for tho.se under their con- 
 trol. The one assured teaching is the 
 final overthrow, in remediless ruin, 
 of all who live and die as subjects of 
 sin and death. Second death, even 
 the lake of fire. The second death 
 stands in contrast with the first resur- 
 rection, which brings largest blessed- 
 ness to all sharing in it. The second 
 death is the state of those who have 
 chosen and confirmed to themselves 
 the death which came upon men 
 through sin. The New Testament 
 term, death, involves far more than 
 the violent wrenching apart of soul 
 and body, involving the complete sep- 
 aration of the soul from its true life 
 of blessing found in God alone ("'»"• 
 6 : 23). Those who reject the salvation 
 that comes through Christ, bring upon 
 themselves a fearful second death. 
 Those who come to the judgment scene 
 here described arc impliedly of the 
 character described in 21 : 8. 
 
 15. Not found . . . lake of fire. 
 Here is the purpose for which the book 
 of life is mentioned in this judgment 
 scene. It was searched that it might 
 be seen if any one's name was not 
 written in it ; he who.se name was not 
 discovered in it was cast into the lake 
 of fire. There is nothing to indicate 
 that the names of any of the dead 
 (vcr. 12) were found written in the book, 
 the whole passage implies the contrary. 
 
374 
 
 EEVELATION 
 
 [Ch. XX. 
 
 Their works were writt€n in the other 
 books, which condemned them. As a 
 further evidence against tliem the book 
 of life was opened, and no record of 
 their names was found there. The 
 doctrine of the resurrection of all the 
 dead is assumed, as asserted in John 
 5 : 28, the vision here given is not for 
 the purpose of giving a full account of 
 the resurrection, but for announcing 
 two truths, the assured blessedness of 
 the believer and the destruction of all 
 whose names are not iu the Lamb'a 
 book of life (i3 : 8). 
 
 Note 1. The first kesurrection. 
 It is contended by Alford, that without 
 any doubt, this reference is to a phys- 
 ical resurrection. Against this is the 
 use of the term "souls" (^o : *), and 
 the absence of any allusion to the 
 resurrection of the bodies. There 
 would also be the entire unfittingness 
 of people with glorified bodies living 
 in fellowship with dying men ; for sin- 
 less men living with men sinful and 
 yielding to temptation. During the 
 millennial era, whatever be its nature, 
 however long it be, sin and death will 
 reign over men to some extent. It is 
 evident that during this period sinful 
 natures yet remain, for at the end of 
 this era wickedness breaks out in a 
 virulent form. 
 
 In this book of visions we would not 
 expect any literal resurrection, but 
 only a symbolic one. The term is used 
 here in a strictly spiritual sense. Jesus 
 used the term in this M'ay in" John 5 : 
 25; here a man comes out of spiritual 
 death into spiritual life. It is a resur- 
 rection. Paul presents a parallel case 
 in Eom. 11 : 15. When the Jewish 
 race, as such, shall turn to the Lord, 
 the effect on the world will be so over- 
 \vhelmiug that it is called a resurrec- 
 tion. At the beginning of this blessed 
 period there is such a widespread in- 
 crease of piety, so completely do the 
 righteous control things that it is as 
 if the martyrs and godly people had 
 risen from their graves and lived and 
 reigned with Christ. The first resur- 
 rection stands in contrast with a second 
 resurrection of like character, though 
 the term is not used. At the end of 
 this period, " the rest of the dead," 
 the ungodly dead rose from their 
 graves, in a figurative way, and lived 
 
 and reigned on the earth. The first 
 resurrection was one of blessedness ; it 
 introduced a holy and righteous period 
 when Christ had large sway. The 
 second resurrection introduced a spir- 
 itually debased and debasing period, 
 when unrighteousness and unholiness 
 had a lai-ge triumph. The first resur- 
 rection meant a reign of Christ, the 
 second the reign of Satan. 
 
 Both the first and second resurrec- 
 tions are within the limits of human 
 history, prior to the general resurrec- 
 tion of all, injplied in ver. 12, when 
 all the Avicked dead are gathered to- 
 gether and judged, and the righteous 
 dead impliedly are rai.^ed and saved, 
 because their names are in the book of 
 life (20 : 15). For a literal resurrec- 
 tion, see Simcox (Cambridge Bible) 
 on 20 : 5. 
 
 Note 2. The millennium. This 
 word means a thousand years j it is 
 mentioned in one place only in the 
 New Testament (R". 20 : s, 3). We 
 would know nothing in reference to it 
 were it not a matter of revelation. 
 Two great features are mentioned as 
 characteristic of this period, and caus- 
 ing it ; the bad influences are restrained 
 by Satan being shut up in prison ; the 
 good influences are reenforced sym- 
 bolically, shown by the resurrection 
 and reign of the martyr spirit. The 
 age will be filled with the good-Sa- 
 maritan spirit; the Bible will be 
 studied, religion will be the business 
 of the world, the church will put on 
 her beautiful robe, the spirit of Christ 
 will leaven the age (»'»"• is : 33). Au- 
 gustine and Wordsworth make it begin 
 with the first coming of Christ, and 
 extend through the Messianic era. 
 Grotius and Bush conceive of it as be- 
 ginning with the fall of the pagan 
 Roman empire, and closing in the 
 sixteenth century. Most interpreters 
 conceive of it as lying entirely in the 
 futtire. It is nowhere asserted that it 
 will come in an abrupt way, bursting 
 upon the world. It will not come as 
 the result of civilization, it will the 
 rather create a higher civilization. 
 Nor must it be understood as a time 
 when all will be holy. At the present 
 time Christ reigns (1 Pet" 3 : tt)- but 
 there is vast opposition to his su- 
 premacy. Doctor llovey speaks of this 
 
Ch. XX.] 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 375 
 
 period iu these words: "This episode 
 of a thousand years does not represent 
 the conversion of all men living on 
 the earth at that time, as the etfect of 
 tlie first resurrection or tiie reign of 
 the saints with Christ. Christ will 
 reign forever, though he has enemies 
 forever. So the saints may reign on 
 earth, though they may have many 
 foes among men. It appears to me, 
 upon a careful review of several 
 prophecies, that Christian writers have 
 often used too strong language in de- 
 picting the glories of the millennial 
 age, and especially in regard to the 
 conversion of all, or of nearly all, the 
 people." 
 
 Occurring iu a book of symbols, we 
 must allow something for imagery. 
 John 1 : 11 interpreted iu a strictly 
 literal way could make Christ's work 
 among men a failure. In the millen- 
 nium good men will hold the reins, 
 Jesus will be King of affairs, the spirit 
 of Christ will leaven society. An in- 
 telligent revival of religion will any- 
 where work out something of a millen- 
 nial nature. Two widely differing 
 views of the millennium are held. 
 The premillennial belief is that the 
 blessed period will be introduced by 
 the personal return of the Lord, and 
 the physical resun^ection of the martyrs. 
 This view is presented by Auberlen 
 and Craven in Lauge's "Commentary." 
 The postmillennial belief is that the 
 advent of Christ does not occur until 
 after the millennium, and the tem- 
 porary revival of wickedness. This 
 view is presented in Dr. David Brown's 
 "The Second Advent." The latter 
 view is, as a whole, better supported by 
 tlie Scriptures. It would be utterly 
 incongruous to think of the glorified 
 Christ and glorified saints living on 
 the earth, at the same time, with mor- 
 tal and imperfect men. The personal 
 advent of Christ must be placed, not 
 at 20 : 6, but at 20 : 11, introducing a 
 resurrection and the blessed state of 
 things symbolized in the two subse- 
 quent chapters. Dr. E. 11. Johnson, 
 in his "Systematic Theology" says: 
 " Less certainty rewards inquiry con- 
 cerning the last things than concern- 
 ing any other department of Christian 
 truth." 
 
 Compare Simcox (Cambridge Bible), 
 on 20 : 4; Swete, "Com.," p. 260 ff.; 
 
 Porter, " Messages of Apocalyptical 
 Writers," p. 279 ff. 
 
 Note 3. The question of Satan 
 AND of evil. It has been an age-long 
 problem how to construct a theodicy, 
 liarmonizing the existence and work 
 of Satan, and the existence of evil, in 
 tiie government of a wise, holy, and 
 almighty God. That there is an eter- 
 nal persoual evil agency, as held in 
 the Persian theology, is uutiiinkable. 
 This would be to affirm the self-exist- 
 ence of Satan, and therefore his god- 
 head. The Scriptures, in their older 
 and newer parts, allude expressly to a 
 dark and malignant being called Satan. 
 Not much is said of his origin or his- 
 tory, a great deal is said of his char- 
 acter and working. Milton makes him 
 an angel of light, falling by his own 
 voluntary transgression, and becoming 
 fixed in wickedness. It is difficult to 
 conceive of a holy being, in an entirely 
 holy universe, falling by an unholy 
 choice, and yet here, in the region of 
 free agency, must be found the only 
 solution that can satisfy the mind. 
 (See John, Timothy.) The Scripturcs re- 
 veal him as i^ersonal, malicious, de- 
 ceptive, seducing the unwary, pervert- 
 ing the true teaching, hindering the 
 spread of the gospel. If a person ask 
 why an almighty God permits Satan 
 to exist, the answer will be found in 
 the larger question why God permits 
 evil men and evil institutions to exist. 
 We do know that temptations resisted 
 give a stronger character, that no one is 
 forced, against his own will, to sin, that 
 God can make even evil plans to work 
 into final good. We are called upon to 
 resist tlie evil one. We are promised 
 all needful help (i cor. lo : is). The 
 question of evil must not be confounded 
 with the personal existence of a Satan ; 
 evil might exist without any headship 
 of evil agencies, as found in Satan. 
 That evil is not from God is evident 
 from this : sin is sin because it is against 
 God's revealed will. The purpose of 
 redemption is to free men from the 
 power of sin, and to limit its province. 
 Satan is powerful, God alone is om- 
 nipotent. We may not pray to Satan, 
 as in India; we may pray to God for 
 help against his wiles. Satan will 
 always remain Satan, and ungodliness 
 will always be found in that corner of 
 
376 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 [Ch. XX. 
 
 the universe known as hell. It is fore- 
 told in vision that his power among 
 men will, in the future, be much more 
 restrained, and in time for the re- 
 deemed will entirely cease. An en- 
 larged presence of the Holy Spirit, 
 increased knowledge of the truth, a 
 deeper acquaintance with the nature 
 and seductiveness of sin — these will 
 cripple his power. He works now 
 through appetite, eye, ear, social cus- 
 toms, perverted business methods, an 
 impure literature. The absence of a 
 physical organization, a sight of God, 
 fellowship with holy beings, the en- 
 lightenment of the moral nature ; 
 these, in time, will beget holiness. 
 Human beings will always remain 
 finite and limited ; but there is a pos- 
 sibility of becoming a perfect member 
 of a perfect society. Satan, the god of 
 this world, will be crushed under foot. 
 He, with ungodly men, will be shut up 
 in God's prison pen. The closing 
 vision of the New Testament gives us 
 a Satan shut up, and a redeemed earth 
 and a rejoicing church. 
 
 Practical Remarks. 
 
 1. The cause of Christ on the earth is 
 not left to take care of itself. All heaven, 
 angels, saints, God, are personally inter- 
 ested in the success of Christ's work here 
 (ver. 1). 
 
 2. Each believer may help to hinder 
 Satan by limiting his power and influence. 
 All unholy thoughts driven away, every 
 sinner won from his evil way, the widen- 
 ing of the kingdom of Christ— these by so 
 much bind Satan (ver. 2). 
 
 3. It is a glad thing to know that Christ, 
 who has a right to reign, will gain the 
 supremacy at last. The Christian need 
 not despair. Christianity's best days are 
 in the future (ver. 3). 
 
 4. Oftentimes it does not pay, in an out- 
 ward way, to be a devoted Christian. 
 Doors of advancement are often closed ; 
 prosperity, seemingly, is for Satan's fol- 
 lowers, in time all this will be reversed 
 (ver. 4). 
 
 .5. Persons passing out of life take their 
 characters with them. The same distinc- 
 tions that prevail among the living obtain 
 also among the dead. Life decides the 
 destiny (ver. 5). 
 
 6. A person born but once dies twice ; a 
 person born twice dies but once. The 
 tirst death is but momentary, and may be 
 painless ; the second death is continuous, 
 and hurts the soul (ver. 6). 
 
 7. The future is wisely hidden from us. 
 All things are open to God and known by 
 him. We may well permit God to lead 
 us (ver. 7). 
 
 8. No weapon that is formed against 
 God can prosper. All God's foes, whether 
 physical, social, intellectual, or philo- 
 sophical, must go down in utter defeat. 
 In the earthly struggles, one with God 
 makes the majority (ver. 8). 
 
 9. The fire of Elijah may consume God's 
 enemies. Men like Carey, Booth, Moody, 
 may equally destroy Satan's kingdom by 
 introducing new methods of work and 
 stimulating Christians to larger lives 
 (ver. 9). 
 
 10. It is a great mistake when Satan is 
 conceived of as simply a figure of speech. 
 Jesus reveals him as a malignant being, 
 with large p)owers of temptation and de- 
 ception. Jesus is the truth ; Satan is a 
 falsehood (ver. 10). 
 
 11. The moral inequalities of the pres- 
 ent age call for a judgment in the future. 
 The thought of a just judgment should 
 be a source of alarm to the impenitent ; 
 the believer may face the white throne 
 in confidence (ver. 11 ; Rom. 8:1). 
 
 12. Every man \vrites a life in his own 
 character, in the influence upon otliers, 
 and in God's memory. There is no such 
 thing as a final forgetfulness (ver. 12). 
 
 13. Every man lives a solitary life- 
 born, living, dying, judged alone. If a 
 man be condemned, it is his own works 
 that will condemn him. No man can 
 complain of unfairness (ver. 13). 
 
 14. Jesus came to destroy death— phys- 
 ical and spiritual. Not extinction of 
 being, but extinction of hope, makes up 
 the second death (ver. 14). 
 
 15. The church record may have the 
 names of the unsaved. The church may 
 mistakenly expel a good Christian. The 
 book of life, under the control of Jesus, 
 has, without mistake, the names of those 
 who love the Lord (ver. 15). 
 
 16. The book does not save— Jesus does. 
 It reveals character— it is the real Hall of 
 Fame (ver. 15). 
 
Ch. XXI.] 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 377 
 
 The new heaven and the new earth and the 
 
 new Jerusalem. 
 21 AND » I saw a uew heaven aud a new 
 earth : r for the first heaven aud the 
 first earth were passed away; aud there 
 was no more sea. 
 2 And I John saw ' the holy city, New 
 Jerusalem, coming down from God out 
 
 21 AND I saw a new heaven and a new 
 earth ; for the first heaven and the first 
 earth passed away, and the sea is no 
 more. 
 2 And I saw the holy city, uew Jeru- 
 salem, coming down out of heaven 
 
 z Isa. 65 ; n ; 66 : 22 ; 2 Peter 3 : 13. 
 
 i/ 20 : U ; Isa. 24 : 18, 19. 
 
 3 : 12 ; Pi. 48 : 1-3. 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 The vision of the new heaven 
 AND THE NEW EARTH. With the be- 
 ginning of this closing section, em- 
 bracing the last two chapters, we pass 
 from fierce battles and scourges into a 
 scene of everlasting peace. The mar- 
 riage of the Lamb has been consum- 
 mated, Satan bound forever, the wicked 
 dead judged, and death and hades de- 
 stroyed. In these chapters John de- 
 scribes the final and complete estab- 
 lishment of Christ's kingdom. We 
 have the vision of the new heaven and 
 uew earth (^er. i-s); then, as the center 
 and capital of the new creation, we 
 have a vision of the new Jerusalem 
 
 (ver. 9-27). 
 
 1-8. The new heaven and new 
 
 EARTH. 
 
 1. New relates not so much to time 
 as to quality ; it is something of finer 
 mold than the world has ever seen. 
 The heaven aud earth are recreated. 
 This does not mean that the present 
 worldly structure is to be destroyed, 
 but so changed that it will seem like a 
 new domicile for man — a glorified 
 residence for glorified men. This 
 change will consist largely in the 
 elimination of evil. In the present 
 world, if moral evil were removed, it 
 would be a vestibule of heaven. Isaiah 
 had spoken of this time (25 : 6-s ; 65 : 17-25, 
 which read). Isaiah describes what the 
 gospel will accomplish ; John the 
 dimensions and quality of Christ's 
 kingdom when the work is done. This 
 is the "regeneration" spoken of in 
 Matt. 19 : 28, and that change spoken 
 of in Acts 3 : 21. There is the removal 
 of the imperfect and transitory, and 
 the introduction of that which cannot 
 be shaken (Heb. 12 : 26, 27). We may in- 
 troduce here the words of Peter (2 Peter 
 s : 10-12). It may be asked whether this 
 world itself is to be part of the home 
 of the redeemed. The Scriptures are 
 
 not given us as a geography. Paul 
 speaks of a groaning and a glorifica- 
 tion of nature ( Kom. 8 : ji ). It is not un- 
 reasonable to think that a world pro- 
 nounced " good " (Geu. 1 : 31)^ curscd by 
 sin, should itself be part of the in- 
 heritance of God's people. Body, 
 mind, heart, associations, will be glori- 
 fied for the saints ; it may also be that 
 the world made through Christ (John 
 1 : 3) will share in the manifested glory 
 of Christ. It is not a matter of im- 
 portance to know where heaven is ; it 
 is where Christ is. Heaven is a place ; 
 it is also a condition, inasmuch as there 
 must be heavenliness to make heaven. 
 Sea. To the Hebrew the sea was not 
 a delight ; it was the picture of unrest, 
 disturbance, separation. It was the 
 sea which surrounded John and kept 
 him prisoner in Patmos. There will 
 be no such sea as that from which the 
 beast came (is : i). This statement 
 means tliat in the place we call heaven 
 the saints can have fellowship without 
 hindrance. There will be peace and 
 delight there, indicated by the river 
 of 22 : 1 ; but nothing violent — made 
 a terror by the storm. The Hebrews 
 were not a seafaring people. 
 
 2. This verse describes what will be 
 in the new heaven and earth. There 
 will be not a wilderness, nor saints 
 living separate from each other, but 
 the complex, associated life of the city. 
 It is a city great and glorious, the 
 chief characteristic of which is, it is 
 holy. The great struggle among men 
 is to purify the city which controls the 
 national life. This city comes from 
 God, fitting origin for that which is to 
 be the center of helpfid influences for 
 a new world. It is new, fitting the 
 new order of things, and is in contrast 
 with the old Jerusalem. This vision 
 of Jerusalem produces, in a condensed 
 and transfigured form, the vision given 
 in Ezekiel. John sees the glorified 
 city coming as the bride of the Lamb. 
 
578 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 [Ch. XXI. 
 
 of heaven, prepared » as a bride adorned 
 
 3 for her husband. And I heard a great 
 voice out of heaven saying, Beliold, 
 bthe tabernacle of God is with men, 
 and he will dwell with them, "and 
 they shall be his people, and God him- 
 self shall be with them, and be their 
 
 4 God. <* And ' God shall wij* away all 
 tears from their eyes ' [Isa. xxv. 8J ; and 
 •there shall be no more death, 'neither 
 sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there 
 be any more pain : s for the former 
 things are passed away. 
 
 5 And ''he that sat upon the throne 
 said, i Behold, I make all things new. 
 
 And he said unto me, Write : for 
 k these words are true and faithful. 
 
 from God, prepared as a bride adorned 
 
 3 for her husband. And I heard a great 
 voice out of the throne, .saying, Be- 
 hold, the tabernacle of God is with 
 men, and he will dwell with them, and 
 they will be his people, and God him- 
 self will be with them as their God. 
 
 4 And he will wipe away every tear 
 from their eyes; and death will be no 
 more, nor will mourning, nor crying, 
 nor pain be any more; because the 
 
 5 first things are passed away. And he 
 who sat upon the throne said, Behold, 
 I make all things new. And he says, 
 Write; because these words are faith- 
 
 o 19 : 7, 8 I Eph. 5 : 25-27. b Ezek. 37 : 28 ; 2 Cor. 6 : 16. c Jer. 31 : 33 ; Zech. 8 : 8. 
 
 d 7 : 17 ; Isa. 25 : 8. e 20 : U ; 22 : 3. / Isa. 35 : 10 ; 65 ; 19. 
 
 g 2 Cor. 6 : 17 ; 2 Peter 3 : 10 ; 1 John 2 ; 17. ft 4 : 2, 9 ; 5 ; 1 ; 20 : 11. 
 
 i Isa. 42 : 9 ; « : 19. * 19 : 9. 
 
 He identifies the bride with the holy 
 city, the dwelling-place of the bride. 
 The new Jerusalem will be the prod- 
 uct of the redemptive forces which 
 God .set at work. Bride. The beauty 
 of the city is tlius described. In the 
 Old Testament times God desired Jeru- 
 salem, representing God's professed 
 people, to be his bride, but the people 
 were indifferent and rebellious (isa. 
 62 : 5). In the Gospels Jesus is the 
 bridegroom (Eph. 5 : 23 ; Coi. 1 : 18). God's 
 redeemed people constitute the bride 
 of Christ spoken of sometimes as the 
 church, and sometimes as the holy 
 city. At present the church is im- 
 perfect; it will be complete (Eph. 5: 
 
 25-27). 
 
 3. Great voice. This is best un- 
 derstood as the voice of God and of the 
 Lamb, who are so united as to have 
 one throne (22 : 1). The beatific state 
 of the city will be due to the presence 
 of God in it. The symbolism of the 
 ancient tabernacle will be realized. 
 God will be with men. It will be a 
 glorified humanity, in a renovated 
 earth, consisting not of Jews only, 
 but of all peoples, (comp. 7 : 15-n.) The 
 old tabernacle served its purpose in 
 presenting the promise that God would 
 dwell among men and commune with 
 them (Exod. 29 : 42-46). The New Testa- 
 ment gives an entrance into the holiest 
 (Heb. 10 ; 19), the witness of the Holy 
 Spirit (Kom. 8:14-16), and the divine 
 sonship (1 John 3 1). The crowning 
 glory of heaven will be not the exemp- 
 
 tion from physical ills, but the fellow- 
 ship with God through Christ. God 
 will not be separated from men by 
 priests and veils, not be concealed in a 
 secluded holy of holies, but God's 
 people will become the temple and 
 tabernacle of the living God. 
 
 4. Details of the blessed life are 
 mentioned. Tears (isa. 25 : 8); death 
 (20:14); nioumiiig (isa.65:io); cry- 
 ing (Isa. 65 : 19). It is implied that the 
 opposites of these, in their fulness, will 
 lie there. In the present life sorrows, 
 disappointments, burdens, limitations 
 of lite, bodily afflictions (Rom. s : 23), 
 conflicts in the inner life (Rom. 7 : i»), 
 these will exist only in remembrance. 
 Trials and limitations belong to the 
 first things ; the new things have 
 come to remain. 
 
 5. He . . . throne, (comp. 19 : 11-16; 
 
 22 : 1). New. (Comp. Isa. 43 : 19 ; 2 Cor. 
 
 5 : 17.) The entire plan of God was 
 working toward this consummation. 
 The new heaven and earth, the bodies 
 of the saints, the moral natures, the 
 •social relations, all will be adjusted to 
 each other. The old physical nature 
 of men and of the world would be out 
 of harmony with the highest life. 
 Blinded minds, indwelling passions, 
 and selfishness would at once destroy 
 any holy city. Jesus alludes to tlie 
 differences between the present and 
 future existence (.Matt. 22 : so ,■ Luke 20 : 
 
 34-36). Faithful. (Comp. 19 : 11.) 
 
 6. 7. There were seven angels of 
 judgment, each one announcing dis- 
 
Ch. XXI.] 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 379 
 
 6 And he said uuto me, • It is done. 
 "I am Alpha aud Omega, the begin- 
 ning and the end. "I will give unto 
 him that is athirst "of the fountain of 
 
 7 the water of life p freely. i He that 
 overcometh 'shall inherit all things; 
 and 'I will be his God, and he shall be 
 
 8 my son. ' But the fearful, aud unbe- 
 lieving, and the abominable, and mur- 
 derers, and whoremongers, and sorcer- 
 ers, and idolaters, and " all liars, shall 
 have their part in »the lake which 
 burueth with fire aud brimstone : which 
 is the second death. 
 
 6 ful and true. And he said to me, They 
 have come to pass. I am the Alpha 
 and the Omega, the beginning and tlie 
 end. 1 will give to him that thirsts, of 
 the fountain of the water of life freely. 
 
 7 He that overcomes shall inherit these 
 things; and I will be to him a God; 
 
 8 and he shall be to me a son. But for 
 the fearful, and unbelieving, and de- 
 tiled with abominations, and murder- 
 ers, and fornicators, and sorcerers, and 
 idolaters, and all the liars, their part 
 shall be in the lake which burns with 
 fire and brimstone, which is the second 
 death. 
 
 I 16 : 17. 1 
 
 O F8. S6 : 9 ; Jer. 2 : 13 
 
 » 7 : 17 ; 22 : 17 ; Isa. 12 ; 3 ; 55 : 1-3 ; John 4 : 10, 14 ; 7 : 37, 38. 
 p 1 Cor. 2:12. q 2 : 11. r Isa. 65 : 9 ; Matt. 19 : 29 i 1 Cor. 3 : 21-2 
 
 s Ver. 3 ; Zeoh. 8 ; 8 ; Rom. 8 : 15-17 ; Heb. 8 : 10. 
 t 22 : 15 ; 1 Cor. 6 : 9, 10 ; Gal. 5 : 19-21 ; Eph. 5 : 5 ; 1 Tim. 1:9; Heb. 12 : 14. 
 M Ver. 27 : Rom. 1 : 25. a; 19 : 20 : 20 : 14, 15. 
 
 aster. Then followed " It is done " 
 (16 : 17-19). In the two following chap- 
 ters was a description of the fall of 
 Babylon. In contrast we have seven 
 visions, showing the progress of God's 
 kingdom ; the ideal picture of the 
 Messiah (i9 ; ii-is); the call to the sup- 
 per (ver. 17, 18); the dcstructiou of the 
 beast and false prophet (ver. 19-21); Satan 
 imprisoned (20:1-3); enemies crushed 
 (ver. 4-10); judgment upon the wicked 
 (ver. 11-18); the renovation of tlie earth 
 (20 ; 1-8). Then come the words, It is 
 done, followed by a de.scription of 
 the new Jerusalem. Alpha. (seei:8.) 
 Two characteristics of the inhabitants 
 of the city are given. Thirsty. On 
 earth, having drunk of God's grace, 
 deeper desires are awakened ; these 
 will now be satisfied fully. Heaven is 
 a place of enlarging life, of increased 
 desire aud increa.sed satisfaction; it is 
 a place of growth in all directions. 
 Overcometh. The same term is used 
 in the messages to the churches (ohapa. 
 II, III). The Christian life involves 
 longing and earnestness, and begets a 
 struggle. Low views of life, pas.sions 
 within, Satanic temptations necessitate 
 conflicts. (See Paul's words in 2 Tim. 
 4:7,8; 1 Cor. 9 : 26, 27; Eph. fi : 10-18). 
 Son. Then will be the perfect fulfil- 
 ment of 2 Sam. 7 : 14 ; Zech. 8 : 8. 
 
 8. We have a statement in contrast 
 with the preceding, announcing the 
 penalty upon the ungodly. The ex- 
 eluded are placed in four groups of 
 two each, described according to their 
 characteristic sins. Fearful. The 
 
 cowardly in heart, shrinking from the 
 struggle involved in the Christian life. 
 Unbelieving. Those not trusting 
 aud obeying Christ; the.se two are not 
 the ijositively bad, but they are not 
 pronounced for righteousness. Abom- 
 inable. Those practising foul and 
 unclean rites in connection with idol 
 worship. Idolaters. Persons ma- 
 king idols of the world, gold, or self. 
 Liars. Kinsmen of Satan, who is a 
 liar, distorting a true view of tilings 
 (johu 8 : 44). There mu.st come a time 
 of final separation between the bad 
 and the good. Tlie wicked are ex- 
 cluded from heaven because of their 
 unfitness to dwell there. To be in a 
 l)lace of absolute lioliness would be 
 only an aggravation to the ungodly. 
 There is no hint here that there will 
 be any end to their exclusion. Eternal 
 punishment springs, not from God's 
 omnipotence, but from the nature of 
 God, and the character of sin. Lake. 
 
 (See 20:14.) Death. (See 2 : 11 ; 20: 
 6, 14.) 
 
 9-27. Vision of the NEVi^ Jeru- 
 salem. The center of the new earth 
 is a holy city. Tlie old Jerusalem was 
 the joy of tlie Jewish world (?■''• 48). 
 This is a city where God makes liis 
 dwelling-place with men. Tlieii fol- 
 lows a minute description of the city, 
 clothed in .symbolic forms. Under 
 these material features are spiritual 
 realities. We have the structure and 
 plan of the city (ver. 11-23); the holy 
 ciiaracter of the city (ver. 24-27); tlie 
 felicity of the life within (22 : 1-5). 
 
380 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 [Ch. XXI. 
 
 9 And there came unto me one of J the 
 seven angels which had the seven vials 
 full of the seven last plagues, and 
 talked with me, saying, Come hither, 
 I will show thee '■ the bride, the Lamb's 
 wife. 
 
 10 And he carried me awaj' "in the 
 spirit to a great and high mountain, 
 and showed me ^that great city, the 
 holy Jerusalem, descending out of 
 heaven from God, ' having the glory of 
 
 11 God. And her light was like unto a 
 stone most precious, even like a jasper 
 
 12 stone, clear as crystal ; and had ^ a 
 wall great and high, and had « twelve 
 gates, and at the gates twelve angels, 
 and names written thereon, which are 
 the names of the twelve tribes of the 
 
 13 children of Israel : on the east three 
 gates ; on the north three gates ; on 
 the south three gates ; and on the west 
 
 14 three gates. And the wall of the city 
 
 9 And there came one from among the 
 seven angels, who had the seven bowls 
 full of the seven last plagues, and 
 spoke with me, saying. Come hither; I 
 will show thee the bride, the wife of 
 
 10 the Lamb. And he carried me away 
 in the spirit to a great and high moun- 
 tain, and showed me the holy city Je- 
 rusalem, coming down out of heaven 
 
 11 from God, having the glory of God ; 
 her luminary like a most precious 
 stone, as it were a jasper stone, clear 
 
 12 as crystal ; having a wall great and 
 high ; having twelve gates, and at the 
 gates twelve angels, and names written 
 thereon, which are the names of the 
 
 13 twelve tribes of the sons of Israel ; on 
 the east were three gates, and on the 
 north three gates, and on the south 
 three gates, and on the west three 
 
 14 gates. And the wall of the city had 
 
 y 
 
 15:1 
 
 ,7 
 
 n 
 
 1. 
 
 
 g 
 
 Ver. 
 
 2; 19: 
 
 7. 
 
 
 a 17 
 
 ; 3 
 
 ; Ezek 
 
 40 
 
 2. 
 
 
 b Ver. 
 
 2; Ezek 
 
 48. 
 
 c 
 
 Ver. 
 
 22, 
 
 23; 
 
 22 
 
 5 
 
 Isa 
 
 4:5 
 
 • 60: 1 
 
 3, 19 
 
 20 
 
 Kz 
 
 ek. 
 
 48 : 35. 
 
 
 d ■V 
 
 er 
 
 17-20 
 
 , Isa. 26 
 
 1. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 e Ver. 21 
 
 25; Ii 
 
 J. 54: 
 
 12; 
 
 60 
 
 18 
 
 ; Ezek. 
 
 48 
 
 31-34. 
 
 
 
 
 
 9. Angels. There is the widest 
 possible contrast between the woes de- 
 scribed by the seven bowls, and this 
 vision revealed by one of the same 
 angels who poured out the bowls. lie 
 had showed John the vision of the 
 harlot— Babylon the great (n : i-s). 
 In that vision the woman represents 
 the worldly city ; here the woman 
 represents the bride, the Lamb's wife, 
 the holy city. Harlot and Lamb's 
 wife, Babylon and Jerusalem, stand in 
 contrast with each other. "The holy 
 city and the bride are figurative de- 
 scriptions of the glorified cause of 
 Christ. 
 
 10, 11. There is a contrast between 
 this vision and that in 17 : 3. There 
 it was a wilderness ; here it is a moun- 
 tain, great and high. The city must 
 be conceived of, not as on the moun- 
 tain, but near it. John has a position, 
 in the vision, on the mountain, that so 
 he may have a perfect view of it. 
 Compare a parallel vision in Ezek. 
 40 : 1, 2. We have now a complete 
 description of the city, of which we 
 had a glimpse in ver. 2. Glory. 
 God's abiding presence was the light 
 
 of the city (^er. 23. Comp. Isa. 60 : 19.) 
 
 Allusion may be had to the cloud of 
 glory which filled the tabernacle (Exod. 
 40 : 34). The brilliancy of the light is 
 like the effulgence of a precious stone, 
 probably the diamond. Light is the 
 
 symbol of joy, purity, the absence of 
 imperfection. 
 
 12, 13. Being an Oriental city it is 
 presented to us with the features that 
 belong to such a city. To show that 
 security reigns in the city there must 
 be walls great and high, assuring 
 the absolute safety that Jesus speaks 
 of in John 10 : 29. The description is 
 based upon Ezek. 48 : 30-35. The 
 twelve gates are reminders of the 
 encampment about the tabernacle, the 
 place of worship in the wilderness. 
 The angels are additional symbols of 
 protection. Upon the gates as on the 
 stones of the ephod (Exod. 28 : 9), on the 
 breastplate of the high priest (Exod. 39 : 
 1*) were written the names of the twelve 
 tribes. This does not mean that the 
 twelve tribes will have any i>reccdence 
 in the glorified life, for all distinctions 
 are wiped away. John is moving here 
 in the region of Old Testament im- 
 agery, and therefore the twelve tribes 
 stand for the entire people of God. 
 For the order in which the names stand 
 see one list in Ezek. 48 ; for a slightly 
 different order see Num. 2 : 1-21. From 
 the fiict that the city faces the four 
 quarters, the universal character of 
 the new Jerusalem may be inferred. 
 
 14. This must be understood of twelve 
 courses making one foundation. The 
 apostles occupy an important place in 
 the New Testament, their teachings 
 
Ch. XXI.] 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 381 
 
 had twelve ' foundations, and k iu them 
 the names of the twelve apostles of the 
 Lamb. 
 
 15- And he that talked with me i" had a 
 golden reed to measure the city, and 
 the gates thereof, and the wall there- 
 
 IC of. A.ud the city lieth ' foursquare, and 
 the length is as large as the breadth : 
 and he measured the city with the reed, 
 1= twelve thousand furlongs. The length 
 and the breadth and the height of it 
 
 17 are equal. 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. 
 
 18 And the building of the wall of it 
 was 0/ jasper: and the city \uas pure 
 
 19 gold, like unto clear glass. '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 
 
 twelve foundations, and on them 
 twelve names of the twelve apostles 
 of the Lamb. 
 
 15 And he who spoke with me had a 
 golden reed for a measure to measure 
 the city, and its gates, and itij wall. 
 
 IG .-^nd the city lits foursquare, and its 
 length is as great as the breadth. And 
 he measured the city with the reed, 
 twelve thousand furlongs ; the length, 
 and the breadth, and the height of it 
 
 17 are equal. And he measured its wall 
 a hundred and forty-four cubits, the 
 measure of a man, that is, of an angel. 
 
 18 And the material of its wall was 
 jasper; and the city was pure gold, 
 
 19 like pure glass. The foundations of 
 the wall of the city were adorned with 
 every precious stoue. The first founda- 
 tion was jasper ; the second, sapphire ; 
 the third, chalcedony ; the fourth, em- 
 
 / Ver. 19-21 ; Isa. 54 : 11 
 t Ezek. 48 : 16, 20. 
 
 Heb. 11 : 10. g Eph. 2 : 20. A 11 : 1, 2 ; Ezek. 40 : 3 ; Zech. 
 
 k Ezek. 48 : 8-19. L Job 28 : 16-19 ; Frov. 3 : 15 ; Isa. 54 : 11. 
 
 may be regarded as the foundation of 
 the church (Eph. 2 : 20). The twelve 
 tribes and the twelve apostles equal in 
 number the twenty-four elders, stand- 
 ing for the universal kingdom of God 
 in the Old and New Testament times. 
 Tiirough human agencies and through 
 fundamental doctrines the kingdom of 
 God was founded and grew. 
 
 15. The magnitude of the kingdom 
 of God is given through recorded 
 measurements. The city, the wall, the 
 gates are measured. This elaborate 
 measuring is designed to impress the 
 mind with the reality, the magnitude 
 of the life beyond. It is not a dream, 
 a vision merely, it is an actual some- 
 thing that can be measured. The 
 glorified existence is as real as if it 
 could be measured. It is symbolic, 
 but speaks of real things. 
 
 16, 17. The city forms a perfect 
 cube, about fifteen hundred miles in 
 each dimension or in the entire circuit. 
 Inasmuch as the measurement and the 
 numbers are symbolical, it is of no 
 great importance to determine to which 
 of these this number refers. The plain 
 meaning seems to be that the city is 
 immense in extent, surpassing any- 
 tliing that the world had seen ; and 
 it was cubical iu shape, typical of 
 its perfect nature. There may be a 
 reference to the holy of holies, which 
 was a perfect cube. The measuring 
 asserts that all things have been brought 
 
 into exact conformity with God's will, 
 pledges God's guardianship of the 
 minutest parts of the city, and reveals 
 the city as surpassing iu size anything 
 the mind of man had conceived. No 
 such city has ever been seen, nor is 
 conceivable, but the meaning conveyed 
 is plain and comforting. God's cause 
 in the future will be glorious and per- 
 fect. Wall. It is probable that the 
 thickness of the wall is here given, not 
 the height. The thought expressed is 
 that of perfect security against all as- 
 saults. The almightiness, the love, 
 the wisdom of God surround it. 
 Angel. In the act of measuring the 
 method of the angel is as if a man had 
 measured it, the city is described under 
 human figures (zech. 2 : 5). The teaching 
 by symbol is that heaven is beyond the 
 comprehension of human thought (1 
 
 Cor. 2:9). 
 
 18. The vision exhausts figurative 
 language in describing the glory of 
 the city. Gold. The city is described 
 as pure gold, and yet so unlike that of 
 earth, transfigured and glorified, that 
 it is transparent, like glass. 
 
 19, 20. We have a further descrip- 
 tion of the foundations, the materials 
 of which they are composed. Jasper. 
 Probably the diamond. Sapphire. 
 Probably the modern lapis lazuli, of a 
 clear blue color and very precious. 
 Chalcedony. Probably" an agate, 
 sky blue, with stripes of other colors, 
 
382 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 [Ch. XXI, 
 
 20 emerald ; the fifth, sardonyx ; the 
 sixth, sardius ; the seventh, chrysolite ; 
 the eighth, beryl ; the ninth, a topaz ; 
 the tenth, achrysoprasus ; the eleventh, 
 a jacinth; the twelith, an amethyst. 
 
 21 And the twelve gates tvere twelve 
 pearls ; every several gate was of one 
 pearl: ■» and the street of the city was 
 pure gold, as it were transparent glass. 
 
 22 "And I saw no temple therein: "for 
 the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb 
 
 23 are the temple of it. PAud the city 
 had uo need of the sun, neither of the 
 moon, to shine iji it : i for the glory of 
 God did lighten it, ■■ and the Lamb is 
 the light thereof. 
 
 20 erald ; the fifth, sardonyx ; the sixth, 
 sardius ; the seventh, chrysolite ; the 
 eighth, beryl ; the ninth, topaz ; the 
 tenth, chrysoprasus ; the eleventh, 
 
 21 hyacinth ; the twelfth, amethyst. And 
 the twelve gates were twelve pearls; 
 each several gate was of one pearl ; 
 and the street of the city was pure 
 
 22 gold, as transparent glass. 'And a tem- 
 ple I saw not in it; for the Lord, God, 
 the Almighty, is its temple, and the 
 
 23 Lamb. And the city has no need of 
 the sun, nor of the moon, to shine on 
 it ; for the glory of God lightened it, 
 
 m 22 : 2 ; Isa. 60 : 17, 18. n Isa. 66 : 1 ; John 4 : 23. o Ver. 3. 
 p 22 : 5; Isa. 24 : 23 ; 60 : 19, 20. q Ver. 11 ; 18 : 1 ; Isa. 2 : 19, 21 ; Hab. 3:3. r John 8 : 12. 
 
 brought from Chalcedony. Emerald. 
 The same as the modern stone, of a 
 green color. Sardonyx. A kind of 
 onyx, valued for its use in engraving 
 into cameos. Sardius. Probably our 
 carnelian. Chrysolite. A variety 
 of the gem known as the topaz, of 
 yellow color. Beryl. A variety of 
 emerald, of bluish green color, like 
 the pure sea. Topaz. Probably of 
 a yellow-green color. Chrysoprase. 
 Probably a variety of the emerald, of 
 a yellowish, pale green color. Jacinth. 
 Probably a stone of yellow amber color. 
 Amethyst. Probably the purple 
 stone now known by that name. All 
 the precious stones referred to in the 
 Scriptures are uanied to give the im- 
 pression of the superior glory of the 
 heavenly city. It is impossible to give 
 a separate spiritual meaning to each 
 of these foundation stones, or to assign 
 to each of these stones the name of an 
 apostle. God builds the city that hath 
 foundations (Heb. ii : lo), not with com- 
 mon stones, but with the rarest and 
 most precious stones. Heaven far sur- 
 passes earth. 
 
 21. The entire Scripture emphasizes 
 the surpassing splendor of the city. 
 Pearl. Such entrances are fitting 
 portals for such a city. Street. The 
 singular is employed for the entire 
 street system of the city. In so large 
 a city there must be many streets. 
 
 22. No temple. In Jerusalem the 
 central place was the temple. In Ezek- 
 iel's vision the vast proportions of the 
 temple formed a conspicuous part ; its 
 gigantic dimensions showed that all 
 was figurative. The present vision 
 passes on to a higher state of things. 
 
 The physical temple is replaced by a 
 far more glorious spiritual temple. 
 The inhabitants need no fixed outward 
 place of worship, for God and the 
 Lamb are ever present with them. 
 The glory of God fills the city, and 
 the city itself is the bride of the Lamb. 
 The entire city, shown by its cubical 
 form, is a holy of holies, in which each 
 one dwells. Temples, meeting-houses, 
 and stated times of worship are not need- 
 ful here. Heaven has no temple, for it is 
 all temple, and holiest of all, its entire 
 life is worship. The golden city is 
 the reality, of which the old temple 
 and tabernacle were outward symbols. 
 All that the temple symbolized, in its 
 highest ideal, is realized by those whose 
 lives are hidden with Christ in God 
 (Col. 3: 3) J who abide in God himself 
 (1 John 4 : 16). A Country on the earth 
 without a place of worship would be a 
 Sodom. 
 
 23. Sun. This is the realization 
 of Isaiah's prediction in Isa. 60 : 19, 
 20. All other light is without luster 
 in comparison with the brilliancy of 
 the glory of God and of Christ. The 
 glory of God is the sun which illumines 
 the New Jerusalem, and his light is 
 reflected from the Lamb, who is the 
 eliulgence of the Father's glory (Heb. 
 1:3). All this would not implj', if the 
 earth were a part of the inheritance of 
 the redeemed, that sun, moon, and 
 stars were blotted out, but that the 
 moral light and glory surpass every- 
 thing else. A city in which all have 
 the spiritual life of a Judson or a 
 Carey, freed from their imperfections, 
 would be a brilliantly illumined city. 
 
 24. This description is based entirely 
 
Ch. XXI.] 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 383 
 
 24 'And the nations of them which are 
 saved 'shall walk in the light of it: 
 "and the kings of the earth do bring 
 
 25 their glory and honour into it. 'And 
 the gates of it shall not be shut at all 
 by day: for y there shall be no night 
 
 26 there. And they shall bring the glory 
 and honour of the nations into it. 
 
 27 And ' there shall in no wise enter into 
 it any thing that delileth, "neither 
 whatsoever worketh abomination, i- or 
 inaketh a lie : but tliey which are 
 written in the Lamb's <= book of life. 
 
 24 and its lamp is the Lamb. And the 
 nations will walk by its light ; and the 
 kings of the earth bring their glory 
 
 25 into it. And its gates will not be shut 
 by day ; for there will be no night 
 
 26 there ; and they will bring the glory 
 and the honor of the nations into it. 
 
 27 And there shall not enter into it any 
 thing unclean, or he that works abom- 
 ination and falsehood ; but only they 
 who are written in the Lamb's book of 
 life. 
 
 < 22 : 2 ; Ps. 22 : 27 ; Isa. 60 : 3 ; 66 : 12, 18. t Isa. 2 : 5. 
 
 u P3. 72 . 10, 11 ; Isa. 60 : 3-10, 13 ; 66 : 11, 12. x Isa. 60 : 11. » 22 : 5 ; Isa. 60 : 20; Zech. U : 6, 7. 
 
 z 22 : 14, 15 ; Lev. 13 : 46 ; Num. 5:3; Ps. 101 : 8 ; Isa. 35 ; 8 ; 52 : 1 ; 60 : 21 ; Joel 3 : 17. 
 
 a 17 : 4, 5. b Ver. 8 ; 22 : 15. c 3 ; 5 ; 13 ; 8 ; 20 ; 12 ; Phil. 4 : 3. 
 
 upon the language of Old Testament 
 prophecy ; it is the fulfilment of Isa. 
 60 : 3, 11, 19. We are not to interpret 
 this as if, besides the glorified saints in 
 the holy city, there shall still he dwell- 
 ing on the renewed earth nations or- 
 ganized under kings who shall, from 
 time to time, visit the holy city, and 
 bring their treasures into it, and be 
 served by means of the influence of the 
 holy city. The final cousummatioii has 
 taken place, and on this renewed earth 
 there shall be no other inhabitants ex- 
 cept the glorified saints, who compose 
 the holy city Jerusalem, constituting 
 the bride of the Lamb (21 : 9). The 
 Gentiles will be among the glorified 
 saints in the city, and among them 
 those who ruled as kings. There is no 
 Scripture foundation for the view that 
 nations shall dwell on the renewed 
 earth outside the holy city, and not 
 belonging to its inhabitants. Such a 
 view would be in contradiction of the 
 establishment of a new earth wherein 
 dwells righteousness. It would also 
 contradict the statement in ver. 27, 
 that none but the redeemed find en- 
 trance within the gates. For the 
 prophets to declare tliat kings brought 
 their presents into the old Jerusalem, 
 would be to show the triumph of God's 
 kingdom. The same figure is em- 
 ployed here to illustrate the final 
 supremacy of the cause of Christ. The 
 holy city stands for a redeemed world. 
 25. Shut. Read Isaiah's picture 
 of the future of Zion (i^a. 60 : u). The 
 reason why the gates are always open 
 is because it is always day. Peace and 
 .security dwell there. The perils of the 
 heart, the allurements of the world, 
 
 the temptations of Satan, the persecu- 
 tions of the beast (!'•'),_ have all 
 passed away. Eastern cities always 
 closed their gates at night ; in war they 
 were closed all the time. 
 
 26. Bring. The word is used in 
 an impersonal way, not necessarily re- 
 ferring to the kings of the preceding 
 verse. It will be a treasure city, in 
 which all glory will be stored. As in 
 ancient capitals the spoils of captive 
 nations were .stored, here the iioly 
 city will exhibit the glories of God and 
 the gifts of the saved. (Comp. isa. eo : 
 
 5-10 ; 66 : 12.) 
 
 27. The three preceding verses 
 showed the character of those who 
 enter the holy city; this verse describes 
 those who are excluded. Only tho.se 
 enter who are morally worthy. (Comp. 
 laa. 52 : 1.) Jesus evcrywhcrc spoke of 
 a final separation among men, a separa- 
 tion based on character («■»"■ 25 : si-ie). 
 The regenerate only, the saved through 
 Christ, find admission. The Lamb's 
 book of life has the names of those who 
 will share in the glory of the Lamb. 
 John is following here in the footsteps 
 of Ezekiel, who describes the discom- 
 fiture of God's enemies, then gives a 
 vision of the holy city, the glorious 
 temple, and the revelation of God's 
 glory. 
 
 Note. The symbolical char- 
 acter OF THE NEW JERUSALEM. To 
 interpret this chapter in a literal way 
 would be to strip it of its beauty. 
 Such a city as is here described, taken 
 in its literal sense, would be grotesque 
 and impossible. It is useless to specu- 
 late on the method of life in a city 
 
384 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 [Ch. XXI. 
 
 three hundred and seventy-five miles 
 high, or calcuUite how many people 
 it would coiilaiii. When we read 
 in Ezekiel (eiiKp. xi.-xlviu) of a tem- 
 ple whose size is bewildering in its 
 vastness, we are not deceived. We 
 understand tliat it is not to be intei"- 
 preted literally. Under the imposing 
 imagery is the teaching that God's 
 cause will be as much grander than the 
 past history, as this temple in vision 
 surpassed the old temple in Jerusalem. 
 In rejecting the literal interpretation 
 we do not thereby throw aside tlie 
 reality of the teachings implied by the 
 vision. We may not insist on walls, 
 or city, or gates, or gold ; but we 
 must not regard the vision as a dream 
 or a poetical imagination having no 
 substantial teaching. The new Jeru- 
 salem is a prophecy divinely given, 
 presenting the glorious outcome of 
 Christianity in its work among men. 
 Christianity has had a varied history. 
 Christ, the founder, was rejected, the 
 apostles were not men of genius, the 
 doctrines preached were repugnant to 
 the natural heart. Persecutions fol- 
 lowed the church, heresies arose, world- 
 liness proved a greater foe than open 
 opposition. Literature, power, culture, 
 ritualism, imperfect religious — all these 
 were arrayed against Christ. This 
 vision tells us what the outcome will be. 
 Many of the readers of this book had 
 seen the old Jerusalem with its narrow 
 streets, its walls that could not stand 
 attack, surrounded by foes, Avithin 
 whose walls were corruption and sor- 
 rows. Here are portrayed a perfected 
 human nature, a regenerate society, a 
 glorified life, the absence of ills of 
 every kind, the fellowship of all the 
 redeemed with the Redeemer. Christ 
 has triumphed in that he is acknowl- 
 edged supreme in his own dominion, 
 and wickedness has been eliminated 
 and shut up in sin's prison house. All 
 nations share in this triumph of Christ. 
 No heathen religion, no human con- 
 ceptions have ever, in their dreams, 
 pictured such a blessed final consum- 
 mation as this vision gives to us. The 
 city will be a temple, life will be wor- 
 ship, glory and God will have their 
 home there. 
 
 The teaching of this chapter is en- 
 tirely irrespective of the question 
 whether this earth will be the home 
 
 of the descending holy city. Even if 
 this earth should be no part of the 
 heavenly inheritance, it would be need- 
 ful to make the truth known to us 
 through earthly figures. Christianity, 
 in its glorified form, will find some- 
 where a fitting sphere, in which be- 
 lievers in holy love will serve Christ 
 and each other. That place will be 
 the new Jerusalem. It will then be 
 seen that all the figures of this vision 
 will have been more than fulfilled. 
 
 "On the Christian society as the 
 realization of the heavenly Jerusalem, 
 see Westcott on Heb. 11 : 10 (addi- 
 tional note) " (Swete). 
 
 "Figurative language is the only 
 language in which we can express our 
 hope of heaven, and no figures can 
 have greater power to suggest this 
 hope than those taken from the literal 
 longings of exiled Israel for the re- 
 covery of its land and city." Porter, 
 "Messages of the Apocalyptic Writ- 
 ers," p. 288. Ezek., chap. XL- 
 XLVIII; Isa. 54:11, 12; Isa. 60: 
 10-14. 
 
 Practical Remarks. 
 
 1. Jesus makes everything new. There 
 is a new covenant, a new heart, a new 
 man, a new song, a new name, a new 
 heaven and earth, a new Jerusalem 
 (ver. 1). 
 
 2. The chief feature of heaven will be, 
 not happiness or exemption from physical 
 ills and death, but holiness. No one will 
 enjoy heaven who does not enjoy holi- 
 ness (ver. 2). 
 
 3. Alienation from God is the mark of 
 the sinful man; intimacy with God and 
 fellowship with him are the marks and 
 the privileges of the Christian (ver. 3). 
 
 4. The language of heaven will differ 
 vastly from that of earth. The words 
 tear, death, suffering, temptation, crying, 
 will all be things of the past (ver. 4). 
 
 5. The words of a faithful and true Re- 
 deemer may be depended on. They may 
 be long in coming to pass, but in time 
 promise will ripen into performance 
 (ver. 5). 
 
 6. The soul will be satisfied in the 
 heavenly life. There will be enlarging 
 desires and enlarging satisfaction as the 
 ages go by. Satan makes springs tliat dry 
 up, Jesus makes living fountains (ver. 6). 
 
Ch. XXIL] 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 385 
 
 7. Jesus was an overcoming Christ. 
 Tlio Christian must overcome. Salvation 
 iiieuns a struggle, it means, at the end, a 
 crown (ver. 7). 
 
 8. Heaven will have all holy people on 
 the inside, and all the ungodly on the 
 outside. The separation will be on the 
 basis of character (ver. 8). 
 
 9. The Christian and the church must 
 have now a moral likeness to Christ. In 
 time there will be a complete likeness to 
 Christ, and a sharing in the glory of 
 Christ (ver. 9). 
 
 10. The purification of men and of 
 society is not from below upward, but 
 from above downward. A heavenly 
 society upon the earth can be secured 
 only by the divine Spirit in the individual 
 (ver. 10). 
 
 11. The presence of God gives light in 
 the heart, in the home, in society, in 
 business and political relations. Cruelty 
 and selfishness disappear when Christ is 
 known as Saviour (ver. 11). 
 
 12. In every earthly life are many perils 
 from within and from without. In the 
 heavenly life will be no deceptions in the 
 heart, no allurements to evil. The life of 
 absolute security will be a blessed life 
 (ver. 12). 
 
 13. Heaven embraces people from all 
 races and lands. The New Testament 
 widens it out, making one family from 
 all the redeemed (ver. 13). 
 
 14. The apostles entered heaven through 
 hardship and persecution, but their names 
 make an enduring foundation for all time 
 (ver. 14). 
 
 15. Many of the details of the heavenly 
 life we do not know. Knowledge of them 
 would do us no good. We are sure there 
 is a heaven ; and we know how to get 
 there (ver. 15). 
 
 16. The safety of God's people depends 
 on being Christ's and with Christ (ver. 17). 
 
 17. In heaven will be all Christian ex- 
 cellencies. But each one will have his 
 own individuality, sanctified and set 
 apart for holy purposes. Each one will 
 be himself, but he will be his best self 
 (ver. 19). 
 
 18. Earth may be compared to common 
 clay, heaven to pure gold, and that re- 
 fined. Paul could not describe the third 
 heaven (2 Cor. 12 : 4). Nor can John, ex- 
 
 cept by indistinct figures. It must be en- 
 joyed to be understood (ver. 21). 
 
 19. In the earthly life meeting-houses 
 are a necessity. In heaven all life is 
 worship, and the city itself is a holy of 
 holies (ver. 22). 
 
 20. All light is darkness when compared 
 with the glory of God's presence (ver. 23). 
 
 21. When Christianity has finished its 
 work on the earth, it will be found to 
 have embraced all nations under its 
 sway. It is a conquering religion. The 
 highest will count it a privilege to serve 
 the King of kings (ver. 24). 
 
 22. The night of sorrow, disappoint- 
 ment, and death, will pass away, and an 
 eternal morning will come. That will be 
 a blessed land, where it is always sun- 
 shine (ver. 25). 
 
 23. Heaven is a prepared place for pre- 
 pared people. The presence of the mor- 
 ally unclean would be out of harmony 
 with God's nature, would be a peril to 
 the godly, would give no comfort to the 
 ungodly themselves (ver. 27). 
 
 24. The book of life has in it the names 
 of those who are spiritually alive. The 
 names get there, not through personal 
 worthiness, but in God's mercy through 
 belief in the Saviour. "Is my name 
 written there?" (ver. 27). 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 In this chapter we have the conclud- 
 ing part of the vision that fills the 
 preceding chapter. It is unfortunate 
 that these parts should be separated. 
 The vision is now presented under the 
 figure of the paradise of God. It forms 
 part of one general conception, but 
 assumes the figure, not of the holy city, 
 but of a paradise (ver. i-s). Following 
 this we have the assurance, from the 
 angel, of the truth of the Apocalypse 
 (ver. 6, 7). Then John himself gives 
 testimony, vouching for the reality of 
 what he had seen and heard (''«r- 8, 9). 
 We have a final message of the angel 
 to John (ver. 10, 11). Then in an im- 
 presi?ive way Jesus himself gives a 
 message witnessing for this book (ver. 
 12-17). In closing there is the command 
 that the book shall be looked upon as 
 holy, followed by a benediction (ver. 
 
 18-21). 
 
386 
 
 EEVELATION 
 
 [Ch. XXII. 
 
 22 AND he showed me'^a pure river of 
 « water of life, clear as crystal, proceed- 
 ing out of the throne of God aud of 
 
 2 the Lamb, f In the midst of the street 
 of it, and on either side of the river, 
 ivas there sthe tree of life, which bare 
 twelve manner of fruits, and yielded 
 her fruit every month : and the leaves 
 of the tree were ^ for the healing of the 
 nations. 
 
 3 Aud 'there shall be no more curse 
 
 22 AND he showed me a river of water 
 of life, bright as crystal, going forth 
 out of the throne of God aud of the 
 
 2 Lamb. In the midst of its street, and 
 on each side of the river, was a tree of 
 life, bearing twelve fruits, every month 
 yielding its fruit ; and the leaves of the 
 tree are for the healing of the nations. 
 
 3 Aud there will be uo more curse. And 
 
 d Ps. 36 : 8 ; 46 : 4 ; Ezek. 47 : 1-9 ; Zech. 14:8. e 21 : 6. / 21 : 21 ; Ezek. 47 : 12. 
 
 J 2 : 7 ; Gen. 2:9. ft 21 : 24 ; Ps. 147 : 3 ; Ezek. 47 : 8-12 ; Mai. 4 : 2. 
 
 i 21 : 4 ; Zech. 14 : 11 ; comp. Gen. 3 : 17. 
 
 1-5. The PARADISE OF God. The 
 Old Testament begins with a paradise, 
 where beauty and innocence prevailed. 
 Then follows the long era, with the 
 conflict of good and evil in the world. 
 Now, at the close, we have a paradise 
 restored. Euin comes through sin, the 
 redemption through Christ brings a 
 restoration. 
 
 1. The psalmist speaks of a glad- 
 dening stream (ps. 46 : 4). For the Old 
 Testament foundation of this passage 
 see Ezek. 47 : 1-12 ; Zech. 14 : 8. Comp. 
 Gen. 2 : 10 ; Joel 3 : 18. Notice the union 
 God and of the Lamb. (comp. 3:21.) 
 River. Jesus speaks of rivers of liv- 
 ing water (John 7 : 38, 39), having refer- 
 ence to the Holy Spirit. Many think 
 the reference here is to the Holy Spirit 
 supplying constantly, in an abundant 
 way, the spiritual life. Rivers on tlie 
 earth supply nourishment and life, 
 giving freshness and beauty to nature. 
 In like manner this river is the syni])ol 
 of the constant supply of God's grace 
 to his people. To conceive of heaven 
 as a paradise there must be the sight of 
 water, such as John gives. That the 
 river finds its source in the throne of 
 God, is the assurance that God will 
 constantly renew the life and joy of 
 his people, will uphold the kingdom 
 of God, in its ripened form, in all its 
 manifold agencies. The vision of a 
 swamp, of a meager stream, of a river 
 whose waters were dried up, would be 
 out of place and saddening. 
 
 2. (Comp. Ezek. 47 : 7-12.) Street. 
 
 John sees the main street of the city 
 through which the river is flowing. 
 This statement must be understood as 
 applying to all the streets of the city ; 
 on both sides are trees. The word 
 tree is used, not of one tree, but in a 
 collective sense embraces the entire 
 
 mass of trees. For the tree of life 
 see Gen. 2:9; there it was shut off 
 from sinful man, here it is open to 
 all. As water is es.sential to life and 
 growth, symbolized by the river, so 
 there must be food for the spiritual 
 life, symbolized by the fruit of the 
 tree. The food is continuous, every 
 month, signifying the ever new en- 
 joyment of the blessed. For glorified 
 bodies, like those of the angels (Mark 
 12 : 25) J no physical aid will be needed. 
 It is not so much twelve kinds of fruit 
 here promised, as a continuous supply 
 ministered by the one tree. Nations.. 
 This term cannot be applied to uncon- 
 verted people, for only the saved have 
 entered into the city. Some think that 
 it applies to other than Jewish people 
 who have been saved. In heaven, 
 however, all social distinctions will be 
 removed, and the Jewish race will 
 have no preeminence over others. 
 Healing. This cannot be pressed to 
 mean that moral infirmities will re- 
 main, or that somewhere in that blessed 
 era there will be people not glorified. 
 When it is said that God will wipe 
 away all tears (21 : *), it cannot he in- 
 ferred that occasion for tears will be 
 found there, but that the tears which 
 are wept in the earthly life, will be 
 wiped away in the eternal blessedness. 
 In like manner the healing leaves of 
 the tree served for the healing of the 
 sickness from which the nations suf- 
 fered in the earthly life, but from wliich 
 they are delivered in the new Jeru- 
 salem. The infirmities, limitations of 
 life, poverty of soul, blindness of mind 
 — all of these are eternally removed. 
 Bodily, intellectual, moral, and spir- 
 itual defects, are all remedied. 
 
 3. Curse. (Comp. Om. 3 : 14-19.) AH 
 
 the effects of sin have passed away. 
 
Ch. XXII.] 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 387 
 
 [Zech. xiv. 11] : '•^ but the throne of 
 God and of the Lamb shall be iu it; 
 
 4 aud his servants shall serve hiin : uiid 
 ' they shall see his face ; aud ™ his name 
 
 5 shall be iu their foreheads. ° Aud tliure 
 shall be no night there ; aud they need 
 no candle, neither light of the sua ; 
 for "the Lo.'d God giveth them light: 
 Pand they shall reigu for ever and 
 ever. 
 
 Final testimony, invitation, warnings, and 
 promises. 
 
 6 AND he said unto me, i These say- 
 ings are faithful and true : aud the 
 
 the throne of God and of the Lamb 
 will be in it; and his servants will 
 
 4 serve him, and will see his face, and 
 his name will be on their foreheads. 
 
 5 And there will be no night there ; and 
 they need no lamp light, nor sunlight, 
 because the Lord God will give them 
 light ; and they will reign forever and 
 ever. 
 
 6 And he said to me, These words are 
 faithful and true; aud the Lord, the 
 
 ft 7 : 17 ; Ezek. 4A : 35. 
 
 I Exod. 33 : 18-20, 23 ; Job 33 : 24-26 ; Isa. 33 : IT ; 35 : 2 ; Matt. 5 : 8 ; 1 John 3 : 
 : 23-25. o Ps. 36 : 9 ; Isa. 60 : 19. p 3 : 21 ; Dan. 7 : 27 ; 2 Tim. 2 : 12. 
 
 ; 19 : 9; Isa. 25 : 1. 
 
 All evil things have been eternally de- 
 stroyed (20 : 15). Here dwell God, 
 Jesus under the aspect of the Saviour 
 who was sacrificed, and the saved, to 
 whom service is a delight. Tlie glori- 
 fied life is one of enlarged activity. 
 Buddhism makes the future one of 
 absorption into the deity or extinction, 
 not loving service. 
 
 4. Face. Compare the statement 
 in Gen. 3 : 8 of God's fellowship with 
 our first parents. What was denied to 
 .Moses, a sight of God's face (E^od. ss : 
 20), is here granted to all the saved. 
 There will be the sight of the glorified 
 Christ. How much more is involved 
 in what is known as the beatific vision 
 of God we may not now know. Fel- 
 lowship with God beyond comparison 
 with that of earth, is here declared. 
 The term, face, stands for tlie entire 
 revelation of God, as the man's char- 
 acter shines out in the face. There 
 will be displays of God's character 
 such as have not before been mani- 
 fested. Name. (Comp. 3 : 12 ; U : 1.) 
 This term stands for all there is of a 
 per.son, hence it is here declared that 
 the moral likeness to God stands out 
 openly in the person and life of the 
 believer. There may also be the asser- 
 tion of ownership on the part of God. 
 In the olden times the high priest wore 
 upon his forehead a plate, on which 
 was inscribed the name of Jehovah. 
 Every saved man fills the position of 
 a high priest, on whose forehead itself 
 is the name of Jehovah. 
 
 5. Night. (Comp. 21 : 23-25.) ThJS 
 
 statement is made, not to indicate the 
 security of the place, but to show that 
 
 the saints suffer no interruption in their 
 service, and need no nightly rest to 
 recruit their strength for further serv- 
 ice. It is not specified over whom they 
 shall reign. Paul speaks of saints 
 judging angels (1 Cor. 6:3); some have 
 conjectured here a superintendence 
 over the wide realm of nature. The 
 term may be used in a general sense, 
 for the exalted state upon which they 
 have entered. It signifies the u.se of 
 large faculties, continuing through 
 eternity. They both serve and reign. 
 Light. As their frame never wearies, 
 so the conditions neces.sary for the ac- 
 complishment of their service never 
 fail. With this verse the Apocalypse 
 proper, beginning at 4 : 1, comes to an 
 end. In 1 : 9 John is their companion 
 iu tribulation; the vision ends with the 
 saints reigning as kings in glory. 
 
 6-31. The conclusion. The 
 Apocalypse began, like the Gospel 
 of John, with a prologue. Like the 
 Go.spel, it also closes with an epilogue. 
 The correspondences in the structure 
 of the two writings bear testimony to 
 the sameness of authorship. This con- 
 clusion gives assurance of the truth- 
 fulness of the things revealed. The 
 speakers are the angel, John, and the 
 Lord Jesus himself. 
 
 6-11. An ASSURANCE OP THE 
 TRUTH OF THE ApOCALYPSE. We 
 have here passing before us large views 
 of God's moral government, vials of 
 judgment, the fall of opposing powers. 
 Are they dreams, or under these visions 
 have we realities? 
 
 6. Tliese are the words, not of John, 
 but of the angel spoken of in 1 : 1. 
 
388 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 [Cii. XXII. 
 
 Lord God of the holy prophets 'sent 
 his angel to show unto his servants the 
 things which must shortly be done. 
 
 7 "Behold, I come quickly: 'blessed is 
 he that keepeth the sayings of the 
 prophecy of this book. 
 
 8 And I John saw these things, and 
 heard i/iem. And when 1 had heard and 
 seen, " I fell down to worship before 
 the feet of the angel which showed me 
 
 9 these things. Then saith he unto me, 
 See thou do it not : for I am thy fellow- 
 s.ervaut, and of thy brethren the 
 
 God of the spirits of the prophets, sent 
 his angel to show to his servants the 
 things which must shortly come to 
 
 7 pass. And behold, I come quickly. 
 Happy is he that keeps the words of 
 the propliecy of this book. 
 
 8 And I, John, am he who heard and 
 saw these things. And when I heard 
 and saw, I fell down to worship before 
 the feet of the angel who showed me 
 
 9 these things. And he says to me, See 
 thou do it not. I am a fellow-servant 
 with thee and with thy brethren the 
 
 : Ver. 12, 20; 3 ; 11. 
 
 t 1 : 3. 
 
 u 19 : 10. 
 
 He gives assurance that the things 
 spoken of can be depended on. The 
 reference is not to the teachings con- 
 cerning tlie new Jerusalem alone, but 
 to the entire message found in the en- 
 tire book. The same God who worked 
 in the prophets, guiding them in 
 teaching and foretelling, dwells in the 
 angel. The possibility of an iuspira- 
 tion, an illumining and guiding of the 
 human mind, is here asserted. The 
 testimony of the angel must be placed 
 on the same level as that of the Old 
 Testament prophets. Servants. The 
 book concerns all, good and bad alike, 
 ■with its blessings and judgments. But 
 it is given for the sake of his own 
 people, for their comfort, assurance, 
 and guidance. Shortly. The pre- 
 dictions began to be fulfilled at that 
 time, the principles of God's admin- 
 istration in all the ages being mani- 
 fested then. 
 
 7. The first part of this Terse must 
 be referred to the Lord Jesus himself. 
 The same expression occurs in ver. 12, 
 20. (comp. 3 : 11.) In some real sense 
 the quickly must come true. The 
 beginning of the fulfilment took place 
 then, has been in progress ever since, 
 and will continue until the consumma- 
 tion of all things. That the reference 
 is to the final advent of Christ cannot 
 be true. He has come in real ways in 
 the past, as in the destruction of Jeru- 
 salem (Ma". 16 : 28), in his providences 
 (Matt. 27:64), in judgments upon the 
 churches (2 : 5, le). It may also in- 
 timate that in God's sight but a short 
 time intervenes between the first and 
 second advent (P3- so : <). The second 
 part is perhaps spoken by the angel. 
 Prophecy. This is based upon the 
 supposition that the vision had been 
 reduced to writing, as commanded (1 = 
 
 11. 19). The visions of this book would 
 have been altogether worthless, after 
 the death of John, had they not been 
 reduced to writing. The term, proph- 
 ecy, means more than prediction ; it 
 embraces teaching, counsel, warning. 
 No part of the book is more helpful 
 than the letters to the churches, which 
 bave in them little of the predictive 
 element. 
 
 We have now, in the two following 
 verses, the testimony of John himself. 
 
 8, 9. John bears witness to the 
 reality of the visions which he had 
 seen. At the end of John's Gospel we 
 have the testimony of those who knew 
 the truth of his statements (John 21 : 24). 
 Things. The reference is to the en- 
 tire series of visions ; he bears witness 
 to their reality. He was not simply a 
 conduit through which these flowed ; 
 he was conscious of them and their 
 meaning. This testimony would have 
 great Aveigbt where John's character 
 w as best known. The book of Revela- 
 tion found a much readier acceptance 
 in the East, where John was widely 
 known, than in the West. Worship. 
 As representing God, perhaps glorious 
 in form. John falls down before the 
 angel. In 19 : 10 he had done this, and 
 been reproved. It may be that John 
 does not repeat this act, but now, at the 
 close, alludes to what he had previously 
 done. Even John Avas not perfect in 
 conduct or judgment. The worship 
 shows the right heart, the desire to 
 worship God or God's messenger, even 
 if not guided aright by intelligence. 
 Fellow-servant. Compare the cor- 
 responding place in 19 : 10. The an- 
 gels are fellow-servants of God with 
 all believers, and are also attendants 
 upon the saints (Heb. 1 : u). It is im- 
 plied that every one loving God Avill, 
 
Ch. xxii.j 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 389 
 
 prophets, and of them which keep the 
 sayings of this book : worship God. 
 
 10 ' And tie saith unto me, Seal not the 
 sayings of the prophecy of this book: 
 
 11 y for the time is at hand. ' He that is 
 unjust, let him be unjust still : and he 
 whicli is filthy, let him be filthy still : 
 »and he that is righteous, let hiia be 
 righteous still : and he that is holy, let 
 him be holy still. 
 
 12 '' And, behold, I come quickly ; and 
 emy reward is with me, >* to give every 
 man according as his work shall be. 
 
 prophets, and with those who keep the 
 words of this book ; worship God. 
 
 10 And he says to me, Seal not the 
 words of the prophecy of this book ; 
 
 11 because the time is at hand. He that 
 is unrighteous, let him be unrighteous 
 still ; and he tliat is filthy, let liiui be 
 made filthy still ; and he tliat is right- 
 eous, let him do righteousness still ; 
 and he that is holy, let him be made 
 holy still. 
 
 12 Behold, I come quickly ; and my re- 
 ward is with me, to give to each one 
 
 I 10: 4; Hab. 2 : 2, 3. y 
 
 a Job 17 : 9 ; Eph. 5 : 27. 6 Ver. 
 
 z Eccl. 11:3; Dan. 12 : 10 ; 2 Tim. 3 : 13. 
 
 c 11 : 18: Isa. 40 : 10. d 20 : 12 ; Rom. 2 : 6. 
 
 in his appropriate sphere, render serv- 
 ice to God. It is taught that no one 
 lower than God must be worshiped ; 
 reverence may be given to saints and 
 angels. Men may worship God direct, 
 without anything intervening. The 
 emotions enkindled in John's heart at 
 the sight of the future glory of the 
 church bewildered hira for a time, and 
 led him to an attitude toward the mes- 
 senger befitting only Him who sent 
 him. Prophets is used here in the 
 New Testament sense, these acting as 
 God's spokesmen to men, not neces- 
 sarily foretelling the future (Eph. 2 : 20). 
 Worship involves intelligence, rever- 
 ence, a sense of obligation, a worthi- 
 ness in the person worshiped. Tlie 
 moral qualities in God, not his alraight- 
 iness, but his holiness and goodness 
 make worship reasonable and morally 
 compulsory. God. This is for us a 
 command to worship Jesus Christ and 
 the Holy Spirit, God in the entirety of 
 his nature. 
 
 10. Seal. Compare by way of con- 
 trast Dan. 12 : 4, 9. Daniel was com- 
 manded to seal the book because the 
 vision belonged to days far beyond. 
 The command here reaffirms the dec- 
 laration of ver. 7, that the coming of 
 Christ, in some way, will occur speedily. 
 It is implied that the nearer the time 
 is the more do the churches need warn- 
 ing and consolation. The book began 
 to be fulfilled at once, the fulfilment 
 will not be complete until there comes 
 a renovated earth. 
 
 11. Unrighteous. Four classes of 
 persons are here spoken of, two de- 
 scriptions of the gocily, two of the un- 
 godly. Alford thinks there is a solemn 
 irony in these words, like those spoken 
 by Jesus in Matt. 26 : 45, meaning the 
 
 time is so short ther? is hardly time for 
 change. There is everywhere a ten- 
 dency to fixedness of character, from 
 which one will not desire to escape, 
 where the " will not " becomes changed 
 to the "cannot." The punisliment of 
 sin is sin added to itself, as the reward 
 of righteousne.«!S is more righteousness. 
 Eternal punishment is not an arbitrary 
 penalty fixed by an almighty being, 
 but a natural sequence of ungodly 
 living. Tlie worst evil that could be- 
 fall a man would be to be given up by 
 God — to work out his own will (Hosea 
 4 : 17). These words contain the truth, 
 that the mystery of God's dealings is 
 finished, and that nothing more will 
 be done by him to change their state. 
 If judgment overtake us at the last, the 
 result will be traceable to no arbitrary 
 decree, but to the manner in which, as 
 moral beings, we met tlie conditions of 
 that moral system in the midst of 
 which we had been placed. Persons 
 are, on the whole, what they decide to 
 be. The foundation of these words is 
 found in Ezek. 20 : 39 : " Go ye, serve 
 every one his idols, and hereafter alsc^ 
 if ye will not hearken unto me." 
 
 12-17. The testimony of Jesus. 
 As Jesus opened the Apocalypse, it is 
 fitting that he close it. Impressiveuess 
 is added to these words, in that they 
 are the final words spoken to men by 
 the ascended Christ. 
 
 12. Reward. Again he asserts his 
 speedy coming, not empty handed, but 
 with rewards. Even Jesus, in his 
 earthly life, was influenced by tlie 
 future (Heh, 12 : 2) ; also the patriarchs 
 (neb. 11 : 13-16). Jesus spcaks thcse 
 words to encourage believers. (Comp. 
 jsa. 40:10.) That there will be grada- 
 tions in the bestowment of the rewards 
 
390 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 [Ch. XXII. 
 
 13 • I am Alpha and Omega, the begin- 
 ning and the end, the first and the 
 last. 
 
 14 fBlessed are they that do his com- 
 mandments, s that they may have right 
 to the tree of life, ""and may enter in 
 
 15 through the gates into the city. For 
 ' without are ^ dogs, and sorcerers, and 
 whoremongers, and murderers, and 
 idolaters, ' and whosoever loveth and 
 maketh a lie. 
 
 16 "I Jesus have sent mine angel to 
 testify unto you these things in the 
 churches. "I am the root and the off- 
 spring of David, and » the bright and 
 morning star. 
 
 13 according as hia work is. I am the 
 Alpha and the Omega, the first and 
 the last, the beginning and the end. 
 
 14 Happy are they who wash their robes, 
 that they may have right to the tree 
 of life, and may enter by the gates 
 
 15 into the city. Without are the dogs, 
 and the sorcerers, and the fornicators, 
 and the murderers, and the idolaters, 
 and every one that loves and does a 
 lie. 
 
 16 I, Jesus, sent my angel to testify to 
 you these things in the churches. I 
 am the root and the offspring of David, 
 the bright, the morning star. 
 
 e 1 : 8, 11 ; 21 : 6 ; Isa. 41 : 4 ; 44 : 6 ; 48 : 12. 
 / Ver. 7 ; Ps. 106 : 3-5 ; Isa. 56 .1,2; Dan. 12 : 12 ; 1 John 3 : 3, 23, 24. g Ver. 2 ; John 1 : 12. 
 
 ft John 14 : 6 ; Col. 1 : 12. i 1 Cor. 6 : 9, 10 ; Gal. 5 : 19-21 ; Col. 3:6. k Comp. Deut. 23 : 18. 
 
 I 21 : 27. m Ver. 6 ; 1 : 1, 11. n 5 : 5 ; Isa. 11 : 10. 
 
 o 2 : 28 ; Num. 24 : 17 ; 2 Peter 1 : 19. 
 
 is taught by Jesus in Matt. 25 : 14-29 ; 
 Luke 19 : 12-27. Salvation is alone 
 through God's mercy, rewards Avill be 
 given according to character. As on 
 earth there are persons eminent for 
 piety, so in heaven will be persons 
 eminent in their rewards. 
 
 13. This verse forms a foundation 
 for the preceding statement. The 
 largeness of Christ's person is a reason 
 why he can reward men. Alpha. 
 (See 1 : 8, 17 : 21 : 6.) In this is the Calm 
 assertion of his deity, without begin- 
 ning or ending ; we may therefore 
 rely on his words. The person of 
 Christ furnishes a foundation for his 
 control of affairs, gives assurance to 
 his promises. Such a being cannot be 
 classified among men. 
 
 14. Blessed. There is asserted 
 here a universal sinfulness, a salvation 
 through the blood of Christ, a par- 
 ticipation in that salvation by believ- 
 ing in Christ, the consequent happy 
 condition of the believer. The right 
 stands for a righteousness that covers 
 the life. (Comp. Matt. 22 : 11.) Two rights 
 are conferred, the entrance into the city 
 and eternal life secured (7 : u; 22 : 2). 
 
 15. Inclusion for the holy means 
 exclusion for the unholy. Dogs. Six 
 classes of unholy persons are on the 
 outside. Divine love, holiness, and 
 knowledge united in Christ create this 
 separation. So far as this vision re- 
 veals the will of God they remain per- 
 manently on the outside. These classes 
 diflfer in the kinds and grades of sin- 
 ning, but all sinning at heart is one, 
 
 the rejection of God's sovereignty. It 
 is a comfort to the godly that their fel- 
 lowship will be with the godly alone ; 
 it is a fearful outlook for the impeni- 
 tent that their association must be with 
 moral outcasts. It may be that all the 
 ungodly will, as ages pass, sink lower 
 and lower. God makes heaven ; im- 
 penitent sinners make their own per- 
 dition. In actual life the dogs might 
 be immediately outside the city walls. 
 We may not conceive of intercourse 
 between the holy and iinholj' in the 
 future life, between them is a great 
 gulf (Luie 16 : 26), The most attractive 
 grandeur of the new Jerusalem is its 
 purity. 
 
 16. Angel. (See 1 : 1.) This book is 
 eminently worthy of study ; it is from 
 Jesus himself. The churches meant 
 primarily are the seven churches men- 
 tioned in 1 : 11, in reality thej' are for 
 all Christians in all ages. It is in- 
 stinctive in Christians, it is a command 
 on the part of Christ, that all Chris- 
 tians should form themselves into 
 churches. The Scriptures are for all. 
 Paul commanded that his letters should 
 be read publicly (i Tbess. 5 : 27). The 
 word, offspring, is explanatory of the 
 term, root. The expression is not to 
 be understood as asserting his descent 
 from David, and also his lordship over 
 him, as in Matt. 22 : 43. It is to be 
 explained in the light of Isa. 11 : 1, 10. 
 Jesus appeals to Jewish readers as a 
 descendant from the royal stock of 
 David, the Messiah. He also, as 
 Morning Star, introduces an eternal 
 
Ch. XXII.] 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 391 
 
 17 PAnd the Spirit and i tlie bride say, 
 ■■Come. And let hiui that hearcth say, 
 Come. And let him that is 'uthirst 
 come. 'And whosoever will, "let him 
 take the water of life freely. 
 
 18 For I testify unto every man that 
 heareth the words of the prophecy of 
 this book, »If any man shall add unto 
 these things, < God shall add unto him 
 the plagues that are written in this 
 
 19 book: and if any man shall take away 
 from the words of the book of this 
 prophecy, »God shall take away his 
 part out of the book of life, and out of 
 »the holy city, and from the things 
 which are written in this book. 
 
 20 He which testifieth these things 
 saith, •> Surely I come quickly. 
 
 17 And the Spirit and the bride say, 
 Come. And let him that hears say, 
 Come. And let him that thirsts, come ; 
 let him that will, take the water of 
 life freely. 
 
 18 I testify to every one that hears the 
 words of the prophecy of this book, if 
 any one shall add to them, God will 
 add to him the plagues that are written 
 
 19 in this book : and if any oue shall take 
 away from the words of the book of 
 this prophecy, God will take away his 
 part from the tree of life, and out of 
 the holy city, which are written of iu 
 this book. 
 
 20 He who testifies these things, says, 
 
 p John 16 : T-15. « 19 : 7 ; 21 : 2, 9. r Isa. 2:3; Jer. 50 : 5. 
 
 « Isa. 55 : 1 
 
 John 7 : 37. 
 
 t John 6 : 37. « John 4 : 10, U. x Deut. i : 2. 
 
 y 14 : 10,11; 19 
 
 20. 
 
 « 13 : 8 ; Ps. 69 : 28. a 21 : 2, 10 ; Isa. 52 : 1. 
 
 6 Ver. 7, 12. 
 
 
 day in which there shall be no night. 
 
 (See 2 ; 28 ; 2 Sam. 23 : 4.) 
 
 17. There seems to be a twofold 
 meaning to the Come of tliis verse. 
 The Holy Spirit (i : *) working in the 
 church, and the church itself, the bride 
 of Christ, unite in praying to the 
 glorious and glorified Clirist to come, 
 as iu ver. 20. The one who hears the 
 message must also join in the appeal. 
 Tills coming does not awaken fear, as 
 in 6 : 16, but supreme joy. Athirst. 
 This appeal may l)e to believers alone 
 to satisfy all their longings. Tliere 
 may be a thirst even iu heaven for 
 larger and fuller displays of God's 
 nature and work (7 : i6. i7). Some re- 
 gard this as the last tender invitation 
 of Clirist to accept himself as Saviour. 
 Freely. If men are not .saved and 
 satisfied, it is not because God keeps 
 tliem away from the springs. 
 
 18-21. John's final words. 
 These are words of warning. God 
 punished men for touching the ark (2 
 Sam. 6 ; 7 ) ; for entering tlie holy place 
 unbidden (2 Chron. 26 : 19); for resisting 
 constituted authorities (Num. le : 33). 
 Paul guarded the Scriptures from al- 
 terations, by precautions (2 Theas. 3 : 17). 
 He declared that many were corrupt- 
 ing the Scriptures (2 cor. 2 : 17). John, 
 in closing the book, wishes to guard it 
 inviolate. 
 
 18, 19. He regards the book as a 
 part of the lioly Scriptures. One may 
 add to the words by giving equal 
 weight to tradition or to writings that 
 
 have no apostolic authority. The ref- 
 erence is solelj' to this boolt, though 
 tiie principle applies to all the inspired 
 writings. Many writings, in tlie early 
 centuries, were palmed ofi" upon the 
 churches under false pretense. To 
 take away is to deny its divine 
 origin, to wealieu its testimony, to in- 
 terpret it in ways that remove its fun- 
 damental teachings. Tlie book may 
 be disparaged and neglected. A fear- 
 ful penalty is pronounced. Has it 
 always followed that persons who have 
 denied the authority of the book, who 
 liave regarded it as a book of fantastic 
 stories — have they always been pun- 
 islied ? It cannot be so affirmed. It 
 remains true that if a person should 
 defy God by wilfully tampering with 
 his word, if a church should cover up 
 God's saving truths, fearful effects 
 would, of necessity, follow in time. 
 
 (Comp. Deut. 4:2; 12 : 32.) In Gal. 1 : 8, 9 
 
 Paul puts an anathema upon the one 
 who should corrupt the doctrine of 
 faith. The Scriptures alone constitute 
 the law for the church, to be obeyed, 
 not altered. Good people have mis- 
 takenly added features, such as infant 
 baptism, which nullify the teachings 
 of Christ. 
 
 20. Testifieth. The reference is 
 to Jesus Christ himself. Quickly. 
 He began to come in that age, and has 
 ever since been coming through his 
 providences. He will continue to come 
 until he is the acknowledged King of 
 all the earth. To his assertion, the 
 
392 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 [Ch. XXII. 
 
 Ameu. = Even so, come, Lord Jesus. 
 21 ii The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ 
 be with you alL Amen. 
 
 Yea, I come quickly. Amen ; come, 
 Lord Jesus. 
 21 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with 
 the saints. 
 
 c Ps. 42 : 1 ; Song of Sol. 8 : 11 ; Hcb. 9 : 28 ; 2 Peter S : 12-14. 
 d 1 : 4 ; Rom. 1:7; 16 : 20, 24 ; Eph. 6 : 23, 24 ; 2 Thesa. 3 : 18, 
 
 church lifts up her head to the skies 
 and says, as in ver. 17, Come. His 
 coming is the source of her joy and 
 help ; it is the glorious coming of the 
 bridegroom long waited for. 
 
 21. The book opens with a gracious 
 benediction in 1 : 4 ; it closes with the 
 same. "An ending of this kind is 
 unusual in Apocalypses, as Bousset 
 points out; but it is suitable to an 
 Apocalypse which is also a letter to 
 the churches (i : *. note), designed to be 
 read in the congregation. An Apoca- 
 lypse in its inner character, a proph- 
 ecy in its purpose, the book is, in its 
 literary form, an epistle, and therefore 
 begins and ends with the epistolary 
 forms familiar to the Asian churches 
 through the Epistles of St. Paul" 
 (Swete). John's tender heart reveals 
 what is in the heart of the Lord Jesus, 
 love for the saints. Tliey were real 
 saints, though imperfect. John, and 
 those in that age suffering tribulation 
 (1:9), have long since been dwelling 
 with the Lord. In all the storms and 
 judgments that John sees coming on 
 the world, where the beast and false 
 prophet dwell, even here John prays 
 that the people of God may dwell in 
 peace and safety. In da.ys when there 
 have been many attacks on the his- 
 torical character of New Testament 
 books, it is comforting to know that 
 sound scholarship puts a firm founda- 
 tion under the church's accepted be- 
 liefs. Dr. C. R. Gregory, in his " In- 
 troduction to the New Testament," 
 says: "No one can be blamed if he 
 quietly holds to the genuineness of 2 
 Peter, and it is agreeable to hold to the 
 old tradition of the Pauline author- 
 ship of the Pastoral Epistles, and there 
 is no more acceptable author of the 
 Fourth Gospel and of Revelation than 
 the Apostle John." 
 
 Unto Him that sitteth on the 
 
 THKONE, AND UNTO THE LaMB, BE 
 THE BLESSING, AND THE HONOR, AND 
 THE GLORY, AND THE DOMINION, 
 FOREVER AND EVER. 
 
 Practical Remarks. 
 
 1. The source of all life, physical, in- 
 tellectual, spiritual, is found in God alone 
 through Christ. The joys of sin are like 
 a deceiving mirage, the joys of God are 
 like an enlarging river (ver. 1). 
 
 2. Even in heaven the spiritual life 
 needs nourishment. It is not full grown 
 nor self-supporting. Nourishment is con- 
 stant, there is no month without fruit 
 (ver. 2). 
 
 3. The accursed things are outside of 
 heaven, the blessed things inside. The 
 service of all created holy beings will be 
 not drudgery or enforced work, but a de- 
 light and privilege (ver. 3). 
 
 4. Christians are even now heirs to a 
 kingdom ; in heaven they will be kings 
 and priests. The ungodly may own the 
 present, the Christian owns the future 
 (ver. 5). 
 
 5. In the New Testament we have not 
 only honest and competent writers, but 
 back of them are the Holy Spirit and the 
 assurance of Jesus (ver. 6). 
 
 6. Hearing without heeding brings a 
 curse. Hearing and obeying are the only 
 way to a blessing (ver. 7). 
 
 7. Worship is instinctive. The kind of 
 being we worship will have its inevitable 
 effect on us. The worship of a holy God 
 should make us holy (ver. 8). 
 
 8. We may reverence men and angels, 
 but we may worship no one lower than 
 God. When saints and angels come be- 
 tween men and God, they obscure God 
 and hurt the worshiper (ver. 9). 
 
 9. Delays often work ill to the heart. 
 Punishment delayed often becomes an 
 occasion for license. God's delays are for 
 good, penalties and rewards will come in 
 time (ver. 10). 
 
 10. There will come a time when char- 
 acter will be iixed, when change will be 
 morally impossible. Every year tends 
 toward this condition. Life is the time 
 when the issues of eternity are decided 
 (ver. 11). 
 
Ch. XXII.] 
 
 REVELATION 
 
 393 
 
 11. Jesus encourages his people with 
 the assurance of rewards. Men should 
 serve Christ moved by love and duty 
 (ver. 12). 
 
 12. Securing Christ we secure all bless- 
 edness. Wisdom, gooduess, and power 
 are all joined in Christ (ver. 13). 
 
 13. Men are saved, not by culture or 
 training, but only through the renewing 
 and cleansing influence of the Holy Spirit. 
 The cleansing comes first, heaven comes 
 next (ver. 11). 
 
 14. The eternal exclusion of the un- 
 godly from heaven is the testimony of 
 Jesus. Men may dislike, or doubt, or 
 deny the doctrine of eternal punishment. 
 Not what we like, but what Jesus teaches 
 will decide this question (ver. 15). 
 
 15. The words of Jesus do not lose their 
 
 vitality through the centuries. Jesus is as 
 much concerned to-day for the salvation 
 of men and the upbuilding of his people 
 as when on the earth (ver. 16). 
 
 16. The coming of Christ will be a source 
 of alarm to the ungodly, a source of de- 
 light to the believer. What effect the 
 coming of Christ will have is a test of the 
 heart (ver. 17). 
 
 17. To alter the Scriptures is to usurp 
 the authority and place of Christ. It is 
 ours to listen, not to explain away. We 
 must bring to the Bible an open mind 
 and an obedient spirit (ver. 18). 
 
 18. To obey the Scriptures that we like, 
 to disobey what we do not like is, in 
 reality, to make a new Bible. All the 
 Bible is for every one for all the life, to 
 be believed and obeyed (ver. 19). 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 THE MEANING OF BABYLON (CHAPTER XVIl) 
 
 Babylon was one of the world's great cities, opposed to God's people, de- 
 stroying Jerusalem, and taking tlie nation into captivity. Jeremiah predicted 
 the fall of this city (chap. so). It fell, no more to rise. It was a city glorious in 
 its outward aspect, but greedy, corrupt, against which God set his face. It is 
 not strange that this New Testament book, constructed so largely on the Old 
 Testament plan and using Old Testament imagery, should introduce Babylon 
 as the picture of a leading foe of Christ and his cause. And yet it is not placed 
 before us as a purely heathenish power like the pagan Roman Empire. Rather 
 it is the portrait of a degenerate church. In chap. XVIII we beheld an impure 
 woman, representing a church that had lost its purity, as in chap. XII we had 
 a beautiful woman, clothed in a sublime way, representing God's cause on the 
 earth. The woman is not changed into a harlot, for that would assert the de- 
 struction of God's cause on the earth. There is always a spiritual element — the 
 real church of Christ. There is also a seeming church, antichristian in nature, 
 represented by the unclean woman. We are told distinctly in 17 : 18 that the 
 unclean Avoman and the great city present the same thought in a twofold form. 
 The dragon, the beast, the false prophet, are open satanic foes of Christ ; this 
 foe is the more dangerous because it is nominally Christian, having a seeming 
 relation to Christ, though it rides upon the beast and makes use of it to do 
 her will. 
 
 It is worthy of notice that the unclean woman, the mighty city, is destroyed 
 in the vision before the three other enemies of Christ. There is a heartier rejoic- 
 ing over the downfall of Babylon than over the destruction of the others (is : 20). 
 The forces and agencies employed by God to do his work are mainly spiritual ; 
 only by the operations of the Holy Spirit in the hearts of men can a spiritual 
 Babylon be destroyed. Revivals of religion, the spread of intelligence, the 
 knowledge of the Bible, these are the agencies by which the walls of a mystical 
 Babylon can be made to fall. The figures of the burning city, and the casting 
 of the stone into the sea, must not mislead us into thinking that in outward 
 convulsions alone or mainly the kingdom of evil can be overthrown. The 
 very nature of the conflict calls for spiritual agencies. Elijah was taught that 
 the great forces of God for overturning the kingdom of darkness work quietly ; 
 the Reformation, springing from the study of the Bible, was more eflfective than 
 the French Revolution in ushering in God's kingdom. If all in the world were 
 changed in heart Babylon would at once be destroyed. 
 394 
 
APPENDIX 395 
 
 We may not think this destruction will come suddenly. Neither Babylon 
 nor Tyre fell suddenly, as the prophecies of Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, 
 might seem to demand. Babylon survived its first blow, rallied, and stood a 
 mighty city until the age of Alexander, two hundred years afterward ; then it 
 went down with a steady decline, and the prophecy was fulfilled. In like 
 manner Tyre fell before the arms of Nebuchadnezzar, but rallied and rose to 
 great splendor. More than two centuries passed away before the utter desola- 
 tion foretold came to pass. We see, from the history of these cities, that the 
 prophecies did not mean that they would be suddenly engulfed as if by an 
 earthquake. 
 
 A spiritual degeneracy, such as is here portrayed, is assuredly possible. 
 Jesus announced a growing coldness on the part of his disciples (Matt. 24 : 12). 
 In the days of the apostles rank errors came in ; the Ne\v Testament letters 
 reveal a constant struggle to keep the faith of the churches pure. This book, 
 revealing the life of the churches at the close of the first century, shows un- 
 cleanness permitted in the churches, and lax motives of the Chi'istian life itself 
 (s : 20). lu some ages of the Christian era the truth was seemingly held only 
 by the small and almost unknown bodies charged with heresy by the ruling 
 powers. In the nominal church of to-day there is a large Babylonian element. 
 The State churches in Germany and elsewhere, with their baptismal regenera- 
 tion, their teaching that citizenship in the State involves membership in the 
 church — this is an essential part of an antichristian system. The darkness in 
 the Greek and Oriental organizations is as dense as that of the Komish churches. 
 These facts show that a spiritual Babylon may exist side by side with a holy 
 Jerusalem, representing Christ's own kingdom. 
 
 A great practical wrong has been done in limiting the term Babylon to the 
 Komish Church. It has always maintained many fundamental revealed truths 
 as against atheism, infidelity, deism, unitarianism, agnosticism. Fairbairn 
 says concerning Rome : " It has in it the essential elements of the antichristian 
 apostasy, worldliness of spirit, corruption of doctrine, licentiousness of manners, 
 hatred and oppression of the truth, the queenlike elevation of Babylonish pride 
 and security, the presence of the blood of martyrs." But this term means 
 more than the Romish or Eastern Church ; wherever in Protestantism the world's 
 favor rather than Christ's favor is sought, there is the spirit that makes Babylon. 
 The fulfilment of this prophecy lies in the future. It does not refer to 
 the destruction of Jerusalem in A. D. 70, nor to Rome falling under the power 
 of the barbarians, nor to any literal city that will grow up heading a movement 
 against Christ; nor to the destruction of the political supremacy of the pope 
 in 1870. 
 
 Alford, who holds that Babylon is practically Rome, that Rome represents 
 the Romish Church, finds a difficulty in the commercial character ascribed to 
 Babylon. He does not know how to find this fulfilled in the case of Rome, 
 which was not a great commercial city. But he misapprehends entirely the 
 meaning of John's vision. If Babylon had no commerce such figures might 
 have been used concerning it to show, through figures, that it was a great city. 
 John is not describing a literal city or writing a history of Babylon. This book 
 
396 APPENDIX 
 
 will be profitable to us, and speak truly to us, when we remember that it must 
 not, at all, be considered a book of history dealing in definite statements con- 
 cerning persons, places, times. Babylon may give suggestions of Rome, papal 
 or pagan, but in its fulfilment it means vastly more. Compare note page 255 : 
 "The figurative interpretation of Revelation alone satisfactory," 
 
GENERAL INDEX 
 
 Abaddon, 225. 
 
 Abiding in Christ, eternal life, 60. 
 
 Accuser of our brethren, 266, 207. 
 
 Altar, 197 ; souls under, 197 ; altar speaks, 
 315. 
 
 Angels, 188; angel of the church, the 
 meaning of, 149f . 
 
 Angels, the seven with their bowls, 303. 
 
 Angelic announcements, three of im- 
 pending events, 292. 
 
 Anointing, or unction, from the Holy One, 
 57, 60. 
 
 Antichrist, 55, 56, 58. 
 
 Apollyon, 225. 
 
 Armageddon, Rarr Magedon, 321, 363. 
 
 Assurance and an overcoming life, 90. 
 
 Assured beliefs of the Christian, 99. 
 
 Babylon : as a drunken harlot, 329f, 332 ; 
 fall of, announced, 341 ; the godly to 
 leave, 343; fallen, 294, 343; the great, 
 333; lamentations over, 344f; joy in 
 heaven over her fall, 347; the fall of, 
 like a stone cast into the sea, 348 ; song 
 of triumph over fall of, 350f ; God's sov- 
 ereignty recognized in her fall, 353. 
 
 Beasts, living creatures, 180. 
 
 Beasts : the two, 273 ; the first, 274 ; Daniel's 
 description of, 276; the second, 280; with 
 lamblike horns, 281 ; image of, 283. 
 
 Beast, the seat of, 317. 
 
 Beast of 13 : 1, 2 and 17 : 3 the same, 331. 
 
 Beast and the woman, explanation of, 
 334, ,339. 
 
 Believers, their attitude toward errorists, 
 133, 134. 
 
 Birds, as a term or symbol, 365. 
 
 Blasphemy, names of, 275, 278. 
 
 Book sealed up with seven seals, 183. 
 
 Book, the little: mentioned, 234, 235; 
 open, 235 ; eaten, 238. 
 
 Book : taking away or adding to the, 391 ; 
 the gracious ending of, 392. 
 
 Bowls : the, 288 ; the bowls and the trum- 
 pets, 288 ; the seventh, 322. 
 
 Cerinthus, 37. 
 
 Character and destiny fixed in the future 
 state, 389. 
 
 Christ, the Redeemer, and Satan, the de- 
 stroyer, 258. 
 
 Christianity a missionary religion, 113. 
 
 Christians : their high destiny, 64 ; should 
 keep themselves pure, 66 ; holiness a 
 characteristic of, 69 ; brotherly love es- 
 sential to, 69-71. 
 
 City, the great, 324. 
 
 Church : the, and her three enemies, 258 ; 
 the first enemy, 259; helped by the 
 earth, 271 ; varying interpretations, 272. 
 
 Churches: the seven, 142; letters to the 
 seven, 163, 172 ; general view of, 173. 
 
 Conquering Christ: mentioned, 358; tri- 
 umph of, over the beast and false 
 prophet, 359f; King of kings and Lord 
 of lords, 360, 362. 
 
 Convulsions in nature, symbols of, 199, 
 200. 
 
 Day, the great, 320. 
 Dead, the blessed, 296. 
 Death, 201. 
 
 Death and hades, 373. 
 Death, second, 370, 373. 
 Demetrius, 115. 
 Diotrephes, 114. 
 Docetism, 37. 
 
 Ebionism, 37. 
 
 Elder, the, 179. 
 
 Enoch, prophecy of, 128. 
 
 Ephesus, 152 ; church of, 152-154. 
 
 397 
 
398 
 
 GENERAL INDEX 
 
 Elder, elect lady, 104. 
 
 Epistles and Revelation, vii, xiv, xvii, 
 
 xxi. 
 Euphrates, the four angels at, 226, 227. 
 
 Faith in the promises leads to prevailing 
 prayer, 96. 
 
 Faith once delivered to the saints, 119. 
 
 Faith and love: mentioned, 74; their re- 
 lation, 90. 
 
 False teachers: their origin, 56; not of 
 us, 57. 
 
 Fathers, young men, little children, an 
 appeal to, 50-52. 
 
 Fellowship : with the Father through 
 Christ, 36 ; results of, 61. 
 
 Final testimony of Jesus, 389, 390. 
 
 Forgiveness of sins, 50. 
 
 Gaius, 111. 
 
 Grod's army of horsemen : described, 228, 
 229 ; their fearful scourge of the im- 
 penitent world, 229, 230. 
 
 God's punitive justice, 121-123. 
 
 Gog and Magog, 371. 
 
 Gospel, the everlasting, 293. 
 
 Grace, mercy, peace, 105. 
 
 Hades, 149, 195. 
 
 Hail stones, 325. 
 
 Harlot and Babylon, destruction of, 328. 
 
 Harp, symbol of praise, 186. 
 
 Harpers : the heavenly, 291 ; their new 
 song, 291 ; their four qualities, 291, 292. 
 
 Harvest and vintage, 297, 300. 
 
 Heaven and hell closely related to earth, 
 221. 
 
 Holy life : confidence of, 73 ; test of holi- 
 ness, 79. 
 
 Horse : the white, 192 ; the red, 193, 194. 
 
 Jesus, the Redeemer, 187. 
 
 Jesus' final words, 389-391. 
 
 Jezebel, that woman, 160f. 
 
 John's First Epistle, why he wrote it, 36. 
 
 John's final words, 391f. 
 
 Jude and James, 118. 
 
 Jude, author of, xviii ; and Apocryphal 
 
 writings, xix. 
 Judgment, final, 252. 
 Judgment, final, of the wicked, 372. 
 Kingdom of darkness, 317. 
 
 Kings from the sun-rising, 318. 
 Know, the word as used by John, 73. 
 Korah, stands for what, 126. 
 
 Lake of fire, 364. 
 
 Lamb slain, the : set forth, 185 ; slain from 
 the foundation of the world, 279. 
 
 Laodicea, the church in, 170f. 
 
 Last time, sign of, 55. 
 
 Life, tree of, 386; blessed results from, 
 387. 
 
 Life, vainglory of, 53. 
 
 Little children, 50, 51. 
 
 Lion of the tribe of Judah, 184. 
 
 Locusts : like war horses, 223-225 ; from 
 the pit, 222; for five months, 223, 224. 
 
 Logos, or Word, 33, 34. 
 
 Loving the brethren, 49. 
 
 Love : a test of being begotten of God, 
 83 ; God's the source of ours, 84 ; the 
 fruit of the indwelling spirit of, 85 
 made perfect, 86; casteth out fear, 87 
 of God with impaired judgment, 39 
 the keeping of his commandments, 47. 
 
 Lust, or desire of the flesh, of the eyes, 53. 
 
 Man-child, the, 263. 
 
 Manna, the hidden, 158. 
 
 Mark of the name of the second beast, 
 285. 
 
 Marriage of the Lamb: mentioned, 353; 
 the wife of, 354 ; happy are the bidden 
 to, 355; the sayings concerning, true, 
 356. 
 
 Messiahship of Jesus: belief in, 90; leads 
 to an overcoming life, 91 ; a twofold 
 testimony to, 92, 93 ; final invitation, 
 391. 
 
 Michael and his angels, 264 ; the arch- 
 angel, 124, 125. 
 
 Millennial kingdom, 369. 
 
 Months, forty and two: described, 243, 
 253f; symbolic interpretation, 254, 277; 
 one thousand two hundred and sixty 
 days, 245. 
 
 Mystery: of God, 237; its long course of 
 fulfilment, 237, 239. 
 
 Mystery, 148. 
 
 New Jerusalem : brought before us, 379f : 
 its walls, gates, and foundation, 380f; 
 its light and its glory, 382; those who 
 
GENERAL INDEX 
 
 899 
 
 enter therein, 383 ; their endless enjoy- 
 ment, 387. 
 
 New heaven and a new earth : spoken of, 
 377; what in the, 377f ; the blessed life 
 in, 378 ; those excluded from, 379. 
 
 New song, 186. 
 
 Nicolaitans, 154. 
 
 Oil and wine, symbolism of, 195. 
 Olive trees and lampstands, 245. 
 Overcoming Satan, 267, 268. 
 
 Paradise of God, the, 386. 
 
 Patmos, 145. 
 
 Pergamos, church of, 156-158. 
 
 Philadelphia, the church in, 168f. 
 
 Pit, the bottomless, 221. 
 
 Power of the second beast, 284. 
 
 Prayers of the saints, much incense added 
 
 to, 214, 220. 
 Punishment cannot transform the heart, 
 
 316. 
 
 Redeemed : the great multitude of the, 
 206; their purity and blessedness, 208, 
 209. 
 
 Resurrection, the first, 370. 
 
 Revelation : meaning of, 140 ; book of, 
 140-142. 
 
 Revelation : its apocalyptic character, 
 xxi ; its authorship and genuineness, 
 xxiii ; date of writing, xxv ; methods 
 of its interpretation, xxvi ; critical 
 basis of commentary on, xxix ; the 
 assured truth of, 387f; testified to, by 
 Jesus, John, and the angel of, 388. 
 
 River of the water of life, 386. 
 
 Saints, prayers of, 186. 
 
 Sardis, the church in, 165f. 
 
 Sardius, 178. 
 
 Satan: the victory over, 366f; the bind- 
 ing of, 367 ; the purpose of his binding, 
 368 ; bound for a thousand years, 368 ; 
 loosed a little season, 369, 371 ; final vic- 
 torj' over, 370f ; his eternal doom, 371. 
 
 Saved, the innumerable multitude, 206. 
 
 Sea of glass, 304. 
 
 Sea, no more, 377. 
 
 Seal: first, 192; second seal, 193; third 
 seal, 194; fourth seal, 195; fifth, 196; 
 sixth, 199 ; seventh, 211. 
 
 Seals, between the sixth and seventh, 202. 
 
 Seal, trumpet, and bowl, fifth, 196. 
 
 Seals, opening of the, 190-192. 
 
 Seals, trumpets, and bowls compared, 191, 
 310f. 
 
 Sealing of the servants of God, 203-207; 
 of the 144,000, 205. 
 
 Serpent, that old, 265. 
 
 Seven heads, ten horns, 274f. 
 
 Seven heads, seven mountains, seven 
 kings, 335f. 
 
 Sin: Christ's blood cleanses us from, 39; 
 sense of, 40; confession of, 41; Christ 
 the propitiation for, 45, 46 ; forgiveness 
 of, 50 ; unto death, 98. 
 
 Sinlessness : aiming at, 44 ; sinning and 
 not sinning, 67, 68. 
 
 Six hundred and sixty-six, 285, 286. 
 
 Smyrna, church of, 154-156. 
 
 Song : of heaven, 181, 185 ; new, 186 ; of 
 Moses and the Lamb, 305. 
 
 Son of man, vision of, 144, 140f. 
 
 Spirits, the three unclean, 319. 
 
 Star : falling from heaven, 217 ; the morn- 
 ing, and the falling, 221. 
 
 Stone, tlie white, 158. 
 
 Symbols, as teachers, 181. 
 
 Temple of God : figurative, 240 ; given to 
 the Gentiles, 243; in heaven, symbolic 
 of the church, 255. 
 
 Testimony for Jesus and prophecy, 357. 
 
 Thyatira, the church of, 159-162. 
 
 Trumpet : the first, 215 ; the second, 216 : 
 the third, 217 ; the fourth, 218 ; the fifth, 
 221 ; the sixth, 225 ; the seventh, sounds, 
 250. 
 
 Trumpets : series of, 212 ; sounding of the 
 first four, 213 ; the group of four, 215. 
 
 Twelve tribes of Israel, 205 ; of Dan, 206. 
 
 Visions : consolatory, 233 ; three other, 
 
 289. 
 Vials, or bowls, 186. 
 Vision of God and the Lamb, chap. IV, V, 
 
 176f. 
 Vision of the Lamb on Mount Zion, 290. 
 
 Walking: in the light, 37, 38; in the light 
 tested, 46, 48; in light, excludes world- 
 liness, 52; in light, excludes control by 
 antichrists, 54. 
 
400 
 
 GENERAL INDEX 
 
 Wanderiug stars, 128. 
 
 War: in heaveu, 264; the dragon fought 
 
 in, 265 ; against the Lamb, 337 ; the 
 
 Lamb overcoming in, 338. 
 Water and the blood, the: mentioned, 
 
 94 ; interpretations of, 92-94. 
 White horse, 192, 359. 
 Winds, symbolism of, 203. 
 Wine of wrath of God, 256, 301. 
 Witnesses, the two ; set forth, 240, 244, 250 ; 
 
 their power to hurt, 246 ; the beast kills, 
 
 247 ; their resurrection, 249. 
 Wrath of the Lamb, 201. 
 
 Wrath of a holy God, 312f. 
 
 Woes : the three woes, 218. 219 ; the first, 
 225. 
 
 Woman : and the dragon, 259, 260 ; who 
 she is, 261 ; her flight into the wilder- 
 ness, 269. 
 
 Word, the, of God, applied to Jesus, 361. 
 
 Wormwood, 217. 
 
 " Worship God," 356. 
 
 Young men: their strength, 51; over- 
 coming the wicked one by the word of 
 God, 51, 52. 
 

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