ANNOTATIONS ON THE APOCALYPSE. LONDON: 1B0TS0^ AND PALMER, PRINTERS, SAVOY-STREET, bTPAND. ANNOTATIONS ON THE APOCALYPSE. INTENDED AS A SEQUEL TO THOSE OF MR. ELSLEY ON THE GOSPELS, AND OF MR. PREBENDARY SLADE ON THE EPISTLES; AND THUS TO COMPLETE A SERIES OP COMMENTS ON THE WHOLE OF THE NEW TESTAMENT, FOR THE USE OF STUDENTS IN PROPHETICAL SCRIPTURE. BY JOHN CHAPPEL "WOODHOUSE, D.D. DEAN OF LICHFIELD. ./^ of Prm^ /"^^— — 1\ \^ — -^ — ^ ^ LONDON: J. HATCHARD AND SON, 187, PICCADILLY. 1828. TO THE RIGHT REVEREND WILLIAM, LORD BISHOP OF DURHAM, THIS PUBLICATION, UNDERTAKEN AT HIS LORDSHIP'S SUGGESTION, MOST RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED, LORDSHIP'S OBLIGED, HUMBLE SERVANT, THE AUTHOR. GENERAL CONTENTS. Page Preface ..... xiii The Review of Evidence respecting the authenticity and Divine Inspiration of the Apocalypse ... 3 Of the Occasion and the Intention of this part of the Work . . . . . . 3 to 5 1 . Of the external Evidence relating to the Apocalypse. In what degree the external Evidence is affected by the time when the Apocalypse was written and published Of the time when it first appeared The testimony of Irenaeus of Ignatius ■ — of the Syriac Version of Hermas and Polycarp of Justin Martyr and Athenagoras of the Epistle from the Gallic Churches . of Melito, Theophilus, Ai)polloniu?, and Clemens of Alexandria ofTertuUian .... ■ of certain Heretics in those times of Hippolitus and Origen Biographical Chart of the Writers affording external evidence in favour of the Apocalypse . .26 — 27 5 — 6 6 — 11 11 — 13 13 — 16 16 16 — 18 19 19 — 20 20 — 21 21 — 22 23 — 24 24 — 26 Page 28 29 to 32 33 ,., 34 34 — 36 36 _ 38 VUl CONTENTS. 2. Of the internal Evidence. A criterion proposed for settling this Evidence, which is as yet imperfect, but in continual progress to perfec- tion ...... The concessions of Michaelis, and observations thereon Of the Visions of Hernias, and on the second book of Es- dras ...... Of the doctrines contained in the Apocalypse . The objections against the Apocalypse on account of its obscurity, with answers to the same 3. Of the Apocalypse, whether written by St. John, the Apostle and Evangelist. Of the objections which arose in the third century, and are collected from the writings of Dionysius of Alex- andria and others, by Lardner, under five heads : these severally considered and answered . .39 — 48 A particular evidence in favour of the question, collected from -; e book itself • • . .48 — 49 The pretensions of the book to divine inspiration, exa- mined by the tests proposed by Michaelis, in six ques- tions . . • . . .49 — 50 Conclusion ' . • . • • • 51 CONTENTS OF THE NOTES. PART I. Contains, in ten Sections — a eiaf that is, the then present state oj" the Christian Churches in Asia, as known by their omni- present Lord — Ch. i. ii. iii. Sect. I. Chap. i. 1 — 3. — The title or inscription of the book ..... 55 CONTENTS. IX Page Skct.II. CiiAP.i.4 — 8. — The address or salutation, and the Doxology . . . . .57 Sect. III. Chap. i. 9 — 20. — The appearance of the Lord Jesus, with the symbols of his power, and the commis- sion given by him to St, John to write what he beheld . 63 Sect. IV. Chap. ii. 1 — 7. — Address to the Church in Ephe- sus ..... 70 Sect. V. CHAP.ii.8 — 11. — Addressto the Church in Smyrna 77 Sect. VI. Chap. ii. 12 — 17.— Address to the Church in Per- gamos • . . • .81 Sect. VII. Chap. ii. 1 8—29. in Thyatira 85 Sect. VIII. Chap, iii. 1 — 6. in Sardis . 91 Sect. IX. Chap. iii. 7 — 13- — Addressto the Church in Phil- adelphia . . • . -94 Sect. X. Chap. iii. 14 — 22 Address to the Church in Laodicea . . • • .97 PART II. Contains, in nine Sections — A general Pi'ophetical Sketch of d fxeXkeiyeveffQai, future events under the six first Seals. ■.1.1 Sect. I. Chap- iv — The representation of the divine Glory in Heaven • . . . .102 Sect. II. Chap. v. — The sealed Book, the Lamt vho opens it, and the praises sung by the heavenly ch. i .115 Sect. III. Chap. vi. 1, 2. — The opening of the first Seal . 121 Sect. IV. Chap. vi. 3, 4 ■. the second Seal 126 Sect. V. Chap. vi. 5, 6. the third Seal . 131 Sect. VI. Chap. vi. 7, 8 the fourth Seal 138 Sect. VII. Chap. vi. 9—1 1 . the fifth Seal . 145 Sect. VIII and. IX Chap. vi. 12—17; and Chap. vii. the sixth Seal, and the sealing of the 144,000, and the palm-bearing multitude . . . .149 CONTENTS. PART III. Page Contains, in seven Sections — The opening of the seventh Seal, the sixjirst Trumpets, and the prophetic commission given to St. John. Sect. I. Chap. viii. 1 — 5. — The opening of the seventh Seal, and the commission to the angels with the seven Trum- pets . . . . .167 Sect. II and III. Chap. viii. 6 — 13. — The four first trum- pets, and the denunciation of the three woes . 172 Sect. IV. Chap. ix. 1—12.— The fifth trumpet, and first woe 187 Sect. V. Chap. ix. 13 — 21. — The sixth trumpet • 208 Sect. VI. Chap. X. 1—11.— The little book . .216 Sect. VII. Chap. xi. 1 — 14. — The measuring of the temple, and the witnesses . . • • 223 PART IV. Contains, in four Sections — The sowiding of the seventh Trumpet, the Dragon, and the two Wild Beasts. Sect. I. Chap. xi. 15 — 19. — The sounding of the seventh trumpet . . • . • 239 Sect. II. Chap. xii. 1 — 17. — The Woman and the Dragon . 242 Sect. III. Chap. xii. 18; xiii. 1—10.— The Wild Beast from the Sea • . . • • 257 Sect. IV. Chap. xiii. 11 — 18. — The Beast from the earth or land, styled the false Prophet .... 277 CONTENTS. XI PART V. Contains, in six Sections — The Lamb on Mount Sion, and the Proclamations or Warnings. Page Sect. I. Chap. xiv. 1 — 5. — The Lamb on mount Sion . 308 Sect. II. Chap. xiv. 6, 7. — The first Angel proclaims . 312 Sect. III. Chap. xiv. 8. — The second Angel proclaims . 313 Sect. IV. Chap. xiv. 9 — 12. — The third Angel proclaims . 314 Sect. V. Chap. xiv. 13. — The blessedness of those who die in the Lord, proclaimed .... 316 Sect. VI. Chap. xiv. 14 — 20. — The vision of the Harvest, and of the Vintage ..... 317 PART VI. Contains, in Jive Sections — The Seven Vials; and the Harlot of Babylon, and her fall. Sect. I. Chap. xv. ; and Chap. xvi. 1. — The Vision pre- paratory to the seven Vials . . . .320 Sect. II. Chap. xvi. 2— 21.— The seven Vials . . 324 Sect. III. Chap. xvii. — The Great Harlot, or Babylon . 348 Sect. IV. CnAP.xviii. — The judgment of the great Harlot . 370 Sect. V. Chap. xix. 1 — 10. — Exultation in heaven upon the fall of Babylon, and the approach of the new Jerusa- lem . . . . . . .380 PART VII. Contains, in seven Sectioris — The grand conflict and victory over the Beast and false Prophet ; the Dragon taken and confined ; the Millennium ; the Dragon loosed, and deceiv- ing the Nations, is cast into the burning Lake ; the gene- ral Judgment ; and the new Creation. Sect. I. Chap. xix. 11 — 18. — The Lord descends to battle and victory ...... 385 Sect. II. Chap. xix. 19 — 21. — The conflict, and the victory over the wild Beast, and false Prophet . . 387 XJl CONTENTS. Page Sect. III. Chap. xx. 1 — 3. — The Dragon taken and con- fined . . . . . . .389 Sect, IV. Chap. xx. 4— 6.— The Millennium . . 390 Sect. V. Chap. xx. 7 — 10. — Satan loosed, deceiveth the nations, and is cast into the burning Lake . . 393 Sect. VI. Chap. xx. 11 — 15. — The general Judgment . 395 Sect. VII. Chap. xxi. 1—8.— The New Creation . , .396 PART VIII. Contains, in two Sections — the description of the Bride, or neiv Jerusalem ; and the Conclusion. Sect. I. Chap. xxi. 9, to the end; Chap. xxii. 1 — 5. The Bride, or New Jerusalem .... 402 Sect. II. Chap. xxii. 6, to the end.— The Conclusion . 409 THE APPENDIX. IN TWO PARTS. Part I. — Comparison of the Prophecies in the Apocalypse, chapters xiii. and xix. with those of the Prophet Daniel in chapter vii. ; and of St. Paul in 2 Thessalonians, chapter ii. . . . . .416 Part II. — Comparison of Popery with Mahometism, as ful- filling the symbols of the two Horns, of the second wild Beast, or false Prophet .... 420 PREFACE. That the reader may be acquainted with the de- sign and tendency of this publication, it is necessary to lay before him the circumstances under which it was undertaken. In the first place, I must revert to my former work upon the same subject published in the year 1805.^ That book had its origin in a resolution formed by me, to study the Apocalyptic prophecies without the usual aid of commentators. The circumstances which produced it were as follows : — In my prepa- ration for holy orders, having gone through the sa- cred writings of the Old and New Testament, I came to this last and most difficult book. Here I found a pause necessary, to supply me with able and safe aids, before I could venture to proceed. In this difficulty I consulted my theological friends, ' " The Apocalypse of St. John translated ; with Notes critical and explanatory ; to which is prefixed, a Dissertation on the divine Ori- gin of the Book, &c. By John Ciiappel Woodhouse, M.A. Archdeacon of Salop, &c. Hatchard, London. 1805." XIV PREFACE. and from them I collected, that the writers upon the Apocalypse were almost innumerable, very dis- cordant, and that none of them had afforded general and entire satisfaction. I perceived, that with my present stock of knowledge and attainment, I might expect to be bewildered in the variety and discre- pancy of explanation ; and I resolved to defer my acquaintance with this sacred book, till I could ap- proach it with better hopes of success. In the mean time, I determined to prepare myself, by an extensive and accurate knowledge of the holy Scriptures, of the Christian writings in the early centuries, the Fathers of the Church, and the eccle- siastical historians ; and at the same time, to avoid all publications which might prejudice me in favour of any particular interpretation. For many j^ears, however, my engagements in active duties prevented the accomplishment of my intentions. At length the time arrived, when I could employ my leisure for literature — the *' horse subsecivae" of Cicero — upon this interesting subject. A few years out of twelve were then occupied in such preparative studies, and the remainder in en- deavouring to understand, interpret, and arrange th-e prophecies, as they appear reported in my work. Having completed my labours, I submitted them to an highly-valued friend, who, having carefully perused them, and suggested some improvements, recommended their immediate publication. The work, howev^er, did not prove generally at- tractive ; the public mind being at that time pre- occupied with the more amusing speculations of PREFACE. XV other commentators, who found thefulfilment of the prophecies in question in the passing events of the day, or in bold and confident exposure of the future history of the world. On the other hand, I had my reward, in the ap- probation of my learned friends, and of some distin- guished prelates, to whom I presented copies of the work. Among the latter, I have the pleasure to enu- merate the late Bishop Hurd ; and, as his testimony supports the principles on which this, as well as my former work is conducted, 1 shall not hesitate to lay it before the public, ft may be seen in a copy of the book, in the library of Hartlebury Castle, which the Bishop bequeathed to his successors in the see, and is thus written by his Lordship's own hand : " This is the best book of its kind that I have seen ; it owes its superiority chiefly to two things — 1. The author's understanding, for the most part, the apocalyptic symbols in a spiritual, not a literal sense. 2. To the care he has taken to fix the pre- cise import of those symbols, from the use made of them by the old prophetical, and other writers of the Old and New Testament. Still, many diflScul- ties remain, and will remain, to the time of the end. '' R. W. "March 15, 1806." This testimony found its way into some "of the literary journals, and could not fail to produce an XVI PREFACE. interest in favour of the book. But let it not be thought, that the insertion of it in this place is to gratify literary vanity. Had the Bishop ascribed to the author the praise of that talent and ingenuity with which he has so eloquently adorned the me- mory of Joseph Mede, I might be thought liable to this imputation : but he confines his commendation to the simple course pursued by the writer in searching the Holy Scriptures for an explanation of the symbols, and in applying them in a spi- ritual sense : and this is all the commendation I desire.^ I proceed to state the rules;, or canons, which in the former work were proposed by me, as the chart and compass to direct my course, in the un- tried sea upon which I was about to embark. It is necessary to repeat them, as they form the basis of interpretation adopted in the present work. In entering upon this most important considera- 1 Introduction to the Study of the Prophecies, dec. at the War- burtohian Lecture ; by R. Hurd, D.D. &c. : consult Sermon X. in which it appears, that the Bishop had at that time a strong predi- lection for Mede's system of interpretation. And it may be thought extraordinary, that in his latter years he should speak so favourably of another book, the tendency of which is, in many parts, to show the invalidity of Mede's deductions. But the learning and genius of this distinguished prelate, were not superior to his candour and rectitude of mind. At one time, he admires the genius of a writer who seems to force his way over all impediments in pursuit of truth : at a later day, he acquiesces in the better fortune of another, who pursues an humbler and more sure course for the attainment of his object. PREFACE. XVll tion, the question which first commanded my atten- tion was, — " From what source can we reasonably expect to derive the safest and surest means of un- derstanding the figurative prophetical language of the Apocalypse ?" The proper answer appeared ob- vious, and attended with little or no difficulty : for, if the Apocalypse be of divine revelation, an uni- formity must be expected to subsist between this andother portions of sacred Scripture. If the same di- vine Spirit which dictated the preceding prophecies, were also the Inspirer of the apocalytic visions, a mutual relation must subsist between them ; and the light derived from the one must contribute most beneficially to the elucidation of the other. This then was the first principle, upon which I resolved to ground my method of investigation ; — to compare the language, the symbols, the predictions of the Apocalypse, imth those of former revelations ; and to admit only such inter pi^etation, as should appear to have the sanction of this divine authority. A second controlling principle seemed necessary. For, as the language, symbols, and predictions thus interpreted by the assistance of Scripture, were to be applied afterwards to historical facts, a prelimi- nary question seemed to occur; — to what kind of history are they to be applied ? To profane history, or sacred ? to the extensive and boundless mass of the gentile history, or, exclusively, to that of God's chosen people ? To assist me in answering this question, I had recourse to the preceding prophe- cies of the Old and New Testament. How have we been authorized to explain these 1 In what kind of his- b XVlll PREFACE. tory do they appear to have been accomplished ? The answer was at hand — the history of the Church of God. For, in this sacred history we find the divine prophecies principally, and almost exclusively ful- filled : for, whenever sacred prophecy is seen to de- viate from this its peculiar object, it is in such in- stances only, wherein the fortunes of God's people have become necessarily involved with those of heathen nations. When the people of God were to become subservient to the four, monarchies, the cha- racter, and succession, and fates of those monarchies were predicted : but the main object continually kept in view, was their deliverance from these suc- cessive yokes, by the superseding dominion of the Messiah. This supreme and universal dominion, gradually and finally to prevail, appears to be the grand object of all sacred prophecy : and revolu- tions of worldly power among the Gentiles, seem to be noticed only at those times when they impede or promote it.^ Therefore the prophecies of the Apo- calypse appeared to be applicable principally, if not solely, to the fates and fortunes of the Christian Church ; to the progress or retardment of that king- dom of the Messiah, which, when these predictions were delivered, had already begun to obtain its 1 See Bishop Hurd on Prophecy, serm. 2d and 3d. And the ex- tension of divine prophecy to the nations, may be observed to take place in exact proportion to their increasing connexion with the Jevps. First, Moab, Edom, Amalek, the Phihstines, &c. are no- ticed; then Nineveh, Babylon, Tyre, Egypt, &c. ; afterwards the four great monarchies ; and lastly, the Gog and Magog, the distant and barbarous nations. PREFACE. XIX establishment in the world. And I conceived my- self obliged to adopt, as a controlling principle of in- terpretation, that unless the language and symbols of the Apocalypse should in particular passages direct, or evidently require another mode of application, the predic- tiotis were to be applied to events occurring in the pro- gressive kingdom of Christ. ' In the wide field of universal history, innume- rable events may be selected by the industry of investigators, seeming to bear resemblance to the figurative pictures of holy writ. Instances of wars, famines, conquests, and revolutions, may be sepa- rated from that infinite mass of information, appear- ing to assimilate to images presented in prophecy. Some restriction is therefore necessary to guide in- vestigation, and to serve as chart and compass through such extensive and difficult seas ; and what can be deemed more proper than this principle, which derives its authority from the analogy of sa- cred Scripture ? A third controlling principle seemed also requi- site, arising from a consideration of the nature and ^ There are discoverable in scriptural prophecy, and generally acknowledged by divines, two advents or comings of our Lord ; 1st. his personal appearance in the flesh ; 2dly. his progress to complete dominion, by the subjection of all his enemies. The first of these had already taken place when the apocalyptic pro- phecies were delivered. The latter, therefore, is the object to which we are principally to look, when we attempt to assort these predic- tions. Accordingly, the subject of this prophetical book will ap- pear to be generally, the fates and fortunes of the Christian Church, from the ascension of our Lord, and the -preaching of his Apostles, to the great consummation of all things. b2 XX PREFACE. kind of that kingdom, which had thus appeared to be the grand object of the prophecies. It is a king- dom not temporal, but spiritual ; " not a kingdom of this world," (John xviii. 36.) not established by the means and apparatus of worldly power and pomp, ^ not bearing the external ensigns of royalty ; but governing the inward man, by possession of the ruling principles ; " The kingdom of God," says our Lord, " is within you." (Luke xvii. 21.) Such a kingdom may be in a great degree inde- pendent of the fates and revolutions of empires ; affected only by those changes in the political world which are calculated to produce the increase or de- cline of religious knowledge, and of pure profession and practice. Wars therefore, and conquests, and revolutions of vast extent, and of great political im- port, may be supposed to take place, even in the Christian world, without becoming the proper object of Christian prophecy. The inhabitants of the Chris- tian world may be subdued by a ferocious con- queror ; the sufferings of the vanquished may be such as result from ferocious conquest ; the faithful servants of Christ may undergo their common share in this calamity, may suffer grievously in their pro- perty and in their persons : yet, in such times of general distress, if their religion be not denied them ; if they enjoy those consolations, which^ under such afflictions, their religion is designed to bestow ; if, corrected by the awful visitation, not only they, but Christians of looser practice, and the inhabitants of ^ Ov ^era TrapanjprjcrewQ. Luke xvii. 20. PREFACE. XXI the earth in general, shall be seen to turn to their God, and allow to his purifying religion its divine influence on their hearts and lives : — shall we ex- pect that such a revolution should be predicted as a calamity, as a woe ? Our conception of the nature of Christ's kingdom, (the object of such prophecy,) will determine us to answer in the negative. But if such a conqueror, after having subdued the bodies of men, should proceed to extend his usurped domi- nion over their souls ; should require them to re- nounce their allegiance to the heavenly King; to deny their God and Redeemer ; — then will succeed a conflict of another nature, and a resistance deserv- ing the notice and interference of divine prophecy. Then will be employed those arms, which properly belong to this spiritual warfare, (Eph. vi. 16;) then will the kingdom of God be truly advanced or dimi- nished. I describe this imaginary conquest, suc- ceeded by such spiritual conflict, only as what may happen ; not adverting to any similar instances which have occurred. I mention them to show with what previous notions I formed the rules of interpre- tation, for which I deem myself accountable. In adopting the rule now under consideration, I have been obedient to the direction of holy Scrip- ture ; which has required a spiritual interpretation of its mysteries, (I Cor. ii. 12 — 15:) they are not to be taken according to the bare letter, (2 Cor. iii. 6,) nor in a carnal or worldly acceptation, (John vi. 26 — 63.) The warfare of the Christian kingdom, (the subject of these prophecies,) is not to be car- ried on by worldly arms and battles ; (John xviii. XXU PREFACE. 36;) they who entertain such notions of this reli- gion, " know not what manner of spirit it is of," (Luke ix. 55.) As the Captain of our salvation con- quered by suffering, and refused the sword of Peter, and the legions of angels, ready for his defence, (Heb. ii. 10; Matt, xxvii. 52 — 55,) so neither by external force must his followers expect to prevail. The kingdom of God is not advanced by crusades ; nor is the sword of man employed successfully to seat the Messiah on his throne. To obtain his des- tined do'minion, Christ must reign in the hearts and consciences of his far-extended subjects. His reign is advanced when Christian principles, when faith, and righteousness, and charity, abound. It is re- tarded when ignorance, impurity, idolatrous super- stition, infidelity, and wickedness, prevail. ^ From these considerations, this third rule of inter- pretation may be thus expressed : 3. That as the kingdom of Christ, the object of the apocalyptic prophecies, is spiintual, so they are to be understood in a spii^itiial sense. Spiritual things are to be compared with spiritual, as says St. Paul. (1 Cor. ii. 13.) A fourth general rule of interpretation has been also adopted in the prosecution of this work. Not to attempt the particular explanation of those pro- 1 As the prophecies of the Old Testament, interpreted carnally by the Jews to designate a worldly conqueror, have been seen to lead that infatuated people into egregious error ; so, in these days of supe- rior light, when by experience, as well as divine direction, a spiritual interpretation is so clearly recommended and enforced, it seems ex- traordinary that any sober and well-informed Christian can look to any other. PREFACE. XXlll phecies which remain yet to be fulfilled. Few words will show the reasonable foundation of this rule, which I am sorry to observe so frequently transgressed. They shall be borrowed from Sir Isaac Newton: " God gave these, and the pro- phecies of the Old Testament, not to gratify men's curiosity, by enabling them to foreknow things ; but that after they were fulfilled they might be in- terpreted by the event, and his own providence, not the interpreter's, be then manifested thereby to the world." ^ Having thus informed the reader of the connexion subsisting between my former publication and that which is now before him, I shall state the circum- stances under which the latter was undertaken. After the publication of my first volume, many years passed away, during which my engagements, in other and paramount duties, so completely super- seded my apocalyptical studies, that I had almost forgotten their results. My interest in the subject was however unexpectedly renewed in the year 1818, by a communication from the Rev. Dr. Van Mildert, then regius professor of divinity at Oxford, and now Lord Bishop of Durham. In this commu- nication, which was introduced between us by a common friend highly esteemed by both, I was in- formed, that the professor was then reading a work, recently published by Mr. Slade, of Cambridge, for the use of students in divinity, and as a companion to Ellsley's notes on the Gospels ; that being much 1 Sir Isaac Newton on the Apocalypse, p. 25 1 . XXIV PREFACE. pleased with it, as far as he had gone, he intended to recommend it in his ensuing lectures ; and added, that the series might be very happily completed, by an abridgment (on the same plan, and for the same class of readers) of my work on the Apocalypse, — to be made by me, or some one under my direction, and embracing, if I should think proper, any addi- tional matter from other sources, which might pro- mote the object in view. The professor, to whom 1 was at that time personally unknown, added most obligingly, that ** he should be very glad to hear from me, if I should find the matter worthy of my atten- tion, and to communicate his ideas more fully." This proposal, coming from a person, whose repu- tation for ability, learning, and judgment in theolo- gical researches was so eminently established, could not be otherwise than highly gratifying to me. There- fore entering into correspondence with him, I pro- fessed myself most willing to undertake the work proposed, provided it might be conducted under his direction. In answer to this, I received from the professor a few general observations on the subject; and he kindly added, that, when he should be suffi- ciently at leisure, he would read my book a second time, and then give me his thoughts upon the me- thod to be pursued more particularly. In the next letter, the professor informed me that he had read my dissertation and commentary entirely through, with such other works of the same kind as he could easily refer to. " And the result," says he, " has been, to confirm me in my opinion, that the plan I had taken the liberty to suggest to PREFACE. XXV you, cannot be placed in better hands." He then proceeds to advise, that a concise abridgment of the dissertation should precede the annotations. In the next place he recommends, in order to keep the veork in due compass, that the columns, contain- ing the original text and twofold translation, should be omitted, since, whatever is important in the im- proved translation, may be introduced into the an- notations. " Respecting the annotations them- selves, I should be inclined to say, that a mere abridgment of your own commentary, or selections from it, might fully answer the purpose, did it not seem desirable that the work should bear the aspect of a Synopsis Criticorum, so far as relates to com- mentators of good repute, such as Mede, Daubuz, Vitringa, Hammond, Newton, Lowman. This will make it more conformable to the plan adopted by Elsley and Slade ; and it will enable the student in some measure to form his own judgment on ques- tionable passages, while it will not preclude you from specially directing his attention to that inter- pretation which you deem preferable. Perhaps there is no book of Scripture, in which we can less expect to concur with any single commentator who has taken it in hand, than this of the Apocalypse ; therefore it may be sometimes the safest, as well as the easiest course, to offer the reader a choice of different expositions." For these directions, so judiciously suggested, and agreeing perfectly with my own notions on the sub- ject, I returned my sincere thanks, and cheerfully entered upon the task. XXVI PREFACE. I had proceeded in it so far, as to complete th*^ proposed abridgment of the Dissertation, and nearly half of the notes, when my progress was impeded by a severe and protracted illness. On resuming my labours, after a long interval, yet sooner than I ought to have done, it appeared to me, for the first time, that my work might be deem- ed not sufficiently accordant with those of my re- spected predecessors, Ellsley and Slade. This dif- ficulty however was soon removed by the following consideration. The difference in the subjects treated by us re- spectively, must necessarily occasion considerable difference in our method of treating them. They, in their departments, had very few prophecies to deve- lop and explain ; and these are delivered, for the most part, in literal and plain language. The expo- sitor of the Apocalypse has little else than prophecy upon his hands, predictions couched in symbolical terms, and forming difficult enigmas. It was easy for them to bring into a short compass the opinions of preceding commentators, and either leave them to the reader, or assist him by observations of their own. My task required that I should examine each prophecy by analytical deduction, and by such means, and the concurring assistance of former writers, lay before the student the best exposi- tion in my power. And this exposition could not be accomplished without a frequent reference to my former work, in which the opinions of the best com- mentators had already been diligently canvassed. I was no sooner reassured upon this subject, than PREFACE. XXVll another difficulty appeared, not so easily overcome. This arose from my comparing the part of my work so far accomplished, with that upon which I was now to enter. The first contained the explication of those prophecies, which are generally supposed to have already received their fulfilment in history. In this department, the interpretation of a predic- tion is greatly assisted by a conviction that the ful- filment is probably to be found in the range of his- tory. And the sure test of its truth is at hand ; for the right assortment of the event is to be proved, by its agreement with the symbolical picture of it, as exhibited in the historical narration. The prophecies upon which I was now about to enter, I knew to be of a more difficult character, as containing predictions fulfilled in part only, and destined to receive their final completion in events yet to come. Such arise out of the Bi(3XiapiSiov, the little book, seeming to run the space of the 1260 years. In these the cautious interpreter has found dif- ficulties, which seem not yet surmounted, by wri- ters of more daring genius, who have ventured to ascertain the commencement and termination of these prophetical eras. When I resumed my studies, I had gone through the easier part of my engagement, and had to face one of more arduous character. At that time my health was unequal to the undertaking, and after some feeble and unsatisfactory attempts, I aban- doned it for the present, contenting myself with leaving what I had already eflPected (a portion XXVlll PREFACE. complete in itself) for future publication, if circum- stances should call for it. In this situation my papers continued till the end of the year 1824, when an occurrence in the literary world induced me to examine the opinion I had given in my former work concerning one of these prophecies, as yet fulfilled only in part. From a review of this 1 proceeded to others of the same class ; and, my spirit of enquiry reviving, I resumed my suspended pursuits. I resumed them with a determination to attempt the solution of the more difficult prophecies by a new analysis, without previously referring to the expositions of them, deduced either by myself, or others. Whe- ther in any, or to what degree I may have succeed- ed in these attempts, I must leave to the judgment of those of my readers who are best quali6ed to estimate them. In the execution of the task assigned me, I have consulted a second time the best commentators, especially those enumerated and recommended by my excellent patron, together with others who had been useful to my first publication. Of all these I esteem Vitringa the most valuable. Yet it so hap- pened, that, in my former work, I did not reap all the benefit I might from his Aiiacrisis. I had the book for some time in my hands, but was obliged to relinquish it before I could obtain another copy, and I am sorry to add, before I was so perfectly aware of my loss, as to feel myself indispensably obliged to redress it. In the present work I have availed my- self of his labours to a much greater extent, and PREFACE. XXIX have had the pleasure to find his interpretations more accordant to my own, than those of any other writer of that period. Of modern writers on the Apocalypse, I have ge- nerally forborne to bring forward the names, or can- vass the opinions, yet I have not neglected them ; taking care to obtain such an insight into their pro- ductions, as might enable me to correct my notions by theirs, in any instances which seem to require it. With the greater part of these authors, who have imagined the prophecies to be fulfilled almost en- tirely in the French revolution, I seem to have no common relation, except that the same divine book is the object of our studies. We are not amenable to the same rules of enquiry, or under any similar restriction ; and the consequence has been, that our several interpretations have diverged, to such a dis- tance from each other, that there is no hope of mu- tual accommodation but by the ungrateful and un- promising means of controversy, — a method of con- viction which I have always avoided, and am still more desirous to decline, at my present advanced period of life.^ I wish at the same time to acknow- 1 No one can wonder, that the prophecies have been diligently searched, for predictions relating to the French revolution, — that formidable series of events, which has so occupied the times in which we have lived. At its first irruption, I was perfectly alive to the danger in which it seemed to place our holy religion. I watched its progress with extreme anxiety for a time. But as it advanced into magnitude, involving the fates of other nations, it was easy to perceive that the danger to religion decreased, in proportion as that XXX PREFACE. ledge my sincere respect for that display of genius and learning, and that spirit of enquiry, which has distinguished some of these productions. And here I must also testify my regret, that, under this general determination concerning living authors, I am not at liberty to express in particular my feelings towards those writers, who, with can- dour and courtesy, have acquiesced in my peculiar opinions, and adopted them, more or less, into their own expositions. I request them, in this only way now left to me, to accept my sincere thanks. which affected the rights and happiness of the political world in- creased, till the object of the wide-spreading contest became wholly political. The religious persecution, while it lasted, was expended upon the massacred and expatriated priests of the Roman Catholic persuasion, and afterwards upon the Pontiff himself, but chiefly for political purposes. The Protestants escaped, excepting so far as they were politically engaged; and in France, the centre of religious violence, they obtained, from their government, a toleration of their religion, which they had never enjoyed since the revocation of the edict of Nantes. This blessing has been since secured to them by the charter of their restored kings. The raging conflict at length ceased in all parts, subsiding into a general peace ; in which the interests of the nations, political and religious, have been settled upon a basis more firm and rational than before ; and a prospect is opened for a much greater advance and improvement in the means of national and individual happiness. More will be said upon the French revolution, as a subject of sacred prophecy, in the sequel. In the mean time, it must be apparent to the reader, that consistently with my second and third rules of in- terpretation, the French revolution cannot be considered as a woe, upon the pure Christian religion, nor can we expect that it should have been predicted as such in the divine prophecies. PREFACE. XXXI I conclude by saying, that as the object of this publication is, to lead the student in divine prophecy by a safer course than he has hitherto been led, to the interpretation of a very important but difficult book of sacred Scripture, I regret that it has not been sooner and better accomplished. A CONCISE REVIEW OF THE EVIDENCE FOR THE AUTHENTICITY AND DIVINE INSPIRATION OF TOGETHER WITH A VINDICATION OF IT FROM THE OBJECTIONS OF THE LATE PROFESSOR J.' D. MICHAELIS A CONCISE REVIEW, I HAVE already mentioned, that this work was un- dertaken at the suggestion of the Bishop of Durham, and that his lordship had kindly consented to give some directions as to the best mode of conducting it. Among these was a proposal, " that a concise abridgement of the preliminary Dissertation should precede the annotations ; more especially, as it suc- cessfully controverts the opinions of Michaelis, whose work is generally recommended to young students, and carries with it a high authority." Michaelis's Introduction to the New Testament first appeared in the English language under the translation of a distinguished critic and divine,^ who had accompanied one half of it with valuable notes, correcting the errors of his author ; but the remain- der, containing in its last chapter an elaborate at- tack on the scriptural authenticity of the Apoca- lypse, had not yet received the benefit of any such comment. The character of the German Professor for deep learning and acute criticism was such, as to justify an alarm, that his objections to the Apocalypse, if unrefuted, would obtain an extensive influence. 1 Herbert Marsh, B. D., now Lord Bishop of Peterborough, and Margaret Professor of Divuiity in the University of Cambridge. B 2 The refutation of them appeared to me important; and as I felt, that my long engagement in apocalyp- tic studies had in some degree prepared me for the undertaking, 1 turned my thoughts to the subject. I did not however hope to dispose of the question altogether, but only to afford a temporary check to the progress of these German opinions in this coun- try, until the learned editor should resume his notes, and, as I confidently expected, set the matter to rest. Under these impressions I addressed a series of letters to Mr. Marsh, suggesting such arguments as had occurred to me, and expressing a hope that he would complete his notes and observations, and more especially that he would employ his superior talents and advantages on the misconceptions of his author, with respect to the Apocalypse. These letters were published anonymously ; but in a short time I was gratified by receiving, through my publisher, the following message addressed by Mr. Marsh to the unknown writer : — " that he had I'eadthe pamphlet with very great pleasure, and that in his opinion the author had performed his task so well, that it would be unnecessary for him to attempt any thing further." Thus encouraged, I determined to correct and en- large what I had written, and in the form of a Dis- sertation, to prefix it to my commentary.^ I will now proceed to offer to my readers an ab- stract of it ; and should any of them be inclined to ^ After the appearance of my book, Mr. Marsh was pleased to send me a very obliging letter, which he concluded with these words: — " The friendly and flattering invitation which you gave me in the first letter of your pamphlet, it is even unnecessary for me to accept, after what you yourself have done on the same sub- ject." About the same time I was favoured by a letter from another professor of divinity at Cambridge, the late eminent Dr. Watson,, Lord Bisliop of Llandaft". Speaking in particular of the Disserta- see the arguments more largely developed, and to exercise his critical powers more fully on this ques- tion, he must be referred to the Dissertation. The evidence to be examined divides itself into two parts, the external and the internal. The ex- ternal is that which is derived from credible wit- nesses, from the early writers and fathers of the Church. The internal is that which results from a perusal of the book. I. Of the external evidence. The evidence external, for the authenticity and divine inspiration of the Apocalypse, is to be col- lected from the testimonies of those ancient writers, who, living at a period at no great distance from the time of its publication, appear, by their affirmations, quotations, or allusions, to have received it as a book of sacred scripture. This was the test by which the primitive Church was accustomed to determine the claims of all writings pretending to divine authority. All such were rejected, which appeared not to have been received by the Orthodox Chris- tians of the preceding ages.' But to enable us to judge of the force of this evi- tion, he thus writes: — " The testimonies of Justin and Irenseus I have for many years considered as very much to be rehed on re- specting the author of the Apocalypse, from their having hved so near the time in which it was written ; and your work has not only confirmed me in my opinion, but probably laid the question at rest." The opinions of these superior judges are inserted in order to in cline the student to give a more decided attention to this part of the work ; and thus to place himself upon his guard against any false notions, concerning the claims of the Apocalypse to a divine origin. ' Eusebius, Hist. Eccles. lib. iii. c. 3. dence, as affecting any particular book of scripture, it is necessary to ascertain the t'wie when that book was written. For if it shall appear to have been writ- ten and published in the early period of the apos- tolic age, we may expect testimonies concerning it, from apostles, or from apostolical men.^ If it can be shown on the contrary, that it was published in the very latest times of that age, it will be in vain to expect any earlier notice of it. Various opinions have been advanced, concerning the time when the Apocalypse was published, chiefly by those writers who have been desirous to accommodate it to their interpretations of the pro- phecies, which they suppose to have been fulfilled in the first century.^ But that the Apocalypse was not published before the year 96 or 97, has been, from that time to the present, the almost universal opinion of the Christian Church. Michaelis admits it ; and, with other German writers, who are desi- rous of establishing a contrary opinion, has endea- voured to press IrencEus into their service. If this attempt should fail them, they will be left without any resource ; and therefore I shall state it at large, together with the answer to it, as it has appeared in the Dissertation. Irenaeus was born, according to his own account, (as his words have been generally understood,) in the age immediately succeeding that in which the visions of the Apocalypse were seen.^ He was a 1 Apostolical men are those, who may be supposed to have re- ceived instruction personally from apostles. The apostolical age is that, vphich extends from the middle of the first century, when the apostles began to write, to the close of that century, when St. John, the last surviving apostle, died. 2 These may be seen discussed by Michaelis in his last chapter, and considered again by the author in his Dissertation. The evi- dences in their behalf are so weak, that it seems unnecessary to re- port them ift this abstract. 3 The learned Dodwell has taken pains to show that Irenseus was Greek by birth, as his name and language import, and probably an Asiatic Greek, for he was an audi- tor otPolycarp, Bishop of Smyrna, one of the seven Churches, and who had been the auditor of St. John the apostle, whon^ Irenaeus constantly affirms to be the writer of the Apocalypse.' And accordingly, when Irenseus speaks upon such subjects as concern the external evidences of the Church, he appeals, in confirmation, to Polycarp and others, who, he says, had seen the apostle John. He appeals also to the Asiatic Churches, in which he appears to have been educated.^ When removed from Asia into Gaul, (where, upon the martyrdom of Pothinus, he became Bishop of Lyons,) he kept up a correspondence with the brethren of the Asiatic Churches, from whom he would continue to receive the most ge- nuine information concerning the Apocalypse. He was, in his own character, the most learned, pious, prudent, and venerable prelate of his age. He wrote largely in defence of the truth, and it has been a prevailing opinion in the Church, that he sealed his testimony with his blood. Here then is a witness of the highest authority, whose evidence has been accordingly received by the writers succeeding to his time, and, with very few exceptions, by the universal Church.^ Nor, until these born in the year 97, the very year in which it will appear that the Apocalypse was published. ]3ut there is reason to suppose that he has fixed the birth of this Father about ten years too early. — Grabe's Proleg. ad Irenseum. 1 Iren. iii. 3. Euseb. H.E. iv. 14, 16. v. 19, 20. Iren. iv.50. V. 26, 28, 30, 34, 35. Lardner's Supplement, p. 348, 378. Cave, Hist. Litt, art. Irenaeus. 2 Iren. lib. iii. 3. v. 8. Euseb. H. E. lib. iv. 14. v. 20. ^ Michaelis, in another part of his work, considers the testimony of Irenseus, in relation to St. John's writings, of the highest autho- rity. " irenaeus," says he, " is not only the most ancient writer on this subject, but was a disciple of Polycarp, who was personally acquainted with St. John ; consequently Irenaeus had the very best 8 days, has there been the least doubt of the import of his evidence ; no one has seen occasion to inter- pret his words otherwise than according to the obvious and received meaning, '' that the visions of the Apocalypse were seen towards the end of Domitians reign."' But since a novel interpretation of these vi^ords has been attempted by the German critics,' in order to make them subservient to their precon- ceived opinions, it will be necessary to produce them. Irenaeus, speaking of the mystical name (QQQ) ascribed to Antichrist in the xiiith chapter of the Apocalypse, and of the difficulty of its interpreta- tion, adds : — £i Se iZu ava(^av^ov £V twvvv Kaipo) Ky]pvTT£(T- Oai TOvvof.ia tsto, oi iKaivs av eppiOrj rs /coi Tr]v aTroKoXvifjtv swpaKaToc. OuSf yap irpo ttoXXh Kpovs iwpaor], aXka aKicov tTTi TJjc i]i~iiTipaQ yfVECtc, TTpoq TO Tt\oq TTjg Ao/^i£Ttav8 apyj]Q. Which may be thus literally translated : — " But if it had been proper, that this name should be openly proclaimed in this present time_, it would have been told even by him who saw the Apocalypse (or Re- velation.) For it was not seen a long time ago, but almost in our own age, (or generation,) toward the end of Domitian's reign." These words are plain and unequivocal ; nor does it appear that any variety of interpretation of them arose during sixteen hundred years, in which they were read by the Christian Church. And, indeed, now the only doubt offered to our consideration by the perverse ingenuity of the German critics is, " What is it that Irenseus affirms to have been seen in Domitian's reign ? What does the word seen refer to .'' What is the nominative to the verb nopaQr) ?" Now, 1 will venture to say, that no Greek scholar, informationon this subject." Introd. vol.iii. c.7. See also his learned translator's judicious remarks on the importance of Irenseus's tes- timony. 9 unbiassed by any favourite opinion, can possibly suppose that the verb ewpaOr], {" was seen,") can be referred to any other nominative than 'H AiroKaXv^piQ (" the Revelation.") But it is not a matter wherein a critical knowledge of the Greek tongue is re- quired, to enable us to decide. Plain common sense is to supply what is wanting in the sentence. And no person, possessed of that valuable qualifica- tion, can read this passage, translated literally into any language, without perceiving, that the thing re- presented to be seen in the latter clause, must be the same as was said to have been seen in the former. Otherwise there is no dependence on common lan- guage ; and we must be compelled to use the repe- titions which are in usage among the lawyers. Thus Irenseus, if he were to write in modern times, espe- cially in Germany, must be instructed to say, after the word " Revelation," not " It was seen," but the " aforesaid Revelation was seen." However, it is amusing to observe, that these in- genious critics, though they agree in rejecting the obvious sense of this passage, as subversive of their common object, cannot settle among themselves how it is to be understood, what noun should supply the nominative to tiopaBr] in the room of AttokoXv^Pi^. Michaelis mentions some of these attempts, which at the same time he justly deems improbable. There is one only which he favours, and this refers eMpaOt] to TO ovo/im, — a proposal as forced and improbable as any of the rest. For, ivhat was seen ? Answer, the NAME was seen. If Irenaeus had intejided this mean- ing, he would not have written twpaOrj but mHaOrj, not was seen, but was heard. Michaelis has suggested this difficulty, but at the same time he proposes the word Titan or Teitan, which in another place Ire- naeus had mentioned as one of the names proposed as representative of the mystical number 666. But 10 this is worse and worse : it is to break all bounds of grammatical connexion. And to suppose, as this forced construction requires, that Irenaeus under- stood the prophecy to be fulfilled in his time, by the emperor Domitian being Titan and Antichrist, is to make Irenaeus contradict himself. For this excel- lent father plainly tells us, that he understood not this prophecy, and that in his opinion, " it is better to wait the completion of it, than to guess at names which may seem to fit the mystical figures." ^ Be- sides, the conte.vt of Irenaeus, with this passage, will admit none of these novel, forced interpretations, and will accommodate to none but the old and ob- vious acceptation. It is his object, to dissuade his readers from a difficult and presumptuous attempt, to proclaim who is the Antichrist by applying in the manner he had shown the Greek figures QQQ. And his argument is to this effect : — " the mystery was not intended to be cleared up in our times ; for if it had, it would have been told by him who saw the vision." This implies that the vision had been seen lately. But to complete the argument, and support the last clause of it, which was not yet perfectly clear, Irenaeus adds, " for it was seen at no great distance from our own times." In short, all these new interpretations are incon- sistent, and have no support but what they derive from the Latin translation of the passage, which is very faulty in this place, as it is known to be in many others ; '^ and had it been of greater authority as a translation, it could only disclose the transla- tor's opinion. But as we possess the original Greek, we must have recourse to this genuine text of the writer, and not be led away by the blunders of his translator. 1 Lib. V. See also Euseb. H.E. lib.iii. c. 18. 2 Grabe asserts, and proves it to be barbarous and defective. — Prolog, in IrenaBum. 11 The words of Iren^us, of this most competent and unexceptionable witness, being thus received in that obvious sense which has been affixed to them by all the ecclesiastical writers before our own days, ^ will determine the time when the apocalyp- tic visions were seen and published, namely, toward the end of Domitian's reign. Internal evidence likewise supports this conclu- sion ; for, in the three first chapters of the Apoca- lypse, the Churches of Asia are represented as hav- ing attained to that flourishing state of society and settlement, and to have undergone afterwards those changes in their faith and morals, which might have taken place in the period intervening between the pubHcation of St. Paul's Epistles and the close of Domitian's reign, but were not likely to have been effected in a shorter time. The death of Domitian happened in a. d. 96 ; and St. John obtained his liberty, and returned to Ephe- sus. He would then, if not sooner, publish his Apocalypse, the date of which is fixed by Mill, Lardner, and other able critics, to be of the year 96 or 97. This important point being thus settled, we may proceed with greater advantage to consider the e.v- ternal evidence, which affects the divine authority of the Apocalypse, for the value of this evidence will increase according to its approximation to the time when the book was published. There are many of the fathers who, writing prior to Irenseus, have afforded some testimony of this kind ; but in none of them do we find evidence so comprehensive, so positive and direct as his. And as we are already in pos- session of his superior competency and judgment *■ Lampe has asserted, and Lardner fully confirms the truth of the assertion, " that all antiquity is abundantly agreed, that Domi- tian was the author of John's banishment" to Patmos. * 12 in treating questions of this kind, * we will begin with his testimony, which, taken by itself, is almost sufficient to decide the question. The others, prior in point of time, but inferior in positive assertion, will afterwards be reviewed with oreater advantaofe. Irenaeus, the auditor of Polycarp and of other apos- tolical men who had conversed with St. John, had the best means of information concerning the authen- ticity of the Apocalypse. But Irenseus, in many passages, ascribes this book to ** John the Evange- list, the disciple of the Lord, — that John who leaned on his Lord's breast at the last Supper." ^ There are twenty-two chapters in the book of Revelation, and Ireneeus quotes from thirteen of them, producing more than twenty-four passages, some of considerable length. The candid and judicious Lardner, after an examination of this evidence, says : " His (Ire- naeus's) testimony for this book is so strong and full, that, considering the age of Ireneeus, he seems to put it beyond all question, that it is the work of John the Apostle and Evangelist." ^ Thn testimony of Irenaeus m^y be supposed to extend from about thirty or forty years after the date of the Apocalypse, to about eighty years after that period, viz. the year of our Lord 176, when he is said to have published the books which contain this testimony. But during this time of eighty years, other more ancient writers appear to have quoted from, and so to have acknowledged the Apocalypse. We will now proceed to mention ^ We may justly conclude, from the zeal and judgment which he shows, to discover the true reading of a passage in the Apocalypse, (Irenseus, lib. v. c. 30. Euseb. H. E, lib. iii. c. 18.) that he was not wanting in the best methods of pursuing questions of this kind. But to him, in this particular case, the evidence required no such examination, it was plain and positive. 2 Irenaeus, lib. iv. 37, 50, 27. ■* Cred. Gosp, Hist, art. Irenaeus. 13 these, whose quotations and allusions will give ad- ditional weight to the testimony of Irenaeus, while, from the recollection of his evidence, theirs also will derive support. Ignatius is mentioned by Michaelis as the most ancient evidence that can be produced, respecting the authenticity of the Apocalypse. He lived in the apostolical times, and died by a glorious martyrdom in the year 107, as some writers have stated, though others have placed this event somewhat later. He is commonly supposed to have made no mention of the Apocalypse ; and this his silence amounts, in the opinion of Michaelis, to a rejection of the book. For since he wrote epistles to the Christian communities at Ephesus, Philadelphia, and Smyrna, it is to be expected, he says, that he would have reminded them of the praises which, in the second and third chapters of the Revelation, their bishops had received from Christ. But let us advert to the peculiar circumstances under which this father of the Church wrote these epistles, which are the only remains of his works. He was a prisoner, upon travel, guarded by a band of soldiers, whom, from their ferocity, he compares to leopards, and by them hurried forward in his passage from Antioch to Rome, there to be devoured by wild beasts. In such circumstances, he would write with perpetual interruptions ; and his quotations, depending per- haps on memory alone, would be inaccurate. And from these causes it has happened, that the refer- ences of Ignatius to sacred scripture are allusions rather than quotations; and to many of the sacred books he appears not to refer at all. The Epistle to the Ephesians is the only book expressly named by him. Of the Gospels, he only quotes, or plainly alludes to, those of St. Matthew and St. John ; and of the books remaining, it is dubious whether he 14 quotes or alludes to more than six. But shall we affirm, that Ignatius rejected two of the Gospels, and fourteen other books of canonical scripture, be- cause no evident allusion to them appears in his hasty epistles ? Michaelis himself, so questioned, could not have consistently made such an affirma- tion ; for he tells us in a passage of his work, on a similar occasion, that "it is no objection to the New Testament if it is so seldom cited by the apostolic fathers ; and even could any one of them be pro- duced, who had not made a single reference to these writings, it would prove as little against their authen- ticity, as St. Paul's never having quoted the Epis- tles of St. Peter, or the Gospels of St. Matthew or St. Luke." But if this holds good, as applied to the scriptures in general, it is peculiarly applicable to a book of mysterious prophecy, and of so late publication as the Apocalypse. This will be esteemed a sufficient answer, if it should be thought that Igna- tius " has passed over the Apocalypse in silence." But, from a careful perusal of his epistles, I am in- clined to an opposite opinion ; and will lay before my readers three passages, in which this Father seems to have referred to the Apocalypse. Rev. i. 9. Ignat. ad Rom. ad fin. Ey vrroixeuij IricTov Xpicrrov. Ev vnofiovrj Itjcou Xpiffrov. The text of the Apocalypse is here taken from the approved edition of Griesbach ; and it is a confirm- ation to be added to his supports of this text, that it was thus read by Ignatius. This expression, though the idea be quite scriptural, is to be found, I believe, in no other passage of the New Testament, but in this of the Apocalypse only. Rev. xxi. 2. Ignat. ad Ephes- sect. 3. Tijy TZoKiv TTjv ayiav airo rov ®eov Aidot vaov irarpos \{roiixaafiivr]v ws vv)j.(t)i)v Hroij.i.aafiii'ot us oiicoZoj.i.rjv Biov—Kura iravru \iiK0T1)S. KiKO(TfJl.y)fJl.iVUl iVTOXaiS llJffOV KpiCTOl/, 15 Here the use of the word Kekoo-zhij^evoi, following so immediately after the words iiToifiaaiuevoi and Qeov, and with such connexion of thought and of imagery, affords^ reason to suppose, that Ignatius had seen this passage of the Apocalypse. Ignatius appears to me to conmient on St. John, referring this pas- sage to the fourth chapter of the Epistle to the Ephesians, where the same images are used, and by a comparison with which it is best explained. A better illustration cannot be given of K^Koa/nt^imvrjv rw av^pi avTtfQ, than in these parallel words of Ignatius, KiKO(ri.u]fxevr}v ivroXaiQ Iriaov Xjotorou. The One is the mystical expression, the other is its meaning when disrobed of the figurative dress. Rev. xxi. 3. Ignat, ad Ephes. sect. 15. Kai auroL \aoi avTOV eaovrai, kcli avros Iva Ufiev avTOvvaot (fors. \aoi) km avros d 0eos H ev tiixiv, Qeos tj/jloii'. Earai /xeT avraiy, @eos amwv. Both these passages seem to have reference to 2 Cor. V. 16. Kai i:aoj.iai avTwv o Qeog, Kai avToi ^(TOVTai fioi Xaoc, which is taken from Lev. xxvi. 12. Kanaoinai v^twv Ofoc, Kai v/j-iig ia^aOe juoi Xaog '. Or from Jer. XXxi. 33 . Kai eaojiiai avToig Etc Geov, Kai avTOi e(TOVTai fxoi uq \aov ; or Jer. XXXJl. 38. kcu eaovrai fxoi Hg Xaov, Kai E-yju eaofiai avTOig ac Otov ; Or from Ezek. XXXvii. 23. Kai taovrai /tiot eig Aaoi', Kai £ya» Kvpiog fffo^iiai avToig ng Qeov. I have produced all these passages to show in what degree Ignatius can be supposed to quote from, or allude to each. The expression, in the Ji7^si part of the sentence, may be taken from any or all of them;, as well as from this passage in the Apoca- lypse. But the peculiar turn and form of the latter clause is only to be found here. And I think it pro- bable that Ignatius would not have relinquished the form observed in the other quotations for this mode of expression, which is very peculiar, if he had not seen and remembered it in the Apocalypse. They 16 are, indeed, the very same words ; only with that grammatical alteration which was necessary to fit them to the circumstances ; that is, to the application which Ignatius makes of them to himself, and his readers. The next writer, from whom Michaelis in vain at- tempts to extract evidence in support of his views of this question, is the old Syriac translator. But it is clearly shown by the learned annotator upon Mi- chaelis's Introduction, that the Syriac version cannot be proved to be of this early date, since the first no- tice of it is by Ephrem, who wrote in in the fourth century/ It cannot, therefore, be admitted as an evidence belonging to these early Christian times. Hermas, or the writer bearing that name, is not mentioned by Michaelis. But Lardner has pro- duced some passages from this book, from which he is inclined to think that Hernias had seen and imitated the Apocalypse. They do not appear to me in this light, nor can we expect it ; for Hermas wrote in the first century ; Lardner says, towards the end of it ; some mention the year 75, others 92 : and as the book was written at Rome, it is not likely that the author of it could have seen the Apo- calypse, which began to be circulated in Asia only in 97. If, then, Hermas wrote before he could see the Apocalypse, his silence is no evidence against its authenticity; but it may be taken, as a proof additional, that the Apocalypse was not published before the date now assigned to it. PoLYCARP has not been cited as an evidence in the question before us. He is reported by Ire- naeus to have written many epistles, only one of which has come down to our times. This is so replete with practical exhortations, that there is little reason to expect in it quotations from a mystical book. We ' Vol. ii. eh. 7. sect. 6. 17 have, however, other reasons for concluding that Polycarg^ received the Apocalypse as of divine authority ; because Irenseus, who so received it, constantly appeals to him and the Asiatic Churches, over one of which Polycarp presided, — for the truth of his assertions. This apostolical man suffered martyrdom, about seventy years after the Apoca- lypse had been published. An interesting account of this is given in an epistle written from the Church of Smyrna, over which he had presided. In this epistle, part of which is reported by Eusebius,^ there seem to be some allusions to the Apocalypse, which have hitherto escaped observation ; and if the Apocalypse was received by the Church of Smyrna at the timeof Polycarp's death, as of divine authority, there can be no doubt but that it was so received by him, their aged bishop and instructor. In Rev. i. 15, In the Epistle, The feet of the Son of Man are The body of the suffering martyr is described, represented, O/J.0101 xaA/co\i/8ava) us ev kojmvw TreKvp- Ovk ws (xap^ Kaiofj-ivr), a\X' dy XP^'^^^ 'f*' ctifievof apyvpos eu Kafj-Lvia irvpwfiivoi. That the writer did not use the word ^aX/coXfj3avoc, may be accounted for, by his having in view, at the same time, another passage of Scripture, 1 Peter, i. 7, where the apostle compares the suffering Christians to " gold tried by the fire." But why did he, after having used the word gold, omit the ^la irvpoq ^oKij^iaCoi-iivov of St. Peter, to substitute tv kciiluvio TTVfujjfxivoi ? Why ? But because he was led to it by this passage of the Apocalypse ? Besides, in Rev. HI. 18, W^e read also yjpvaiov TreTrujOw/ntvov iK irvpog. The pious and sublime prayer of Polycarp, at the awful moment when the fire was about to be lighted under him, begins v\^ith these words : Kvpie, o Geoc, o TravTOKpariop. They are the identical words in the 1 Hist. Eccl. lib. iv. c. 15. 18 prayer of the Elders, Rev. xi. 17. Kvpu, o Gtoc, o TravTOKpaT(i)p . From these instances, some additional confirma- tion may be derived, that Polycarp, and his dis- ciples of the Church of Smyrna, received the Apo- calypse. Pa PI AS belongs also to the apostolical age, and is said to have been an auditor of St. John.* He is asserted by Andreas, bishop of Ca;sarea in the fifth century, to have given his testimony to the Apocalypse,^ and is classed by this writer in the list of those who have undoubtedly testified in its favour, with Irenaeus, Methodius, and Hippolitus. What writings of Papias had come down to the time of Andreas, we know not ; we have only a few short fragments preserved by Eusebius.'^ In these there is no mention of the Apocalypse : they treat of other subjects, of the Gospels chiefly ; and to two only of the four Gospels has Papias given any evi- dence. But no one has hence inferred that he re- jected them. Yet, as his writings have reference to the Gospels, the evidence of those neglected by him is more affected by his silence, than that of the Apocalypse, which formed no part of his subject. The same is the case with the quotations from the Epistles of the New Testament by Papias. Accord- ing to Eusebius, he has left quotations from only two of them, the first of St. Peter, and the first of St. John. Yet no one has supposed that he rejected the other Epistles of the sacred canon. ** He con- firms these which he has mentioned," says Lard- ner, " without prejudicing the rest."^ Upon the same footing stands his silence concern- 1 Ireneeus, lib. v. 33. Eusebius, H. E. lib. iii. c. 29. 2 Piojeg. ad Apoc. a H. E. lib. iii. c. 39. "i Cred, Gosp. Hist. art. Papias. • 19 ing the Apocalypse. This silence, in these short fragments of his works, would be no evidence against It, even if we had no assurance that he received it as holy writ. But such assurance we have from Andreas of Caesarea. ' Justin Martyr was contemporary with the apostolical Fathers whose evidence we have been reviewing. His testimony is full, positive, indubita- ble. He accounted the Apocalypse to be the pro- duction "of John, one of the apostles of Christ." He names expressly this John as the writer of it.^ He appears also, from the report of Jerome, to have commented on some parts of this mystical book ; but no work of this kind has come down to us.^ Athenagoras, contemporary with Polycarp and Justin Martyr, is admitted by Michaelis to have been acquainted with the Apocalypse. Michaelis has passed over in silence the evidence obtained from that valuable remnant of ecclesiasti- cal antiquity, The Epistle from the Gallic Churches, which relates the sufferings of their martyrs, about the year 177, eighty years after the publication of the Apocalypse.* We owe to Euse- bius the preservation of a great part of this letter, in which Lardner has remarked this passage, AkoXsOmv Tio ApviM oTTs av vTrayv. They are the very words of the Apocalypse, (ch. xiv. 4.), and s^o peculiar in idea and expression, as evidently to be derived from no other source. To this quotation, and another * From this testimony we collect, that Papias had commented upon the Apocalypse : cttj Xe^ewc on the text. See cap. xxxiv. Serm. xii. of And. Cses. Some other objections of Michaelis are reported in the Dissertation, and there answered, it is hoped, sa- tisfactorily. But as they are of a minor character, there is no need to abridge them here. ^ Dialog, cum. Tryphone, lib. vi. c. 20. 3 Catal. Script. Eccles. c. 9. 4 This Epistle is supposed by some to be written by Irenasus, at that time a member of that church, but there is no proof of this. c 2 20 reported in the Dissertation, I have added a third, which had not been noticed before. In Rev. i. 5. iii. 14. In the Epistle, Our Lord Jesus Christ is called The martyrs give place to Jesus Christ, as, 'O fJiapTvp, 6 irtffTos,KaL a\r)6ivos, & Tee iriaTcp kou a\y)Qivu> fiaprvpi, /cot npOTOTOKOS eKTUy V^KpUlV. irpOTOTOKW TClJV veKpwv. The perusal of these quotations cannot fail to convince us that the Churches of Gaul received the Apocalypse into their canon ; and their testimony- is of the greater importance in this inquiry, because these Churches received their articles of faith from the Churches in Asia. The epistle is addressed to the Cliurdies of Asia and Phrygia. And there ap- pears to have been another epistle, from the mar- tyrs, with the same address, but on a different sub- ject, written at the same time. The Gallic Churches render account to those of Asia, as colonies to their mother country. They agreed with them in receiv- ing the Apocalypse as of divine authority, otherwise they could not have quoted from it as such. The Church of Lyons had received her venerable bishop Pothinus from Asia,' who being martyred at the age of ninety years, was succeeded by the Asiatic Irenaeus. It is important to impress this fact, that the Churches, colonized from the Seven Churches in Asia, received the Apocalypse as a divine book. Melito, after some hesitation, is admitted by Michaelis as a witness in favour of the Apocalypse. He is stated to have flourished about the year 170,^ and might be living at the time the Gallic Epistle was received by the Asiatic Churches, of one of which (Sai'dis) he was bishop. He' was a bishop of the highest reputation in the Christian world, ac- cording to the testimonies of Polycrates, TertuUian, and Eusebius.^ He wrote upon the Apocalypse, ' Mosheim, Eccl. Hist, Cent. ii. part 1. ch. 1. '^ Cave, Hist. Lit. ' Euseb. lib. iv. c. 26. Hierom. Proleg. 327. 21 and was esteemed, says Tertullian, a prophet by many Christians. Theophilus, who was bishop of Antioch about ninety years after the publication of the Apoca- lypse, appears to have written upon, and to have quoted from it as of divine authority, in his treatise against Hermogenes.* This treatise is not extant ; but Lardner has produced one passage from ano- ther work of his, in which he calls the Devil " Sa- tan, the Serpent and the Dragon.'' This connexion of names is only to be found in the book of Revela- tion, (ch. xii. 9. and xx. ii.)"^ Michaelis admits Theophilus among those who undoubtedly received the Apocalypse." Apollonius is not mentioned by Michaelis : but Eusebius, who speaks of him as a learned man, re- presents him also as supporting the Apocalypse by testimonies taken from it.^ He suffered martyrdom about the year 186,^* and is a valuable addition to our evidence. Clemens of Alexandria is admitted by Mi- chaelis as an undoubted evidence for the Apoca- lypse. He has frequently quoted from it, and re- ferred to it,^ as the work of an apostle. He was an inquisitive and well-informed writer, and having flourished within the first century after the publica- tion of the Apocalypse, is an important evidence in its favour. Tertullian wrote about the same time as Cle- ment. Michaelis allows his evidence for the Apo- calypse to be ujidoubted; and it is certainly very valuable. He is the most ancient of the Latin > Euseb. H. E. lib. iv. 24. ^ Lardner, Cred. art. Theophilus. 3 P. 467. 4 Euseb. H.E. lib. v. c. 18, 21. •'' Lardner, art. Apollonius. « P. 467 22 fathers, whose works have descended to our times. He quotes, or refers to the Apocalypse, in more than seventy passages in his writings, appealing to it expressly as the work of the apostle John. He defends the authenticity of the book against the heretic Marcion and his followers, by asserting its external evidence. He appeals to the Churches of Asia, and assures us, that " though Marcion rejects it, yet the succession of bishops, traced to its origin, will establish John to be its author." ' In par- ticular, it may be observed that he has quoted Rev. i. 6. " Quia sacerdotes nos et Deo et Patri fecit," as a passage common in the mouths of the laity of his time.^ This frequent and popular appeal to the Apocalypse, shows it to be a book much read, and generally received in the African Churches. We are now returned again to the times of Ire- nagus, whose single testimony appeared to have such deserved influence in settling the question before us. But the retrospect, which we have been ena- bled to take of the writers who preceded him, has added great weight to the evidence. Testimonies have been drawn abundantly from every generation of writers throughout the first century after the Apocalypse was published ; and from almost all parts of the Christian world ; from Asia, where it made its first appearance ; from Syria ; from Italy ; from Gaul, and from Africa ; where it seems to have had a wider circulation and reception.^ ^ Habemus et Johannis alumnas ecclesias ; nam etsi Apocalyp- sin ejus Marcion respuit, ordo tamen episcoporum, ad originem re- census, in Johannem stabit auctorem. Adv. Marcion, lib. iv. c. 3. 2 TertuU. de Monog. c. 12. ' From a passage in Michaelis's Introduction, ch. xxvi. sect. 8, we collect the names of the ancient authors, whose testimony he esteemed most decisive to the authenticity of the books of the New Testament. These are, Irenseus, Tertullian, Clement of Alexandria, and Origen ; by all of whom we find the Apocalypse most com- pletely received as the writing of John the Evangelist. 23 Contemporary with Irenaeus, Clemens of Alex- andria, and Tertullian, were Hippolitusand Origen; but rather of a later date, so as to belong more pro- perly to the first part of the third century of the Christian aera. We will proceed with them, as com- pleting the essential evidence concerning the claims of the Apocalypse ; for after this period, the evi- dence must depend upon appealing to those writers who have lived nearer to the time of its publica- tion. But first, we will observe, that during the one hundred years, from the publication of the Apoca- lypse, which have passed under our examination, wonderful as it may appear, there is not one writer of the pure primitive Church, no father, no eccle- siastical author, who appears to have questioned its authenticity. Yet the fathers, before the times of Caius and Dionysius, could discover the same causes of objection which they afterwards urged, that it was obscure, and to them no revelation, and not altoge- ther the same Greek as St. Johns Gospel. But such was the weight of its external evidence, in these early times, when inquiry would easily trace the book to its author, that although they could not understand the contents of it, they received it, with faith and reverence, and transmitted it, sanctioned by their own narhes, to posterity. This was the golden age q{ external evidence in relation to the claims of authen- ticity advanced in favour of any book, pretending to divine inspiration. A silver age followed, and we of these times are under a lo\ver degeneracy, and can only settle our opinions, so far as evidence ex- ternal is concerned, by a diligent and faithful in- quiry into those of the holy fathers of this period. But the Apocalypse thus cherished by the ortho- dox members of Christ's Church, was rejected by some heretics : by Marcion, a Gnostic, who, to serve 24 his unrighteous purposes, rejected, or mutilated other books of sacred Scripture.' It was rejected also by a sect who obtained the name of Alogi, because they rejected also the Gos- pel of St. John ; but not from any supposed failure of its external evidence, but on account of the Logos, or Eternal Word, revealed to us in both of these sacred books.^ The arguments used by these heretics to invali- date the claims of the Apocalypse, were current in the times of Hippolitus and Origen, the two remain- ing witnesses now to be produced, and who will complete an invincible phalanx of external evi- dence. We shall see what influence they had on the minds of these able divines.^ Hippolitus flourished early in the third century, and probably lived and taught during a considerable part of the second ; for he was an instructor of Ori- gen, who was set over the catechetical school in Alexandria in the year 202. He had been the dis- ciple of Irenceus, and probably was a Greek by birth, for he wrote in Greek, and in the eastern parts of the Greek colonies his writings were long held in the highest esteem. He is in all respects as perfect a witness, as the times in which he lived could pro- duce. He received the Apocalypse as the work of St. John, the apostle and disciple of the Lord.'^ Mi- chaelis admits his evidence, and attributes to his in- 1 Tertullian adv. Marcion. Irenaeus adv. Haer. Epiphanius, Haer. 42, Origen. cont. Celsum, ii. 27. 2 An objection to the Apocalypse by these Alogi is attempted to be maintained by Michaelis; the reader, who may wish to see it, is referred to the Dissertation, with the answer to it, which is believed to be satisfactory. 3 These arguments rest on internal evidence, and will be exa- mined in particular under that head. ^ See the testimonies collected by Lardner, who says, that the testimony of Hippolitus is so clear in this respect, that no question can be made about it. Cred. G.H. art. Hippolitus. 25 fluence and writings much support of the Apoca- lypse/ He defended this sacred book from the in- jurious notions which had been started against it in his days. He endeavoured to explain some parts of it, and to take away a popular objection, by render- ing it less obscure.^ Michaelis is inclined to believe that he left two works on this subject. He says nothing which can tend to invalidate the evidence of Hippolitus, but much to confirm it. Origen was born in the year 184 or 185, and lived to his 70th year. Of all the ancient Fathers, he is generally allowed to be the most acute, dili- gent, and learned ; and he applied these superior qualifications to the study of the Holy Scriptures. He studied them critically, with all that investiga- tion of their evidences, of the authenticity of the books and of the text^ which now form a voluminous part of theological inquiry. He was in a great de- gree the father of biblical learning. He could not be ignorant of the objections urged by Caius and others against the Apocalypse ; and he might be inclined to allow some weight to the popular ob- jection, that it encouraged the Millenarians ; for Origen was a decided Anti-millenarian. He appears likewise to have felt the full force of another of their objections : he acknowledged, and was distressed by, the dark veil which appeared to " envelope the unspeakable mysteries of the Apocalypse." ^ But these objections did not induce him to reject the book, or to speak doubtfully of it. He quotes it frequently as " the work of the apostle John, of the author of the Gospel of John, of him who leaned on 1 P. 478, 479. " What remains of Hippolitus of this kind is to be seen chiefly in the Commentary of Andreas Csesariensison the Apocalypse, who professes to have followed him. ^ See a fragment of Origen, preserved in his works, and quoted by Lardner, Art. Origen. / . 'J , 26 the bosom of Jesus." * But to what shall we ascribe this decisive conclusion of Origen, so hostile to his own prepossessions ? To what, but the irresistible weight of external evidence which existed in his time ? No one, who has taken into consideration this evidence, (even as it now appears to us,) and the superior advantages and qualifications of this learned and inquisitive father to judge of it, can ascribe his perfect testimony to any other cause. And every candid person must be surprised and sorry at the cavilling questions of Michaelis,* by which he endeavours to represent the well-con- sidered and respectable evidence of Origen, as de- pending solely on the authority of his master Hip- politus ; or (which is still more extraordinary) to be the result of that duplicity, which he attributes (unjustly, as we shall endeavour to prove in its proper place) to Dionysius, the disciple of Origen. But from other passages in Michaelis's work, it appears, that he felt the force of Origen's testimony respecting the Apocalypse ; for he acknowledges it to be " greatly in its favour." ' And so it will re- main ; for the counterpoise to it, suggested by him, as arising from the silence of Papias, has been shown to have very little weight. The reader is now requested to peruse the an- nexed sketch, drawn after the manner of Priestley's biographical chart, and those in Playfair's Chrono- logy ; by which he will see, in one view, the wri- ters whose testimonies we have collected. He will hereby be enabled better to estimate the force of that numerous, unbroken, concurring chain of evi- dence, whose links we have laid before him. The 1 Euseb. H. E. lib. vi. c. 25. Origen. Horn, in lib. Jer. Com. in Job. p. 14. Com. in Matt. p. 417. Cont. Cels. lib. vi. 2 P. 480. 3 P. 486. / • '^ — ^ ■/ '^ ■'^/ (>^^<'/M//'rfy'//^rrf/ r//,r// f>/ ///■//ry.j /// /Arm'//// C//r/.J/^//// (/// /r-> /■//,//'//',,/,//,,, '/ /,, /,, ,'r rr/Yr''////// <^?/////r//^-/'yy/yn/^r/rf'/ <'/ ///' - '^/// />/•// /y//o/' . Part of Centuiy tlie firft. ^'J^97. ScLi/it ^ohji . I(fruitnt,f. Century the fecoiid, Rirt of Century the third. CleT/tens ,^fejc ^Jffwnd'/cn/s. TIMtertivjn i/u: 6^u/?zt' CAmt/tes. li/iier/ivnL ^ C/turdi ofSTnyrrui Papias Jfipp J4>&7 §10 Polycirp Irerueu-9. Melito. Justin 3Iil?/ir. TertiMitin TheopJulus Apolloruiis JO 2 O 3\o -to So mo TO So 9 O Tfnran.,Adriatv.t AntP. ^ M.Arit.,Cofnf„ ly//i.s Oruffiir >•//// _y f'/Z/u/ f///c //i'i}/:j ///■<■ i/* A" ///^f/.je/ >rr/f^//'7 ^rnfy/zy//f r/'?/// i"7- f//tM «/ " // rt'/t'y ^-i // /Kf '//f/ // Mft/////rf'>- 27 evidence is abundant, — surprisingly so, considering the mysterious nature of the book. At no time does it depend on any single testimony; many writers testify together ; and they are nearly all the great names of ecclesiastical antiquity. To their evidence, no contradictory testimony, of an external kind, was opposed. No one alleged against the Apocalypse such arguments as these : *' It is not preserved in the archives of the seven Asiatic Churches : — the oldest persons in those cities have no knowledge of its having been sent thither : — no one ever saw it during the life of John : — it was in- troduced in such and such a year, but it was contra- dicted as soon as it appeared." ^ With the witnesses exhibited in the chart, we may fairly conclude our abstracted view of the ex- ternal evidence for the authenticity of the Apoca- lypse. By some writers, it has not been thought necessary to pursue it farther, even in relation to the whole canon of the New Testament. Dr. Less, in his History of Religion, has closed his evidence with Origen; and the learned translator of Michaelis's Introduction, observes upon it, that " further testi- mony is z<«;zece,95rtrj/."- In the Dissertation, I thought it proper to proceed further in obviating the argu- ments of Michaelis, wherever they had a tendency to shake the orthodox opinion concerning the divine ^ These arguments are candidly and judiciously suggested by Michaelis, and he allows considerable weight to the non-appear- ance of such, (p. 484.) ; but, in a note subjoined, he endeavours to invalidate them. The reader, who may wish to see what he has advanced, and the answer to it, is referred to the Dissertation, page 68. 2 Introduction, vol. i. p. 361. Notes by Dr. Marsh, now Lord Bishop of Peterborough, and Margaret Professor of Divinity at Cambride'e. 28 origin of the Apocalypse : and my progress may be seen in that work,^ I will now take leave of this division of the subject with stating, that Sir Isaac Newton has truly asserted, that " no other book of the New Testament is so strongly attested, or com- mented upon, as this."- II. Of the internal evidence. We now proceed to the internal evidence ; in the examination of which, we no longer rely on the ancient external witnesses, we search the work itself ; we try its interior marks and character ; and determine, by the judgment thence arising, whether it be of divine authority. The inquiry will be two- fold. 1st. Whether from the internal form and cha- racter of the Apocalypse, it appears to be a book of divine inspiration. 2dly. Whether, appearing to be such, it appears also to have been written by the Apostle John. 1. If all, or indeed most Christians, were agreed upon the same interpretation of the Apocalyptic pro- phecies, this question might be settled by a short and summary proceeding. It would be only necessary to ask, — have these prophecies been fulfilled ? for if it be answered in the affirmative, the consequence immediately follows ; the prophet was inspired, and his book is divine. This criterion, in some future period, when the Apocalyptic prophecies have been more successfully expounded may produce the evidence desired. But ^ The whole of the seventh chapter in that work may be read to advantage by those who may wish to see the opinions of writers in the times subsequent. Those reported by Eusebius deserve a particular attention. 2 Sir I. Newton, on Daniel and the Apocalypse, part ii. c. I. p. 219. - 29 at present, it cannot be applied so as to command general conviction. We must argue from other points, in which a more general agreement is to be obtained ; at the same time it may be observed, that every student of the Apocalypse, who, by a careful examination of many of its prophecies, and a com- parison of them with historical events, is convinced that they have been fulfilled, has this important evi- dence in his own breast. We may proceed there- fore to questions of more ready solution, comparing the internal structure of the Apocalypse, the pic- tures and images it exhibits, the doctrines it holds forth, the language and expressions it uses, with those contained in other writings, acknowledged to be of divine authority. Michaelis has allowed, that the internal structure of the Apocalypse is " noble and sublime ;" that " the imitation of the ancient prophets is, for the most part, more beautiful and magnificent than the ori- ginal ; more short, more abounding in picturesque beauties." ^ Whilst I agree with him generally in this decision, I would point out that such a supe- riority is seldom, if ever, to be seen in an iinitatioii ; nor can it be accounted for in this case, from the superior art or ability of the writer ; for in him there is plainly no aim at eloquence : he drew simply, nay with rude lines, from the heavenly ob- jects before him. They were frequently the same objects from which other sacred prophets had taken their pictures, but they were presented before the writer of the Apocalypse in a grander attitude and appearance, by his divine conductor. For although a close comparison of the Apocalypse with other sacred Scriptures, will show a perfect agreement in the presentation of the same original ideas and ob- 1 P. 533, 534. 30 jects of imagery, yet there will be found that varia- tion which is to be expected, that concordia discors, which we see in the production of artists, copying from the same object, but under different lights and positions. This may be illustrated by comparing together the seraphin of Isaiah, the cherubim of Ezekiel, and the living creatures of the Apocalypse. (See Rev. iv. 6, 7, 8.) Michaelis speaks in high terms of the beautifully sublime and animating manner in which the Apoca- lypse is written. But in what does this extraordi- nary grandeur and pathos consist ? Not in the lan- guage, as he seems to imagine ; for the evidence he brings to confirm this notion, goes directly to contra- dict and refute it. " The Apocalypse," says he, " is beautiful and sublime, &c. not only in the original, but in every, even the worst translation of it."' But beauty, which consists in language only, is known to vanish with the language in which it was written, and in translation is very seldom preserved. But there is another kind of beauty and of sublimity, which even a bad translation may in some measure convey ; and excellence in writing, which can stand this trial, is found to consist not in language, but in ideas and imagery. These, in the Apocalypse, are so simple, so grand, so truly sublime, that rudely represented in any language, they cannot fail to ele- vate, to alarm, or to delight. This prophetical book can boast indeed no beauty of diction, so far as re- spects mere language ; and there is no book that will lose less by being translated. But this pure and simple sublimity, independent of the dress of human art, and to be found perhaps only in the sacred Scriptures — whence was it derived to this book ? which, on this account, must be pronounced '-' P. 533; and again, ch. iv. sect. 3. p. 1 12. 31 to be either an heavenly production, like the other divine writings, or such an imitation, such a forgery, as the Christians of that time were not likely, not able to produce. For there has been observed to be a very unequal gradation and descent, in point of pure simple eloquence and unsullied doctrine, from the apostles to the fathers of the Church. And this circumstance has been used to show, that the books of the New Testament are of superior origin, and could not be fabricated by those Fathers, or in those times. ^ The same argument applies to the origin of the Apocalypse, and with more force and effect. *' Whence," we may ask, almost in the words of Scripture, " whence hath this book these things ? what wisdom is this which is given unto it?'"-* In the word of God there is a grandeur and ma- jesty independent of the accidents of language, con- sisting in the greatness and sublimity of the things revealed. Men of genius may catch some sparks of this heavenly fire ; they may imitate it with some success ; but no one is found so confident in this kind of strength, as to neglect the arts of compo- sition. Mahomet was a man of superior genius ; in writing his pretended revelation, he borrowed much from the sacred Scriptures ; he attempted often, in imitation of them, to be simply sublime ; but he did not trust to this solely, he endeavoured to adorn his work with the imposing charms of human eloquence and cultivated language ; and he appealed to the perfection of his compositions for a proof of their di- vine original. Such an appeal would have little served his cause in a critical and enlightened age, which would have required far other internal proofs of di- vinity, than those which result from elegant diction. The learned of such an age would reject a prophet 1 By Le Clerc, and by Jortin. Eccl. Hist, " Mark vi. 2. 32 appealing to a proof which has never been admitted, in respect to former revelations ; a prophet who, both in doctrine and imagery, is seen to contradict, or add strange conceits to, the credible and well- attested revelations of foregoing ages. There is nothing of this kind in the Apocalypse : compare its prophecies with those known to be forged;* these, if they amaze, as appearing to have been fulfilled, are found to have been written after the events foretold. But no one can show that the Apocalypse contains prophecies fulfilled before they were written. We have accounts in Ecclesiastical History of several Apocalypses or revelations beside this of St. John; of St. Peter, of St. Paul, of St. Thomas, of St. Stephen.^ Will these bear any comparison with the Apocalypse of holy Scripture? Let Mi- chaelis speak of them ; for he knew perfectly all that remains of them, and what the ancients have said concerning those that have perished. '' The spurious productions of those ages," (he speaks of the two first centuries,) " which were sent into the world under the name of apostles, are, for the most part, very unhappy imitations, and discover evident marks that they were not written by the persons to whom they are ascribed^ Fragments of these may be seen in the Codex Apocryph. of Fabricius, in Grabe's Spicilegium, and in Jones's Canon of the New Testament, and may be compared with the simple scriptural dignity of our Apocalypse. The Fathers of the Church com- pared them at length, and rejected all, but this ac- 1 The Sibylline Oracle, the testaments of the twelve Patriarchs, &c. ; to which we may add, Virgil's Anchises in the Elysian Fields, Gray's Bard, &c. " Euseb. H. E. lib. iii. c. 3,25; vi. c. 14. Gelasiusde Lib. Apocryph. ' Introduction to N. T. vol. iv. ch. 28, sect. i. p 349. - 33 knowledged work of St. John ; and this they guarded with so sedulous a care, as to preserve it in the main from interpolations, while the genuine produc- tions of apostolical men, of Ignatius, Polycarp, &c. are known to have suffered from the touch of pro- fane pens. Two works of ecclesiastical writers of the first or second century, still preserved, and in some degree venerated by our Church or its members, may be compared with the Apocalypse. They are the rivals which come nearest to it, pro.vimi, iongo intervallo. I mean the visions of Hermas, and of the apocryphal Esdras. The former contains the relation of some dreams, which the writer may possibly have be- lieved to be inspired, or may have invented as useful allegory. The imagery of this book is borrowed from Scripture, but in a style of servile imitation, which does not indicate any communication of an original vision. There is nothing to make " our hearts burn within us," as we read. The preceptive and doctrinal parts are simple and moral, and were therefore used in the ancient Church to initiate youth into religion.' But although such an use of the book could not fail to spread a prejudice in its favour, it does not appear to have been received by the ancients as a divine work ; at least it was so re- ceived by very few. "^ The second book of Esdras, though preserved by our Church among those which may be read *' for instruction, but not to establish doctrine,"^ is never- theless convicted of evident forgery. The author has assumed a name, and an age, to which he had no 1 Eusebius H. E. lib. iii. c. 3. 2 See Leland's Cred. Gosp. art. Hermas; and also vol. viii. 98; xii. 158; where he speaks with much learned information on the apocryphal books of the New, Testament. 3 Articles of Religion, art. vi. D 34 title ; and such of his prophecies as appear fulfilled, were evidently written after the events foretold. He has otherwise a greater dignity than Hernias, and more successfully imitates the sacred prophets. He has made much use of the Apocalyptic prophecies.^ These observations may suffice to defend the Apo- calypse from the objections raised by Michaelis and others against the internal structin^e of the book. We will proceed to consider the doctrines delivered in it. The DOCTRINES of the Christian Religion are by no means a principal object of the Apocalypse, they occur only incidentally : but it may be safely af- firmed^ that no doctrines are therein advanced, which are in any degree at variance with those of the New Testament. Michaelis entirely acquits the Apoca- lypse of the general and unfounded charge against it advanced by Luther, " that Christ is not taught in it;" but we must be sorry, on his account, to see that he afterwards attempts to qualify this just con- cession, by asserting that " the true and eternal Godhead of Christ is certainly not taught so clearly in the Apocalypse as in St. John's Gospel."" Could he expect so clear a doctrinal exposition from a book of prophecies relating to future events, as from that Gospel which the ancients have considered as written principally to set forth the divine nature of Christ ? But this divine nature is also set forth in the Apoca- lypse ; and as clearly as the nature of the book and prophetic symbols can express it. He is described as sitting on the throne of his Father's glory, " in the midst" of that throne, far beyond the cherubim, above all principalities and powers ; and all the heavenly inhabitants are represented as falling pros- trate before him with worship as to their God.^ And 1 See a learned and judicious Account of this book in Gray's valuable Key to the Old Testament. 2 Page 538. •" Rev. iii. 21. v. 6. ad fin. — 'Tin this is exhibited in a book which has expressly for- bidden the worship of angels/ But, lest symbols should not carry sufficient expression in them, words unequivocal are thus added. He is called (and no where else in Scripture, but in St. John's writings,) the Word of God, ^ which, notwithstanding all that has been advanced to lower the meaning of the ex- pression, can be understood only in the same sense as the same words in the Gospel to which indeed it evidently refers. The primitive Christians under- stood it in this sense ; and because it was understood by them in no other, the Alogi rejected the Apoca- lypse, for the same reason as they rejected the Gospel of St. John."* Our Lord also describes himself in the Apoca- lypse, as the "Alpha and Omega," the first and the last ; which expression cannot be understood other- wise than as forcibly denoting the eternity of Christ's divine nature, which " in the beginning," as St. John says, " was with God, and was God" — the original Creator and final Judge of the world. ^ The Apocalypse and the Gospel, so far as relates to this doctrine, are the same, and must stand or fall together. With the same view of supporting his argument, Michaelis has represented the dignity of Christ as lessened in the Apocalypse, because he happens to be mentioned afte?^ the seven spirits, which this in- terpreter supposes to represent seven angels. But there is no such diminution of Christ's dignity; no, not even if the spirits should prove to be angels ; because the seven spirits stand before the throne, but Christ has his seat upon it, and in the midst of it. They are represented as standing in the presence of the throne, before he enters to take his seat there. 1 Ch. xxii. 8. 2 Ch. xix. 13. ^ Epiphanius, Hser, 51. * John i. 1-^3. D 2 36 And if the Son of God is mentioned last in order, it is only to dwell longer on his heavenly glories, which occupy four verses in the description, whereas the seven spirits are only named. There is one passage in the Apocalypse which, from having been literally and improperly inter- preted, has given offence to some pious Christians in all ages of the Church, as introducing doctrines subversive of gospel parity. It is in the twentieth chapter, where the servants of Christ are described as raised from the dead, to reign with him a thou- sand years. But this is not a doctrine, but a pi^o- phecy, delivered in a figurative style, and as yet un- fulfilled. Such a prophecy no judicious person will attempt to explain otherwise than in very general terms : much less will he derive from it any doc- trine contrary to, or inconsistent with the acknow- ledged word of God. We are not to argue from the abuse of such a prophecy by ignorant fanatics, against the use of it, which will be apparent in its due time. The extravagant notions of the Chiliasts are no more to be taken as evidence against the Apocalypse, than the inventions of transubstantia- tion and purgatory in the dark ages, are to be re- ceived as objections to the pure Gospel. Other places which are objected to by Michaelis in his section of " the Doctrine of the Apocalypse," will be found to contain no doctrines, but figurative representations of future events, which he appears to have misconceived. We will pass on to consider an objection to the Apocalypse, preferred against it in early times, and repeated to this day — the obscurity of the book. Mi- chaelis frequently urges it. ^ To this general charge of obscurity, a general 1 P 459,502,503,511. - 37 answer may be given. How can you expect a long- series of prophecies, extending from the apostolical age to the grand consummation of all things, to be otherwise than obscure ? It is the nature of such prophecy to give but an imperfect light, ^ even in the case of prophecies fulfilled ; because the lan- guage is symbolical, which, though governed by cer- tain rules attainable by the judicious among the learned, is nevertheless very liable to misconstruc- tion in rash and unskilful hands.- But prophecies unfulfilled, are necessarily involved in deeper dark- ness, because the event to be compared with the prophecy is wanting ; and until this arrives in the lapse of time, it is clesignedlij obscure : " For God gave such predictions, not to gratify men's curiosity, by enabling them to foreknow things ; but that after they were fulfilled, they might be interpreted by the event, and his own providence, not that of the inter- preter, be then manifested thereby to the world." ^ This same objection of obscuritij, will operate as forcibly against many other prophecies of the Old and New Testament : those which appertain to the latter days. The book of Daniel, which has our Lord's seal to it, must be rejected with the Apoca- lypse, if it be a sufficient objection that it is yet in many places obscure. The Jewish Sanhedrim doubted at one time whe- ther they should not reject the book of Ezekiel from the canon of Scripture ; and one principal argu- ment for the measure was, the obsciiriti/ of the book. (Calmet's Dissert, vol. ii. p. 369.) Sir I. Newton argues otherwise concerning the obscurity of the Apocalypse. He says, " It is a part of this pro- 1 1 Pet. i. 10, 11, 12; 2 Pet. i. 19. 2 See this explained in Bp. Louth's Prelections, p. 69, 70 ; and in Bp. Hurd's Sermons on Prophecy. * Sir Isaac Newton on Daniel and the Apocalypse, 4to. p. 251. 38 phecy, that it should not be understood before the last age of the world ; and therefore it makes for the credit of the prophecv, that it is not yet under- stood." (Ch. i. p. 2510 There can be no doubt now, with those who have studied the best commentators, that a very great portion of the apocalyptic prophecies have been proved true, by their corresponding events in his- tory. Additional light is slowly, but clearly coming forth. And the prophecies now obscured in the depths of time, will to future generations become *' a shining light;" and when rendered clear by their respective completions, they will form all to- gether an impregnable bulwark against infidelity and impiety. In the mean time, we may console ourselves for the ignorance which yet remains, by observing, that difficulties are found in the abstruser parts of every kind of speculative knowledge. Every study has its dark recesses, hitherto impenetrable by human wit or industry. These prophecies are among the deeper speculations of divine knowledge. And are we to wonder, that mail meets with difficulties here? 7Hcrn, whose bold, prying insolence is checked in the paths of every art and science, by the incomprehen- sible greatness and sublimity of the works of God ! Having taken this short, but comprehensive view of the evidence, both external and internal, by which the claims of the Apocalypse to a divine ori- gin are supported or denied, we may, it is trusted, fairly conclude, that it is in every respect entitled to the place which it holds in our canon of Holy Scrip- ture. II. We may now proceed to the second and last subject of our proposed inquiry — Whether the Apo- calypse, having thus appeared to he a book of divine in- - 39 spiration, will appear also to have been written by John, the Apostle and Evangelist ? We have already seen it expressly declared to be such by unexceptionable witnesses, who lived in, or near to, the times when it was first received by the seven Churches ; who had ample means of informa- tion ; and were interested to know from whom the Churches had received it. Such were Justin Martyr, Irenaeus the disciple of Polycarp, Tertullian, Origen, and others who preceded them. This external evi- dence appeared of such preponderating weight to the candid and judicious Lardner, (who entertained no prejudice in favour of the Apocalypse, which he appears to have very little studied or understood,) ^ as to have drawn from him this conclusion, twice repeated : " It may be questioned, whether the ex- ceptions founded on the difference of style, and such like things, or any other criticisms whatever, can be sufficient to create a doubt concerning the author of this book, which was owned for a writing of John, the Apostle and Evangelist, before the times of Dio- nysius and Caius, and, so far as we know, before the most early of those who disputed its genuineness." - These exceptions and criticisms arose in the third century, and are detailed in the writings of Diony- sius of Alexandria, and by him placed in so strong a light, that little has been added to them by subse- quent critics. Lardner has reduced them to five heads, under which we may now present them before the reader, with some short account of the answers made to them, and some additional obser- vations. 1. " The Evangelist John has not named himself in 1 Supplement, vol. iii. p. 372. 2 Cred. Gosp. Hist. vol. iv. p. 733. Supplement, vol. iii. p. 364. 40 his Gospel, nor his Catholic Epistle; hut the writer of the Revelation nameth himself more than once.'" If St. John had named himself as author of his Gospel, he would have done what no other evange- list before him had done. But he has done what amounts to nearly the same thing, and which we do not find in the other Gospels ; he has plainly dis- closed, by various circumlocutions, that he, " the beloved disciple," was the writer of it.^ It has been as well known, and acknowledged as his produc- tion, through all the Christian era, as if he had stamped it with his name. In his two short Epistles he has not named him- self Jo//;/. But he has used an appellation which, in a letter to a private individual, would equally as- certain the writer. He calls himself the elder, the elder of the Christian Church, the aged survivor of all his apostolic brethren. But what shall we say to the omission of his name in the book called \\\^ first Epistle'^ Michaelis him- self shall assist us to clear up this difficulty. By very just and probable arguments he contends, that it is " « treatise rather than Epistle,"" not having the name of the writer in the beginning, nor the usual salutations at the end." In a composition of this form, the name of the writer was not necessary ; but in the Apocalypse, which is written in the episto- lary form — not to any individual — but to the seven Churches in Asia, and which he was com- manded to write, and to address to them, he could not omit to prefix his name.^ The objection there- fore, under this first head, cannot be maintained. 2. The second is, that " though the writer of the 1 John xxi. 20, &c.; xix. 26. ; xiii. 23, &c. - On the 1st. Epist. of St. John, vol. iv. ch. xxx. sect, ii. p. 400. 3 Rev. i. 11. - 41 Revelation calls himself John, he has not shown that he is the apostle of that name."" In answer to this, it will be sufficient to show, that such an addition to the name of John was, under the circumstances of the case, totally unne- cessary. He wrote to the seven Churches, and from Patmos, in which island he says, that he " is sufFerino- tribulation for the word of God, and the testimony of Jesus Christ." All the Churches knew that he was then suffering banishment in that island, and they knew the cause of it as assigned by him. An epistle, containing the history of a hea- venly vision, seen by John in the island of Patmos, needed no other addition. What John would take upon himself to write John alone, without epithet or explanation, but John the apostle, and president over all the Churches ? A person less known might have described himself by the addition of his father's name, as was the custom of the ancients. A bishop or presbyter might have signified his office or sta- tion in the Church. A fabricator of a revelation, intended to pass under the authority of our apostle, would probably have added to his name " an apos- tle of Jesus Christ,"' or by some circumlocution, like those of the Gospel, expressed it. The circum- stances under which St. John wrote required no such designation. And the simplicity of his ad- dress is a confirmation, to be added to the multitude of prevailing evidence, which supports the authen- ticity of his work.^ 1 St. Paul, in the opening of his Epistles, has used generally, not always, the term apostle. With him it was more necessary than with St. John, who was a leading member of the twelve. St. Paul's right to this title was not so publicly established, and was doubted by some, which induces him to say (1 Cor. ix. 1.) " Am not I an apostle ?" &c. But St. John's apostolic authority was undoubted, and peculiarly so by those to whom he addressed his Apocalypse. To his name John he therefore adds an humbler description, more 42 3. The third objection is, that " the Revelation does not ^nention the Catholic Epistle, nor the Catholic Epistle the Revelation.'" This objection Lardner has pronounced to be " of little moment." Michaelis seems to have thought so, for he has not noted it. If the reader should think that there is any weight in it, he must be re- ferred to the answer given by Lardner/ 4. Fourthly, it is objected, that *' there is a great agreement in sentimetit, ej,p?^essioti, and manner, between St. John's Gospel and Epistle ; but the Revela- tion is quite different in all these respects, without any resemblance or similitude." This is the most formidable objection that has been produced. The answers given to it either deny the fact, or maintain that the difference is to be accounted for in the difference of style which belongs to a prophetical work. These answers take only a general view of the question. In my Dissertation I felt it necessary to enter more particularly into it. I there remarked, that the sentiments, the notions, and images pre- sented in the book, are, in very few passages, those of the writer, (such, I mean, as had been formed and digested in, and thus arose out of his own mind,) but of that holy Spirit, or of those heavenly inhabit- ants, who expressed them to him by symbols, or declared them in speech. The pen of St. John merely narrates, and frequently in the very words of the heavenly minister. " That which he sees and hears" he writes, as he is commanded to do, (ch. i. tenderly affecting his Christian flock, then suffering persecution — " a brother and companion in tribulation." So St. James, although an acknowledged apostle, mentions himself only as " a servant of God, and of the Lord Jesus Christ." (James i. 1.) 1 Vol. iv. p. 707. - 43 19,) but they are not his own ideas from which he writes; he relates simply, and, with little or no comment, the heavenly visions he had beheld, or the words which he had heard. Even in those parts of the book, where we should expect to meet with the original sentiments of the writer, we perceive his mind teeming (as indeed was natural) with the newly-acquired images. He uses such at the very outset of the work, even in his epistolary address, which is full of those images which had been exhi- bited to him in the visions. The same thing occurs again at the close of his book; and indeed, it is difficult to find many passages wherein the writer has recourse to his own sentiments, and previous store of imagery. The whole of the second and third chapters, and a great part of the first, is delivered in our Lord's own words, and contains his sentiments, his doc- trines, not those of the writer, who is commanded to write down the words of the great Visitor of the Churches. We have indeed other words of our Lord, written by St. John in his Gospel, with which it may be thought that these words in the Apoca- lypse may be properly compared. But it must be remembered, that the character and office which our Lord is seen to assume in the Apocalypse, is very different from that which he had borne in the Gos- pel. He is now no longer the ^' Son of Man" upon earth, the condescending companion and instructor of his disciples, but the glorified King of Heaven, the omniscient Visitor of his Church, the omnipo- tent Judge of the world. ^ And in the remaining 1 We are to expect this difference of character and appearance, if we advert to similar circumstances exhibited in the Gospels. After our Lord's resurrection, his appearance before his disciples was accompanied with so superior a sublimity in look and manner, that they could not immediately acknowledge him. See the last chapter of St. Luke, and the two last of St. John. 44 parts of the book, what does the writer present to us? Not his own thoughts and conceptions, but " the things which shall be hereafter," the symbols and figurative resemblances of future events ; and when he uses explanation, it is in the words of his heavenly conductors. If any passage can be pointed out, wherein he forsakes his apocalyptic ideas, and reassumes his own, it may perhaps be ch. i. verse 7 ; and it is re- markable that he is here led to quote from Zech. xii. 10, and in the veryjnanner which has been ob- served by the critics to be peculiar to St. John. Michaelis has noted these peculiar circumstances, and allowed to them considerable weight ; ^ but he was not aware, that this is one of very few passages w^hich can properly be compared with the former writings of St. John, so as to deduce evidence of the authenticity of the work. But although, from the reasons now assigned, we may think it improper to look for any nice resem- blance in sentiments and ideas, between the Apoca- lypse and other writings of St. John, yet some similarity in the mode and character of narration, may perhaps be reasonably expected ; and this will be seen in the plain, unadorned simplicity with which the Apocalypse is written. There is at the same time a difference, which seems to consist chiefly in that circumstance which Jortin has pointed out, that " the Apocalypse, like the Septuagint, follows the Hebrew phraseology, using- copulatives continually ; whereas the Gospel, instead of K:ar, uses Sc, orsr^, or is written aavv^tnoQ." " But some passages in the Gospel may be seen, where the copulative icai is used almost as profusely 1 P. 535. Note. Discourse on the Christian Religion, kui ei-xev 6 O^ic, (cat, Sec. - 45 as in the Apocalypse. They are those wherein the mind of the writer appears charged with surprising ideas, following each other in rapid succession ; and, as he pours them forth, he couples them toge- ther with the conjunction. In the fifth chapter of his Gospel, this Evangelist describes a poor cripple, who for thirty-eight years had been in vain expect- ing a cure from the waters of Bethesda. The circum- stances are related calmly, without any extraordi- nary use of the copulative kui, till we come to verse the ninth ; when the cure having been pronounced by our Lord, the surprising events follow in rapid suc- cession, and the copulative is employed incessantly. Kat evOemq sjcvero vyirjg o Av9p(i)7roQ, Koi ype tov KpnjjjSaTov avT8, Kai TrepnraTH. Thus aiso at the raising of Laza- rus, all proceeds calmly, and without the copula- tives, until the great event ; but this is narrated (ver. 44.) with /cot repeatedly. If this be admitted, it may serve to show, that this copulative style, being the language used by St. John when wonderful scenes are related by him, we ought rather to expect it in the Apocalypse, where every scene is full of wonder and amazement. We have no information from the ancients, in what language the Apocalypse was originalli/ writ- ten. It might be, as St. Matthew's Gospel is said to be, in Hebrew. Certainly the divine Saviour, when he appeared to St. Paul at his conversion, spoke to him in " the Hebrew tongue."^ And he, and the angels after him, may have used the same language to St. John ; and this, translated into Greek, with the literal care required for such pur- pose, would produce the very kind of Greek which we now read in the Apocalypse. These observations may be considered as entitled to but little weight. But let us advert to the 'objec- 1 Acts xxvi. 14. 46 tions themselves : of what weight and authority are they ? They consist only of doubts, which sprang up one hundred and fifty years after the Apocalypse had been published ; during all which time it was universally received by the Church as the work of the apostle John. The fathers who had personal access to this apostle upon his return to Ephesus, and those who followed them in succession, had the most undeniable means of settling this question. They were satisfied ; and on such a point, it is in vain for the writers of the third century to urge their doubts, and for the German sceptics of our times to renew them. 5. The same general answer may be given to the fifth objection, " That the Gospel of St. John is elegant Greek, but that the Apocalypse abounds with barbarisms and solecisms." And in particular it may be observed, that the attention of modern critics has tended greatly to lessen the force of what is here advanced. For such irregularities of gram- mar, as are here objected against the Apocalypse, are observed also in the Septuagint, and in other books of the New Testament.^ To vindicate them is unnecessary. The Holy Scriptures must be al- lowed to speak a language of their own, "not with the enticing words of man's wisdom."'^ They use for the most part an Asiatic Greek, plentifully mixed with Hebraisms. A pure Attic phraseology would not give them greater credibility ; for in these days we should not admit the plea of Mahomet, and con- clude them divine, because elegantly composed. Many of the expressions, which, upon this ground, ^ See Michaelis, p. 530. And Blackwall, in his Sacred Clas- sics, where attempting to vindicate St. John from this charge, in his Gospels and Epistles he has been obliged to examine above forty passages, in some of which only he has been successful. " 1 Cor. ii. 4. -47 have been objected to in the Apocalypse, have been shown to convey the sublime meaning of the sacred writer more forcibly and eifectually than a more grammatical language would have done. Of this character is otto o cov, kui o rjv, kui o ep-^of-ievog, which, corrected into grammar, would not express with equal force that sublime attribute of the Deity by which he fills eternity. ^ Having now advanced what I deem necessary in answer to these objections of Dionysius, repeated by Michaelis, I shall add a few words concerning ano- ther objection of later date, which, though not for- mally avowed, is indirectly sanctioned by this learned critic. He distinguishes between John the Evangelist and John the Divine, as if he believed them two separate persons ; and the latter to be the author, or reputed author of the Apocalypse. This mistake has arisen from the title prefixed to the book, " The Revelation of John the Divitie." But this is not its title in the most ancient and authentic manuscripts, and is therefore rejected by Griesbach in his editions. The true title of the book is to be seen in the first verses of it : it is, " the Revelation of Jesus Christ," not of John, but given to John by him. " The Apocalypse of John " was the title by which it was known in the times of Dionysius ; ^ and this was to distinguish it from many other Revelations which were then ex- tant, written in imitation of this, and falsely ascribed to other apostles. In the following century, when many contests had arisen concerning the doctrine of the Trinity, and the Orthodox had found their firm support in the writings of this apostle, who alone ^ This is observed by Michaelis, who says : " The very faults of grammar in the Apocalypse are so happily placed, as to produce an agreeable effect." — Introd. vol. i. part 1. chap. iv. sect. 3. - Euseb. H. E. lib. vii. c. 24. 48 of the sacred writers had described the Son of God as Qc8 XoyoQ, they began to apply to]this apostle the title of Theologos, a title expressive both of St. John's doctrine, and of his eminent knowledge in divine subjects. Athanasius calls St. John o GeoXo- In the decrees of the Council held at Ephesus in 431, that city is mentioned as the burial place of Jolm the Theologus, which agrees with the ac- counts in ecclesiastical history, that John the Evan- gelist was buried there." Andreas Csesariensis, in commenting on the Apocalypse, (ch. 17,) quotes the Evangelist John by the title of Theologus ; and again in ch. iii. 21, and likewise in 1 John, v. 8 ; and it is applied to him as o BtoXoyoc Kar' tt^oyjiv, the Divine ; for other able defenders of the theologic doctrine have been sometimes so called. We may therefore be assured, that John the Divine, whenever it was prefixed as a title to the Apocalypse, was intended to designate the same person as John the Evangelist. To the evidence here collected, I have added in my Dissertation one of a more positive kind, taken from the book itself. ^In chap. i. 13. He who is ordered to write the Apocalypse, beholds in the vision " one like unto the Son of Man." Now, who but an eye-witness of our Lord's personal appearance upon earth, could pronounce from the likeness that it was Hel St. John had lived familiarly with " the Son of Man" during 1 See the word QeoKoyia, as used in Eusebius, H. E. lib. -iii. c. 24, and applied to the beginning of St. John's Gospel. The Christians are described as worshipping Christ, with reference to this name. — Euseb. H. E. lib. v. c. 28. And the Alogi, as we have seen, received that appellation, by denying the doctrine of St. John, Tov €v "PX'/ '■""'■« 6eoj/ (9eou) \oyov. Epiphan. Hger. 54. Eusebius, quoting the beginning of St. John's Gospel, says, u)le ttt) deoXuyei. Prsep. Evang. lib. xi. c. 19. 2 Euseb. H. E. lib. iii c.1.20. - 49 his abode upon earth ; and had moreover seen him in his glorified appearance, both at his transfiguration and after his resurrection. No other John had en- joyed these privileges ; no other witness of our Lord's person appears to have been living v^hen the apocalyptic visions w^ere seen. The candid reader will perhaps now think, that to an impregnable force of external evidence in favour of the Apocalypse, a considerable accession of internal evidence may be added ; or, at least, that this avenue, by which its overthrow was at- tempted in the third century, and renewed in the eighteenth, is not so unguarded as its adversaries have imagined ; and the future labours of judicious commentators will be constantly increasing the weight of this evidence ; for every prediction of this prophetical book, which shall be shown to be clearly accomplished, will afford fresh internal proof of its divine original. We will conclude with examining the pretensions of the Apocalypse, (as set forth in this short trea- tise,) by the rules laid' down by Michaelis himself, to determine whether a scriptural book be authentic or spurious.^ 1. Were doubts entertained, from its first appear- ance in the world, whether it proceeded from the pen of St. John ? No such doubts are recorded, in the history of the true Church, during one hundred years after its pub- lication ; all the ecclesiastical writers, who speak of its author, attribute it to St. John. 2. Did the friends or disciples of the supposed author deny it to be his ? 1 Introduct. to New Test. chap, ii, sect. 3. p. 27, &c. E 50 There is no such denial from PolycarjD, Papias, Ignatius, &c., who appear to have received it as divine Scripture. 3. Did a long series of years elapse after the death of St. John, in which the book was unknown, and in which it must unavoidably have been mentioned and quoted, had it really existed ? No such period did elapse. Michaelis himself has allowed, that this book existed before the year 120, that is, within twenty-three years of the time of its publication. But even in this short interval, it seems probable that it was quoted or alluded to by the apostolic fathers. 4. Is the style of the Apocalypse different from that of St. John in his other writings ? It cannot be denied that there is some difference ; but this difference is reasonably accounted for. 5. Are events recorded, which happened later than the time of St. John ? None such are recorded • nor, we may add, are any predicted, which occurred before the time when the book was written, which is a case frequent in pretended predictions. G. Are opinions advanced in the Apocalypse, which contradict those which St. John is known to have maintained in his other writings ? The theological opinions which it contains are found to be precisely the same with those of St. John in his other writings ; and the wild opinions of the Chiliasts, though they may have had their origin from a passage of prophecy in this book, can be attributed only to the rash interpretation of it by these visionaries. Thus, bringing this prophetical book to the test proposed by Michaelis, the most formidable oppo- " 51 nent of its claims to a divine origin, we shall be obliged to confess its indubitable right to that place in the canon of sacred scripture, which the ancient fathers of the Church assigned to it, and which the reform- ers in the Protestant Churches have with mature de- liberation confirmed. e2 NOTES ON THE APOCALYPSE, OR, REVELATION OF ST. JOHN. The text of the original, according to our English authorized translation, is divided into Parts and Sections, witli a view to a more complete arrangement and illustration of the Prophecies. CH. i. 1 3.] THE APOCALYPSE 55 PART I. SECTION I. The Title, or Inscription, of the Book. Chap. i. ver. 1 — 3. 1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass ; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John ; 2 Who hare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw. 3 Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein : for the time is at hand. The greater part of the commentators have either entirely disregarded, or very little noticed the three first chapters. In these, as the production of a divine interpreter, I expected to find such specimens of the symbols and language of the Apocalypse, as might materially lead to the interpretation of the remainder. 1 studied them accordingly, as the means of obtaining a safe Clavls Apocalyptica, and w^as not disappointed. Ver. 1. The Revelation.^ The word airoKoXvtpiQy although without the prepositive article, is not im- properly translated the Revelation; because the titles of books, in the Greek language, are commonly expressed without the article. — See Bishop Mid- dleton on the Greek Article, Luke i. J. Things whieh must shortly come to jmss.^ The 56 THE APOCALYPSE. [CH. i. 1 3. meaning of this cannot be, that the events foretold in this revelation, should all of them be completed within a short time and compass ; for we know that more than seventeen hundred years have passed away since this prophecy was delivered, and that as yet only a small part of it is fulfilled. It may also be observed, that the same words, a Sa yeveaOai ev ra^^i, are repeated at the close of the work, (ch. xxii. 6.) with reference to a new heaven and new earth, after this world has passed away. The meaning, there- fore, seems to be, (as set forth by able commenta- tors, Grotius, Vitringa, Mede, and Daubuz,) that the events predicted shall beghi to take place soon, and follow each other in regular succession, till the time of the end. But in this, and such like expres- sions, which occur frequently in scripture, a warn- ing seems to be addressed to every human creature individuaUy , that the great day of consummation is at hand. For whatever may be its distance, mea- sured by time and years, it presses close upon every individual ; the day of whose death will bring him before his Judge. '' Bejiold I come quickly, £v Tay^i, and my reward is with me, to give to every man according as his work shall be," (ch. xxii. 12, 20;) and accordingly, in the third verse of this first chapter, the blessing is pronounced upon, and the warning addressed to, individuals. *' Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein ; ^ for the time is at hand \^' that time, when the Son of God, having obtained the victory over his opponents, and finally subdued our last enemy. Death, shall come in the clouds of heaven, as repre- sented in the seventh verse of this chapter, to pass final sentence upon all men. 1 Not the words, as in our received translation, but the things commanded, tu yeypajx^eva. CH. 1 4 8.] THE APOCALYPSE. 57 PART I. SECTION II. The Address, or Salutation, and the Doxology. Chap. i. ver. 4 — 8. 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 his throne : .5 And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, 6 And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father : to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. 7 Behold, he cometh with clouds ; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him : and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so. Amen. 8 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Al- mighty. Ver. 4. John to the seven Churches which are in Asia.'] This book being written in an epistolary form, begins, like other apostolic epistles, with a Salutation, followed by a Doxology. It is addressed to the seven Churches in Asia, that is, the Lydian or Proconsular Asia, which at that time is said to have contained five hundred great cities. Of these, Ephe- sus, Smyrna, and Pergamos, three of the seven, contended for the pre-eminence. All the seven were cities of great account, even in Roman estimation ; but they seem selected by the Holy Spirit with a view to their Christian distinction. (Vitringa.) 58 ' THE APOCALYPSE. [CH.i.4 — 8. Here we meet for the first time with the mention of the number seven, which is afterwards so fre- quently and symbolically used in this sacred book ; wherein we read of seven Spirits of God, seveti an- gels, seven seals, seven trumpets, seven vials, seven heads of the Dragon and of the Beast. In which passages, for the most part, as in others of holy scripture, this number appears to represent a large, complete, yet undefined quantity. Hannah, in her Song, (1 Sam. ii. 5,) says, *' the barren hath borne seven (that is, a large but indefinite number of) children." So, God threatens that he will punish the Israelites seven times, that is, very completely and severely. In the Hebrew etymology of this word seven, it signifies fulness and perfection. (Daubuz.) Philo styles it TtXttr^opoc, the completing number ; and it is mentioned as such by Cyprian. With the Israelites this number became thus im- portant, because God, having completed his work of creation in six days, and added thereto the se- venth, a day of rest, commanded them in memorial thereof, to reckon time by sevens. Through the nations of the East, this manner of computation passed on to the Greeks and Romans, as hath been shewn in a variety of instances. Bythe*e<;c?^ Churches of Asia are implied all the Churches of Asia, and, it may be, all the Christian Churches, in whatever situation or period of the world. Such was the opinion of the most ancient commentators on the Apocalypse, who lived near to the time of its publication ; for such is delivered to us by An- dreas Cassariensis, Arethas, Victorinus, Cyprian, &c., who profess to follow them. Andreas, the most ancient of these, commenting on this passage, says, TO jiivcTTiKov Tbjv ciTTavTayjj t.-CfcXjjiTiwv ar]jxaivu)v, I llCSe particular churches being now sunk in Mahometan superstition, all the Christian Churches at this day CH.i. 4 — 8.] THE APDCALYPSE. 59 and to the end of time, inherit the prophetic know- ledge revealed, the advice given, the threatenings denounced, and the blessings promised, by their divine Lord. Ver. 4, 5. Grace be unto you, and peace, &c.] The salutation, in this epistle, resembles those in other epistles of the New^ Testament ; in almost all of which the inspired writer entreats " Grace and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ." But there is here a considerable variation in the form of expression, which seems to take its colouring from the vision that St. John, the writer, had be- held, and is going to describe; for the description of God the Father is the same as that by which he is addressed in ch. iv. 8, and which is of the same meaning as the I am of Exodus iii. 14 ; that is, the eternal God, whose name, Jehovah, signifies he tJtat is, and was, and shall be. Hammond, Vitringa. The description of God the Son is likewise taken from the vision ; for our Lord there styles himself the faithful and true witness, (ch, iii. 14.) He is so called prophetically by Isaiah, (ch. Iv. 4.) The pri- mitive Christians, who in the Gallic Churches suf- fered martyrdom, considered the title of martyr or witness as peculiarly belonging to the Lord Jesus, who sealed his doctrine with his sacred blood, and they were unwilling that it should be applied to themselves. (Euseb. Hist. Eccl. lib. v. c. 2.) In the same passage of the vision, our Lord calls himself also, " the beginning of the creation of God ;" and by St. Paul he is styled ** the first fruits from the dead. (1 Cor. i. 20.) And in respect to the third character here assigned him, " prince, or ruler {kpywv) of the kings of the earth," it is an object of the whole prophecy to exhibit him " King of kings and Lord of lords." (Ch. xvii. 14. xix. 16.) 60 THE APOCALYPSE. [CH.i. 4 — 8. But in this salutation, in conjunction vvith God the Father and God the Son, thus exhibited, there is a third power mentioned, from whom also grace and peace are entreated to descend upon the Chris- tians of the seven Churches, namely, " from the seven Spirits which are before his throne." To understand which emblem, we must refer likewise to the vision, (ch. iv. 5,) where seven lamps of fire are seen burning before the throne of God, and are affirmed to be " the seven Spirits of God." And when we consider, that no created Being, ever so resplendent, can with any propriety or pretension, be conjoined with the Father and the Son, in the divine prerogative of receiving prayers and bestow- ing grace, as in this salutation ; and that the seven Spirits of God are in this sacred book described, as belonging to the Son, as well as to the Father, (ch. iii. 1. V. 6,) we shall be strongly inclined to conclude, that no other power can be here intended, but that perfect, universal, holy Spirit of God, which proceeds from the Father and the Son, and, in the form o{ jire,^ descended upon the apostles at the great day of Pentecost. The comment of Vene- rable Bede on this passage is just and forcible : '* Unum Spiritum dicit septiformem, quae est per- fectio et plenitudo."^ And indeed, as Vitringa has 1 There is a striking resemblance between the " cloven tongues like as of fire," and the lights beaming from oil on the branches of the lampbearer. Acts ii. 3. 2 Clemens Alexandriensis, and a few others among the ancients, says Vitringa, and some modern writers, among whom is Dr. Ham- mond, have supposed the seven Spirits to represent seven superior angels, such as those to whom the seven trumpets (ch, viii.) are committed. But this learned and able commentator powerfully re- sists this interpretation. " They," says he, " are expressly said to be the seven eyes of the Lamb, or Christ, and the seven lamps of God ; but these are inherent in God, a part of the Deity by which he perceives ; they are not external of the Godhead, and therefore must be his Holy Spirit. Of all the commentators who have in- CH. 1. 4 — 8.] THE APOCALYPSE. 61 justly observed, it has been the received doctrine of the Church, that by the seven Spirits and the seven lamps of fire, is represented the Holy Spirit, or the seven Charismata thereof, mentioned in the eleventh chapter of Isaiah. But the Persons in the Godhead do not in this passage appear in their regular order. The Holy Spirit is placed before the Son. To account for which, we must again have recourse to the vision, (ch. iv. 5,) where this emblem of the Holy Ghost is seen attendant upon the Father alone ; this being the point of time before the appearance of the Son under his human character, represented by the Lamb, to take his place on the throne. (See the Note, ch. iv. 5.) Another reason which may be as- signed for this apparent irregularity, — a reason not inconsistent with that already stated is, — that the mention of the Son seems reserved to the last, in order that it may connect immediately with his character and description, as the great Agent of the prophecy, which follows in the four succeeding verses. Ver. 5. Unto him that loved us, &c.] The Doxo- logy follows the Salutation, as in some other of the sacred epistles. But in this instance it is addressed more especially to the Son of God, as the giver and terpreted the seven Spirits to be the seven archangels, Joseph Mede is the most able ; and his defence of this system may be seen in pages 40, 61, and 908 of his works. But this insuperable ob- jection to his conclusions vi^ill still remain — that no created Being can be united in the Godhead with the Father and Son, so as to re- ceive prayers and decree blessings. And in answer to this learned writer's assertion, that the eyes and horns of the Lamb cannot re- present the Holy Spirit, let it be considered, that when the Saviour appears in the form of a Lamb, it is his human, suffering form, when his extraordinary and divine knowledge and power were both derived to him from the Holy Spirit. (Luke iv. 18.) 62 THE APOCALYPSE. [CH. i. 4 8. grand agent of this Revelation, to him who so loved us as to die for our salvation, (Pyle,) and to prepare for his faithful servants a kingdom in which they are " to reign with him," (Matt. xxv. 34 ; Luke xii. 32 ; 2 Tim. ii. 12 ; 1 Cor. iv. 8. vi. 2, 3,) and to become " a kingdom of priests, a royal priesthood to God even his Father," (1 Pet. ii. 5. 9.) Ver. 7. Behold he cometh, &c.] The Son of God is now described as coming in the clouds of heaven, in the glory of the Father, (as foretold in Dan. vii. 13 ; Matt. xxiv. 30,) to preside at the great day of judg- ment, terrible to obstinate sinners, and to his unre- pentant enemies, especially those Jews who de- manded of Pilate his crucifixion ; and whose descend- ants, continuing to reject his salvation, seem more particularly described here, as the ^wXoi ri/c -yriQ, the tribes of the land, the holy land, to whom he " came as his own, but they received him not," (John i. 11.) These shall bevi^ail themselves, {Ko^ovrai, mid. voice,) seeing his glory, and their own shame and danger. (See Zech. xii. 10; and Louth, in loc.) And such also shall be the wretched condition of those pro- fessed Christians, of every age and nation, who by sin, as the apostle says, '* crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to open shame," (Fleb. vi. G.) Ver. 8. / am Alpha and Omega.] In the same spirit of pious exultation, St. John continues to proclaim the supreme dignity of the Son of God ; employing the very words in which the Saviour had ascribed to himself in the vision the divine attributes, by which, in sublime union with the Father, he fills eternity, and exercises almighty power. This is no new doctrine, but the same which pervades the whole of the New Testament. (See CH. i. 4 8.] THE APJ3CALYPSE. 63 John i. 1 — 13. V. 26, 19, 22. xiv. 11. xvi. 15; Col. i. 16, 17 ; Heb. i. 2, 3, 8 ; 1 John v. 20; also Isaiah xliv. G.) He is the first and the last, the original Creator, and final Judge of the world ; to whose illustrious advent, and complete triumph over the enemies of his Church, the prophet, who had already seen it exhibited in vision, exultingly adverts, even before he begins his narration. PART I. SECTION III. The appearance of the Lord Jesus, tvith the sy7nbols of his Poiver, atid the commission given by him to St. John, to ivrite what he beholds. Chap. i. ver. 9, to the end. 9 I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribula- tion, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testi- mony of Jesus Christ. 10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet, 11 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 Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Phi- ladelphia, and unto Laodicea. 12 And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks ; 13 And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle. 14 His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow ; and his eyes were as a flame of fire ; 64 THE APOCALYPSE. [CH. i. 9 — 20. 15 And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a fur- nace ; 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 two-edged sword : and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his 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 not; I am the first and the last. 18 1 am he that liveth, and was dead ; and, behold, I am alive for evermore. Amen ; and have the keys of hell and of death. 19 Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter; 20 The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches : and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches. Ver. 9. 1 Johriy &c.] John the apostle, who was banished by the emperor Domitian to the isle of Patmos, where he was favoured with this prophetic vision. See Euseb. Hist. Eccl. lib. iii. cap. 18. Ver. 10. TheLorcVsDay.^ The Christian Sabbath. Lowman. A trumpet.'] The trumpet was the voice of God, at the awful delivery of the divine Law from Mount Sinaij (Exod. xix. 16 ;) and so shall be again at the last day, 1 Thess. iv. 16; 1 Cor. xv. 52. Ver. 12. To see the voice.'] To see who it was that uttered the voice. Daubuz. Seven golden candlesticks,] or lamp-bearers. These are explained, in verse 20, to signify the seven Churches, or the universal Church of Christ, which bears aloft the spiritual light of divine know^ ledge, for the information and direction of the world. (See Note, ver. 4.) The Lord Jesus has himself supplied this light, and is therefore fitly re- presented as in the midst of these lamp-bearers, this his universal Church. So Irenseus, (lib. v. cap. 20.) CH. i. 9 20.] THE APaCALYPSE. 65 Ver. 13. Like unto the Son of Man, &c.] So our Lord is prophetically styled in Dan. x. 16 ; and so he usually styled himself in the Gospel. But from the writer of this vision having noted this likeness, w^e are led to conclude, that he was one of the dis- ciples who had seen the Lord in his human appear- ance. And what John could this be, at so late a period as when this Revelation was written, but John the apostle and evangelist? He, of all the apostles, seems to have been reserved for this im- portant purpose. The likeness might be preserved, although the appearance of the divine Saviour was far more glorious than when he trod the earth in a human form. But St. John was one of those apostles who " had also seen his excellent glory," when he was transfigured before them on the holy mount, (Matt. xvii. 2; 2 Pet. i. 17 ;) and also after his resurrection, when his personal appearance was so altered by the change from mortality, that the disciples at first with difficulty acknowledged him. He is habited like a priest, as in Exodus xxviii. xxxix. being '* a Priest for ever," " ever living to make intercession for us," (Heb. iv.20 ; vii. 25.) The brightness of his appearance is similar to that of other glorified appearances described in holy writ, (Matt. xvii. 2; Dan. vii. 9. x. 5, 6.) Ver. 15. His feet like fine brass.'] More properly smelting bi^ass. See Schleusner in voc. ^aXyoXijiavov ; also Grotius and Vitringa in Locum. 'Ver. 16. Seven stars.'] By our Lord himself, ver. 20, these are explained to signify the angels of the seven Churches. And from his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword.] This is the weapon by which our Lord and his followers are to conquer at the last, (ch. xix. 15, 66 THE APOCALYPSE. [CH. i. 9 20. 21.) In a passage of Isaiah, prophetical of our Sa- viour, it is said : " He shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked," (Isa. xi. 4 ;) agreeably to which, " the sword of the Spirit" is called by St. Paul " the word of God," (Eph. vi. 17 ;) and is the vt^eapon with which (even " with the Spirit of his mouth,") the Lord will destroy the man of sin, (2 Thess. ii. 8.) These passages afford considerable light to the expression before us ; and show clearly the nature of the weapons by which our Lord and his Church are to gain their victories ; not by the usual instruments of human warfare, but by the preaching of his word in evangelical purity and truth. From the whole of this description we collect, that the Person appearing to the prophet St. John in this vision, is no other than the only begotten Son of God ; which, if it should be at ail doubted by the reader, who has ad^'anced only so far in this book of Revelation, will become abundantly manifest in the addresses to the seven Churches, where this great Personage will be seen to apply to himself, under the name of " the Son of God," the particu- lars of the description. (See ch. ii. 18.) Ver. 17. As dead.] The effect here described is such as might be expected, from the conflict of pas- sions in the breast of the apostle ; of surprise and delight, of fear and joy. For it was the appearance of " the Son of man," who on earth had blessed St. John with his peculiar love ; but it was, at the same time, his glorified appearance, Godlike and awful. Bis right hand.'] The right hand, in Scripture, bestows protection, and conveys spiritual gifts, (Psa. xviii. 35. xx. 6 ; Acts viii. 18.) The touch CH. i. 9 20.] THE A!M)CALYPSE. 67 felt palpably by the apostle agrees with that part of holy writ which represents our Lord's body an object of feeling after his resurrection. This passage is sublime. Mahomet has imitated it, but with a vicious excess. The hand of God, touching him, he represents to be cold. ^ Fear not.] Similar to this was the comforting assurance given to the holy Virgin, to Zacharias, to the shepherds, to the women at the sepulchre, under like circumstances of alarm, " Fear not.''' At our Lord's transfiguration, as told by St. Mat- thew, (ch. xvii.) the three chosen apostles, of whom John was one, " were sore afraid, and/e// upon their faces; and Jesus came, and touched them, and said, arise, be not afraid." The similarity of this transac- tion, remembered by St. John, must have been highly consolatory to him at this awful time. '* Who can read," says Michaelis, " the address of Jesus to John, sinking to the ground with fear, and not be affected with the greatness of the thought and the expressions?" (Introd. to New Test. ch. xxxiii. sect. 10.) In fact, it was a true and simple descrip- tion of a real and awful event. / am the Jirst and the last : 1 am he that liveth.] See above, ver. 8. But in the form and connexion in which this passage stands here, I have thought it useful to propose a slight correction in the trans- lation, extending only to the punctuation, and re- moving the fuller stop to the end of the sentence. Eyw £1/^.1 o 7rp(i)Tog, Kai,o ^rr^arog, Kcii o Z,(iiV. " I am the first, and the last, and He who liveth." For eter- nity of life is an essential attribute of the Son of God, inherent in his divine nature. He lives of himself, ive live through him. (See John v. 26. xi. 25.) But though immortal in his divine nature, ^ Pricleaux, Life of Mahomet. Vie de Mahomed, par Boulain- villiers. F 2 68 THE APOCALYPSE. [CH. 1. 9 — 20. for man's salvation he took an human form, and *• became obedient unto death," and by this extra- ordinary submission obtained "the keys of death and of hell." Death is a formidable foe to human nature, de- riving his power from the transgression of our first parents. The passage of death leads directly to Hell; by w^hich v^^e are to understand, not the Ge- henna or place of punishment, but the Scheol of the Hebrews, the Hades of the Greeks, (which word is here used,) the place of departed souls, whether happy or miserable. (See the learned notes of Grotius on Matt. xvi. 18 ; Luke xvi. 23. xxiii. 43 ; and Schleusner or Parkhurst on the word 'A^rjc.) The gates of Hell are mentioned by 'our Saviour, (Matt. xvi. 18.) The gates of Death in other pas- sages of Scripture, (Jobxxxviii. 17 ; Psa. ix.l3.) The same metaphorical expressions are used by heathen writers, (Homer. II. ix. 312.) The keys of these gates are in the exclusive keeping of " the Captain of our salvation," who, by suffering death, hath ob- tained the mastery over it, and insured to his faith- ful followers a safe passage through them to his kingdom of glory, (Heb. ii. 14.) Ver. 19. Write, &c.] This verse, as it stands in the received translation, may perhaps be usefully con-ected as follows : " Write therefore the things that thou seest;" {u^^q, aorist) — "both the things that now are, and those which are about to be after these." The particle ow is not noticed in the received translation, but it has great force in this passage, as Grotius has observed. " owv [ergo]," says he, '* id est, quia me tam potentem vides." For thus the subject-matter, which the prophet is commissioned to deliver to the seven Churches, is divided (as it naturally divides) into two parts. First, the scene CH. i. 9 20.] THE APOCALYPSE. 69 at that time before him, with the addresses to the Churches, revealing to them, and commenting upon their preseiit internal state ; secondly, the events which were to happen to the Church universal in future times. In confirmation of this, it may be noted, that after the present state of the Churches has been gone through in the three first chapters, the prophet is called to another situation, where he is to behold *' the things which must be hereafter," /it£ra Tavra, *' the things which must happen after these.'' Both are revealed by the same prophetic holy Spirit, which was equally necessary to discover the real internal state of the Church then existing, as the events which were to happen to it in futu- rity. Sardis, for instance, had the reputation of a Living Church, a church flourishing in faith, doc- trine, and practice ; but by the Spirit she is disco- vered, and pronounced to be dead, (ch. iii. 1.) Ver. 20. The mystery.'] Mu(ttj?|Oiov, in scriptural language, generally signifies hidden and recondite knowledge, which is accessible only by divine fa- vour and revelation. But here, as also in ch. xvii. it is used to signify the meaning concealed under figurative resemblances. Thus the stars are angels or messengers, and the candlesticks are churches. With respect to the first of these, we may ob- serve, that in Malachi ii. 7, the priest of the Lord is styled the angel or messenger of the Lord. And it appears, from the accounts we have received of the ancient synagogue, or Church of the Jews, that the ruler, or chief minister, was styled Sheliach Zib- bor, the angel of the synagogue or congregation. (Buxtorf, Synag. Jud. Vitringa, de Syn. Vet. at- que ad locum.) In conformity with this, the presi- dents (or bishops, as they were afterwards called) 70 THli APOCALYPSE. [CH. ii. 1 — 7. of the ancient Christian Church, were so denomi- nated. The words AttocttoXoc and Ktjpv^, principally used in the New Testament, have a similar meaning. They imply, that such persons act by a delegated authority from the Lord Christ, as his messengers or ambassadors ; who are therefore fitly represented under the emblem of stars, placed in his hand, under his direction ; being the lights supplied by him to illumine and instruct the Churches, which are represented as the candlesticks or lampbearers, on which the sacred light or doctrine is placed, and held forth to the world. PART I. SECTION IV. Address to the Church in Ephesus. Chap. ii. ver. I — 7. 1 Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write : These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks ; 2 I 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 found them liars ; 3 And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name's sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted. 4 Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. 5 Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works ; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent. 6 But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolai- tanes, which I also hate. CH. ii. 1 7.] THE APttCALYPSE. 71 7 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches ; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God. Ver. 1. Unto the Angel of the Church.'] The ad- dresses of our Lord, to the angels, or presidents of the seven Churches, are not to them 'personally, but to the Church over w^hich each of them presides. This might be made to appear from several in- stances, but will be sufficiently manifest in that to the Church of Thyatira, where v^iv ^tev Xs-yw (I say to you, not to thee) seems plainly to show it. They are addressed to the seven Asiatic Churches in particular ; and through them to the universal Christian Church in all times and places. Such is the figurative import of the number seven ; and in this sense this part of the Apocalypse was under- stood and applied by the most ancient expositors, who have been followed by Grotius, Hammond, Daubuz, Bengel, Bishop Newton, &c. ^ 1 A few writers, among whom are the respectable names of Henry More and Vitringa, have thought that they have discovered a yet deeper prophetical mystery in these addresses, viz. that in them is foreshown and delineated the future state of the Church, from the time of the apostles to the end of the world, divided into seven suc- cessive and similar periods. The first idea of this mystical inter- pretation seems to have arisen among some monks of the thirteenth century. The student in divinity may see the question discussed with superior learning and ability by Vitringa, (in locum.) But if, captivated by his author, he should proceed with him to apply, in regular order, the description of the seven particular Churches to seven successive periods of the universal Church, he will encounter insuperable difficulties. No description of any of the seven Churches will be found to quadrate with the long period of Gothic darkness, which preceded the Reformation. Nor have any of them (espe- cially the last of them, which ought to contain it, viz. Laodicea) any similarity to that victorious and purer period, which, from the prophecies of this sacred book, we are entitled to look forward to in the latter days. At all events, the application of these addresses, as prophetical of times to come, in the draft given by V^itringa, cannot be the true one ; for he closes it with his own times, as ful- 72 THE APOCALYPSE. [CH. ii. 1 — 7. Ephesus.'] This, according to the report of Strabo and Pliny, was one of the most splendid cities in Asia. Possessing the famous temple of Diana, it became a distinguished mart of heathen idolatry. Hence the preachers of Christian doctrine were opposed in this city from political and merce- nary motives, (Acts xix.) However, by the diligence of St. Paul, directed by the holy Spirit, during his residence here of two years, the religion of Christ was successfully propagated, as from a central point, '* so that all they, who dwelt in Asia, heard the word of the Lord Jesus," (Acts xix. 10.) Thus Ephe- sus became the most proper place for St. John's re- sidence, when, some years afterwards, he came to dwell in Asia. (Euseb. Eccl. Hist. lib. iii. c. 23.) Such extraordinary advantages lead us to expect, that the city possessing them would be free from' heretical infection. And accordingly we find in this address to its Christian Church, by her ail-seeing Lord, that she is commended highly for her ortho- doxy, and her resistance to heretical impostors ; and at the same time severely reprimanded for her de- fect in charity, for to whom much is given, of the same much will be required. These things saith he, or thus saith he.] The supreme Head of the Christian Church is now in the filling the type of Laodicea. But surely, ages upon ages are yet to be expected in the Christian Church, before its final period on earth. There is another yet more fanciful exposition of the addresses, which has not wanted the support of some able and learned men. Under the Greek name of each Church, the successive character of the universal Church has been supposed to lie hidden. Venerable Bede is the first writer in whom 1 recollect to have seen this mode of interpretation. He finds Myrrh in the word Sinyrna, and then applies the quality of myrrh to the city of that name. Others, fol- lowing the example, (exempluni vitiis imitabile,) have extended the application to all the seven Churches. CH.ii. 1 7.] THE APOCALYPSE. 73 act of visitation and superintendence. To the Church of Ephesus, with which he begins, he declares him- self in that character and office : as walking amidst his Churches, and supporting and directing their teachers and governors. Ver. 2. Canst not bear. } The word Baaratu), to Ver. 3. Hast borne, Scc^bear or endure, is here twice applied to the Church at Ephesus. She is commended, first, for bearing the yoke of Christ, (Matt. xi. 29,) without fainting under the persecu- tions which at that time afflicted the Christians ; secondly, for not bearing, but rejecting, the yoke of ordinances and false doctrines, which pretended apostles had attempted to impose upon her. These deceivers, according to the injunctions of St. John, she had tried, and found wanting, (1 John iv. 1.) Ver. 4. Thyjirst love.l Trjv ayaTnjv as rrjv Trpwrrjv, which we may perhaps more properly translate *' thy former love J" Grotius has remarked on this passage, that Trpwrj^v, as in John i. 15, has the force of TrpoTEpr/v. Tertullian thus understood it : deser- tam dilectionem Ephesiis imputat. (De poenitentia, sect. 8.) By some commentators this former love is understood to be the love of God, by others the love of man. Both of these may be comprehended in the expression. Neither of them can be com- plete without the other. The love of God is seen and proved by keeping the commandments, which are fulfilled only by charity. In the next verse the Ephesians are called to repentance, and the per- formance of the first or former works of charity. Ver. 5. Will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repe7it.] That is, the Ephesian Chuich, so defective in love and good works, shall cease to 74 THE APOCALYPSE. [CH. ii. 1 7. be a Christian Church of eminence, giving- light and example to the surrounclmg regions. That the Church of Ephesus profited at this time by these severe threatnings, is to be collected from the testimony of Ignatius, which was given imme- diately before his martyrdom, and ten or twenty years after this divine rebuke. For from his epistles we learn, that when other Asiatic Churches were becoming corrupt, that of Ephesus was flourish- ing in a pure faith and practice. (Ignat. Epist. ad Eph. sect. 9 ; Euseb. Hist. Eccl. lib. iii. 26. iv. 7.) She continued for some ages in high account among the Churches of Christendom, but gradually sunk into that corruption of doctrine which has darkened all the Asiatic Churches ; and since the desolation of the coastof Lesser Asia, by the Turkish tyranny in the fourteenth century, Ephesus is become little better than a heap of ruins ; so com- pletely is her " candlestick removed." Ver. 6. Nicolaitanes.'] It is observed by Mosheim, that our knowledge of the sects and heresies in the first century is very imperfect; and doubts have arisen, whether the early writers of the Church do not confound the Nicolaitanes here mentioned, with another sect founded afterwards by one Nico- laus. It appears however, from the general testi- mony of the ancients, that these Nicolaitanes v^^-ere *' impious in their doctrines, and impure in their lives ;" that they held principles, afterwards adopted by the Gnostics, denying the humanity of Christ and his real sufferings in the flesh ; and that Nico- laitanes are intended in those passages of St. Jude and St. Peter, which represent heretical leaders, " like the Sodomites, turning the grace of God into lasciviousness." It is of their practice that our Lord speaks with detestation in this passage : CH. ii. 1 7.] THE APOCALYPSE. 75 " Thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitanes, which I also hate." Ver. 7. He that hath an ear, let him hear.'] This is th"e form of bespeaking spiritual attention to figu- rative language, so frequently used by our Lord in the Gospels. It is used for the same purpose at the conclusion of all the seven addresses ; in that particular part of them where the language changes from plain to figurative ; where attention is required to gain and apply the spiritual knowledge conveyed by symbols. To him that overcometh.'] In the religion of Christ, as represented in the New Testament, the Chris- tian is described as having to contend against formidable enemies — the world, the flesh, and the devil. Of these, the last, by his spiritual nature, and conceded influence and power, is the chieftain who attempts to overthrow him. But the Christian is supplied with spiritual arms and aid, which, if used faithfully and diligently, will, defeat the wiles of the enemy. His Saviour, "the Captain of his salvation," led the way, when, in a human form, he himself fought this battle, and conquered. And he expects his soldiers to follow him. But besides the conflict with his own share of evil, which every one has to wage individuaUy in this life, there is a general warfare in which the Christian is arrayed under his great Leader, against the same enemy, who is perpetually opposing the progress of the Christian Church, by the arts of seduction and cor- rupt doctrine, and by the terrors of persecution. . It is the object of the Apocalypse to predict this war- fare, in mysterious signs, from the early times of Christianity to the end of the world. When these warnings were delivered, the conflict had begun. The holy faith was attacked by delusive teachers 76 THE APOCALYPSE. [CH. ii. 1 7. from within, and by Jewish and heathen persecu- tors from without. Under the latter of these St. John himself was suffering, in the desert isle of Pat- mos, when he was called to behold these visions. To eat of the tree of Life.'] The heavenly reward of Christian conquest is pronounced in these words, by which is signified clearly, and by consent of almost all the commentators, an happy and heavenly immortality. Such a tree there was, within the reach of our first parents, (Gen. ii.) ; but they forfeited their claim to it, by eating of the fruit of the forbid- den tree. They listened to the seduction of their wily foe, and were overcome; and thus became sub- ject to death, the penalty of their disobedience. But the second Adam, by voluntarily undergoing this penalty in behalf of fallen man, has restored to him his lost privilege. By following his Saviour's precepts and example, he becomes free from the bonds of death, and entitled to partake of a blessed immortality. And this immense possession is be- stowed upon him by the gift of his Saviour, " who alone hath immortality," " which he hath brought to light through the Gospel," (1 Tim. vi. 16 ; 2 Tim. i. 10.) CH.ii. 8 — 11.] THE AP-OCALYPSE. 77 PART I. SECTION V. Address to the Church in Smyrna. Chap. ii. ver. 8 — 11. 8 And unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write: These things saith the first and the last, which was dead, and is alive ; 9 1 know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich,) and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan. 10 Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days : be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee 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. Ver. 8. Smyrna.'] Smyrna is described by Pliny to have been the next city to Ephesus, as well in consequence as in vicinity, (Hist. Nat. v. c. 29.) There is no mention of it as a Church in other books of Scripture ; yet a church was here established in the apostolic times, as appears from the epistle of Ignatius to the Smyrnoean Christians^ (Vitringa.) The renowned martyr Polycarp was one of its earli- est bishops ; and Irenaeus, who knew him, asserts, that he was known personally to St. John. But as he suffered in the reign of Verus, at the age of eighty- six years, he must have been too young at the time of this Revelation, to have then exercised this im- portant office, (Euseb- Eccl. Hist. lib. iv. c 15. 78 THE APOCALYPSE. [CH.ii. 8 — 11. lib. V. c. 20.) The Church of Smyrna sent her bishops to the Councils of the Christian Church for many centuries ; but sunk under the common ca- tastrophe of maritime Asia in the fourteenth cen- tury. Smyrna having continued a mart for Euro- pean traffic, is yet a city of considerable population, and contains many professed Christians. Thus saith the first and the last.'] The title under which the supreme Head addresses this Church, is the same which he assumed on his first appearance to St. John, (ch. i. 17, 18.) The cha- racter of it agrees with the purport of the address, which is, to encourage the persecuted Smyruceans, to meet confidently the fiery trial of persecution, even unto death, in sure reliance of triumphing finally over the enemy, as he their Lord had done. Ver. 9. / know — thy poverty, but thou art rich.] In the 21st chapter and 7th verse of this prophecy, it is declared, by the same great authority, that " He that overcometh shall inherit all things.'' In this careerof victory, the Smyrnseans were now seen to be advancing, by their omniscient Lord. What- soever therefore might be their poverty in the things of this world, they were " rich in good works through faith, rich towards God." They had " laid up their treasure in heaven," thus illustrating the seeming paradox, applied by St. Paul to the first preachers of the Gospel, " having nothing, yet pos- sessing all things.'' (2 Cor. vi. 10.) Them tvhich say they are Jeivs, and are not.] Our Saviour has described, in the good Nathanael, " an Israelite indeed," (John i. 48 ;) and St. Paul, " a Jew inwardly, in spirit, not in the letter, whose praise is not of men, but of God," (Rom. ii. 28, 29.) These Jews of Smyrna were not of this descrip- tion : they were violent bigots to their fallen reli- CH. ii. 8 — 11.] THE APOCALYPSE. 79 gion, who blasphemed the name of Israelite by adopting it, and acted as emissaries of Satan in per- secuting the rising Christian Church. " This was their practice," says the Smyniaean account of the martyrdom of Polycarp, written in the succeeding century. Ver. 10. Behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison.'] Here is a prophecy which looks beyond the things a eiai, to things which are to come. Yet it appears mainly connected with the scene of things then present, with the Smyrnseans then living, then commended ; to whom it is foretold, that they shall suffer a persecution of ten days, and some of them until death, from " the Jews, the synagogue of Satan," above described. Ten days, in the language of scriptural prophecy, may be accounted ten years. (So Ezek. iv. 6 ; Numb. xiv. 34 ; Isaiah xx. 3 ; and thus the times in the sacred prophecies are generally understood.) But whether we are to use this com- putation in this passage, may be doubted ; for we are defective in the history of its completion, which, as it related to persons then in existence, we must suppose to have taken place soon after the prediction. We have indeed an account of a persecution undergone by the Church of Smyrna in the year 169, when, among others, their venerable bishop Polycarp suffered martyrdom. But there is no - proof that it continued either ten years, or ten days ; and this happened more than seventy years after the delivery of the prophecy, extending also to other of the Asiatic Churches, which had no such warning. It may therefore seem most probable, that the per- secution now foretold took place in that generation, during ten days, and among the Smyruceans only, from the influence of the .lews described in the pro- 80 THE APOCALYPSE. [CH. ii.8 — 11. phecy as then ready to excite and exercise it.^ This prophecy, thus fulfilled, would serve a temporary purpose of great moment. It could not fail to con- vince the Christians of the seven Churches, that the revelation, which foretold it, was from God; and that therefore the remaining predictions, in the same book, would likewise receive their accomplish- ment. This book they would therefore revere, as sacred, and deliver down to posterity, entire and uncontaminated ; which they appear to have done. A crown of life. '\ tov avov Tt]Q tu}r]Q, THE croivu of life. A crown denotes regal and triumph- ant power and glory. The Messiah, " King of kings," has many crowns, (ch. xix. 12,) and he awards them to his victorious followers. The crown of life is a triumphant immortality. If we suffer with Christ, says St. Paul, " we shall also reign with him;" and the crown, thus obtained, he calls incorruptible.'' (1 Cor. ix. 25.) Ver. 11. The second death.'] This expression is peculiar to the Apocalypse, not being found in any other of the sacred writings. Irenaeus, who, from his near approach to the times of St. John, we must esteem the best informed, in some respects, of the ancient commentators, explains the second death to mean the Gehenna, or eternal Jire, the place of punish- ment for incorrigible sinners, This explanation is confirmed by comparing with this passage the same expression in Rev. xx. 14, and xxi. 8, where the second death seems plainly declared to be that lake of Jire and place of extreme punishment. It is also to be observed, that in Luke xii. 4, 5, our Saviour ' Some commentators have sought for the completion of this prediction at even a much later period, the Dioclesian persecution, in the third century. But this did not last ten years, and raged throughout the Christian world. CH. ii. 12 17.] THE AFDCALYPSE. 81 has exhorted us " not to be afraid of them that kill the body, and, after that, have no more that they can do" against us, (that is, we are not to fear death in it^^V^^ state,) but he calls upon us " to fear him who, after he hath killed, hath power to cast into hell,'' etc T-qv y£6vvov, which ydvva is explained (Mark ix, 43,) to be the " fire that never shall be quenched." Such is the second death, from the dreadful sufferings of which, the faithful follower of Christ is pro- nounced entirely secure. PART I. SECTION VI. Address to the Church in Pergamos. Chap. ii. ver. 12 — 17. 12 And to the angel of the church ia Pergamo?, write ; These things saith he which hath the sharp sword with two edges ; 13 I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, even where Satan's seat is : and thou holdest fast my name, and hast not de- nied my faith, even in those days wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth. 14 But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacri- ficed unto idols, and to commit fornication. 15 So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nico- laitanes, which thing I hate. 16 Repent ; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth. 17 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches ; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hid- den manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it. G 82 THE APOCALYPSE. [CH.il. 12 — 17. Ver. 12. Pergamos.'] This city is described, by Strabo, Pliny, and Livy, to have been in their times a splendid metropolis, honoured and enriched by a long succession of the Attalian kings. A heathen city, of such- description, must be supposed to have been corrupt in doctrine and morals, and thus to have merited the appellation given to it by our Lord, "the throne of Satan." Its famous library, of two hundred thousand volumes, had rendered it a seat of oriental learning, w^hence sprang the "phi- losophy and vain deceit " condemned by St. Paul, (Col. ii. 8) ; and the Ba0>?, or depths of Gnostical heresy, ascribed to Satan in the address to the Church of Thyatira, (ch. ii. 24,) and this circum- stance may have contributed also to its designation under this title. Before such a city, the supreme Visitor of the Church appears armed, most appro- priately, with the sword, or penetrating word of God, (see Note, ch. i. 16, and Isa. xlix. 2. Vitrin- ga.) It is with this powerful weapon that Anti- christ shall be slain, and the enemies of Christ and of his Church be finally subdued. Isa. xi. 4 ; 2 Thess. ii. 8 ; Rev. xix. 15, 21. Pergamos is described by modern travellers as being inhabited by two or three thousand Turks, who have converted its best churches into mosques. There are yet some few Christians remaining, to whom a priest, sent from Smyrna, officiates occa- sionally. Ver. 13. Antipas.] No account has been trans- mitted to our times, of this martyr ; but Andreas Ceesariensis reports, that he had seen the history of his martyrdom. However, we plainly collect, that a persecution unto death had raged against the Christians in Pergamos, and that in defence of their faiththey had nobly undergo ne the fiery trial ; and CH.ii. 12 17.] THE APOCALYPSE. 83 the praise of their virtue is enhanced by a consider- ation of the corrupt society around them, " where Satan dwelleth." Ver. 14. Doctrine of Balaam.'] The reproof of this Church is, that she had in he? bosom some, who, like Balaam, (described in the 25th and 31st chapters of Numbers,) held such doctrines, as would " turn the grace of God into lasciviousness." This by the apostles Peter and Jude is called following the way or error of Balaam. 2 Pet. ii. 10 — 15; Jude 4. Ver. 15. Nicolaitanes.] These (see ch. ii. 5) were followers of the doctrine of Balaam as described in the last note. So the name signifies, both in He- brew and Arabic, says Michaelis, (Introd. to New Test. ch. xxviii. sect. 3.) Ver. 17. The hidden manna.'] Our Saviour had declared to the multitude which followed him, in expectation of being miraculously fed, as their fore- fathers had been with manna in the wilderness, that he himself is that " ^re^/f/ o/' /{/e, which came down from heaven, of which if a man eat, he shall live for ever," (John vi. 26, &c) ; and he calls them to attend to its spiritual signification. " The words that I speak to you, they are spirit, and they are life." The hidden manna is this bread of life in its spiritual sense, of which the manna, hidden and laid up in the taber- nacle, free from corruption, was a type ; namely, the benefits derived to the faithful followers of Christ by the offering of his body, forgiveness of sins, and life everlasting. A white stone, and in the stone a new name writ- ten, which no man knoweth, savii^g he that receiveth it,] The researches of the learned have abundantly G 2 84 THE APOCALYPSE. [cH.ii. 18 — 29. shown, that beans, and counters in the form of beans, were used by the ancients, wherewith to give vote, or judgment, or mihtary honour and reward; the white mark being favourable, the black one un- favourable, to the pretensions of the candidate. In conformity with such customs, the ivhite stone, given by our Saviour, to him who should overcome his spiritual enemies, would be easily understood to signify his acceptance of such person as absolved from sin and rewarded. And since it appears also from scripture, that the favoured servants of God were frequently honoured with new names, (as were Abram, Jacob, Simon, &c. Daubuz,) it may be concluded, that the new name written on the white stone is a token of spiritual benefit, and of so surpassing a kind and character, that it can only be known by being enjoyed. In short, it seems to be that supreme fe- licity, destined by the Lord of Heaven for his true followers; of which no adequate notion can be formed on this side the grave. '' Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard," &c. (1 Cor. ii. 9.) PART I. SECTION VII. Address to the Church in Thyatira. Chap. ii. ver. 18 to the end. 18 And unto the angel of the church in Thyatira write; These things saith the Son of God, who hath his eyes like unto a flame of fire, and his feet are like fine brass ; 19 I know thy works, and charity, and service, and faith, and thy patience, and thy works ; and the last to be more than the first. CH.ii. 18 — 29.] THE APOCALYPSE. 85 20 Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufFerest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophet- ess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols. 21 And I gave her space to 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 repent of their deeds. 23 And I will kill her children with death ; and all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts ; and I will give unto every one of you according to 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 ; I will put upon you none other burden. 2.5 But that which ye have already hold fast till I come. 26 And he that overcometh, and keepetli 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, even as I received of my Father. 28 And 1 will give him the morning star. 29 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. Ver. 18. Thyatira.'] This was a considerable city on the road leading from Pergamos to Sardis, and about fifty miles distant from the former. Lydia, who at Philippi received St. Paul and Silas, was of this place ; and, being a person of note, and divinely called to the Christian religion, she might probably become the means of establishing a Church at Thy- atira. In the remains of this city, no Christians are said to be found at this time. The Soil of God, &c.] For an explanation of this description, see ch. i. 14, 15. Ver. 19. Thy last works to be more than the first.'] This excellent commendation is the reverse of the reproof of the Ephesians, (ver. 4,) and of that la- mentable state described in Luke xi. 26, and 2 Pet. ii. 20, " the last state worse than the first." 86 THE APOCALYPSE. [CH.il. 18 — 29. Ver. 20. Jezebel.'] This has been understood by Grotius, and some other commentators, to signify a person of rank and influence at Thyatira, who se- duced the Christians in this city to intermix heathen impurities with their religious services ; and that she is here called Jezebel, as acting the part of that idolatrous queen, 1 Kings xvi. 31. But in scrip- tural allegory, it is not unusual for the collective body of a nation, or people, to be designated under the name of a woman. The woman Jezebel has there- fore been supposed, by other learned expositors, (Hammond, Durham, Vitringa, &c.), to represent a sect or body of misleading teachers who were har- boured in the church of Thyatira. And it appears that in this interpretation they followed the ancient com- mentators, Andreas Ceesariensis, (who professes to give the explications of Papias, Irenseus, Methodius, &c.), Arethas, and Venerable Bede.^ AYhichever was the true meaning of this figurative name, it would be clearly comprehended by the members of the Church, to which it was addressed. The state of the Church, at that time, would immediately direct the right application of the metaphor, by in- dicating the criminals, and the nature and extent of their crime. To commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols.'] Both these crimes are expressly for bidden to the Gentile converts, in the edict of the apostles, (Acts xv.) 1 . Ylopvua, under which expres- sion are comprehended all those carnal impurities which were so common among the heathen, and in some instances were admitted to be part of their sa- cred rites. 2. Er^wAoOira, AXiayr^jxara rwv EtSwAwv, meats offered unto idols, to partake of which, when avowed to be such, was to partake of the idolatry. The two sins were nearly connected in the heathen 1 See below, the Notes, ver. 23, 24. CH.ii. 18 29.] THE APOCALYPSE. 87 institutions, and tended to introduce and foster each other. Ver. 22. I will cast her itito a bed.] A bed of sick- ness, say the ancient expositors, followed by Vitrin- ga, Daubuz, &c. I will change her adulterous bed, or state, to one of sickness. (Schleusner.) Adultery.'] It is worthy of remark, that the crime, which, in the verses preceding, had been called /or- lucation, is now denominated adultery. In the woman Jezebel it is no more i\\di\\ fornication, because she is an alien, a seducer, and false prophetess, whom the Lord does not acknowledge as belonging to the true Christian Church his spouse. But the same crime, committed by any of the body acknowledged by him in that relation, amounts to adultery. And it be- comes so on this, ground : the nation of Israel, the Church of God under the Old Testament, is repre- sented in scriptural allegory as a woman: in the days of her purity as a virgin, in her happy pros- pects as a bride ; in her impure connections with the gods of the nations, as an harlot. And whereas the Great Being, who had taken her under his pe- culiar care, was pleased to represent himself to her as the Husband who had espoused her ; so, by the continuance of the metaphor, she is described in her sinful state, as " treacherously departing from her husband, and committing adultery with stocks and stones;" but, after chastisement producing repent- ance, she is restored to favour and matrimonial dis- tinction, and becomes fruitful in children, even the multitudes of the Gentile Churches. This imagery occurs frequently in the prophetical parts of the Old Testament, in Isaiah, Jeremiah, Hosea, Ezekiel; in the 16th chapter of the last of these prophets may be seen the whole of these figurative ideas drawn forth into a complete and most affecting allegory. It is in conformity with this, that our 88 ' THE APOCALYPSE. [cH.ii. 18 — 29. Lord, the head of the Christian Church, is repre- sented in the New Testament as the bridegroom and husband to his Church, the bride and spouse ; and her apostacy from him is denominated, as in this passage, adultery. (2 Cor. xi. 2 ; Rom. vii. 4 ; Eph. V. 23, &c.) Yet as we advance farther in the pro- phecies of this book, we shall find, that although the crime is adultery, the criminal Church which thus apostatizes is stigmatized, not as an adulteress, but as an harlot. The reason of this seems to be, hat as the Church has deserted her God, so he for- sakes her. He gives her a bill of divorce, and she is no longer distinguished as a married woman, but becomes a degraded castaway, and an harlot. Ver. 23. I will kill her c1nldre7i with death.'] An hebraism, denoting, by its repetition of the term, the certainty of the event. So Ezekiel xxx. 27, where the Septuagint translation has 9avarw aTro^/crfvw, (Bengel.) Sickness and death are represented by St. Paul as punishments inflicted on those who abused divine ordinances in apostolic times, (1 Cor. xi. 30.) QavaToq may signify in this passage, as it evidently does in ch. vi. 8, 'pestilence, and thus ex- press the mode of death inflicted. We have here an additional reason, as Vitringa observes, for suppos- ing the name Jezebel to be applied figuratively to a sect of false teachers, and not to a certain indivi- dual ; because the disciples of such seducers, figu- ratively their children, would, by their own perverse conduct, merit and draw down upon themselves such punishment, when the innocent children of a bad woman might justly be spared. Ver. 24. This doctrine — the depths of Satan.'] Here is additional reason, why the woman Jezebel is to be understood in the figurative sense, as a sect. She CH.ii. 18 29.] THE APOCALYPSE. 89 had a doctrine, and dealt in deep mysteries, calling them perhaps, with St. Paul, Ta(5a9r] ts Qes, the deep things of God, (1 Cor. ii. 10,) but our Lord pro- nounces them to be the depths of Satan. The exist- ence of such sects, seducing the primitive Chris- tians, " by philosophy and vain deceit," is evident from the writings of the apostles and apostolic fa- thers ; and the Gnostics, who dealt eminently in these (3a0r}, thus entered and corrupted the Church. Ver. 25. Till I come.] Ad judicium, quod quia incerto die promissum est, sepiper expectari debet. (Grotius.) Ver. 26. He that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the natio?is.] To perseverance in the faith of Christ, and in the works arising therefrom, is promised power over the nations : that is, over the yet unconverted Gentiles. And this, in the verse following, is explained to be the same power which the Saviour himself had re- ceived over them, and which is expressed in words nearly resembling those prophetical of Christ, in the second Psalm. He is there pronounced to be the Son of God, and a King over kings and nations, to the utmost parts of the earth. " He shall feed his flock like a shepherd," (Isa. xl. 11,) and all worldly and abused power shall fall before him. His iron rod, or sceptre, (for PajS^og should be thus translated, see Schleusner,) is of that strength which nothing- can withstand. It is as the stone of DaniePs vision, (ch. vii. 27,) which, cut out of the mountain with- out hands, breaks to pieces the kingdoms establish- ed in worldly and oppressive power, and thus in- creaseth until it fills the whole earth. And they of his servants who teach his Gospel by their word ; and example, as did the good Thyatirans, will be 90 THE APOCALYPSE. [CH. ii. 18 — 29. favoured by being selected as the instruments of this saving Power. Ver. 28. The morning starJ] A star is a teacher, (ch. i. 16;) our Lord is eminently such, and such he entitles himself, (ch. xxii. 16,) " The shining and morning star." As such he was foretold, Numb. xxiv. 17 ; and a star, in the eastern or morning quarter, preceded his birth. " He was the true light (John i. 9) to lighten the Gentiles," (Luke ii. 32 ;) and of this light which was in him, he imparted a share to the first preachers of his Gospel for converting the nations. Taken in this sense, the gift, of the morning star, is in " connec- tion with the " power over the nations," which is mentioned before it. To some of the commentators it has seemed pro- bable, that the gift of the morning star has particu- lar reference to a future life ; because, to obtain it, the Christian must keep his Lord's works " even unto the end." But all the prospects of a Christian will have reference to eternal life, as promised to the faithful ; and the dawnings and first light of such splendid blessings, taking possession of his mind, even during his abode here, will be a source of infinite delight, ** shining more and more unto perfect day." (Prov. iv. 18.) CH.iii. 1 6.] THE APOCALYPSE. 91 PART I. SECTION VI II. Address to the Church in Sardis. Chap. iii. ver. 1 — 6. 1 And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write ; These things saith he tliat hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead. 2 Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die : for I have not found thy works perfect before God. 3 Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee. 4 Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments ; and they shall walk with me in white : for they are worthy. 5 He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white rai- ment ; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels. 6 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. Ver. 1. Sardis.'] Sardis, situated on the river Pactolus, the seat of Croesus, and of the Lydian kings, was proverbially the, seat of riches. This city had suffered grievously by an earthquake, some years before the date of this vision, but had reco- vered her splendour, assisted by the bounty of Tibe- rius Csesar, (Strabo, ii. p. 931.) Sardis possessed, in its natural situation, extraordinary means of ac- quiring riches. But riches are corruptive, and 92 THE APOCALYPSE. [c H . lii. 1 6. lead to that supineness in religion, and profligacy of morals, which in this address are so alarmingly- rebuked. Sardis is now no more than a village. An ancient Christian church supplies the Turkish inhabitants with a mosque. The few Christians, if such they may be called, remaining here, have neither church nor minister. He that hath the Seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars.] In addressing the Church of Sardis, our Lord represents himself to them under the awful attributes, with which he had appeared to St. John at the opening of the vision, being such as more immediately concerned their state of religion. He hath that vv^ondrous Spirit of God, in its perfection, which " searcheth the reins and the heart," he is the great Ruler of all the ministers of God. No hidden moral or religious defect can be concealed from him, nor escape his animadversion. (See ch. i. 20.) Thou hast a name, that thou livest, and art dead.] By a metaphor, frequent in the holy Scrip- tures, a person living in the defilements of this world, and neglectful of preparation for another, is said to be " dead while he liveth ;" while he who meets death in the discharge of his Christian duty is pronounced " living though he die." (John xi. 25, 26 ; 1 Tim. v. 6 ; 1 John iii. 14 ; Jude 12.) It is in this sense that our Lord commanded the disciples to " let the dead bury their dead," (Matt, viii. 22.) And in this sense he now declares, that the Sardian Church, although it had the reputa- tion of flourishing in life and vigour, is dead. The use of this metaphor was common amongst the Jews, (see Whitby on 1 Pet. iv. 6,) and the early iathers of the Church. Ignatius, Tertullian, &c., make frequent use of it. CH. iii. 1 C] THE APOCALYPSE. 93 Sardis, being thus dead, or asleep, to Christian duty, is called to wakefulness and vigilance. So in Ephesians, ch. v. 14. " Awake thou that sleep- est, and arise from the dead," &:c. Ver. 3. / will come on thee as a tJdef, &c.] See 1 Thess. V. I — 7, the best comment on this text. Ver. 4. Names.'] Christian persons, whose names are registered in " the book of life." So Acts i. 15, and Rev. xi. 13. Grotius and Mede. Garments — white.] By an obvious metaphor, what raiment is to the body, namely, its covering and ornament, such is the habit of practice to the soul. " I put on righteousness, and it clothed me," says Job; " my judgment was a robe and a diadem." Thus the Christian is required " to put off the old sinful man, and to put on the new, to put on Christ, to put on the righteousness which is by faith." The guest, who appears at the wedding of his Lord not so clothed, is cast into outer darkness. The wed- ding garment of the true Christian is white, pure, free from sinful stain, " made clean by the blood of the Lamb.'' To obtain this heavenly clothing, without which there is no admission to the presence of God, we must put on " faith working by love ;" in con- formity with which, this white raiment is called ^' the righteousness of the saints," (ch. xix. 8. See also Eph. iv. 22, 24; Gal. iii. 27; 1 John i. 7; Rev. vii. 14.) Such must be the clothing of those, who, as a reward of their victory over temptation, shall be admitted to walk with their Redeemer '* in white raiment," ev Xzvkolq ; which expression is pe- culiar to St. John. See his Gospel, (ch. xx. 12,) where it is used to express the clothing of the hea- venly angels. 94 THE APOCALYPSE. [CH. ill. 7 — 13. Ver. 5. The book of life.'] As in states and cities, they who obtained freedom and fellowship, were en- rolled in the public register, and thence proved their title to citizenship ; so the King of Heaven, and of the New Jerusalem, engages to preserve in his en- rolment the names of those, who, like the good Sardians, shall preserve their allegiance by a faith- ful discharge of duty. He will own them, as his citizens, before men and angels. (Matt. x. 32; Luke X. 2 ; Psa. Ixix. 28 ; Ezek. xiii. 9 ; Exod. xxxii. 33; Dan. xii. 1. PART I. S;E C T I 0 N IX. Address to the Church in Philadelphia. Chap. iii. ver. 7 — 13. 7 And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write ; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth, and shutteth, and no man openeth ; 8 I know thy works : behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it : for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name. 9 Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee. 10 Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth. 11 Behold, I come quickly ; hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown. 12 Him that overcometh will 1 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 the name of the city of my God, which is CH. iii. 7 13.] THE APOCALYPSE. 95 new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God, and I will write upon him my new name. 13 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. Ver. 7. Philadelphia.'] This city had its name from the founder of it, Attains Philadelphus. Strabo relates that in his time, — not long before the date of this vision, — it had been greatly reduced in the number of its inhabitants, by frequent earthquakes, (lib. xii.) In 1312, it resisted the Turkish armies more successfully than the other cities of maritime Asia ; but at length sunk under the common cala- mity, (Gibbon's Hist. vi. 314.) It now contains more Christians than any other of these cities, a conse- quence, perhaps, of its later subjugation. Four Christian churches, and above two hundred houses inhabited by Christians, are said to be standing in this city. He that is holy, he that is true, &c.] To the Church of Philadelphia, whose faithful perseverance inChris- tian duty is afterwards so highly commended, the Lord represents himself in most consolatory terms. He takes to himself the epithets of holy and true; epithets appropriate to the great Father, who alone is the Holy One, and the only true God. But the same nature and attributes descend to " the only begotten Son, who is pronounced to be the express image of the Father," — " the holy one, the truth and the life," — '* the true God and eternal life," (Psa. xvi. 10; Mark i. 24; Acts iii. 14 ; John xiv. 6 ; 1 John v. 20.) He declares himself to be the great person typified and expressed in Isaiah xxii. 22, and ix. 6, who alone exercises complete rule in the house of his Father, the Church of God ; who alone possesses the key which opens and shuts to eternal happiness or misery. See Bishop Louth on Isaiah xxii. 22. 96 THE APOCALYPSE. [cH.iii.7 13. Ver. 8. A?i open door J] Qv^av avHoy/nevrjv, an opened door, opened by him who alone has the key of it, as above described. For our Lord has rendered the everlasting- glories of his kingdom easy of access, to his faithful and repentant servants, by atoning for their past sins, by affording them spiritual assistance, and by supplying them with rules of conduct illus- trated by his example. Hence he calls himself the ivay and the door, (John x. 9.) No one entereth but through him, Ver. 9. Jetvs — of the synagogue of Satan.'] It seems, that some Israelites, unworthy of the name, and like those described in ch. ii. 9, as disturbing and persecuting the Church at Smyrna, were also mis- chievously employed against this Church. But our Lord promises to these his faithful servants a com- plete triumph over them. This certainly took place in its proper time, though no account of it has come down to us. And with this probably was con- nected the preservation promised to the Philadel- phian Christians, during a general persecution which was to follow. Ver. 12. Him that overcometh, will I make a pillar in the temple of my God.] To the Christian, conquering in his spiritual warfare, his Lord promises to make him a pillar, or column, in God's temple or church. Such an honourable station is assigned to the apos- tles James and Peter, {arvXoi, Gal. ii. 9,) as sup- porting the Christian Church in their days. So in the second century, the martyr Attains, of Per- gamos, one of the seven Churches, was accounted ; and in the third century, the Alexandrian martyrs, aTvXoi Tov Qeov, (Euseb. Hist. Eccles.lib. v. 1. and vi. 41 ;) and, as, upon the columns of temples, it was the ancient custom to inscribe names, the honour- ch'. iii. 14 — 22.] the apocalypse. 97 able names of benefactors and of their cities, so, upon this column, thus divinely appointed, shall be inscribed the sacred names of God, and of his only begotten Son, and of the New Jerusalem, the holy city, which St. Paul contrasts with the Jerusalem then existing in bondage, by the name of the '* Jerusalem which is above, which is free, which is the mother of us all,"' (Gal. iv. 24—27.) It is the Christian Church, or " general assembly of the first-born," in its future heavenly glory ; the city which *' Abra- ham looked to," " a building not made with hands, eternal, in the heavens, whose builder and maker is God," (Heb. xi. 10—16 ; xii. 22—24.) This is the Jerusalem, whose splendour is prophetically dis- played in the concluding chapters of the Apocalypse. PART I. S E C T I 0 N X. Address to the Church in Laodicea. Chap. iii. ver. 14, to the end. 14 And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans, write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the be- ginnning of the creation of God ; 15 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot : I would thou wert cold or hot. 16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. 17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowestnot that thou art wretched, and uiiserablo, and poor, and blind, and naked : H 98 THE APOCALYPSE. [cH. iii. 14 — 22. 18 1 counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich ; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear ; and anoint thine eyes with eye-salve, that thou mayest see. 19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten : be zealous there- fore, and repent. 20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock : if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. 21 To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with 'me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. 22 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. Ver. 14. Laodicea.] There were other cities of this name. That, which contained the Church here addressed, stood upon the river Lycus, flourishing in wealth, says Pliny ; who wrote at no great dis- tance of time from the date of this vision, (Hist. Nat. V. c. xix.) The ruin and desolation of this city are described by modern travellers as more complete and lamentable than those of the other six. The Amen, the faithful and true ivitness, the begin- ning of the creation of God.'] This word. Amen, im- ports truth and certainty, and is so used frequently by our Saviour in his Gospel, a/.tjjv, a/urjv, Xeyw vfxiv. *' The promises of God, in him," says St. Paul, *' are, yea, and in him Amen" (2 Cor. i. 20.) the truth itself. And he came down from heaven to bear witness of the truth in heavenly things ; and all his testimony is true, and he sealed it with his sacred blood, (John viii. 12 — 19 : xviii. 37, 38.) It was ** by him^ the first-born of every creature, that God made the worlds. He is before all things, and by him all things consist." (John i. 3 ; Col. i. 15—19.) These appear fit terms for the great Visitor to use, speaking of himself, when he is going to tell them of the real state of their religion, so contrary to pure CH. iii. 14 — 22.] the apocalypse. 99 holiness and practice, and having no support but their own vanity and presumption. Ver. 15. / knoiu thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot; I would that thou ivertcoldor hot, &c.] The religion, to which by the grace of God we are called, should be seated in the heart and affections. " Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and thy neighbour as thyself." Such is the summary description of it by its great Founder. And, agreeably to this, St. Paul defines it to be " Faith working by love," (Gal. v. 6.) In the warm-hearted, therefore, and in those, who from a sense of duty subdue their cold selfish feelings, and encourage in themselves the growth of zealous and grateful piety, and of warm charity, this religion must be expected to flourish most abundantly ; and we must suppose that our Lord would be pleased to see his servants of this description — hot rather than cold. But by the cold, in this passage, seem to be meant, not persons devoid of all warm feelings and affec- tions, but who having their passions absorbed by worldly objects, have hitherto been cold to reli- gious affection. But of such persons there is hope and expectation that the time may come, when, from experience of the vanity of mere worldly pur- suits, they may listen to the suggestions of the Spirit, and turn their affections to their proper ob- jects, God, and his works and promises, and his servants. These, though cold to religion for the present, have still a way open to salvation. But between these two classes, there is one of an intermediate description, containing persons, who professing themselves Christians, take no interest in the concerns of their religion. Supposing them- selves rich in the merits of their Redeemer, or, (in what is more common and much worse,) in their h2 100 THE APOCALYPSE. [CH.iil. 14 — 22. own fancied merits, they sink into a lifeless in- difference and inactivity respecting the main object and business of their lives. This must disgust that zealous and kind Master who suffered voluntarily so much for them. Of this character seem to be these Laodiceans, wilfully blind to their situation and their duties ; whom, in their present state of unconcern and presumption their Saviour nauseates, and calls to a repentance which shall open their eyes, and excite them to zeal and activity, to a de- sire of the true riches, " Faith working by love," and of the white raiment, the righteousness of the saints. (See Notes, ch. ii. 8, and iii. 4.) Ver. 20. / will come in unto him, and will sup with him, and hetvithme.^ The kingdom of Christ is de- scribed, as ** a feast to all people," (Isa. xxv. 6 ; Matt. viii. 11.) He is the bread of life, and none who come to him shall hunger or thirst, (John vi. 35 ; Rev. vii. 16.) Yet if Christ prepares the Sup- per, it may be said, why is he represented as stand- ing at the door, and knocking for admittance ? This is agreeable to the office he bears in the allegory, or parable, (Luke xii. 36 — 38.) He is the Bridegroom, and his servants sit in his house to a late hour, waiting his arrival, when, after the east- ern customs, " he Cometh and knocketh," and they open to him, and he maketh them sit down to meat with him. See also John xiv. 23, which tends also to illustrate this passage. Ver. 21. To sit ivith me in my throne. ~\ The throne of eastern potentates is so ample, as to admit per- sons highly favoured to sit upon it beside their king, (Lud. de Dieu.) To " sit with Christ in his throne," implies the possession of the highest dig- nity and honour ; and as such it seems to be re- CH. iii. 14 — 22.] the apocalypse. 101 served to the close of this vision, as the most glo- rious exaltation of the Christian conqueror. Yet, magnificent as this promised station may appear, it will be found to harmonize exactly with other pas- sages in scripture. Our Lord's seat is represented to be upon the throne of God, " at the right-hand of the Father," (Heb. viii. 1 ; Matt. xxvi. 64 ;) and he hath ** prepared a place" for his true ser- vants, that ** where he is, there may they be also," (John xiv. 8 ; xvii. 24.) They are " heirs of God, joint heirs with Christ," '* and with him they are to reign,'' (Rom. viii. 17; 2 Tim. ii. 12.) These splendid rewards are to be obtained only through Christ, and by those who follow hipi faithfully, in his career of spiritual warfare, and of victory, *' even as he also hath overcome." 102 THE APOCALYPSE. [CH.iv.1-^1] PART II. SECTION I. Representation of the Divine Glory in Heaven. - Chapter ;v. 1 After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven : and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talk- ing with me : which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter. 2 And immediately I was in the Spirit ; and, behold, a throne 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 was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald. 4 And round about the throne were four and twenty seats : and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment ; and they had on their heads crowns of gold. 5 And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices : and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God. 6 And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crys- tal: and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind. 7 And the first beast was like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle. 8 And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him ; and they were full of eyes within : and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy. Lord God Almighty, 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 and ever, 10 The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne saying, 1 1 Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and CH. iv. 1 11.] THE APOCALYPSE. 103 power : for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created. Ver. 1. After this I looked, &c.] Our received translation of this passage does not appear per- fectly right. Meto TcwTa might more properly be rendered '* after these things." For the reader will find, at the end of the verse, these words, /.ura TavTu, repeated, and with plain reference to the same words at the beginning. On which account the translation should run thus : '* I will shew thee the things which must happen afer these things.'' The propriety of this alteration will be more fully seen by turning to chap. i. 19, and the note there. The view of the actual state of the seven Churches, as revealed by the all-seeing Lord, is now com- pleted ; and the prophet is called to behold a new scene, from another station, disclosing events which are to happen to the Church of Christ in future. And so called, he is immediately rapt in the Spirit. Now this inspiration need not have been mentioned, had the first vision been still proceeding ; the Spi- rit, necessary to the comprehension of that vision, having already possessed him : '* I was in the Spi- rit," (ch. i. 10.) This was therefore a second and separate inspiration, necessary to prepare him for a subsequent and distinct vision. The best commen- tators seem perfectly agreed in this opinion. A door was opened in heaven.^ Such an opening in heaven is described by the prophet Ezekiel, leading to the visions which he beheld, (ch. i. 1. x. 1.) Such an opening also appeared to the Baptist, (Matt. iii. 16 ;) and to Stephen, (Acts vii. ^Q.) Daubuz. Ver. 2. A throne was set in Jieaven, and one sat on the throne.'] It is observed by Vitringa, that this 104 THE APOCALYPSE. [CH. iv. I 11. vision of the Almighty on his heavenly throne has resemblance to visions seen and represented by other prophets ; by Moses, (Exod. xiv. 9, 10 ;) by Isa. (vi. 1, 2;) by Ezekiel (i. 1, 26;) by Daniel (vii. 9.) There is a general resemblance, but at the same time such dissimilarity, as shows that they are not copied from each other, but from one common original, va- ried by circumstances, as portraits of the same person will appear, when drawn by different hands and in varied attitudes. By comparing all these together, it will clearly appear, that the Personage here sitting in nameless majesty is the great Jeho- vah, the God of Israel, and of the universe. The jasper, to which his splendid appearance is likened, is described by Pliny to be a pellucid watery gem, (Nat. Hist. lib. xxvii.) The glory of the Lord is likened, in another passage of the Apocalypse, to the jasper, where this gem is further described by the epithet /cpwaroXAt^wv, (ch. xxi. 11,) it is " clear as crystal ;" whence it has been supposed to be what we now call the diamond, (Schleusner.) The clear brilliancy of the divine appearance seems to have suggested this likeness at first to the prophet's mind : but there was a fiery tinge in it, such as is represented in Ezekiel i. 27 ; on which account probably he added to the description the mention of the Sardine stone, which is stated by Pliny to have a fiery glow. Ver. 3. A rainboiu roimd about the throne, in sight like unto an eme?Yikl.] In the vision of Ezekiel, (ch. i. 27, 28,) there is a throne, and one sittings and around him " as ijt were the appearance of fire, and it had brightness round about, as the appearance of the Bow, that is in the clouds, on the day of rain." Such was thii circular glory, for the bow would be seen in a circular form, as Vitringa rightly observes. CH. iv. 1 — 11.] THE APOCALYPSE. 105 if the whole of it could come into view, at the same time, in our hemisphere. Its general appearance was of the green lustre of the emerald. Ver. 4. And round about the throne were four-aud- twenty seats; and upon the seats four-and-twenty elders sitting, clothed in white ?riiment, and they had on their heads crowns of gold.'] Thus far the likeness of this vision to those of the Old Testament, which re- present the " majesty of the Lord of Hosts, the glory of the God of Israel," is apparent. But this circular session of the twenty-four elders is, as Vi- tringa observes, of a character and description en- tirely new. Though indeed we may note some intimation of such a session surrounding the Al- mighty in Isaiah xxiv. 23, where it is said, *^ the Moon shall be confounded, and the Sun ashamed, when the Lord of Hosts shall reign in Mount Zion and Jerusalem, and before his ancients (or elders, 7rp£(7/3urEpot. Sept.) gloriously." This circumstance has occasioned much doubt and difficulty in the explication of these agents in the scene before us. It must be universally agreed that these four-and-twenty elders are persons very supremely distinguished : for they sit on thrones (Qpovoi) in the presence of the Almighty, with crowns of gold on their heads, and clothed in the pure shin- ing raiment (" the righteousness of the saints ") worn by the Saviour and his followers. Yet they are not angels ; for they have nothing in common with those heavenly inhabitants, excepting their heavenly ministration ; and the great body of angels is distinct from them, for they are afterwards added to the scene. (See ver. 6 of this chapter, and ver. 1 1 of the next.) It has therefore been commonly supposed that they represent human beings, but of what description, has not been so generally agreed. 106 THE APOCALYPSE. [CH. IV. 1 11. It is their office, as appears throughout this divine book, to surround the throne, and sing praises to the great Creator. They perform the part in heaven, M^hich is allotted to the priesthood on earth ; and they are in number twenty-four, like the courses of the priests under the Law. By some commentators they have been supposed to belong to the Old Tes- tament, by others to the New, exclusively ; but they may belong to both, (so Mede,) for all are saved by the same Christian efficacy ; and the purer worship of the one is typified and prefigured in the more formal services of the other. The most important information which we seem to derive from this extraordinary exhibition is per- haps this, — and it is most consolatory, — that in the future heavenly life, human beings, of tried and su- perior faith and virtue, shall be admitted to a near approach to the glory and happiness of the heavenly throne. The white raiment of these elders, (see eh. iii. 4, 5; vii. 9, 14; xix. 8, 14,) and their crowns of gold, that is, in the plainer language of scripture, " crowns of righteousness, of life, of glory," (see 1 Cor. ix. 25; 2 Tim. iv. 8; 1 Pet. v. 4,) very strongly imply that they are human beings, or of ** the redeemed from earth." It may be objected to this conclusion, that human beings, even in their glorified state, cannot be enti- tled to rank before angels in their approach to the heavenly throne. But it will be shown (ver. 6) that befngs of the purest angelic nature possess in this scene a site nearer to the throne ; and if other angels are not represented as occupying a prior place in this scene, it may be, that the object of it is to represent human salvation completed by the subse- quent appearance of the Lamb on the throne ; and CH. iv. 1 11.] THE APOCALYPSE. 107 that the exaltation of such human beings, who, by following the Redeemer have obtained his promises, makes a necessary part of the scheme. (See ch. ii. 10 ; iii. 5, 12, 21.) Of this exaltation, strong intima- tions are given by the inspired writers, " Man is made lower than the angels, to crown him with glory and worship." (Ps. viii. 5.) '* The apostles are to sit on thrones, judging the tribes of Israel." (Matth. xix. 28.) " Do ye not know," says St. Paul, ** that the saints shall judge the world?" and that '* we shall judge angels?" (See also ch. i. ver. 5, of this Revelation ; and the note thereon.) This interpretation seems to be confirmed in the following chapter, where these elders will be seen falling before the Lamb, and singing '* thou hast redeemed us to God by thy blood, out of every tribe, and language, and people, and nation." Ver. 5. Lightnings and thunderings.l With such terrific pomp the majesty of Jehovah appeared at Mount Sinai, and it is frequently so represented in the book of Psalms. Seven lamps ofjire.'] These are not \vyyiai, as in chap. i. 12, but Xafxirahq ; not the candlesticks, or receptacles of the lights, but the lights themselves. The same imagery occurs in Zech. iv. 1, 7 — 10, on which the angel observes, by way of explanation, " Not by might nor by power, but by 7ny Spirit, saith the Lord of Hosts." So that it is in harmony with other passages of prophetic Scripture, as well as with this revelation, that " the seven lamps of fire," before the heavenly throne, imitated by the seven branched candlestick in the earthly temple, represent the holy Spirit of God. (See note, ch. i. 4.) Ver. 6. A sea of glass, like unto crystal. ^^ In the best manuscripts, as Vitringa has observed, and as 108 THE APOCALYPSE. [CH.iv. 1 II may be seen in Griesbach, the word wc is added ; Kot evwTTiov Tov Qpovov ii)Q GaXacrcra vaXivrf, o/jioia Kpva- ToAXw, which may be thus translated, — '* And before the throne, as it were, a sea, glassy, like unto crys- tal." All the ancient commentators, down to Pri- masius, have supposed this glassy sea to have its prototype under the Old Testament, in the great laver, full of water, standing in Solomon's Temple, called the brazen sea, used for the purification of the priests, (1 Kings vii ; 2 Chron. iv ; Joseph. Antiq. viii. iii. 6 — 8.) and that this sea thus represented to us under the New Testament, is intended to express that instrument of purification which it introduces, " the water of holy baptism," or more properly, that which the baptismal water represents, " the blood of the Redeemer ;" which alone possesses the cleansing efficacy of taking away sin. And Grotius and Mede, followed by other modern commentators, have adopted this interpretation.^ ^ The learned and indefatigable Vitringa objects to this; (1st.) that the Laver of the Old Testament was not before the throne, but in the court of the Temple ; but he may be answered, as he himself has answered upon a similar occasion, that in this heavenly exhi- bition of the throne, the veil is taken away, and the Molten Sea will then appear as here described, " before the throne." (2dly.) He asks how a laver of water can properly be called a sea? or why, if so called, is there no mention of the Laver ? Answ. It is so called in the Old Testament repeatedly, and such a name has suf- ficient reference to the Laver supposed to contain it. Lastly, he is persuaded that under the name of " as it were a glassy sea, like unto crystal," is described the rich transparent pavement, support- ing the celestial throne and its surrounding ministers, as described by Ezekiel, ch. i. 22 ; and by Moses, Exod. xxiv. 10 ; and that this kind of pavement is the fittest station for the victorious saints, who are represented in ch. xv. 2, as standing tipon the glassy sea, not by the side of it. There is weight in this observation, thus founded upon scriptural allusion ; upon a similitude discovered between the relations of three inspired writers with respect to the same heavenly object. And, in support of the opinion of this able commentator, it may be added, CH. iv. 1 — 11.] THE APOCALYPSE. 109 Arid in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne were four beasts, full of eyes before and behind.'] By referring to other passages in this sacred book, where mention is made of these Zwa, (Ch. v. 6, 14 ; vi. 1, &c. ; vii. 11 ; xv. 7.) it plainly appears, that their station is, as in part here described, " round about the throne." They encompass it on every side, and are within the encircling body of the Elders. But in this passage, they are said also to be " in the midst of the throne." " The midst of the throne," is the position of the great Father, and afterwards (ch. v.) of the Lamb, in union with him, and can only be applied to the Za>a, as expressing their very near approach to the throne. Like the cherubim, in the midst of which the God of Israel, under the Old Testament, is represented sitting, they seem to occupy a part of the throne. But this passage can only be understood by com- paring it with similar descriptions of the appearance of the divine glory to mortal eyes, as delivered in the prophecies of Isaiah and Ezekiel. In the former of these prophets, angelic beings, called by him seraphim, surround the divine throne, and each of them has six wings, like these in the Apocalypse, and they sing Holy, Holy, Holy, in the same manner. that Saint John, in his description of the heavenly Jerusalem, re- presents the pavement, or street of the city, to be " of pure gold, as of transparent glass," (Rev. xxi. 21.); and that Isaiah has ap- plied a similar image to the stones and foundation of the renewed Jerusalem. (Ch. liv. 11.) But yet it cannot, and must not be for- gotten, that in the passage before us, St. John calls this object ex- pressly a sea, not a pavement, and that he describes its situation as " before the throne, not under it; and that afterwards, when he comes to speak of the fountain of the waters of life, issuing from the throne of God and of the Lamb, and irrigating the streets of the city and the tree of life, for the support of the glorified inhabitants, he represents it, as he does the sea in the present text, clear, or shining as crystal, (ch. xxii. 1.) All this bespeaks water, and not pavement. 110 THE APOCALYPSE. [CH. iv. 1 11. In the vision of Ezekiel, the angelic beings are, like these, four in number ; and, together with an human appearance, they have the faces of the four animals to which these in the apocalyptic vision are likened. And Ezekiel has pronounced that the Zwa, which he thus saw and described, were cherubim, and that he knew them to be such. (See Isaiah, ch. vi. ; and Ezekiel, ch. i.) These two descriptions, though differing from each other in the name, and in some few particulars, are of the same divine original. The variety which seems to distinguish them, is to be accounted for by the difference of the exhibition. The throne, as shown to Isaiah being stationary, but, as presented before Ezekiel, moveable. But in this apocalyptic vision, they are brought to a closer similitude, by a common measure of comparison resembling them both. This comparison of the three visions, so ne- cessary to the right understanding of the Zwa in the Apocalypse, may be seen to advantage in the com- mentary of Vitringa ; and in addition to this, the student may perhaps find some useful observations in my annotations published some years ago, when I was unacquainted with Vitringa's notions on this subject/ Full of eyes.'] The eye, as created in man, is a wonderful inlet of knowledge and intelligence. These angelic ministers, surrounding the throne, possess them without number, and in superior per- fection. It is the same in Ezekiel's cherubim ; and 1 Our translators have been very unfortunate in their choice of the word '' beast," as representative of the Greek Zuiov ; for how- ever inoffensive this term may be in its primary sense, it is highly displeasing in its secondary and usual acceptation ; and therefore most unfitly applied to a glorious inhabitant of heaven. Nor even in its primary sense is it a correct translation ; for thus it is opposed to men, birds and fishes, whereas the original word Zwa compre- hends all living creatures. CH.iv. 1 — 11.] THE APOCALYPSE. Ill the throne there described being moveable, the wheels on which it moves are also " full of eyes/' and animated with the same spirit and knowledge as the angelic beings. Ver. 7. And the first beast was like a Imi.] The four Zwa, or living creatures, had some resemblance in their aspect to four animals upon earth. The first to the lion ; the second to the Moa^og ; which word in the Greek Scriptures, is used to express not only a calf, but the same animal also when arriving towards its maturity, and thus signifies a young bull or steer. The third is described as approaching most to an human appearance ; though all of them, as seen by Ezekiel, " had the likeness of a man." The fourth resembled an eagle with expanded wings. ^ 1 There is no subject of discussion in the Apocalypse which has afforded greater diversity, and I may add, greater absurdity of in- terpretation, than this of the Teaaapa Zwa. The most ancient is that which supposes them to represent the four gospels, or the writers of them. That they represented the four gospels is just as probable, as that the twenty-four elders represented the books of the Old Testament ; an absurdity which has long ceased to be maintained. In Augustine's time it was contended to which of the evangelists each of the symbols was applicable. (Tom. i. de con- sensu Evang. c. 6.) The distinctions then settled they still retain, in the imaginary pictures or statues which are made to represent them. A subsequent opinion arose, that they were the four arch- angels ; but no such four archangels are commemorated in legiti- mate and divine Scripture, and to find any mention of such a body, we must go to the apocryphal books, or to those of later Jewish authority. Grotius interprets them to signify apostles, and he arbitrarily fixes upon Peter, James the Less, Matthew and Paul, as so impro- bably distinguished. By many commentators, the living creatures are supposed to represent the whole body of Christian believers in the four quarters of the Globe : but to this it has been properly ob- jected, that in the scene before us, the living creatures are evi- dently preferred before the elders, whom these same commentators suppose to represent the Christian priesthood : for the living crea- tures are nearest to the throne, they lead in the ministration, and are 112 THE APOCALYPSE. [CH.IV. 1 — 11. All these animals have a dignified aspect, and the cherub of holy Scripture was generally repre- foUowed by the elders ; and when St. John is to become a nearer spectator of the throne, he is called up to the living creatures, and by them. (Ch. vi.) If therefore the twenty-four elders represent the Christian priesthood, or its ministers of any description, or the body of Christian people, this interpretation cannot be just. Vitringa has considered at large, and ably refuted most of these opinions; and has advanced as his own, that the living creatures represent in general the teachers and ministers of the Church, most favoured by divine grace, most distinguished by their powers, and the effects of their ministry in all ages — apostles, apostolical men, fathers of the Church, reformers, &c. It is surprising, that he had already supposed the persons thus described to represent the twenty-four elders : they cannot belong to both bodies, which are so essentially distinguished from each other. And it appears, that he was disposed to account the four living creatures to be of an- gelic nature, but that he was unwilling to deem them angels, be- cause, as it appeared to him, the living creatures and the elders are contradistinguished from the angels, making a separate chorus from them. (Ch. vii. 2; v. 9, 10—12.) But the cherubim, as we have endeavoured to show above, are not angels, the messengers of God, as the name AyyeXoc implies, but superior beings, of angelic nature, as distinguished from man, the inseparable attendants upon the divine throne and state. It is an objection also of Vitringa's, repeated by Archbishop Newcome, that the living creatures profess themselves to be re- deemed to God by the blood of the Lamb. (Ch. v. 9.) But it is the office of these ministering spirits to sing the praises of God without ceasing; praises consequently not in their own name and behalf only, but in those of all other created beings ; as in this particular instance they do, in behalf of the universal church of Christ. They unite their voices with those of the elders, to whom, as ministers from the Christian church on earth, this song more pecu- liarly belongs. (Ch. iv. 9; v. 8 — 14.) And this objection, arising from the supposed redemption of the living creatures, is in a great measure removed, by the restoration of the text from the MSS. of highest authority. For in ch. v. 10, instead of eTrotjjcrac »//xac rw Oew K. T. X. we read eiroirjaa^ avrovq k. t. X. and instead of BaaiXev- (Tofiev, we have BaaiXevaovaiv. (See Griesbach.) The last interpretation of the reaaapa Zwa which I shall notice, is that which has been adopted by the ingenious and learned Joseph Mede, and his numerous followers in this kingdom, — that itiey represent the four standards or ensigns of the four divisions of en. iv. 1 — 11.] THE apocalypse. 113 sented with a head like the ox or steer. The Hebrew word signifying cherub, having also that meaning. (Calmet.) Ver. 8. They rest not, c^t.] We have seen that the living creatures of the Apocalypse, are^ like those in Isaiah and Ezekiel, cherubim or seraphim ; the most exalted of created beings — the nearest to the throne of the almighty King. And to him they minister incessantly, proclaiming his praise and the camp of Israel, bearing the pictured figures of the emblematic animals described in this passage of the Apocalypse. But when we enquire for the authorities upon which this interpretation is found- ed, we find that there are no such ensigns mentioned in Holy Scrip- ture, and that the whole is derived, as Lowraan says, from an un- certain Jewish tradition ; and a tradition, we may add, that cannot be reconciled with those parts of Scripture to which reference is made in its support; (viz. Numb ii. ; Deut. xxxiii ) This will ea- sily be seen, by comparing them together. Le Clerc, in his observa- tions on Hammond, who had been one of the first to mention these ensigns, calls them extravagant fancies, in which he wonders that the learned author could acquiesce. And he adds, that " there is no ground whatever for such allusion, but what is said by the rabbins, who are less acquainted with what was done of old time than we;" and whose invention he calls absurd. " Why then," says he, " did he believe them ?" But, if such authority should be allowed, and if it should be conceded, that standards of such description did bear a part in the Israelite encampment round the tabernacle ; yet, their station in that camp could not be the same in respect to the throne within the tabernacle, as that of the living creatures here described : for the standards are exterior to the tabernacle ; the throne, where the living creatures are placed, is interior. It is in the veiled part, the holy of holies, where was the seat of the divinity, between the che- rubim, as Mede himself has stated. (Works, p. 439.) And it is not the exterior, but the interior of the tabernacle or temple, which, as he says, is exhibited to view in the apocalyptic visions. But, if it were otherwise, and we were to advert only to the outside of the tabernacle, even there we find that the tribes commissioned to bear the standards were not those nearest to the tabernacle. For the tribe of Levi was expressly appointed to surround and guard the tabernacle, in exclusion of the other tribes. I 114 THE APOCALYPSE. [cH.iv. 1 11. glory, and everduring dominion. And in the re- maining verses of this chapter, a noble specimen is exhibited of the divine worship in heaven, at once a pattern and incitement to man in his worship on earth. The cherubim begin the song of praise, the ministering spirits redeemed from amongst men, quit their thrones, abase their crowns, and, prostrate before the throne, join in the chorus of a creation hymn. We have here presented before us a splendid ex- hibition of the Deity, attended by his ministering spirits ; but the scene is not yet complete. In the chapter immediately succeeding, the Lamb, the Son of God, in his gracious character of Redeemer, takes his station "in the midst of the throne ;" and an in- numerable company of angels are seen to encom- pass the surrounding body of the elders, and the living creatures, and are added to the chorus, which receives a further increase when (ch. xiv. 1 ; xv. 2.) the innumerable company of " the redeemed on earth" are presented to their Redeemer, and sing the new song before the throne. The whole repre- sentation is wonderfully sublime, and admirably cal- culated to exalt religious feeling. One of the finest parts of our Church service, the opening of the Te Deum, seems to have been formed principally upon it. CH. V. 1 — 14.] THE APOCALYPSE. 115 PART II. SECTION II. The sealed Book ; the Lamb, who opens it ; and the P?Yiises sung by the heavenly Choir. Chap. v. 1 And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne, a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals. 2 And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof? 3 And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon. 4 And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon. .5 And one of the elders saith unto me. Weep not : behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof. 6 And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth. 7 And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne. 8 And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints. 9 And they sung a new song, saying. Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation ; 10 And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth. 11 And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders : and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands ; i2 116 THE APOCALYPSE. [CH. V. I 14. 12 Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing. 13 And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I, saying. Blessing, and 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. The most judicious of the commentators are so generally agreed in the exposition of this chapter, that we shall have occasion to do little more than to report, in an abridged form, the result of their ob- servations. Ver. 1. A book, ivritten ivlthin, and on the backside, sealed with seven seals.] The books of the ancients, especially in the East, were rolled up like our large maps and plans, not folded. So, " the roll of the book," when opened for in- spection, is said to be '* spread T (Ezek. ii. 10.) and it was closed by rolling up, /3tj3Atov etAto-a-o^itvov. (Rev. vi. 14.) And it was kept secret and secured from inspection, by having a seal or seals affixed to it. Some of the prophecies delivered to Daniel, (ch. viii — xii.) are said to be sealed, or closed, or shut up for many days. Of this description are the prophecies contained in this book in the hand of the Almighty Father. No one could read them ; the book was full of them, and its contents were with- held from inspection by seven seals, that is, an abundance of seals, showing the difficulty of arriving at the knowledge of the things written in it. Ver. 3. No man in heaven, 7ior on earth, neither under the earth was able to open the book, S^c.] The word Ovhi^, would be more properly translated no CH. V, 1 14.] THE APOCALYPSE. 117 one; no being throughout the whole creation, con- taining angels as well as men. The power of opening this divine book, depended upon luorthiuess, as appears by verses 2d and 4th ; and no created being was found sufficiently worthy. Ver. 4. / wept much.'] The tenderness of feeling producing tears under such a disappointment, is agreeable to the character of St. John. He would lament the loss of the prophetic information, know- ing how consolatory it might be to the infant church of Christ in its then afflicted state ; and penetrated with grief, that among all the creatures of God, none could be found worthy to obtain it. Ver. 5. The Lion of the tribe of Jiida.'] Under the symbol of a lion, the superiority of the tribe of Judah was predicted. (Gen. xlix. 9.) This pro- phecy had a partial completion in the person of king David, who is an acknowledged type of Christ. Jesus, in his human nature, was " of the house and lineage of David ;" but in his divine nature, he was more. He, who was before all worlds, by whom the Father made this world, and decreed its re- demption, was the cause and origin, and, as it were, the Root of the spiritual conquests achieved by the Son of David, at the same time that he was a branch of that tree. Isaiah therefore calls him not only the branch, but the Root also of Jesse, (ch. xi. 10.) ; and St. Paul quotes the passage, applying it to Christ. (Rom. xv. 12.) Ver. 6. In the midst of the throne, 8^c.'] The che- rubim were represented as '^ stationed in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne ;" but the expression here is " in the midst" only; and the station is further explained, by adding " in the 118 THE APOCALYPSE. [CH. V. 1 14. midst of the four living creatures and of the elders." This is the inner, and central, and most dignified situation, to which the Son only can have access ; " far above all principalities and powers, at the right hand of the Majesty on high." So in Rev. xxii. 1, this station is called " the throne of God, and of the Lamb." A Lamb.'] Our Lord Jesus Christ, for whom alone this supreme station could be designed, is fre- quently represented under this symbol of innocence, led to suffer at the altar for the sins of mankind, as prefigured in the daily service of the Temple. He appears as a suffering Victim, the character which endears him above all others to sinful and mortal man ; and which, thoroughly considered, is found to agree perfectly with that more splendid descrip- tion of him above, where he is styled " the Lion of the tribe of Judah ;" for it was in this low and suf- fering form, that Jie fought against the enemies of human salvation, and overcame them. The prophe- cies of the Old Testament, describing the Messiah, sometimes as a despised Sufferer, sometimes as an irresistible and triumphant Conqueror, appeared dark and irreconcileable, until the event showed the truth and consistency of both predictions, when " the Lord of glory" effected the salvation of the world, under the character of an innocent, unresist- ing victim. Apvtov, here translated " a Lamb,'' is a diminutive from A|Oc, Apvoc, Agnus, Agnellus. (Schleusner.) As such, it is expressive of tenderness and love. St. John uses it in this sense, as the words of our Sa- viour to Peter, jSoa/cf ra Apvm fxov. Feed my lamb- kins, my beloved little lambs, my Christian flock, for whom I have suffered. (John xxi. 15.) Here he is himself the suffering, sacrificed Lamb. As it had been dain, having seve?i horns and seven CH. V. 1 — 14.] THE APOCALYPSE. 119 eyes, &c.] The word f(7(^ay^i£vov implies that the Lamb appeared with a wounded neck and throat, as if smitten at the altar, as a Victim, '^ as a Lamb for the slaughter," etti (T(j)avr]v. (Acts viii. 32 ; Isa. liii. 7.) Seven is a number expressive of universality, ful- ness, and perfection, (see ch. i. 4.) ; and as a horn, in the figurative language of Scripture, is emble- matical of power, so the seven horns of the Lamb signify his omnipotence, as the seven eyes do his omnipresence and omniscience. " All power," says our Lord to his disciples, " is given to me in heaven and in earth." And this he said immediately after he had vanquished the formidable enemies of man, Sin and Death, under this form of a victim. (Matth. xxviii. 18.) Ver. S. Arid when he had taken the book, the four beasts, and four-and-twentij elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps and golden vials, full of odours, which are the prayers of saints J] This adoration is paid to the Lamb; and, uniting with many other passages of holy writ, authorises that worship of praise and thanksgiving, which Christians of almost all descriptions offer up to the second person of the Godhead, the Redeemer of man. The cherubim, as before, lead in the song of praise ; the elders unite in it, bearing every one of them harps, and vials of odours, or incense. These are borne by the eiders only, as the masculine tKaa- Toq shows ; and as most appropriate to their form and to their office, as " priests to God." The Vial, ^taXj;, was a patera or basin, in which were deposited before the altar the offerings of meal, or incense, according to the law : the latter being a' compound of various sweets and odours, (Exod. XXX. 34 ; xxxvii. 29 ; Lev. xvi. 12.) was pro- bably intended to be expressed by the word Qv^mi^m- 120 THE APOCALYPSE. [CH. V. 1 14. T(i)v ; for the offering of this incense was accompa- nied by the prayers of the congregation, (Luke i. 10 ; Ps. cxli. 2.) which are here called " the prayers of the saints," At the dedication of the tabernacle, the twelve elders or princes of Israel, offered each of them a golden spoon or patera, full of incense. (Numb. vii. 10, 14, &c.) The elders here make a similar offering to be deposited before the altar of the throne. (See Daubuz and Vitringa.) Ver. 9. A new so7ig.'] New, because the suffer- ings and subsequent glorification of Christ, had fur- nished a subject of joyful exultation and song un- known to former ages ; unknown to the inhabitants of heaven before this disclosure of it under the New Testament. (Matth. xiii. 35 ; 1 Pet. i. 12, 20.) Ki/igs and priests.'] See note, ch. i. 6. Ver. 10. Ten thousand times, &c.] " An innume- rable company of angels :" (Heb. xii. 22.) and *' let all the angels of God worship him." (Heb. i. 6.) Ver. 13. Blessing, and honour, and glory, &c.] The received translation, by leaving out the article which is found in the Greek, in this and similar passages, has not attained the sense of the original, which implies not only that praise, honour, power, should be ascribed to God and to the Redeemer ge7ierally, but the particular and supreme praise, &c. which belong only to the God of heaven. In the Lord's prayer, the article is translated with proper effect, " thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory;" and so it should be here. To this we may add, that the word EvXoym, does not seem properly rendered by the word blessing. Blessing descends from the superior to the inferior. (See Heb. vii. 7.) I would substitute the \NOYdi praise. CH. vi. 1, 2.] THE APOCALYPSE. 121 PART II. SECTION III. The opening of the first Seal. Chap. vi. ver. 1, 2. 1 And 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 1 saw, and behold a white horse : and he that sat on him had a bow ; and a crown was given unto him : and he went forth conquering, and to conquer. And I heard as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, *' Cojne and ^ee."] The voice of the Lord from heaven appears, in many passages of Scripture to be a glorious and terrible sound, like thunder : and to this it was compared in John xii. 28. In the representation now before us, the voice comes from the throne, from the cherubim " in the midst of it, and surrounding it." And it calls St. John to come near to the throne, there to see more certainly and commodiously the symbols prophetic of future events, as they appear in a ^ort of coloured delineation, upon the opening of each seal. Ver. 2. And I saiv, and behold a white horse.'] The horse is a noble animal, employed by the Eastern nations principally in war ; so that in scriptural lan- guage, a horseman and a warrior are used synoni- mously. The description of the war-horse in the book of Job, is highly poetical. (Ch. xxxix. 19 — 26.) 122 THE APOCALYPSE. [CH.vi. 1,2. The white horse, in the passage before us, is a war- horse, for he carries his rider " to conquer.''' In a vision of the prophet Zechariah, (ch. i.) a person is seen " riding on a red horse, (Trvppog, flame- coloured,) and behind him were there red horses, speckled and white." These appear, in the sequel, to represent the progress of heavenly angels, in military array, sent forth through the nations at the time of the Jewish captivity. The red horses, which lead the array, portend war and slaughter ; such as had occasioned the captivity. The white horses concluding the procession, denote, as the context shows, the peace and happiness which were to suc- ceed. The speckled, or party-coloured horses, ex- press the intermediate transition from suftering to happiness. In the sixth chapter of the same prophet, there is a similar exhibition of four chariots, drawn by red, black, white, and party-coloured horses ; which are explained by the angel to signify " the four spirits of the heavens, which go forth from standing before the Lord of all the earth." And they go forth in the same character ; the black horses denoting mourning and woe, to the north country, to Baby- lon, where the Jews were then in bondage. But *' the white go forth after them," representing the deliverance they were to obtain from the victorious Cyrus. From this application of the imagery of horses in Scripture, it may appear, that a man on horseback, in scriptural vision, represents the going forth of some power divinely commissioned to effect changes upon earth : and that the character of the change is to be collected from the colour of the horse ; the red or flame-coloured, denoting war and slaughter ; the black, mourning and woe; the white, victory, and peace, and happiness. CH.vi. 1,2.] THE APOCALYPSE. 123 To assist us further in the interpretation of the white horse, we have a passage in this same book of the Apocalypse, (eh. xix. 11 — 17.) where, a white horse is introduced with the very same expression, '* behold, a white horse ; and he that sate upon him was called faithful and true ; and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns ; and he had a name written, that no man knew but he himself; and he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood, and his name is called the word OF GOD. And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations, and he shall rule them with a rod of iron ; and he treadeth the wine-press of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he hath on his vesture, and on his thigh, a name written, king of kings, and LORD OF lords," No one conversant in scriptural prophecy, can doubt for a moment to whom this description be- longs. The glorious Rider on this ivhite horse, is manifestly the only-begotten Son of God ; who here in person, (that is, with more ample manifestation of his overruling power,) leads his Church to victory. But under this first seal, it is not so certainly appa- rent, that the rider on the white horse is the same glorious Personage ; for he is not distinguished by the same glorious attributes. He has simply a crown and a bow : the bow is not a weapon or ap- pendage peculiar to Christ. And the elders, repre- senting the ministers of Christ, have crowns, which are promised likewise to all faithful, victorious Christians, who in this vision, (ch. xix.) are repre- sented following their Lord on white horses. '* As the Father had sent him, so he sent them into the 124 THE APOCALYPSE. [CH. vi. 1, 2. world," (John xvii. 18.) ; all which circumstances being considered, we may be inclined to conclude, that, by the going forth of this white horse, the pro- gress of the Christian religion seems to be intended; its progress in primitive purity, at the time when its heavenly Founder left the world in person, and com- missioned his apostles to " teach all nations, bap- tizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost;" adding, " Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." The divine religion goes out crowned, having the divine favour resting upon it, armed spiritually against its foes, and destined to be victorious in the end.^ He went forth coiiquering, and to conquer.'] Two periods of time seem here to be designated : the first, when the Christian religion, preached in purity 1 This interpretation of the white horse, is supported by the au- thority of the most distinguished commentators, ancient and mo- dern. Andreas Caesariensis records it as adopted generally by the ancient writers before his time ; and he quotes Methodius as re- ferring the first seal' to the preaching of the apostles. He is fol- lowed by Arethas, Victorinus, Primasius, &c. Of the learned mo- derns, Grotius, Hammond, Mede, Durham, Forbes, Daubuz, Vitringa, Hales, Lowman, Faber, in a greater or less degree express the same notion. Gravius, quoted by Pole and Viega, a Jesuit of the 16th century, seem to be the first writers who applied this seal to the Roman empire: they were followed by Jurieu, in the 17th century. Mede, though desirous of referring all the seals to ancient Rome, had the judgment to see that this seal cannot be so applied. But some of his disciples, having followed him in his application of the remaining four first seals to Roman emperors, have ventured at length to give to this seal also the same kind of interpretation. They have supposed the rider on the white horse to be Titus or Ves- pasian, armed as instruments of the divine vengeance on the Jew- ish nation. But the character of the white horse is not vengeful warfare, but victorious innocence, and blissful peace. Innumerable are the solid objections to this interpretation : they who wish to see them at large, may consult Vitringa, who has ably refuted almost every other exposition of the first seal, but that which applies it to the early and apostolical progress of the Christian Church. CH. Vi. 1, 2.] THE APOCALYPSE. 125 by the apostles, overcame the powers of darkness and all human opposition, and establishing itself in the world, " ivent forth congia'r'uig,"' The second, when after a long warfare, during which this holy religion is corrupted, debased, and deformed, by the machinations of the enemy, it is at length seen to regain its primitive freedom and purity, and to over- come all opposition. These two periods are plainly distinguished in the visions of Daniel. The first is that of the " stone, cut out of the mountain without hands," and representing the Church of Christ in its infantine state, when it begins to conquer, by smiting the idolatrous kingdoms of the world. (Dan. ii. 34.) The second is that of the mountain : when this " stone becomes a great mountain, and fills the whole earth." (Dan. ii. 35.) The latter period is represented in the nineteenth chapter of the Apoca- lypse, being only alluded to in the passage now before us ; the prime object of which is to show the religion of Christ going forth in its purity, and in the power divinely conferred upon it. Its heavenly colour is as yet unstained by worldly corruption ; its beginnings are pure ; and pure it must be, when it shall conquer at the last. The commencement of the time occupied by this seal, may be dated from our Saviour's ascension, when he gave his final commission to the disciples to go forth with his doctrines and heavenly procla- mation to the world. The duration of this period cannot be so precisely ascertained, because the change in the Church, from original purity to cor- rupt doctrine, worship, and morals, was gradual. But, generally speaking, we may admit the three first centuries of the Christian aera to have been of this purer description. 126 THE APOCALYPSE. [CH. vi. 3, 4. PART 11. SECTION IV. The openincj of the second Seal. Chap. vi. ver. 3, 4. 3 And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see. 4 And there went out another horse that teas red : and poiver was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another : and there was given unto him a great sword. Ver. 4. A}id there went out another horse that teas 7rd.] The second seal being broken, another sheet unrolls, and the representation of another horse and rider appears ; but the colour, which in the white horse was expressive of purity, innocence, and peace, is changed ; thus denoting a change of character in the times prefigured. The horse is now red, or more properly Jire-coloiired, (irv^^oq, from -ttvq,) which is an epithet of colour, applied to horses by the classi- cal writers. (See Theocriti Idyll, xv. 51.) The angel, in Zech. i. 8, rides upon a horse of this de- scription ; and of this colour is also " the ancient serpent, the devil," who " comes wrathfully to war against the saints y (Rev. xii. 3, 9, 17.) To take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another ; and there was given unto him a great swo7'd.] To this horseman, whose character, denoted by the colour of his horse, is fiery and vengeful, it CH.vi. 3,4.] THE APOCALYPSE. 127 is allotted, " to take peace from the earth," or, as the more correct readings have it, " to take the peace of the earth," to take away that peace under which the white horse had been given to bless the earth ; and to place in its stead hatred, variance, wrath, strife, to such a degree as to cause battles and slaughter, not of nation against nation, which have always been waged, but of " brethren and companions " among themselves, for such is the force of iva aWr]\ovQ (X(j)a^M(n. Our Lord established his religion in peacefulness, and commissioned it to conquer, or prosper in the world by peace ; and yet he foretold, very remark- ably, that peace should not altogether ensue. " Think not," says he, *' that I am come to send peace on the earth ; I came not to send peace, but a sword;'' (Matt. x. 34;) which St. Luke, in the pa- rallel passage represents by the word division. In which sense our Lord also declares that he is " come to send y/re on the earth," (Luke xii. 49.) Not that it was his wish or intention, as the commentators observe, that such dire and antichristian conse- quences should ensue; but such effects he fore- knew would arise from the passions and prejudices of sinful men. Such a scene was to follow the first pure age of Christianity, when a fiery zeal, without knowledge, without charity, should instigate pro- fessed Christians to take away peace ; and from divisions among themselves to proceed to mutual persecution, war, and slaughter. Such a scene, it is well known, did follow the pure age of primitive Christianity ; and the pictured prophecy of this se- cond seal being found to agree so entirely w^th the prediction of Christ above-mentioned, in the use of the same figurative expressions, (such as,^re, sword, taking away peace,) seems to point to the same pe- riod of time ; a time when the heavenly religion, 128 THE APOCALYPSE. [CH.vi. 3, 4. which under the first seal had proceeded in the white array of innocence and peace, became so de- generate as to lose its heavenly colour, and to assume the wrathful, persecuting hue of the Jiery- coloured dragon. Neglectful of charity, the bond of peace, the Christian leaders divided among them- selves, and appealed to the sword, and involved themselves in the guilt and disgrace of mutual slaughter ! But whence are we to date this lamentable change ? May we fix its commencement from the close of the second century ; when the rulers of the Western Church, and the wise and moderate Ire- neeus, were seen to interpose in tumults of this ten- dency, and to exhort the furious bishop of Rome to cultivate Christian peace ? {ja ttiq £iprivr]Q ^povav, Euseb. Hist. Eccl. v. 24.) The fiery, intolerant character which marks this seal, was indeed too vi- sible in these transactions ; but the hue, from white to fire colour, changed gradually. The persecuting hand of the common enemy, of the heathen still in power, restrained this factious spirit for a time ; and although, previous to the Dioclesian persecution in 302, there were shameful divisions among the Chris- tians, which Eusebius mentions with a becoming mixture of indignation and tenderness, (Eccl. Hist. viii. 1,) yet the change cannot be deemed complete, so as to produce the full character of this second seal, till a later period. But when the Roman empire became Christian ; when a Christian emperor bore the sword ; (with which in the imagery of this seal the Christian power seems invested ;) when, relieved from the terrors of pagan persecution, the Christians became possessed of civil influence, their animosities in- creased. Worldly prosperity is corruptive ; and instead of those halcyon days of peace and happi- CH.vi. 3, 4.] THE APOCALYPSE. 129 ness, which the Church promised to itself from the acquisition of power, a period succeeded from which history is seen to date its degeneracy and corrup- tion. (See. the Notes to the concluding verses of chap, vii.) This degeneracy was at this time mani- fested in the mutual enmities and feuds of Chris- tians ; which were so notorious in the fourth cen- tury, that a contemporary author reports of them, (with some hyperbole perhaps, for he was a pagan,) that " the hatred of Christians to each other ex- ceeded the fury of wild beasts against men." (Amm. Marcell. lib. xxii. c. 5.) This was a great change from the times of Tertullian, in the second century, when the pagans made a very different report of Christian community. " See," said they, " how these Christians love each other!" (Tertull. Apol. c. 39.) It is a change powerfully expressed by Jire colour succeeding to ivhite. The contests for power and promotion among Christian bishops and rulers were not concluded without mutual slaughter ; and in the controversies occasioned by the schisms of the Donatists and of the Arians, many thousands of Christians perished by the weapons of each other.^ 1 The most ancient commentators on the Apocalypse, as reported by Andreas Caesariensis, Arethas, &c., supposed the second seal to be a continuation of the History of the Church, as begun under the first seal, and to prefigure the times of apostolical men and martyrs who succeeded to the apostles in the government of it. This bears some resemblance to the exposition of it given above ; but so far as the successors of the apostles walked in their steps, they clearly be- long to the first seal. The commentators, who had already considered the first seal as descriptive of the rule of certain Roman emperors, could not fail to apply this seal to a continuation of the same history. And here they have been supported by the able concurrence of Joseph Mede, whose exposition of this seal is thus adopted and exhibited by Bishop Newton, the most popular writer among his followers. " The second seal or period is noted for war and slaughter, and is proclaimed by the second living creature, who was like an ox, and had his station in the west. This second period commenceth with Trajan, who came from the west, being a Spaniard by birth, and K 130 THE APOCALYPSE. [CH.vi.3, 4. (See Mosheim's Eccl. Hist. cent. iv. and v.) The evil continued to increase until it produced a further was the first foreigner who was elevated to the imperial throne. In his reign, and that of his successor Adrian, there were horrid wars and slaughters, and es)Decially between the rebellious Jews and the Romans." The bishop then proceeds to show, from the histories of Dion, Eusebius, and Orosius, that in these rebellious conflicts many hundred thousands of men perished. And he remarks upon these bloody transactions, that " the Jews and the Romans, both the persecutors of Christians, were remarkably made- the dreadful executioners of divine vengeance upon one another. The great sword diud the red horse are expressive emblems of this slaughter- ing and bloody period; and the proclamation for slaughter is fitly made by a creature like an ox that is destined for slaughter. This period continued during the reigns of Trajan and his successors, by blood or adoption, about ninety-five years." Upon this interpretation I shall only observe, that the slaughter here described is not of that kind which Mede himself justly ob- serves to be required, in order to fulfil the emblem in the text. It is not what he calls an aWrjXocTipayia, the fruit of civil contention, but the attempted vengeance of a conquering nation upon insurgents by them deemed rebels. Nor can these occurrences, bloody and murderous as they are, be justly said to " take peace from the earth," where there was no peace before; for the wars of the Ro- mans against such revolted nations, were continually waging in some, and generally in many, quarters of their empire; and our Lord had prophetically spoken of such wars as being in the usual and necessary course of events — " for such things," says he, "must needs be," (Markxiii. 7.) The earth specified in the text, is the Christian Church on earth, in contradistinction to the Chtirch in Heaven, {c\\. xii. 13.) Though violently persecuted by the Jews and Gentiles, it had peace within itself— peace bequeathed to it by its divine Saviour, (John xiv. 27,) and which it enjoyed in spiritual perfection, so long as itconducted itself by his precepts and example. But when it forsook the white vesture of innocence and righteousness, exchanging it for the fiery hue of the dragon, then these lamentable deeds, this a\Xr]Xo a f ay la ensued. Durham, who is one of those who applied this seal to the Chris- tian Church, has pointed out passages in the Apocalypse, where, as in chap. iii. 10, by ewi tyjq yrjq the Christian Church, visible and militant on earth, is signified. The grounds upon which a part of the prophecy of this second seal is supposed to be fulfilled, by the ox stationed in the west, and by Trajan having come from that quarter, have been examined, and shown to be futile, in the Notes to chap. iv. ver. 7. CH.vi. 5, 6.] THE APOCALYPSE. 131 change from bad to worse, which will appear under the next seal. PART II. SECTION V. The opening of the third Seal. Chap. vi. ver. 5, 6. 5 And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo, a black horse; and he thatsaton him had a pair of balances in his hand. 6 And I heard a voice in the midstof the four beasts say, A mea- sure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny ; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine. Ver. 5. Zo, a black hoi^se.'] On the opening of this seal another change ensues, and still for the worse — by a colour the very opposite to ivliite, a colour denoting mourning and woe, darkness and ignorance. He that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand.'] The word Zuyoc, which is here rendered a pair of balances , or scales, I have ventured, in my translation and exposition, to express by the word yoke. Because such will be found to be its proper and obvious signification ; and none other does it bear in any part of the New Testament. And in the Greek of the Old Testament it has usually this meaning ; and whenever it is used in its borrowed and secondary sense, to signify a balance for weigh- ing, or a pair of scales, there is then joined with it some other expression, to point out this particular application of it. Such as Zuyoc aTaOfiiujv, Zvyog ^iKaioQ, a^iKOQi avofiOQ, Pottij Zuyou, and the like, with- out which kind of accompaniment, plainly expressed or understood, it would be taken to signify simply a yoke. Now this, in its primary sense, was a short staff with a link or short chain fixed to the middle K 2 ^62 THE APOCALYPSE. [CH.vi. 5,6. of it, by which it was suspended from the pole of a plough, waggon, or chariot, in equipoise. And the pair of beasts were placed loide?^ it, and their necks attached to it, so that when they came to draw they had each an equal share of the load. This was the principal use of the yoke. But when the beasts were taken from under it, then it was found to hang so evenly balanced, as, by attach- ing scales to it, to serve the purpose of weighing. But there is no mention of scales, or any reference to the act of weighing in this passage. It is sim- ply ZvyoQ, Now this instrument, so employed on the necks of the slaving beasts, was early and very universally considered as the badge and symbol of servitude and slavery. " Thou shalt serve thy bro- ther," says the patriarch to his eldest son ; " and it shall come to pass, when thou shalt have the dominion, that thou shalt break his yoke (Zvyov) from off thy neck." (Gen. xxvii.40; see also Isa. ix. 4. X. 27 ; Nah. i. 13 ; Jer. xxvii. 2—15.) It was under this kind of yoke, or under a staff, beam, or spear, used to represent it, that the nations of anti- quity were accustomed to pass their conquered ene- mies, in token of their subjugation. In the New Testament, Zvyoq is used metaphori- cally to signify the burden of slavery, (1 Tim. vi. 1,) and more especially to represent the burden- some ceremonies enjoined by the law of Moses, from the observance of which the Christian *Maw of liberty" had delivered the converts. (Acts xv. 10; Gal. V. 1 ; James i. 25. ii. 12 ; Col. ii. 16 ; I Pet. ii. 16.) The same application of the word Zvyoq by the Greek fathers, and of the word jugum by those who wrote in Latin, was by them continued. (See Socrat. Hist. i. 11; Euseb. Hist. Eccl. ; Grabe Spicileg. sect. ii. p. 24 ; Augustin. Epist. xix.) From the History of the Church we learn, that at- tempts were made, at different times, to put a yoke CH.vi,3,4.] THE APOCALYPSE. ] 33 of superstitious observances on the necks of the disciples ; and every attempt seems to have made some little progress towards the system of slavery. As the stream of Christianity flow^ed farther from its pure fountain it became more and more cor- rupt ; as centuries advanced, ignorance and super- stition increased ; and unauthorized mortifications and penances, rigorous fastings, vows of celibacy, monkish retirement and austerities, stylitism, the jargon and repetition of prayers not understood, tales of purgatory, pious frauds, and the worship of saints, relics, and images, took the place of pure and simple Christianity : till at length, the book of God being laid aside for legendary tales, and the " tra- ditions of men, "all these corruptions were collected into a regular system of superstitious oppression, well known by the name of the Papal yoke. The Eastern Church kept pace with the Western for some time, in the introduction of burdensome and unauthorized observances ; and the Mahometan re- ligion, derived from the corrupted Jewish and Chris- tian, has imposed a similar kind of yoke on its nu- merous followers in those extensive regions of the world where it prevails. Ver. 6. A voice in the midst of the four beasts, or living creatures.] This voice is from the throne, which was in the midst of the living creatures or cherubims. A voice of the highest authority, and most dread command, which was now required to stop the progress of this alarming evil. A measure of wheat for a penny : and three yneasures of barley for a penny : and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.\ Wheat, barley, oil, and wine, were with the Eastern nations of antiquity the main support of life. These terms therefore were used by them to express plenty. He that had these in abundance was above want. Now it is proclaimed from the 134 THE APOCALYPSE. [CH.vi. 5,6. heavenly throne, that during the progress of the black horse, however mournful and destructive, the necessaries of life should be attainable, though at an excessive price ; and that the more costly commo- dities, wine and oil, should not be injured. In order to understand the relative price men- tioned in the prophecy, it should be known, that a choenix of wheat (a measure generally used among the ancients) was barely sufficient for the daily sub- sistence of a poor man's family. Its price, a dena- rius or penny, was the usual amount of a labourer's daily wages, (Matt, xx, 2.) But many articles are necessary in a poor man's house besides bread ; and very dear and oppressive must those times be ac- counted, when the whole income will scarcely sup- ply bread. In the days of Cicero, a denarius, the scriptural penny, would procure sixteen choenicesof wheat; and in those of Trajan, twenty. Thus the times of the yoke, or black horse, are indicated in this prophecy as a season of great scarcity. A coarser bread might, it seems, be then had in greater plenty for a denarius, even as three to one ; a bread of barley, which appears to have been used by the poorer Jews, (Judges vii. 13; John vi. 9; 2 Kings vii ; Joseph. Antiq. v. c. vi. 4,) and which is still produced in the East, (Niehburgh's Travels.) Hence we may collect that the provision for the support of life under this seal, was to be slender in quantity, or coarse in quality ; and that the dainties of wine and oil, were to be exposed to the danger of total failure. But by these provisions, thus scarce and difficult of acquirement, are we to understand wheat, barley, wine, and oil, in their plain and literal meaning ? Assuredly not. The tenor of prophetic language forbids, — directing our attention, as our Lord has directed it, (see ch. ii. 7.) to scarcity of another kind, even that of which the prophet Amos speaks : CH. vi. 5, 6.] THE APOCALYPSE. 135 " Not a famine of bread, nor a thirst of water, but of hearing of the words of the Lord." (Amos viii. 11.) This kind of scarcity is frequently lamented by the prophetical writers, who delight in describing the spiritual plenty of Christ's kingdom, by such sensi- ble images, " corn, wine, and oil." By these are signified that food of religious knowledge, by which the souls of men are sustained unto everlasting life: such we are invited by the evangelical prophet to buy, even " without price." (Is. Iv. 1.) Such are recommended to the purchase of the Laodiceans, by their divine Lord. (Rev. iii. 18.); such were dis- pensed throughout the world at the first preaching of the gospel, and upon terms of easy acquisition ; "freely have ye received, freely give. ' But when dark clouds of ignorance, denoted by the colour of the b^ack horse, spread over the face of the Chris- tian world, and corrupt teachers could advance their worldly purposes by bringing then^ disciples under the yoke of superstition, the knowledge and practice of genuine religion became scarce. Astonishing are the instances produced by historians of the ignorance of Christians in the middle ages, and of the gross immorality resulting from it. Yet, durins: the lono- continuance of these dark times, the prophetical command from the throne has bee:i wonderfully fuljilled ; there has always been a moderate supply of spiritual food ; the great saving doctrine of Christianity, an eternal life of happiness, given to sinful man upon his faith and repentanee, iJirough the satisfaction of his Redeemer, has been laught in all these ages ; and that invaluable repo- sitory of divine knowledge, of spiritual wine and oil, ".he Holy Bible, the leord of God, has been accessible 10 some persons in all times, since this injunction Yas delivered. Through all the ignorant, fanatical fections and corrupt hands, by which this sacred ti'easure has been transmitted to us, it has passed in 136 THE APOCALYPSE. [CH. vi. 5,6. the main uninjurecl. The corruptions of it, even for the base purposes of party zeal and worldly am- bition, have been miraculously few ; and such as it has come down to our times, it will be delivered to posterity by the useful art of printing. Thus hath the prophetical injunction from the throne preserved the spiritual food of man, through a dark period of long continuance, and of great diffi- culty and danger — the oil and the wine have not been injured. The exposition of this seal by Joseph Mede, and his numerous followers in this country, maj be given in the words of Bishop Newton; who, having observed that " this period is characterised by a strict execution of justice, and by the procuration of corn, and oil, and wine," and, that " the regula- tions about the necessaries of life, imply some want and scarcity of them ; scarcity obliging men to ex- actness in the measure of things," thus proceeds : " In short, the intent of the prophecy is, that cam should be provided for the people, but it should be distributed in exact measure and proportion. This third period commenceth with Septimius Severus, who was an empeior from the South, being a native of Africa. He was an enactor of just and equal laws, and was very severe and implacable to of- fences ; he would not suffer even petty larcenies to go unpunished, as neither would Alexander Severus in the same period." The Bishop then proceeds t* recount what these two emperors did, in procuring corn, and oil, and other provisions for the Romar. people, and then concludes as follows :" The colon' of the black horse befits the severity of their nature and their name, and the balances are the well-knowi emblem of Justice, as well as an intimation d of Christ ; that it seldom deviates from this object ; and that when the fates of nations or of individuals are foretold, it is even then with some reference to the future state of the Church and its Messiah. If this notion be just of divine pro- phecy in general, it must extend also to the apocalyptic prophecies. Nor shall we be warranted to apply them to the history of particu- lar nations, unless the symbols, as in some cases, evidently and par- ticularly demand such application. In the thirteenth and in the seventeenth chapters of this prophetic book, certain symbols will be seen to occur, which, compared with similar expressions of the prophet Daniel, point out and demand our application of them to Rome. But in the figurative language of the four seals, there is no such reference : neither the horses, nor their riders, have any thing to designate them as Roman. The first horse, by the confession of Mede himself, the great leader of this Roman interpretation, is not Roman. How can we expect those which follow him to be such? Or, why, when we have so great and interesting an object in view, as the fates and fortunes of the Church of Christ, (an object plainly placed before us by the first visions of the book,) why are we to suppose that its prophecies are to be fulfilled in the heathen history of the rebellious wars, famines, pestilences, and devastations which occurred in that vast, unwieldy body of the Roman empire, as they have done, and will do, in other ill-regulated states ? Why are we to be content with a literal contemplation of so mean and unworthy a character, when, enlarging our attention to the figura- tive meaning, as we are exhorted to do in the opening of the pro- phecy, (ch. ii. 11, &c.) we see the general description of Christ's Church pass before our eyes, in emblems exactly concordant with its general history ? CH. vi. 9 11.] THE A! OCALYPSE. 145 The third seal, under which superstition imposed a yoke of ceremonies and observances such as pure religion had rejected, seems to have had its beginnings in the times when the Church, asso- ciating itself with the heathen philosophy, imbibed with it heathen superstition. These abuses crept in by degrees, and the black colour seems not to have thoroughly prevailed till the end of the fourth and beginning of the fifth centuries, (Mosheim, cent. v. pp. 376, 382, 390—396.) The corruption and ravages of the fourth seal came on likewise by gradation, and did not arrive at their utmost horror till the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. In the latter of these it was enacted by the fourth council lateran, that heretics should be delivered to the civil power to be burned. At which time, and during a lamentable period of forty years, more than a million of human beings are said to have suffered by capital punishment, (from two to three hundred thousand in the south of France alone,) for what was falsely pro- nounced to be heresy. Tantum relligio potuit suadere malorum ! PART 11. SECTION II. The opening of the Fifth Seal. Chap. vi. ver. 9 — 11. 9 And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held : 10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying. How long, O Lord, oly and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them lat dwell on the earth ? 146 THE APOCALYPSE. [CH.vi. 9 II. 11 And white robes were g-iven unto every one of them ; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a Httle season, until their fellowservants also and their brethen, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled. Ver. 9. Under the altar.'] "We are not informed whether the altar here mentioned is the golden one of incense, which makes part of the scenery in ch. viii, and has its proper place before the throne; or the brazen altar of burnt sacrifice. The former of these belongs more appropriately to the scenery ; but the latter is more fitting to the action repre- sented, namely, the martyrs slain ; or, as the word £(T^ay/A£vwv, applied to the altar, signifies more par- ticularly, sacrificed. This uncertainty occasions some difficulty, which may perhaps be removed, by sup- posing the action of this seal, as of the four preced- ing, to be represented graphically, or in picture. In this case, though the altar of incense may be still supposed to stand in its proper place, before the mercy-seat and the throne, yet at the same time the brazen altar may also appear delineated in picture upon the roll of the book when the fifth seal is opened by the Lamb ; for on the unfolding of the fifth roll, this additional altar comes into sight, and the martyrs are seen at the foot of it, and voices are heard to accompany their expressive gestures, as they hold up their hands in prayer. In the figura- tive language of Scripture, the blood of the murdered is said to cry from the ground to the Lord for ven- geance, (Gen. iv. 10.) Ver. 10. How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood.] Such with pious sufferers has been the frequent subject of com- plaint: " How long shall the ungodly triumph?" (Ps. xciv. 3.) For wise reasons, discoverable in part now, but to be completely known hereafter, the Almighty suspends his vengeance on the triumphant CH. Vi. 9 11.] THE APOCALYPSE. 147 wicked. And in chapter xv. of this prophecy, we shall see this complaint answered, by the triumph of the martyrs, and the "just judgments of God manifested." The epithets here applied to God are exactly in- dicative of the divine nature as it affects this case. He is A£(j7roTr]g, Sovereign arbiter of all. He is holy, — far apart from the wicked,— he is '* the truth it- self" in the performance of his promises, to raise the righteous from suffering to happiness, and to punish their unrepentant persecutors. Ver. 1 1. And white robes ivere given unto every one of them.^ These are given to them as indicative of their innocence and purity, and of their title to fol- low their Redeemer into his heavenly kingdom. (See note, ch. iii. 4.) That theif should rest yet for a little season, until their fellow servants and brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.^ At the time when this prophecy was delivered, there had been but few martyrs to the Christian cause. We are here taught to expect, what subsequent history has shown, a numerous succession of suffering witnesses thi'ough a long period. We were prepared by the imagery of the second and third, and more especially of the fourth seal, to expect some notice of those who in such times should " be slain for the testimony of the Word." In this seal it comes forward, but, as in the other seals, in general description only ; and the subject is resumed in the sequel of the prophecy. (Ch. xi. 7— 14. xiii. 7. xv.2— 6. xviii.20. xx. 4.) The period of the martyrs therefore seems to extend from the death of our Lord, the first Christian mar- tyr, (see ch. i. 5,) to '* the great day of recompense," when "the noble army of martyrs" will be ulti- mately completed and avenged. But the part of L 2 148 THE APOCALYPSE. [c H . vi. 9—11. this period which seems more particularly to belong to this fifth seal, is the close of the fourth seal, when so immense an accumulation of martyrdom had arisen, that the question " How long?" seems em- phatically to be called forth. And thus the events of the fifth seal will stand in their proper place. The fifth seal is generally understood, by ancient and modern interpreters, to describe the sufferings and hopes of the Christian martyrs. But difi'erent writers have applied the prophecy contained in it to different periods of their history ; and many of them to the time of the Dioclesian persecution, as most bloody, and of very long continuance. This is adopted by Mede and his followers, and accords with their application of the foregoing seals to the Roman empire. Vitringa applies it to the yet more cruel and last- ing persecution of the Waldenses, Albigenses, Bo- hemian brethren, and many other confessors of a purer religion throughout Europe, in later times, by the agents of the Papal Church. But there seems to be no reason why it should be restricted to any particular body of martyrs of any particular period. All are to be avenged ; and it may be perhaps more fitly understood to comprehend all the martyrs to the Christian cause, from the apostolical age to the happy time when such sufferings shall finally cease. However, there can be little doubt, but that it ex- tends to the period of the sixth vial, when the retri- bution here promised is fulfilled upon the enemies of the Lamb, the antichristian persecutors, the beast and his followers. (Ch. xv. xvi.) CH. Vi. 12 — 17.] THE APOCALYPSE. 149 PART II. SECTIONS VIII and IX. The opening of the Sixth Seal. Chap. vi. ver. \1, to the end. 12 And I beheld wlien he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake ; and the sun became black as sack- cloth of hair, and the moon became as blood ; 13 And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken'of a mighty wind. 14 And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled toge- ther ; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. 15 And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bond- man, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens, and in the rocks of the mountains ; 16 And said to the mountains and rocks. Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb : 17 For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand ? The subject matter of the sixth seal may be com- modiously divided into two parts. The first of these (from chapter vi. 12, to the end) contains the threatening signs of a dreadful judgment upon the world, but more directly and especially on the ene- mies of Christ, who are seen to deprecate his wrath, and attempt to hide themselves from his avenging presence. The second part is included in the se- venth chapter, and contains the preservation of 1^0 THE APOCALYPSE. [CH.vi. 12 — 17. God's elect servants, " from the wrath to come," and, also the consequent triumphant rejoicing and thanks- giving of men and angels. THE FIRST PART OF THE SIXTH SEAL. Ver. 12, 13, 14. Lo, there was a great eai^thqicake, &c.] These alarming images are not nov^ seen for the first time in the prophetic word of God ; they have appeared before. The Holy Spirit had de- nounced, in terms very similar to these, by the mouths of the prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Joel, the divine judgments which were about to fall upon corrupt Judaea and the wicked nations surrounding. The expressions of Isaiah concerning Babylon, (ch. xiii. 10,) and other nations, in par- ticular Idumea, in ch. xxxiv, exhibit a very striking resemblance to those of the Apocalypse. " Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, — the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light ; the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine. — I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place in the wrath of the Lord of hosts. — Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency, shall be as when God over- threw Sodom and Gomorrah." Thus far in the thir- teenth chapter concerning Babylon. In the thirty- fourth chapter the indignation of the Lord is pro- nounced against all nations and their armies : " He hath delivered them to the slaughter; the mountains shall be melted with their blood ; and all the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll, and all their hosts shall fall down as the leaf falleth off from the vine, and as a falling fig from the fig-tree ; for my sword shall be CH. vi. 12 — 17.] THE APOCALYPSE. 151 bathed in heaven ; behold, it shall come down on Idumea, and upon the people of my curse to judg- ment." These prophetic denunciations were ful- filled, typically at least, in the complete destruction of the nations against which they were uttered. Our Lord himself delivered a prophecy remarka- ble, amongst other things, for the same figures of speech : " The sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken." (Matt. xxiv. 29, &c.) But to these figurative expressions, used by preceding pro- phets, he added others which are of a new charac- ter, and peculiar to his own predictions. " Then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven ; and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn ; and they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory : and he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other." The ablest commentators have understood this to be evi- dently spoken of " the great day of the Lord," the last day, the day of judgment. But it has at the same time been supposed, that the primary object of the prophecy is the destruction of Jerusalem, and of the Jewish economy; for in this event we find a type, a lively image, and a certain pledge and fore- runner of the more signal and extended vengeance which will overtake the enemies of God, in the latest period of the world. The prophecy of the Apocalypse now under con- sideration, thus recalls to our attention this pro- phecy, and the others above quoted. They have all of them been typically fulfilled in the fall of those nations, whose after ruin they prefigured : but a more perfect completion is reserved for them, with 152 THE APOCALYPSE. [CH. vii. 1 17. which their grandeur of design and sublimity of ex- pression more exactly accord ; for they seem to unite with the apocalyptic prophecy, in pointing ul- timately and emphatically to *' the great day of the Lord's wrath.''' Ver. 15, 16, 17. And the kings of the earth, and the g7^eat men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman and every free- man hid themselves in the dens, and in the rocks of the mountains, and said to the mountains, fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb : for the great day of his wrath is come, and who shall be able to standi^ The persons who flee in such dreadful disorder from the face of God and his vicegerent, are the enemies of the heavenly throne, and of his pure religion. They are of all ranks and descriptions ; and there is no at- tempt to oppose his almighty arm, no resistance. They flee before him in the utmost dismay and terror. But the description of the slaughter and execution are withheld for the present ; before these are exhibited, the faithful servants of God, and of his anointed, must be saved " from the wrath to come." THE SECOND PART OF THE SIXTH SEAL. The sealing of the one hundred and forty-four thou- sand, and the presentation of the 'palm-hearincj multitude before the throne. Chap. vii. 1 And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree. CH.vii. 1 — 17.] THE APOCALYPSE. 153 2 And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God : and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, 3 Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads. 4 And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel. 5 Of the tribe of Judah were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Reuben were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Gad were sealed twelve thousand. 6 Of the tribe of Aser were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Nepthalim were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Ma- nasses were sealed twelve thousand. 7 Of the tribe of Simeon were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Levi were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Issachar were sealed twelve thousand. 8 Of the tribe of Zabulon were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Joseph were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Ben- jamin were sealed twelve thousand. 9 After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; 10 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 four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God. 12 Saying, Amen : Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanks- giving, 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 white robes ? and whence came they ? 14 And I said unto him. Sir, thou knowest. And he said unto 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. 15 Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them. 16 They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more ; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. 17 For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters : and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. ' ' 154 THE APOCALYPSE. [CH. vii. 1 — 17. Ver. I. And after these things, I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, &c.] The execution of the divine judgment, so fearfully expected by the in- habitants of the earth, is now committed to four angels, the ministers of divine vengeance, each of whom takes his appointed station, withholding the fury of the tempest, till he receives an additional command. Our Saviour, in the prophecy already quoted, as apparently connected with this scene, men- tions " the four winds of heaven,'' as the four cardinal divisions of the whole world, from which his angels are to " gather together his elect," when the judg- ment which he then foretells shall take place. In the figurative language of Scripture, the action of the four winds together implies a dreadful and a general destruction. (Jer. xlix. 36; Dan. vii. 2.) Ver. 2, 3. And I saw another angel ascending from the East, having the seal of tJie living God, &c.] The East being the quarter of the heavens from which the luminaries arise, was by the ancients es- teemed the chief cardinal point. In the camp of Israel, the East was the front and post of honour : here Moses and Aaron were stationed. The four angels having taken possession of the four quarters, the fifth angel, coming with additional commands to them, now appears in the brightest and most honour- able station, and thence he proclaims his orders. By these, the destructive violence decreed, is sus- pended and restrained^ till the servants of Gpd are marked with ** the seal of the living God," — the seal of him who alone has life in himself, and through whom only others can live. Seals, among the nations of antiquity, were used to designate property, to mark for each person his own possessions. The seal of God is the divine CH. Vii. 1 17.] THE APOCALYPSE. 155 mark by which " he knoweth them that are his." (2 Tim. ii. 19.) Such, under the divine covenant with Abraham and his descendants, was circum- cision ; and baptism, under the Christian covenant, succeeding in the place of circumcision, was ac- counted by the fathers of the Christian Church to be this seal. But to speak more accurately, and conformably to the expressions of Scripture ; the Holif Spirit, given in baptism, is this seal of God, by which the faithful Christian is marked and preserved as the property of his Lord. (See 2 Cor. i. 22 ; Eph. i. 13 ; iv. 30.) In these passages it is represented as the earnest and pledge of preservation to life eternal. In the passage before us, this mark is re- presented figuratively as impressed upon the fore- head, which agrees with the imagery of Ezekiel, (ch. ix.) foretelling the destruction of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans, when, before the angelic ministers of vengeance perform the parts appointed to them, an- other angel is commanded to mark the servants of God on the forehead : and so marked they are to be saved from the general calamity, as were Jeremiah, Daniel, and the three children, and many others whose names have not come down to us. Ver. 4. An hundred and forty -four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel J] There are several passages in the New Testament, as well as in the Old, which lead us to expect the restoration of the Jews, and their adoption into the Christian Church. (Rom. i. 16; ii. 9, 10; Matt. xv. 24; Rom. xi. 15—36.) And this extraordinary people, after their conversion to Christianity, may yet be kept apart, and precede other Christians in the paths and rewards of salva- tion ; or, we may suppose the body here so distin- guished, to contain pious^Christians of all denomina- tions, a body which, upon the rejection of the Jews, 156 THE APOCALYPSE. [CH. vii. 1 17. succeeded to their titles and honours, being called "the Israel of God." (Gal. vi. 16; Col. ii. 11; 1 Pet. ii. 6 — 11.) But whether the number of the sealed be the original Israelites, or of their repre- sentatives in the Christian Church, it is a full, com- plete number, being, as the commentators observe, the complete square root of the number of the tribes, or perhaps of the twelve apostles, on whom, as a foundation, the Christian Church is said to be erect- ed. (1 Kings xviii. 31 ; Luke xxii. 30 ; Eph. ii. 20.) To the reader, who compares the names of the tribes and their order, as exhibited in parallel places of holy writ, some peculiarities will appear in this passage. The tribe of Dan is omitted, and that of Levi, which being dispersed among the other tribes, for the purpose of ministration, had not the allot- ment of a tribe in Canaan, is taken into its place. For the admission of Levi, a reason may be assigned. This tribe had been excluded, because, being di- vinely separated for the offices of the priesthood, a separate provision among all the tribes had been assigned to it : but now, being to enter on the hea- venly Canaan, where there is no temple, and all are priests to God, (ch. xxi. 22 ; ver. 10.) the service of this tribe as priests is no longer needed ; and therefore it resumes its ancient station among the brethren. For the omission of Dan, the reason commonly assigned is, that this tribe, by an early apostasy, became a common receptacle of idolatry, and thus was the means of corruption to the other tribes. (Jud. xvii.) The same cause is said to ope- rate for the omission of the nameof Ephraim,the name of Joseph, the Father, being here used instead. (Mede, p. 455.) Ver. 9, 10. And after this I beheld, and lo, a great multitude^ kc] The one hundred and forty-four CH. Vii. 1 17.] THE APOCALYPSE. 157 thousand of the sealed, the first fruits to Christ, having led the way, the Gentiles of later conversion follow, and are incorporated with them, (see Gal. iii. 28 ; Col. iii. 11.) and presented before the throne in white robes, pure from sin, bearing palms, the sig- nals of joy (Lev. xxiii. 40.); and they ascribe their salvation to God and the Redeemer. And here we may observe, that H l^iorrj^ia should be translated ** THE salvation.'' The Greek article requires it; and thus it expresses that peculiar deliverance and state of safety, which this palm-bearing multitude of gentile converts, together with the chosen Is- raelites, now experienced from " the great tribula- tion f and for which the merciful kindness of God \ind the Redeemer are celebrated so triumphantly. Ver. 1 1 . And all the angels stood r^oimd about the throne, and about the elders, and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and ivorshipped God.] The palm-bearing multitude are described in the ninth verse, as standing " before the throne, and before the Lamb ;" that is, in the front of the throne, in the place of presentation : but the angels are " round about the throne;" they surround the whole, being exterior to the elders, as well as to the living creatures, and exterior also to the Christian multitude now presented, whose song of praise they conclude with the emphatical Amen ; adding thereto, in a choral strain, their ascription of all honour, greatness, and power to God, for ever and ever ! The station of the angels seems to be the same, and their song of similar import as in chapter five, when the seals are about to be opened. In both these situations, the occasion of their praise and thanks- giving is the blissful dispensation of human redemp- tion, in which we are divinely informed that the angels in heaven take a joyful interest. (Luke xv. 10.) 15^ THE APOCALYPSE. [CH. vii. 1 — 17. Ver. 13. What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came thei/?] This is a question which pious curiosity will not fail to ask, — and in this pas- sage it is asked, only that it may receive its proper .answer, and by an heavenly interpreter: " These are they which came out of great tribulation." After which answer we may find it necessary to ask again, ivhat great tribulation? but this question may be judged needless, perhaps, if we refer to the original Greek of the answer given by the elder, which is thus ex- pressed, OvToi eiaiv oi ep'^Ofievoi e/c rrjg SXti/'£wc Trig /tuya- Xr;c, " These are they who are come out of the great tribulation." In our received translation, the arti- cle (tjjc the) is entirely omitted. But thus restored, as certainly it ought to be, will recall to our minds that " great tribulation'''' from which the " servants of God'"'' had been now saved, by being placed under the divine seal and protection. (Ver. 3 and 4.) This may probably be found to be the same SXt^tc jneyaXt] of which our Saviour speaks in his memorable prophecy concerning the fate of Jerusalem, but which is supposed by judicious interpreters to ex- tend also to the times preceding the end of this world, (Matt. xxiv. 21,29; Mark xiii. 19, P-4.) from which great tribulation he promises deliverance to his elect, that is, his sealed servants, and their being gathered to him, as is represented in this apocalyptic vision. They come out of it, and leave the enemies of Christ to their terrible fate. And if we should be inclined to doubt, whether this palm-bearing multitude are of the sealed, let us attend to the remaining part of the elder's answer. " These are they which are come out of the great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb:" that is, " they have put on the righteousness of God by faith," (Rom. iii. 22; iv. 11; ix. 30.) have so be- CU. vii. 1 — 17.] THE APOCALYPSE. 159 lieved and lived, as to be justified and saved by Christ's offering and death. Such certainly are the true " servants of God ;" and under this name they are here appointed to be sealed, and as such to stand in the presence of their God and Redeemer. Thus we may conclude, that the w^hole body taken together, first of the sealed Israelites, and then of the innumerable elect gentile converts, represent the chosen and redeemed in the Christian Church, of all ages and nations. Ver. 15, 16, 17.] Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his tem- ple, &c.] These elect servants of God are to be perpetually blest v^^ith the divine presence, and eter- nally freed from the sufferings which disquiet mortal life, partaking those pure and exquisite joys which the Redeemer (whose shepherd's rod and kingly sceptre are the same — see note, ch. ii. 27.) alone can bestow. The metaphor conveys this plain meaning; nor can it be supposed to allude to any other happy state than that which is heavenly. The followers of Mede continue to apply the prophe- cies of the seals, by a regular chronology to the his- tory of the Roman empire ; considering at the same time, this sixth seal to be more particularly con- nected with the Christian Church. The fifth seal they had supposed to foreshow the sufferings of the Christians under the Dioclesian persecution ; and the sixth seal they understand to exhibit that happy revolution, in which Constantine having destroyed the Pagan leaders, and ascended the imperial throne, suppressed the ascendancy of the persecuting hea- thens, and placed power in the hands of the Chris- 160 THE APOCALYPSE. [CH.vil 1 17. tians. " This," says Bishop Newton, ** is a triumph of Christ over his heathen enemies, and a triumph after a severe persecution ; so that the time, and all the circumstances, as well as the series and order of the ])rophecy, agree perfectly with this interpreta- tion."— " The sealing of the servants of God in their foreheads," he afterwards continues, " can imply no less than that many converts should be baptized, and those who before, in times of persecution, had been compelled to worship God in private, should now make a free, open, and public profession of their religion ; and that such an accession was made to the Church, every one knoweth, who knoweth any thing of the history of this time." And speaking of the palm-bearing multitude, he adds, " They are arrayed in white robes as emblems of their sanctity and justification through the merits and death of Christ. They are, like the children of Israel, arrived at their Canaan or land of rest ; and they shall no more suffer hunger, thirst, or heat, as they did in the wilderness. They are now happily freed from their former troubles and molestations ; and their heathen adversaries shall no more prevail against them." This exposition of the sixth seal, derived origi- nally from Mede, and adopted with little variation by Lowman, Daubuz, Pyle, and many others, is re- jected by Vitringa, who, with his usual learning and ability, contends, that the prophecy cannot have been so fulfilled ; and he looks to the completion of it in future time, but yet in the course of this world, when the reformed Churches shall completely triumph in the destruction of their papal foe, and in the conver- sion of the world to pure religion. To Vitringa it will be conceded, that this prophecy, being of future fulfilment, may have its completion before this world comes to its end. But in what manner, and in respect to what objects (excepting CH. Vii. I — 17.] THE APOCALYPSE. IGl generally in the punishment of Christ's enemies, and the beatification of his true servants,) it will be pru- dent to leave undetermined. Certainly we must agree with Vitringa in esteeming the accomplish- ment of this prophecy to be yet to come ; for no one possessed of knowledge in ecclesiastical history, can point out a period in past time, when this prophetic vision of such supreme beatitude has received its accomplishment. No time can be assigned, when the destruction of Christ's enemies, and the exalta- tion of his servants in perfect purity and felicity, bear any satisfactory resemblance to the gratifying- picture displayed in this prophecy. It may seem wonderful, that a scholar of Joseph Mede's accomplishment could suppose that the palm- bearing multitude, presented before the throne under emblems of such purity and virtue, and rewarded with such transcendent honours and felicity, could possibly be the multitude of Christians in the times of Constantine and his successors ; because nothing- is more clear, or more generally shown in ecclesias- tical history, than that the tenets and practice of the Christian Church had begun to be very corrupt and degenerate at this time ; and that from this very pe- riod its increasing debasement is to be traced. None of the ancient commentators, who lived after these times, have ventured (as Vitringa ob- serves) to apply this prophecy to them. And though Eusebius and Lactantius, (quoted and ap- pealed to by Mede and his followers,) having wit- nessed the prosperous change in the Christians from a state of persecution to freedom and authority, naturally augured pure and happy days for them ; yet Gregory of Nazianzum, and Jerome, who lived to see these expectations blasted, together with all succeeding historians, tell a far different tale. They represent, in very strong terms, the degeneracy of 162 THE APOCALYPSE. [CH. vii. 1 17. the Christians, corrupted from this very date by worldly prosperity. In my former work, I have quoted several authorities in support of this posi- tion, to which the reader may refer. I will now produce two of these only ; but they may be deemed unanswerable, as taken from the very authors whose opinions I would controvert. Joseph Mede himself, in his " Apostasy of the latter Times," treating of the deification of saints, and the worship of relics, which he deduces from the period immediately following the exaltation of the Church by Constantine, says : " Alas ! now be- gan the 'Y(TT£poi Kaifioi, or latter times ; this was the fatal time, and thus the Christian apostasy was to be ushered. If they had known this, it would have turned their joyous shoutings and triumphs at these things into mourning." (Mede's Works, p. 680.) Bishop Newton, in the same work upon the Pro- phecies, in which he understands the " beata tran- quilitas" enjoyed by the Christians under Constan- tine and his successors, as fulhilin^ the prediction of the sixth seal, gives (with a view to elucidate another prophecy) this very different, but true and faithful account of the Constantinian sera. " The tenth, and last general persecution, was begun by Dioclesian ; it raged, though not at all times equally, ten years ; and was suppressed entirely by Constantine, the first Roman emperor who made open profession of Christianity ; and then the Church was no longer persecuted, but VN^as protected and favoured by the civil power. But still this is called only a little help ; because, though it added much to the temporal prosperity, vet it contributed little to the spiritual graces and virtues of Christians. It enlarged their reve- nues and increased their endowments, but proved the fatal means of corrupting the. doctrine, and re- CM. vii. 1 — 17/] THE APOCALYPSE. 163 laxiiig the discipline of the Church." And a little afterwards he adds: " No sooner were tlie Chris- tians delivered from the fury of their heathen adver- saries, than they began to quarrel among- them- selves, and to persecute one another." (Dissertation 17th, page 64, &c. 8vo. edit.) We may now ask, whether to such a race of de- generate and nominal Christians, w^e can with any degree of propriety apply this prophetic description of the palm-bearing multitude " who have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb ;" who are represented as perpetually blest with the divine presence, eternally delivered from mortal sufferings, and, under the guidance and pro- tection of their Lord and Redeemer, preserved tear- less for ever ? Having now gone through the six first seals, which appear to have a certain unity and integrity in them- selves, it may be useful to review the most notable expositions which have been published concerning them. Vitringa confines these to three in number. First. That which, originating with Grotius, was adopted and improved by Hammond and Lightfoot, and which supposes these prophecies to have been fulfilled in the wars, slaughters, famines, and cala- mities, with which Divine vengeance visited the Jews, to their final destruction as a nation under the emperor Vespasian. The learned commentator ad- mits, that there are plausible grounds for adopting this interpretation, at least in some parts of it. At the same time he states some objections to it, which he deems insuperable : especially that fact which he holds to be now irrevocably established, (on the evidence of Ireneeus and Clemens Alexandrinus, and of internal proofs derived from the Apocalypse,) M 2 164 THE APOCALYPSE. [CH. vii. 1 17. that this prophetic book was written after the de- struction of Jerusalem, and therefore could not fore- tell that great event. A similar Ime of interpreta- tion, he tells us, is pursued by the eloquent Bishop of Meaux, (Bossuet,) dealing in generals only, and applying the prophetic emblems in a vague, uncer- tain manner, unworthy of the dignity and purport of the Divine Word, and of its sacred figurative resemblances. The second system of interpretation mentioned by Vitringa, is that of the learned, ingenious, and eloquent Joseph Mede and his followers. The merits of this having been more particularly can- vassed in the preceding pages, need not be brought into view again. The objections of Vitringa to this scheme are well worthy of the learned reader's at- tention, and may be seen in the preface to his Expo- sition on the Seals, (p. 231 .) The third scheme of interpretation is that adopted in a great measure by Vitringa himself, and which seems to have been prevalent in his time among the commentators on the Continent, of the Protestant per- suasion. This distinguishes the prophetic history of the seals from that of the trumpets, the latter not being allowed as a continuation of the former in a re- gular line of succession. The emblems under the seals are understood to exhibit a general history of the greater changes which were to take place in the world, more especially in the Christian Church, until the end ; while those under the trumpets are sup- posed to foretell and recount the history of the same times, but much more particularly and minutely, and under different characters. The same general view of the subject presented itself to me, when studying the Apocalypse by the help only of scriptural comparison, unprejudiced by acquaintance with the opinions of former comment- CH. vii. 1 17.] THE APOCALYPSE. IG5 ators. But in filling up the parts, and in explaining the prophetic language and emblems, in detail, of each particular seal, I differed, more or less, from all preceding expositors ; and on a careful, and I trust, candid review of my proceedings, I find little to retract. All the seals, I apprehend, foretell the history of the Christian Church. The first six contain a short, rapid, and general sketch of the progress of Chris- tianity from its first establishment in the world, to that time, yet future, when the enemies of Christ shall be separated for punishment, and his faithful servants for heavenly favour and rewards. This pe- riod may probably synchronize with that of the latest prophecies in the Apocalypse, and with the final coming of Christ ; but of the perfect completion of prophecies whose events are yet to come, it is both prudent and becoming to be silent. Such appears to be this general outline of the Christian history. Many important intervals remain yet to be filled up under the seventh seal, which will be found to contain all the prophecies remain- ing, and, by retracing the history of the Christian Church, to supply many events which were re- served for a more particular notice and display. This method of divine prediction, presenting at first a general sketch and outline, and afterwards a more complete and finished picture of events, is not pecu- liar to this prophetical book. It is justly observed by Sir Isaac Newton, that " the prophecies of Da- niel are all of them related to each other," and that *' every following prophecy adds something new to the former." (Sir Isaac Newton on Daniel, part i. c. iii.) To this we may add, that the same empires in Daniel are represented by various types and symbols. The four parts of the image, and the four beasts, are varied symbols of the sa7?ie empires. The f PrJ H^(M ♦'•♦ ' ' in VP # 16G THE APOCALYPSE. [cn.viL 1 — 17. bear and the he-goat, in different visions, represent the same original ; and so do the ram and the leo- pard. We are not therefore to be surprised, when we find the history of the Church beginning anew, and appearing under other, yet corresponding types ; and thus filling up, with additional and important information, the outlines which had been traced before. CH. Viii. 1 5.] THE APOCALYPSE. 167 PART III. SECTION I, The openhiq of the seventh Seal, and the coimmssion to the Angels ivith the seven Triunpets. Chap. viii. ver. I — 5. 1 And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of" half an hour. 2 And 1 saw the seven angels vi^hich stood before God ; and to them were given seven trumpets. 3 And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there v/as given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. 4 And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel's hand. 5 And the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire of the altar, and cast it into the earth : and there were voices, and thunder- ings, and lightnings, and an earthquake. The opening of each of the preceding seals had been followed immediately by some significant ac- tion, accompanied by explanatory voices. Nothing of this sort now occurs. An awful silence sus- pends the gratification of curiosity. After this so- lemn pause, preparation is made for another exhi- bition. The seven angels stand forth, and receive seven trumpets. This silence has been supposed to express, or allude to^ that custom of holy worship among the Jews, in which they accompanied the offering of 168 THE ArocALYPst. [cii. viii. I — 5. incense in the temple with their silent prayers. But this silence precedes the offering of incense, and occurs even before the officiating angel is sta- tioned at the altar. And there is also an inter- vening action ; the angels are presented with their trumpets. Bishop Newton understands the silence to express a pause or interval between the foregoing and suc- ceeding visions, to prepare the mind forsignal events ; and may we not add, to prepare us for a change in the mode of exhibition and series of the events, which will be found to be no longer the same ? The seventh seal has nothing appropriately its own, but introduces the seven trumpets, which will be seen to prefigure seven periods of ecclesiastical history, and it makes way for them by a preparatory scene, which seems intended to lead to a right conception o^ their tendency. Some commentators, following the Jewish writers, have supposed and enumerated seven principal angels here employed, but there is no sufficient authority for this. (See Tobit xii. 15, with Jortin's remarks; Eccl. Hist. i. 113; Gray's Key to the Old Testament, art. Tobit ; Mosheim's Eccl. Hist. i. 176.) On the number of angels now employed, we may remark, that their being changed from four to seven, seems to portend a new scene of visions, and not a continuation of those under the six seals. ^ Ver. 3, 4, And another angel came and stood at the ^ Some writers, and among them Vitringa, have supposed the silence in Heaven to express a continuance of that happy state of the Christian Church on earth, which they have understood to be represented at the close of the sixth seal and seventh chapter. }3ut this silence is in heaven, which, throughout the scenery and visions of the trumpets, now succeeding, is kept wholly distinct from the earth, as will be seen in the sequel. CJI. vili. 1 — 5.] THE APOCALYPSE. 169 altar, &c.] Upon this golden altar, called also the altar of incense, standing before the seat of the divine glory in the temple under the law, no strange priest was allowed to officiate ; but the legally ap- pointed incense offered thereon by the legal priests, was accepted as an atonement for the people, who accompanied the offering with their prayers, (Num. xvi ; Luke i. 9, 10, 21.) This angel therefore may seem to represent a lawful priest, and the incense added to the prayers a mode of worship whereby to approach God, (see note, ch. v. 8,) most probably the Christian, for it is given from heaven, to accom- pany the prayers of the saints, who are indubitably Christians, and " ascending before God," must be supposed acceptable to him. (Compare Acts x. 4, tvwTTiov Tov Qwv.) Ou thls accouut, the angel has, by some commentators, been supposed to repre- sent the Lord Jesus, the great Christian high- priest. But in opposition to this notion it must be observed, that the angel does not appear with any of our Lord's attributes. He is described simply as '* another angel." And as the lot to burn incense, under the law, was not appropriated to the high- priest, but committed without distinction to the priests of the twenty-four courses ; so we may see reason to imagine that this angel may represent the Christian priesthood in general, as exercised in legal subordination to the Lord Jesus, the great high priest. This religion is of heavenly origin ; and the smoke of its incense, that is, its worship, ascends from the hands of its appointed priests, acceptable to God. Ver. 5. And the angel took the censer, andjilled it with fire of the altar, a?2d cast it into the earth : ajid there ivere voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake.'] Much learned discussion has been 170 THE APOCALYPSE. [CH.Vlii. 1 — 5. employed to determine the import of the word Xi(3av(joTog, and also to show from which altar, and how, and when, the fire was obtained by the angel. But all that is needftd to be known respecting this ac- tion, seems sufficiently apparent ; namely, that the angel, having finished the offering of incense, " upon the golden altar before the throne," takes the cen- ser, vial, or patera, whichever it may be, in which the incense had been placed, and fills it ek tov irvpog, from, or with, the fire of the altar, and then casts the contents to the earth. The scene of this action is in Heaven, before the heavenly throne^ as de- scribed in chapter the fourth. The earth from which St. John had been called up by an heavenly voice in the first verse of that chapter, was in sight below; (as will further appear in the following visions ;) and the contents of the censer (whether with it or with- out it seems not material) are cast down to the earth. But what were these contents ? Ansiv. Either the incense burning with the fire, if any of the " mitch incense'' remained unconsumed ; or the burning coals only. But the incense thus burning means (as before was observed) the Christian worship and religion, pure and heavenly in its origin and na- ture, but sent down to earth, and mixing with the passions and worldly projects of sinful men, pro- duces signal commotions, expressed in prophetical language by " voices, thunderings, lightnings, earth- quake." Or if it be, as perhaps it may, that the tire alone is cast to the earth, (the incense being- exhausted,) the interpretation will be nearly the same ; for our Lord has declared, in the same kind of figurative language, that in sending forth his holy religion to the earth, he had cast fire there- on ; 7ri>p nXBov (5a\HV ng Tt]v yrjv, Luke xii. 49. It is the very same expression ; and this fire he after- wards explains to signify divisions and contention. CH. Viii. I 5.] THE APOCALYPSE. 171- (See Grotius and Whitby in loc.) Thus, in the re- presentation before us, the Christian religion begins in peace and pure incense, (Mai. i. 11,) rendered effectual by the Saviour's atonement, and, accom- panying the devout prayers of the Church, is offered ])urely for a time ; till mingling with human corrup- tions, it becomes the instrument of discord and vio- lence. This is only a general and preluding view of the subject. The heresies, divisions, and commo- tions, which, under the name of Christianity, mise- rably afflicted the Christian world, and almost ba- nished from it true religion, are to be more espe- cially depicted in the seciuel of this seal. The significant action now exhibited, prepares lis for the kind of history which is to follow ; which we may reasonably expect to be that of the Christian re- ligion thus producing commotions upon the earth. Some annotators have considered the fire thus cast to the earth to signify the vengeance of the Al- mighty on the Roman empire ; and they have at- tempted to support this exposition by a passage in the tenth chapter of Ezekiel, ver. 2, where the angel is divinely commanded to go in, and take coals of fire from between the cherubim, and scatter them over Jerusalem. But in comparing these two pas- sages, we find an essential difference in the opera- tions described. The scenery in both visions is heavenly: there is in both a throne, and the pre- sence of the Almighty surrounded by his cherubim. But in Ezekiel, where the scene is moveable, and not stationary, as in the Apocalypse, there is no altar before the throne, and the angel is there commanded to go in between the cherubim, that is, to the very throne itself, thence to take the coals which he is to scatter over the city. Here, in the Apocalypse, ]72 THE APOCALYPSE. [cH. viii. 6— 1 2. there is the altar standing before the throne, and a censer and much incense are given to the officiating angel, and he makes an offering, representing (as we have shown) that of the Christian religion; and the fire, to be cast down, is not taken from the throne, but from the altar. The descent of which upon the earth therefore seems to imply, not merely the just judgments of God on a guilty world, but their connexion with the Christian religion. The vision of Isaiah bears parallel resemblance both to this vision of Ezekiel, and to that exhibited in the fourth chapter of the Apocalypse, the scenery of which is continued in this chapter. In this (Is. vi. 6) the seraph takes the coal of fire /row? the altar. And the use and application of it is not to punish and destroy, but to purify the prophet from sin, and to ordain him to his holy office of foretelling the great evangelical events which were to take place in the Church of God. The more we consider all these circumstances, the more inclined shall we be to conclude, that this preparatory vision concerns the Chistian Church, and the succeeding visions under the trumpets, thus introduced, w^ill confirm us in this opinion. PART III. SECTIONS II. and III. The four first Trumpets . Chap. viii. ver. 6 — 12. 6 And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound. 7 fhe first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire CH.viii. G — 12.] THE APOCALYPSE. 173 mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth : and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up. 8 And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great moun- tain 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 which were in the sea, and had life, died : and the third part of the ships were destroyed. 10 And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters ; 1 1 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. 12 And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise. In the prophetical parts of the Old Testament, the sound of trumpets generally signifies the ap- proach of warfare and hostile invasion ; and most of the commentators on the Apocalypse agree that, in these visions, the trumpets have the same significa- tion. But when they inquire, — Whence comes the armies of invaders ? and of what quality and descrip- tion are they? and what is the object against which their hostility is directed ? there is great difference of opinion. After a long and patient investigation of these subjects, I am inclined to adopt the following con- clusions : that the object of attack throughout the trumpets is one and the same — the pure Christian Church ; and that the assailants are not only its in- fidel and acknowledged foes, but also those, its most formidable enemies, who professing to belong- to its body, have taught doctrines, and pursued measures, contrary to its purity, destructive of its peace, and almost of its existence, the heretics and Anti- Christian corrupters. These conclusions result from the principle laid 174 THE APOCALYPSE. [cH. viii. G — 12. down in my former work, and repeated in the pre- face to this,— -that the Christian Church in general is the main object of the Apocalyptic, and indeed of all divine^, prophecy. There is no reason for except- ing the trumpets from this rule : it is, on the con- trary, confirmed in their case by the preparation which we have just now contemplated. It is con- firmed also by the fact which we proceed to esta- blish, that in those visions of the trumpets whose meaning can be most accurately ascertained, the Christian Church is evidently the object of assault. Such it is seen to be in the fifth and sixth trum.pets, and yet more clearly and confessedly in the seventh ; where, (in chap. xi. ver. 15,) upon the angel's sounding, the heavenly voices immediately proclaim the victory, and award the kingdoms of the world to Christ ; and that his church is to partake the hap- piness and glory of his victory and reign is apparent from the subsequent song of the elders, and indeed from all holy writ. In this seventh and last con- flict the contending powers are fully declared, and we may reasonably suppose them the same in all the stages of the warfare, under the four first trum- pets, as well as under the three last. But under these four first, the description is so very short, the symbols of so general a character, so rapidly shown and passed over, that it seems diffi- cult to collect from them particular and specific in- formation. Yet this general and unrestricted form of the symbols employed, seems to have been the cause of so many and various expositions of them. The history of the Roman empire, as well as of the Christian Church, has been ransacked for events of warfare and sufferings, to be applied as a solution of these four short visions. Ver. 7. The first angel sounded ; i,nd there followed CH.viii.6 12.] THE APOCALYPSE. 175 hail and fire mingled icith blood ; and they were cast upo?i the earthJ] The earth, as distinct from the heaven, the local habitation of the Deity, is the object of attack and injury in all of the four first trumpets. But in one part of it only at a time, according to a fourfold divi- sion of it, which occurs frequently in scripture, and is to be seen in this book of Apocalypse, (chap. xiv. ver. 7,) where God is described as the Creator of the world, under these four divisions, " Heaven, earth, sea, and the fountains of waters^ The attack of the first trumpet is upon " the earth," uq t7i\^ ym', which, being here contradistin- guished from the sea, (the object of the next trum- pet,) and being evidently only a part of the globe of the earth, that part which we call land, might be more fitly expressed in our language by the word la?id. Upon this division of the whole earth fall " hail and fire mingled with blood." Such a storm is described as falling upon J^gypt, by the divine command literally, (Exod. ix. 23, &c.) But here it must be received in its typical or spiritual sense. Now, in the writings of the prophets, 'H Fi?, the land, as opposed to the sea, frequently signifies the holy laud, the people of Israel ; while the Gentiles, especially those of the west, are spoken of by the word sea ; (see Isa. xxiv. passim ; xlii. 4 ; Ix. 5, compared with Matth. xii. 21 ; Gen. x. 5 ; Ps. Ixv. 5^ Ezek. xxvi. 15, 16;) and between these, in the early days of Christianity, there was a very marked line of dis- tinction ; the circumcised being bound to the ob- servance of the ceremonial law in some parts, while the uncircumcised were free from that obligation, (see the Epist. to the Galatians.) In the New Tes- tament they are also distinguished from each other by the several appellations of Aoot and 'EQvoi, (Acts iv. 27 ; Rom. xv. 10^, 1 1 ;) and, in those early times. I7G THE APOCALYPSE. [cH. viii. G 12. some of the apostles and teachers were sent to ad- dress themselves to the circumcision, others to the Gentiles. Upon the Christian Israelites therefore we may suppose that the storm of hail and fire mingled with blood, — by which is generally under- stood the storm of persecution even unto death, — was destined to fall. A}2d the third part of trees was burnt i(p, and all green grass was burnt up.^^ Trees and other vegetables re- present the converts to the Christian religion ; some of whom are " rooted and grounded in the faith;" others, ** having no root," cannot stand against the storm. (Isa. Ixi. 3; xliv. 3, 4 ; 2 Kings xix. 30; Matth. iii. 10; xiii. 6, 21 ; xv. 13; Eph. iii. 17; Jude 12.) The third part of these is destroyed. The student will find advantage in comparing Ezekiel, ch. v. 12, and Zechariah xiii. 8, 9, with this passage. Two-thirds of the people of Israel are there destined to destruction at the siege of Jerusalem, and one- third to be dispersed among the nations ; and these, after severe trials, (such as the Judaic Christians experienced, by which their numbers would be greatly diminished, as in the refiner's fire,) are tlie remnant saved to be the true people of God. But in the passage before us, " all green grass is burnt up." Grass, in scriptural language, represents the gaily flourishing, who exhibit a promising appear- ance in the Christian ranks, but, like herbage in hot burning climates, soon wither and die : — they " spring up quickly, with joy receive the word, but in time oi persecution fall away." (Mark iv. 17.) The first persecution which afflicted the Church arose from the Jewish zealots, and fell upon their converted brethren. Persecution from this source was continued beyond the time when this prophecy was delivered, as may be seen in chap. ii. 9 — 12. CII. viii. G 12.] THE APOCALYPSE. 177 iii. 9; and the few ancient records of those early- times, which have come down to us, show its con- tinuance afterwards, (Mosheim's Eccl.Hist. cent. 1. ch. V.) On this passage Vitringa has observed, that in chap. ix. 4, the scorpion-locusts are commanded " not to hurt the grass of the earth, nor any green thing nor tree, but only the 7nen who have not the seal of God on their foreheads;" whence he con- cludes, that the storm falling here upon the grass, &c. falls upon the Christians; which agrees with this exposition of the prophecy. Ver. 8, 9. A?id the second angel sounded, &c.] At the sound of the second trumpet, the hostile inva- sion of the Anti-Christian powers falls upon the sea. Under this name, or that of the Isles of the Sea, or Isles of the Gentiles, the nations beyond the pale of the Jewish Churph are frequently represented, (Gen. X. 5 ; Isa. xxiv. 14, 15 ; Ix. 5, 9 ; xlii. 4, compared with Matth. xii. 21 ; Ezek. xxvi. 15, 16, &c.) Upon the Christians in these nations, — the Gentile converts, — the hostile attack descends under the symbol of " a great mountain burning with fire." A mountain in prophetic language signifies an high and eminent seat of power, civil or reli- gious. From the Mountain Smai the law was pro- claimed, and it was the seat of the God and King of Israel. On Mount Sion afterwards stood his temple. And the increasing kingdom of Christ is described as a mountain filling the whole earth, (Isa. xxv. 6 ; Dan. ix. 16 ; ii. 35, 44.) And the worldly powers, opposed to God and his people, had their seat and worship on " the tops of the mountains, on every high hill." In such figurative language the Chris- tian religion is called Mount Sion ; and contrasted with the Jewish law, called Mount Sinai, (Ileb. xii. N 178 THE APOCALYPSE, [cii.viii.6 12. 18, &c.) Ill this metaphorical sense, Babylon, that eminent seat of power and idolatry, hostile to true religion, is by the prophets addressed as a mounta'm, although its situation was low, upon the river Euphrates, and surrounded by an extensive plain. '* Behold, I am against thee, O destroying moun- tain; 1 will stretch out my hand upon thee, and roll thee down from the rocks." To which is added, " I will make thee a burnt mountain ;" which words appear to be spoken prophetically of the utter destruction of Babylon, frequently foretold in other places. The mountain before us is still burning ; and as Babylon was to the ancient Church, so this, to the Christian Gentiles, is to become formidable and destructive. The effect is blood, upon a third part; and a third part of those that had life' (which is, as I conceive, spiritual life in Christ) perishes. For to die, in the figurative language of scripture, is to lose the life which is in Christ, (see Notes, ch. iii. 1,2.) And " Howl ye ships of Tarshish," Isa. xxiii. 1, is addressed to the inhabitants of Tarshish, and not to their ships. Our Lord had foretold, under the same figure, *' fire," that his religion should be the cause of persecution, contentions, and bloodshed, for the trial of faith under which many should fall away, (Luke xii. 49, 51, &c. ; 1 Pet. i. 6, 7.) The Gentile converts were mingled with the heathen idolaters, whose power and corrupt reli- gion was in due time, like Babylon, to become " a burnt mountain." But the period of its extinction is not yet arrived ; it is now burning. So, during the three first centuries, the idolatrous power was consuming away, from the fire inflicted upon it from above, from the altar of true religion in heaven, (ver. 5 ;) but so long as it continued burning, the persecu- cn.viii.6 — 12.] tiieapocalyp.sk. 179 tioii by the idolaters raged grievously against the Gentile Churches, and great was the number of the lapsed. Ver. 10, 1 1 . And the third angel sounded ^ &c.] A star, in prophetic language, signifies a prince, or eminent leader, — a leader in doctrine, (Numb. xxiv. 17; Matth. ii. 2 ; Rev. ii. 2S; xxii. 16; i. 16.) Such an one falling from heaven, as did Satan, (Luke X. 18 ; 2 Pet. ii. 4 ; Jude 6 ; and Rev. xii. 4; ix. 1 — 12; where Satan and his fallen angels ap- pear under this symbol,) corrupts the third part of the rivers and fountains of waters; that is, corrupts the streams and sources of pure doctrine, which are expressed by our Lord under the same metaphor, (John iv. 10, &c. ; vii. 37 — 39.) The corruption of pure doctrine and introduction of heretical tenets are commonly attributed in scripture to Satan and his angels, (Matth. xiii. 29 ; 2 Cor. xi. 14, 15 ; Eph. ii. 2 ; 2 Thess. ii. 9 ; 1 Tim. v. 15 ;) and the cor- rupting doctrine, producing heresies, is expressed by the metaphors, wormwood, gall,' bitterness, (Deut. xxix. 18 ; Amos v. 7 ; vi. 12 ; Acts viii. 23 ;) and the death here described is spiritual. (See note, chap. iii. 1.) Under this trumpet therefore we seem to obtain a general description of those corruptions, which, at the instigation of Satan, were seen to invade and subvert a great part of the Christian Church by the preaching of splendid heretics. Such in the early times were Simon, Menander, Cerinthus, &c. Ver. 12. And the fourth angel sounded, a, wild bcasts under the appearance of men. (Epist. ad Smyrnaeos.) 4thly. "Thei/hadhairasthehairofwo?nen." In the eastern nations of antiquity the women wore their hair long, which was accounted effeminate and disgraceful to men ; yet, under this effeminate ap- pearance, assumed to allure, they destroy. For, 5thly. *' 7'heir teeth are as the teeth of I'lons." (See Joel i. 6; Ps. Ivii. 4; Iviii. 6; 1 Pet. v. 8,) ready to devour. Gthly. " They had breastplates, as it icere, of iron.'' Iron in appearance, as their defensive armour, but not of ironlike strength ; for the controversial armour of the Gnostics made but a poor defence against the arguments of the philosophers and of the Christian fathers. 192 THE APOCALYPSE. [CH. ix. 1 — 12. 7thly. " The sound of their wings ivas as the sound of chariots, of many horses, running to battle.'' This is a lively description of the charge made upon the Christian Church, by numerous swarms of heretics in the second century. For a time it seemed irre- sistible, and to bear down all before it. 8thly. '* They had tails like scorpions, and stings ive?'e in their tails.'' By the appointment of the Creator, the face, in its perfection, is peculiar to man, the tail to brutes. The brutal part is employed to overthrow pure religion, by the indulgence of brutal passions. The sti7ig of death is sin, (1 Cor. XV. 56. ) Sheltered under the Gnostic doctrines, the most loose and debasing morality prevailed in a great part of the world professedly Christian. 9thly. " Their power ivas to hurt men Jive months.''' In the Greek, tovq AvOpojirovg, the men, the Christian men, who have been baptized into that profession, but are not marked with the seal of God, " the holy Spirit, by which the Lord knoweth them that are his," (2 Tim. ii. 19.) The continuance of these antichristian invaders in power and prosperity is five months, which, interpreted as prophetical num- bers, (each day implying a year, and thirty of these in each month,) make one hundred and fifty years. lOthly. " They had a king over them, the angel of the bottomless pit, whose ?iame in the Hebrew is Abaddon, but in the Greek hath his name Apollyon." Their leader and king is not one of their own insect race, but an angel, an evil angel, the angel of the bottom- less pit, or Gehenna, which he had opened to fav^our their irruption ; whose Greek name will remind the biblical student of the Kipiauq mroXuaq foretold by St. Peter, (2 Pet. ii. 1 ;) and also of the name given by our Lord to Judas Iscariot, after Satan had taken possession of him, o moc TrjqaTroXsiaq. (John xvii. 12,) CH. ix. 1 12. J THE APOCALYPSE. 193 After this view of the figurative language employ- ed under this trumpet, we may observe, that as swarms of locusts are used in the Old Testament to signify and prefigure armies devastating the holy land, the heritage of God, in which the people of Israel enjoyed superior blessings and protection ; so, under the New Testament, such an invasion, led by an evil angel from the depths of hell, must be understood to have for its object the Christian Church, the heritage of Christ. And these assailants do not injure the Church by force of arms, for then, how could the sealed escape ? Under such trying circumstances, when a con- quering and ferocious army overruns a country with fire and sword, the sealed, the faithful and acknow- ledged servants of God, undergo their share of the common calamity, alleviated indeed in their case by his divine Providence, but not entirely removed. But from the contamination of a pestilential heresy they might, and would be secure ; their principles and practice, and the seal of God, would save them. For an irruption of this description, we must there- fore look in the annals of ecclesiastical history, to fulfil the prophecy under this trumpet. We collect from other passages of prophetical scripture, that such heresies were preordained, to try and prove the Christians. " There must be heresies among you," says St. Paul, " that they which are approved may be made manifest among you," (1 Cor. xi. 19.) And in the apostolical times such heresies had begun to work; but, as Eusebius tells us, without much success ; and he dates their mischievous prevalence in the Church of Christ from the times of Ignatius's martyrdom, or the latter days of the emperor Trajan, and beginning of those of Adrian, (Hist. Eccl. lib. iv. c. 7. iii. 32.) The same valuable author has preserved for us a frag- C) 194 THE APOCALYPSE. [CII. ix. 1 12. ment from the works of Hegesippus, who lived in the times of Adrian, and he says, that " until those times, the Church had continued a pure and in- corrupt virgin ; for that those who attempted to corrupt the wholesome canon of evangelical doc- trine, had hitherto remained in obscurity. But when the sacred company of the apostles was de- parted, and the generation of those who were thousfht worthy to hear their divine preaching was gone, then the conspiracy of impious deceit had its beginning ; then to the preaching of the truth did they dare boldly to oppose their kjiowledge falsely so called.''' By this description he plainly refers to the Gnostics, the first great host of corrupters who overspread the Christian Church. Clemens Alexandrinus also, speaking of the Gnostics, asserts that they were not a pestilential heresy before the times of Adrian, (Strom, lib. vii. 17; viii. 27.) From Irenaeus, a nearer witness of those times, we collect the same information ; and Epiphanius, quoting from Ireneeus, says, that the Gnostic heresies burst out of the earth together at one time, like mushrooms, the lurking places of many scorpions, (contr. Hsereses, lib. i. 31.) Saturninus, followed by Cerdo, and by Marcion, who afterwards corrupted the Churches of Italy, by Bardesanes, Tatian, Severus, and their innume- rable disciples, spread the poison over the east ; while Basilides in Africa, followed by Carpocrates, Valentine, &c., overran the rest of the Christian world. Numerous churches and communities of these deceiving and deceived heretics continued to abound, and to bring scandal on the Christian name, during that century, and the larger half of the next. But in their progress they were powerfully opposed by cn. ix. 1 — 12.] THE apocalypse. 195 the orthodox and pure Christians ; by Justin Mar- tyr, Irenseus, Tertuliian, Clemens Alexandrinus, and Origen ; and in their wild dreams of philosophy by the Platonic philosophers under Plotinus ; at whose death, in the year 270, they were almost entirely sunk and gone. So that, taking all these accounts together, we find evidence that the dura- tion of the Gnostics, as a prevailing heresy and pestilen- tial swarm, (for it is in that view only that, consist- ently with the symbols, we are to consider them,) was about 150 years, the period foretold.^ The Gnostics are represented to us by the fathers of the Church, who lived in their days, to have de- rived their religious principles from the Nicolaitanes ; but as carrying their mischievous notions to the ut- most excess. To the wildest dreams of a visionary, fantastic philosophy, derived from the oriental schools, and which they incorporated with the Christian doctrines, corrupting or rejecting any part of the sacred writings unfavourable to their tenets, many of them added, as may be expected, the most immoral practices. Particulars of these it is not necessary to adduce ; they are to be collected from Irenaeus and Tertuliian, from Plotinus, the Platonic philosopher ; from other writers, who lived after this rage had passed over, Theodoret, Clemens Alexan drinus, and Epiphanius. The English reader may obtain a general notion of them from Mosheim's History, (second century, chap, v.) From the account now obtained, first, of the scrip- tural import of the figurative language of this trum- pet ; and, secondly, of the character of the Gnos- tics, and their period, it may appear, that the pro- 1 If the reader should be disposed to consider the period of the Gnostics, which has occasioned some doubt and controversy, with more attention, he may be referred to a long note in my former publication, where he will find a clue to direct him in further in- quiries on this subject. See page 239. o 2 196 THE APOCALYPSE. [cil.ix. 1 12. plietic representation was probably fulfilled by this first general and extensive apostasy. But it will be satisfactory to find the fulfilment in some very appo- site and striking particulars. In the first verse, '* the Star fallen from heaven/' called afterwards ** the king or leader of the locusts, the angel of the bottomless pit, the destroyer," has been clearly seen to be Satan, or some distinguished minister of that fallen angel. Now the ancient writers of the Church, and her prime historian Eusebius, ascribe the intro- duction of the great Gnostic heresy to the agency of the devil, (o imaoKaXog Aaj^iwv,) w^ho having, as he says, attempted in vain to overthrow the Church by persecution external, attacked it internally by his agents,— by professed Christians, — leading some of the faithful to the deep of destruction, ac (^vOov a-n-oXeiag, in which expressions there is a remarkable coincidence with the origin of this woe, as stated in the prophecy, " the pit of the bottomless deep," and likewise with the name of its leader, Apollyon, (Hist. Eccl. lib. iv. c. 7.) He represents this attack also as a warlike invasion, calling its leader ttoX- efXbjTarog, which agrees with the description before us, and with the alarm sounded by the trumpet. Justin Martyr is also represented by the same his- torian as ascribing this invasion to diabolical opera- tion, (lib. iii. c. 26.) What can express so forcibly the dark, perplexed, uncomfortable philosophy of the oriental schools, which mingling with Christianity, so miserably de- based it, as these fumes of black smoke arising from the infei'nal deep, and obscuring the sun ? The historian, in describing the invasion of the Gnostic heresies, uses nearly the same figures of speech, comparing the Churches of Christ to the most re- splendent luminaries before that attack, and thereby intimating how greatly their splendour was darken- ed by it. • CH.ix. 1 — 12.] THE APOCALYPSE. 197 In verses 3 and 4, a swarm of locusts arises with the smoke. Now the resemblance of the Gnostic teachers to such a swarm, in respect both to their numbers, and the mischief they occasioned, is so striking, that historians who did not entertain the most distant thought of applying to them this pro- phecy, and who merely related what they found re- corded in the annals of those times, have described them in the very terms by which the scorpion- locusts are described in this vision. Such is the re- lation of the learned Jacob Brucker, who, in his critical History of Philosophy, after speaking of a sect of oriental philosophers in the first century, adds : '* and when many from that sect had be- taken themselves to the Christian religion, and had preposterously attempted to unite their precepts to it, — -hence there arose those sivarms of heresies, which, priding themselves in the name oi Gnostics, like winged insects, wentjli/ing throughout all the Churches of Asia and Africa, and contaminated the simplicitij of the most holy religion ivith the most absurd nonsense ; and con- tinuing their progress to the Jews also, and even to the Gentiles, miserably corrupted the national phi- losophy of both these ; invented wild and monstrous notions, confirmed and increased the wide-reigning fanaticism, disseminated multitudes of spurious books, and corrupted the whole world with the very worst doctrines''' ^ 1 Exque ea secta plures, ciitn ad Christiauam religionem se con- tulissent, prseceptaque sua com hac prsepostere conjungere conati essent, exorta esse ilia hseresium examina, quse Gnosticorum iio- inine superbientia, rnuscarum iustar, per omnes Asiee atque Africse ecclesias pervolitarunt, et nugis ineptissimis simplicitatem sanctis- simse religionis contaminarunt. Ad Judseos quoque et ipsos Gen- tiles progressa, domesticam utrorumqae philosophiam misere cor- ruperunt, sententiarum monstra excogitarunt, fanaticisraum late regnantem confirmarunt et auxerunt, librorum spuriorum segetes dissetninarunt, pessimis que doctrinis totum commacularunt orbem. — Bruckeri Hist. Crit. Philosophice, torn. ii. page 639. 198 THE APOCALYPSE. [CH.ix. 1 — 12. In verses 3, 5, 10, the locusts are described as having the tails, the stings, the power of scorpions. These being nearly related to the race of serpents in oftensive character, are considered by the scrip- tural writers as a part of the power of the infernal enemy, (Luke x. 19. xi. 1^.) Now Eusebius ascribes the rise and progress of the Gnostic heresies to some serpent-like power; and compares their latent mischief to that oi a lurking reptile, (lib. iv. 7.) And Tertullian, in his treatise entitled Scorpiace, (that is, antidote against the scorpions,) directly compares the Valentinians and other Gnostic teachers to scor- pio?is, instancing the points of resemblance in the dangerous poison of a little contemptible animal ; in their infinite kinds and varieties, all armed in the same manner with a tail, and produced by heat. By these quotations it is intended to show, that those Christian fathers and writers, wlio lived near- est to the times of the great Gnostic heresy, con- ceived such notions of it as occasioned them to re- present it under the same images as the scorpion locusts appear in this vision. The comparison needs not to be pursued farther. If the reader will turn back and peruse the remain- ing verses in which this prophecy is contained, with the remarks upon them, beginning at page 188, and keeping in mind what he has learned of the Gnostic history, he will probably admit, that the Gnostics, sj)ringing up suddenly, in immense numbers, from the dark and proud philosophy of the east, and possess- ing themselves of many of the Christian Churches, darkening their primitive lustre, poisoning their princi- ples, and debasing their morals, yet not succeeding against all the members of the congregations, but only the corrupt part, and not destroying utterly in these the foundation of their faith in Christ, but leaving room for their repentance and return to the CH. ix. 1 12.] THE APOCALYPSE. 199 true Church, and continuing to flourish about the space of one hundred and fifty years, have wonder- fully fulfilled this prophecy. From the ancient commentators, Andreas Caesar- iensis, Arethas, Primasius, Victorinus, we are able to collect very little worth notice upon the vision of the fifth trumpet. Their notions are upon the whole very crude, weakly imagined, and slenderly sup- ported. But in " the pit of the bottomless deep" they descry Gehenna, the place of eternal punishment, and some of them recognized Satan as the angel opening it, and as the king of the scor- pion-locusts, which they imagine to represent his angels, punishing the sinful ; and the five months they suppose to be the duration of an intense suffer- ing, afterwards to receive some remission ; or who, say they, could abide it? Bede, Haymo, Aquinas, and almost all the com- mentators of the middle ages, have understood the locusts to represent swarms of heretics, the pre- cursors of Antichrist. That they represent heretics is adopted by a great number of commentators in the reformed Churches ; among whom is the pri- mate archbishop Usher, and Bochart, says Vitringa, in his heart. Gagneeus asserts, that almost all the commentators to his time understood this trumpet as alluding to the heretics ; and cardinal Bellar- mine, followed by the papal Church, interprets it of Luther and his followers, the most notorious and dangerous of heretics in their estimation. Grotius, almost alone and unsupported, applies the symbols of this vision to the Jews and their zeal- ots, preceding the destruction of Jerusalem. Joseph Mede seems to have been the first com- mentator of note who interpreted this trumpet as fulfilled in Mahomet and his followers. This inter- 200 THE APOCALYPSE. [CH.ix. 1—12. pretatioii has been generally received in this coun- try with some little variation. The learned and able editors of that useful work, our National Bible, have drawn their annotations on this part of the Apoca- lypse from this quarter ; and it seems to me that I cannot do that justice which I owe to this system of interpretation more fairly, in the small compass allowed, than by copying their selection of notes. ^ Ver. 1. — a star fall from heaven, &c.] Stars, in the language of prophecy, signify angels; and the expression here, of a star falling from heaven, or an angel coming down from heaven with a key to open the bottomless pit, seems to denote the permission by Divine Providence of those evils and calamitous events, which are described as ensuing, which could not have happened except by His permission, and according to the wise and holy order of the Divine government. Lowman. 2. And he opened the bottomless j)d ;'] This prison of Satan, and of his angels, is permitted to be opened for the just punishment of apostate churches, who would not repent of their evil works. Here is something more terrible than we have hitherto seen. Hell opens, and Satan appears, followed by an army of a stronger figure than St. John has any where else described. Lowman, Bossuet. ■ and there arose a sjjwhe] That is, a false reli- gion, the religion of the impostor Mahomet, was set up, which filled the world with darkness and errour. Bp. JSfewton. 3. A?id there came oid of the smoke locusts] Here is an allusion to the habits of locusts, which, as Pliny and the eastern historians tell us, breed in pits and deep slimy holes in the latter part of the summer ; and from the eggs or spawn there laid arise the vast 1 These follow in this and the four next pages. CH. ix. 1 — 12.] THE APOCALYPSE. 201 swarms in the spring following. By this, in the same figurative language which is used by the pro- phet Joel, (Joel i. 6 ; ii. 5 — 7,) are described the terrible forces of the Saracens and Arabians under Mahomet and his successors, their leaders ; invad- ing and ravaging not only the European kingdoms, but large tracts both of Asia and Africa : their false and impious religion was as smoke and darkness arising out of hell, and their armies fitly resembled locusts for multitude, and both of them together were as mischievous to the minds and liberties of men, as the poison of serpents is to the human body. Pyte. 4. — not hurt the grass, &c.] This shews that they were not natural, but symbolical,, locusts. Jos. Mede. hut onhj those men ivhich have not the seal, &c.] That is, those who are not the true servants of God, but are corrupt and idolatrous Christians. Now it appears from history, that in those countries of Asia, Africa, and Europe, where the Saracens extended their conquests, the Christians were generally guilty of idolatry in the worshipping of saints, if not of images; and it was the pretence of Mahomet and his followers to chastise them for it, and to re-esta- blish the unity of the Godhead. The parts which remained most free from the general infection were Savoy, Piedmont, and the southern parts of France, which were afterwards the habitation and nurseries of the Waldenses and Albigenses; and it is very me- morable that, when the Saracens approached those parts, they were defeated with great slaughters in several engagements. J5^. Newton. 5. And to them it was given that they should not kill, &c.] As they were to hurt only the corrupt and idolatrous Christians, so these they were not to kill, but only to torment, and to bring on them such 202 THE APOCALYPSE. [cil.ix. 1 — 12. calamities as would make them weary of their life. Thus, though the Saracens greatly harassed and tormented the Greek and Latin churches, they did not utterly extirpate the one or the other. They be- sieged also Constantinople, and plundered Rome, but did not make themselves masters of the one city or the other. Bp, Newton. but that they should he tormented five months ;] Evidently alluding to the time, during which natu- ral locusts commit their devastations, and after which they die. They are hatched, as Bochart ob- serves, about the spring, and die at the latter end of summer, thus living about five months. Lowman. It is again mentioned at ver. 10, that '^ their power was to hurt men five months." If these months be taken for natural months in the interpre- tation of the prophecy, then the meaning is, that the Saracens, after the manner of locusts, made their excursions during the five summer months, and retreated in the winter. And it appears from history that this was their usual practice: in par- ticular it is related, that at the siege of Constan- tinople they always retreated at the approach of winter, and renewed their attacks during the sum- mer months, for seven successive years. But if, as seems more probable, and as accords with the pro- phetic style, these months designate each a space of thirty prophetic days or years, then the whole pe- riod "denoted is one hundred and fifty years. And accordingly we shall find, that, though the empire of the Saracens had a longer duration, yet within that period they made their principal conquests, and their power of " tormenting men" was chiefly exerted. It appears from their history, that their greatest conquests were made from the year 612, when Mahomet first began to propagate his impos- ture, to the year 762, when the caliph Almansor CH. ix. 1 12.] THE APOCALYPSE. 203 built Bagdad, to fix there the seat of his empire. Syria, Persia, India, and the greatest part of Asia, Egypt, and the greatest part of Africa, Spain, and some parts of Europe, were subdued within that period : but when the caliphs fixed their habitation at Bagdad, then their armies ceased from ravaging like locusts, and they assumed more the character of a settled nation. Bp. Newton. • as tJie toiineiit of a scorpion,'] The sting of a scorpion, *' when he striketh a man," is severe, at- tended with inflammation and violent pain. Low- man. 6. — shall men seek death,'] That is, so great shall be the calamities of those times, that men shall be tired of life. Jos. Mede. 1 . And the shapes of the locusts ivere like unto horses] — In the following verses, the i ature and qualities of locusts are described, partly in allusion to the pro- perties of natural locusts, and the description given of them by the prophet Joel, (see Joel ii. 1, &c. and the notes there,) and partly in allusion to the habits and manners of the Arabians. Many authors have observed, that the head of a locust resembles that of a horse ; whence the Italians call them cavalette, or little horses. And the Arabians have in all ages been famous for their horses and horsemanship; it being well known that their strength consists chiefly in their cavalry. Bp. Newton. on their heads were as it were crowns like gold.] Alluding to the head-dress of the Arabians, who constantly wore turbans or mitres. Bp. Neivton. The " crowns of gold" may also signify the success and extent of their dominion ; for there never was a nation which extended its power so widely, or in so short a space of time reduced beneath its yoke so many countries and kingdoms. Jos. Mede. 7, 8. — faces ivere as the faces of men. And — hair, 204 THE APOCALYPSE. [CH.ix. 1 12. &c.] The Arabians wore their beards, or at least their mustachios, like men, while the hair of their heads was flowing and plaited like that of women. Bp. Newton. 8. — as the teeth of lions.'] That is, strong to de- vour, Joel i. 6. Jos. Mede. 9. — breastplates, as — of iron ;] Locusts have a hard shell or skin, which has often been called their armour. This figure is designed to express the de- fensive, as the former was the offensive arms of the Saracens. Bp. Newton. and the sound of their wings, &c.] Hereby sig- nifying the rapidity of their conquests. Pyle. Na- tural locusts fly with so great a noise of their wings, that they may be taken for birds. Bp. Newton. 10. And they had tails like unto scorpions.'] They are thrice compared to " scorpions," ver. 3, 5, 10 ; and had " stings in their tails, &c." that is, wherever they carried their arms, there they distilled the venom of a false religion. Bp. Newton. 1 1 . And they had a king over them.] Although the natural locusts have no king, (see the observation of Agur, Prov. xxx. 27,) yet these figurative locusts have one, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, that evil spirit, the prince of the power of darkness, who, from the constant evils he is designing and doing in the world, is called " the destroyer." Low- man. Abaddon, — ■ ApoUyon, &c.] The one name in Hebrew, the other in Greek, means " the destroyer." Mr. Mede imagines that here is some allusion to the name of Obodas, the common title of the kings of that part of Arabia, from which Mahomet came, as Pharaoh was the common name of the kings of Egypt, and Cesar of the emperours of Rome ; and such allusions are not unusual in the style of Scrip- ture. Bp. Newton. CH. ix. i — 12.] THE APOCALYPSE. 205 The selection of these notes, taken from the fol- lowers of Med e, is judicious, and shows their tenets to the best advantage. The application of the "fallen star" to Mahomet, by Daubuz, Bishop Newton, and others, is not admitted. Indeed, Mede himself had not adopted it, but on the contrary affirmed, in very strong language, that this star is no other than ipsissimiis Draco et Satanas, (Clavis, pars ii. syn. iv.) As to these symbolical locusts, what- ever they represent, whether hosts of armed men, or swarms of heretical teachers, they are clearly re- stricted in ver. 4, from hurting any thing or person, *' but only those men who have not the seal of God on their foreheads," that is, as Bishop Newton pro- perly states, the corrupt Christians. But did the armies of Mahomet fulfil this commission ? or was it possible, that without a constant interposition of divine miracles they could fulfil it ? Were there no true servants of God in the vast and populous Christian countries which these terrible depredators overran with such relentless violence ? and if there were such, how and when did they escape the se- vere inflictions which all others underwent in their persons, their property, their religion ? ^ Can it be true, as is said to accommodate this supposed event to the prophecy, that the sealed were the inhabitants of those parts of the Christian world where the Sa- racen forces never entered, the unsealed those which were subdued by them ? On the contrary, it is well known and acknowledged, that the Europeans, who escaped this devastation, were very little, if at all, superior in knowledge and purity to the Asiatics, 1 Observe our Lord's injunction, formed upon this supposition, that, according to the settled economy of this world, the good and the bad, in the time of general invasion, are inseparable, and must fall together: " Nay, lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them.'' — Matth. xiii. 29. 206 THE APOCALYPSE. [CII. ix. 1 — 12. and Africans who sunk under it ; and that, at this very time, they were so debased in ignorance and superstition as to become an easy prey to the papal domination, then beginning its corrupt and tyran- nical career. The truth is, that the sealed are to be found in all Christian countries, mingled with the unsealed ; and the invasion which could hurt the one, and not the other, may be understood to be that of an universally extending heresy, but not that of an hostile army. The good Christian, stedfast in the primitive faith, would not be hurt by heretical teachers ; but how could he escape from the Sara- cene sword ? Farther, we may ask, whether it is shown, or indeed how it can be shown, that the nominal Christians, who underwent the rigours of the Saracene invasions and domination during one hundred and fifty years, did. " seek for death, and desire to die," without being able to attain it. This is surmised by Mede and his followers, who have concluded that such must have been the consequence of their immense suf- ferings. But if this be all, there is in this no par- ticular or appropriate evidence which may seem to warrant the divine prediction, as applied to this case only, for such may be equally the case under all such sufferings. In a spiritual sense indeed they might wish to die, that is, to be dead to a sense of the religion which they had professed, and wishing to adopt the Mahometan tenets, which they knew to be false, in order to enjoy the privileges attached to them. But this is not the sense in which this part of the prediction has been hitherto applied. More- over, in respect to this period of one hundred and fifty years, it cannot be shown, nor has there been any attempt to show, that the Saracene conquests and spoliations were confined to this space of time. It is only asserted that their ''principal conquests CH. ix. 1 — 12.] THE APOCALYPSE. 207 were made, and their power of tormenting chiefly exerted during this period. But the period of these conquests, and of the calamities accompany- ing them, are full well known to have occupied more than double this portion of historical space ; and that other warlike nations, professing the same religious creed, have renewed them ; and that now, after a lapse of twelve hundred years, the Maho- metan powers are still in possession of the much greater part of the conquests already accomplished. Vitringa, with his usual learning and industry, has reviewed the principal expositions of this trumpet, as published in his time ; and, among the rest, this of Joseph Mede, which he rejects, and proposes the irruption of the Goths into Italy as fultilling the sym- bols of the vision. The devastation of these fero- cious conquerors he accounts to have continued one hundred and fifty years, beginning with Alaric in the eighth century. But in this application of the prophecy his failure is so evident, as to render re- futation unnecessary. Upon the whole, it must be left to the judgment of critical enquirers in future, to determine, whether the restrictions in verses 4 and 5 do not exclude all hosts and swarms, but those of heretical teachers, from being considered as represented by the scor- pion-locusts ; ^ and whether the death, in verse 6, is not to be interpreted in a spiritual sense only ; — and if these questions should be answered in the affirm- 1 In a letter with which I was honoured by the late Bishop Hor- sley, dated St. Asaph, March 20, 1806, his lordship says: " I have received much pleasure in reading your exposition of the vision of the locusts. You have rescued that portion of the pro- phecy from much erroneous and absurd interpretation. I have for some years been fixed in the opinion, though I have never written upon the subject, that the apocalyptic locusts represent heretics, not sol- diers." It is well known that the bishop entertained notions not conforraable to mine, respecting some other predictions. 208 THE APOCALYPSE. [cil.ix. 13 — 21. ative, whether the period in history of one hundred and fifty years, during which the innumerable here- siarchs of Gnostical character darkened and dis- figured the infant Church of Christ, exposing it to scandal, misrepresentation, and additional persecu- tion, be not sufficiently responsive to the symbols exhibited in this vision. As to the claims of the Saracene Mahometans, it may perhaps appear, that they are to be more com- pletely satisfied in the interpretation of the subse- quent vision. PART III. SECTION V. The Sixth Trumpet. Chap. ix. ver. 13 — 21. 1 3 And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice 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 angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates. 15 And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men. 16 And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hun- dred 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 of the horses were as the heads of lions : and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone. 18 By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths. 19 For their power is in their mouth, and in their tails: for their tails were like unto serpents, and had heads, and with them they do hurt. CH. ix. 13 21.] THE APOCALYPSE. 209 20 And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood : which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk ; 21 Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorce- ries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts. Ver. 13. And the slvtli angel sounded.'] It is ob- served by Vitringa, that the principal commentators have differed less in their opinion upon this vision, — the second woe and sixth trumpet, — than upon most others. It has been very generally explained to prefigure the terrible invasions and devastations by the nations adopting the Mahometan creed, the Saracens, the Turks, the Tartars, by some or all of them ; and Michaelis, who is backward in giving his approbation to any exposition of these visions, has declared " that this prophecy may be very well applied to the irruptions of the Saracens, the Turks, and the Tartars." (Introd. to New Test. ch. xxiii. sect. 7.) Ver. 13, 14, 15. I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar, which is before God, &c.] The voice is originally from the throne ; it is one voice, (so it should be translated,) no power of command could be derived from any other quarter ; but it passes through the horns of the golden altar, appearing to proceed from them. This is the altar of incense which in the scenery of these visions is seen to stand before the throne, as, in the holy of holies, in the temple, it stood before the cherubim, the local throne of Jehovah. Here atonement was wont to be made annually for the sins of the people, (Exod. XXX. 1 — 10.) A decree coming from such a'lquarter, and through such a medium, and attended by the alarming sound of the trumpet introducing a woe, p 210 THE APOCALYPSE, [cil.ix. 13 21. bespeaks the wrath of God kindling on a reli- gious account, and a severe visitation on his people of the Christian Church. Four angels, the minis- ters of vengeance, are called forth from their con- finement, to lead an host of assailants empow^ered and commissioned to slay a third part of the men, o^ the men to rpnov twv avOpivncov, (the article being improperly omitted in the received translation.) And the men are the Christimi men, (compare Acts XV. 17, and verses 4 and 20 in this chapter,) whose offences against God, on the score of religion, must be great indeed at this time, to call forth such a punishment. The nature and extent of these sins will appear in the 20th and 21st verses of this chapter, for there they are enumerated. By these four angels, answering in point of num- ber to the four horns of the altar, Parseus, and after him Mede and his followers, have understood four nations, or tribes of men, to be prefigured. But Vitringa properly observes, that the angels do not represent the nations, but their leaders ; as in the foregoing trumpet-woe, where the host of assail- ants have an evil angel for their leader or king. The four angels were appointed and pre-ordained to lead this irruption ; they were stationed at the great, river Euphrates, from which quarter it therefore seems that the armies to be led by them were to come. They were bound there, that is, not permit- ted to move in the execution of their appointed com- mission, till a certain hour, day, month, year, when the iniquity of the men should be ripe for such a punishment. Various commentators have endeavoured to show, that the particular nations or tribes, whom they have suppose the instruments of this divine vengeance, whether on the Roman empire or the Christian Church, were settled upon Euphrates, or proceeded Cri. ix. 13 21.] THE APOCALYPSE. 211 from that quarter, or at least made their irruption by passing that eastern boundary of the Holy Land, and of the Roman empire. The vision seems to imply some such Euphratean origin of the evil ; but the notion that four nations or tribes were to. come from thence for the execution of this commission, seems not to be fairly deduced. The number four is used in prophecy indefinitely (as hath been shovv^n) for a large and perfect number. Thus the *' four winds of heaven " comprehend the whole globe divided into its quarters, (Dan. xi. 4; Matth. xxiv. 3] ; Rev. vii. 1 ;) and the angels being four, answering to the four cardinal points of the altar, appears to imply the fulness of the decree, and se- verity of its operation, not a horn of the altar being- left unoccupied, so that expiation should be made upon it for the reversal of the order. Ver. 16— J 9. And the number of the arniy of horse- men, &c.] Immediately as the command for loos- ing the bounden angels is issued, the consequence of it appears : an army of cavalry, whose immense numbers are expressed in those indefinite terms, which in other places of Scripture are used to de- note prodigious quantities, (Dan. vii. 10; Ps. Ixviii. 17.) The horsemen are described to have breast- plates of fire, (or appearance of fire,) of jacinth (or hyacinthine colour,) and brimstone. Breastplates are not arms ofi"ensive, but defensive, and the slaughter is not done by these, nor by any weapon from the hands of the horsemen, but from the mouths and tails of their horses, their heads being as the heads of lions, and out of their mouths issue fire, smoke, and brimstone, by which it is expressly said, and again repeated, that " the third part of the men was killed." And injury also proceeds from the tails of the horses, which are like serpents, hav- p 2 212 THE APOCALYPSE. [CH.ix. 13 21. ing- heads, that is, the heads of serpents upon them, ■with which they do hurt. This will appear to be no ordinary warfare ; it is not carried on merely by the common charges of a cavalry, the swords and spears of the riders ; the TrXrjyai, ov strokcs of injury are inflicted from the mouths and tails of the animals upon which they are mounted. The Christian warfare is a warfare of doctrine proceeding from the mouth ; its conquests were foretold as thence proceeding, for the Messiah is described as " smiting* the earth with the rod of /lis mouth,'' (Is. xi. 4 ; xlix. 2 ;) and in the nine- teenth chapter of this Revelation he appears in this character at the head of his armies, " a sharp sword going out of his mouth.'''' This has been clearly un- derstood to signify that it is not by force of arms, but by powerful doctrine, that he shall prevail. " I will fight against them, says he, with the sword of my mouth," (Rev. ii. 16.) His witnesses, in chapter xi, employ the same instrument, " fire proceedeth out of their mouth.'' From the mouths of his oppo- nents come also the principal injuries which they in- flict, (Rev. xiii. 2, 5 ; xii. 15, 16 ; xvi. 13.) So that in this warfare upon the Christian Church, there is, united with the assault of armies, that more formid- able one of corrupt and blasphemous doctrine. By fire, in the figurative language of Scripture, devasta- ting warfare is denoted ; by smoke, as we have seen under the fifth trumpet, dark ignorance, covering dangerous doctrines ; and brimstone, in union with fire, implies an infernal origin of the mischief, (Rev. xix. 20; xxi. 8.) And as these issue from the mouths of the brutes employed, and not of the men, we may see cause to infer, that the destructive doc- trine is not founded so much on rational argument, which is peculiar to man, as upon the promise of animal gratification, which is the motive of beasts. CH. ix. 13 21.] THE APOCALYPSE. 213 And we shall be further confirmed in this notion by observing, that the injury is done in part by the ser- pent-headed tails of these brutes ; for the tail is the part of an animal which marks him brutal in contra- distinction to human ; and is used in prophetical Scripture to denote baseness, degradation, and sub- jection to impure passions. *' The prophet that speaketh lies, he is the tail," (Is. ix. 15 ; Deut. xxviii. 13 ; Rev. xii. 4.) Ver. 20, 21 . And the rest of the men, which were not killed by these plagues, yet repented 7iot of the works of their hands, &;c.] The part of the prophecy, con- tained in these two verses, is very important, as re- vealing the character and description of the men in the Christian Church, upon whom these punish- ments were to fall ; for from this circumstance we are enabled to collect the time when the prediction M^ould come to its fulfilment, which could not take place before that period should arrive, when the sins described were generally prevalent ; for this must have been the case, when even they who were permitted to escape this terrible visitation, were deeply and unrepentantly infected with them. The sins are these : 1 . The worship of Aaaiwvta daemons, who are shown, by Vitringa and others, to be fictitious gods and deified mortals, in opposition to the only true God ; 2. The worship of idols ; 3. All manner of impurity, injustice, and immorality, under the scriptural designation of murders, sorce- ries, fornications, and thefts. This was not the character of the Christian men in the three first centuries. The degeneracy began then, but was of slow procedure. The low estate of the Church in temporal enjoyment, and its exposure to frequent and severe persecution, preserved it, in a consider- able degree, from the intrusion of the worldly, who 214 THE APOCALYPSE. [CH.ix. 13 21. afterwards made it subservient to their ambition. And in the two centuries succeeding the lamentable change from divine knowledge to ignorance, and from purity to corruption, was gradual, so that we cannot fairly apply a general character of so deep a die to the Christian Church, before the sixth cen- tury ; but at the latter part of this and beginning of the seventh, the measure of this iniquity came to its full. And at this time history records a dreadful inva- sion of the Christian world by numerous armies as- sailing it at the same time by corrupt blasphemous doctrines, and by the terror of their arms ; and with such amazing success, as to cut off from the hope and comfort of Christianity, and from the commu- nion of the Church, so large a body of Christians, as may fairly be accounted one third part of the whole, yet leaving the remaining parts of the Chris- tian Church idolatrous, impure, and unrepentant. Under this description it will be easy to recognise the invasion of the Mahometan Saracens, whose numerous armies, famous for their cavalry, begin- ning their destructive progress early in the seventh century, soon subdued, not only to their arms, but also to their corrupt and blasphemous religion, a great part of Christendom, thus fulfilling the predic- tion in the 16th, 17th, 18th, and 19th verses. All historians are agreed in describing a dreadful cor- ruption and idolatry of the Church at the time of the Saracene irruption ; and to that circumstance, and to the unchristian divisions and animosities then prevailing, they ascribe principally the success of Mahomet and his followers ; at the same time ac- counting this calamity a punishment from heaven, which the professed Christians had justly deserved. And that the Christian countries, which remained unsubdued by the Saracene arms and doctrines, re- CH.ix.13 — 21.] THE APOCALYPSE. 215 mained also such as they were before, and such as they are described in the vision, superstitious, idola- trous, and immoral, and unrepentant, is as clearly established in the history of those times. But as no period is fixed in this prophecy, as in that of the fifth trumpet, for the continuance of this woe, there seems no occasion to confine the fulfil- ment of it, in all its parts and effects, to the first Mahometan conquests by the Saracens ; but it may be understood to comprehend every great assault, by which the Mahometan powers, of whatever tribe and origin, have successfully invaded and overturned the Christian worship and profession. And it is singu- larly remarkable, that as the dominions of the Ma- hometan powers were enlarged, from time to time, by these repeated irruptions, so the Christian powers continued to extend their limits and influ- ence in nearly the same proportion, gaining in the western parts of the globe what they lost in the east, and preserving somewhat of the same balance which was set forth at first by this divine prophecy. The labours of learned men, more particularly of Joseph Mede and Vitringa, who have shown that this vision may be fitly applied to the irruptions of particular Mahometan nations, may be profitably consulted by the student. But when these are pe- rused, it may be useful also to attend to the follow- ing suggestion : that the symbols of this vision, although more strictly applicable to the first grand irruption by Mahomet and his Saracens, may not un- fitly be so applied as to comprehend them all. ^ 1 See notes in the former work to chap. ix. 13 — 21. 2]6 THE APOCALYPSE. [CH. X. PART III. SECTION VI. The little Book. Cha-p. X. 1 And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud : and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire : 2 And he had in his hand a little book open: and he set his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot on the earth, 3 And cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roareth : and when he had cried, seven thunders uttered their voices- 4 And when the seven thunders had uttered their voices, I was about to write : and I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Seal up those things whichthe seven thunders uttered, and write them not. 5 And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven, 6 And sware by him that liveth for ever and ever, 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 there- in, that there should be time no longer: 7 But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets. 8 And the voice which I heard from heaven spake unto me again, and said. Go and take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel which standeth upon the sea and upon the earth. 9 And I went unto the angel, and said unto him, Give me the lit- tle book. And he said unto me, Take it, and eat it up ; and it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey. 10 And I took the little book out of the angel's hand, and ate it up ; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey : and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter. 1 1 And he said unto me. Thou must prophecy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings. In the 13th verse of the 8th chapter, three grand woes, three distinct periods of successful attack upon CH. X.] THE APOCALYPSE. 217 the Church by the antichristian powers, are an- nounced. The first of these takes place immediately, and in chap. ix. 12, is said to he past, and the second follows: but this, though it begins, like the first, with an hostile invasion, does not end in like manner. No period (as in the first woe, of one hundred and fifty years) is assigned for its continuance ; and when the description of the invasion is finished, no similar no- tice is given that the woe is ended. On the con- trary, it seems to continue till the seventh trumpet sounds (chap, xk 14,) when it is declared to he past. The whole prophecy had now begun to appear as drawing to its close, for the seventh and last trum- pet was expected. But a new and enlarging scene opens under the remains of this sixth trumpet, and before the end of the second woe. The famous pe- riod of forty-two months, or 1260 days, is here pre- sented to view ; the usurped dominion of the Maho- metans continues with it. But there is another antichristian usurpation, belonging to the same pe- riod, which is now to be prefigured. Ver. 1. And I saw another mighty angel come down from, heaven, clothed ivilh a cloud, and a rainboio was upon his head, and his face 2vas at it ivere the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire. ^ This appearance of an angel from heaven was pronounced by Sir Wil- liam Jones to equal in sublimity any description to be found in the inspired writers, and to be far supe- rior to any thing of the kind produced by human composition. The surpassing splendour of this mighty angel, his coming in the clouds of heaven, the heavenly iris or bow surrounding his head, his tread extending over earth and sea, have given him, in the opinion of many commentators, a divine character, an origin more than angelic ; and some of the foreign commen- 218- THE APOCALYPSE. [CH. X. tators, when they found that they could not consist- ently pronounce him the second person in the Tri- nity, have hesitated whether they should not ac- count him the third. But it is to be considered, that he is expressly denominated an angel, '* another angel,'' a being of the same order and description as the other heavenly messengers employed in these visions under the name of angels. The Son of God is already upon the scene in his emblem of the Lamb of God, and occupying his seat on the great Father's throne, and there he continues, even to the fourteenth chapter, and before the throne is stationed the re- presentation of the Holy Spirit, (ch. iv. 5.) But such another angel had been seen to officiate in the presence of the Lamb, (ch.vii. 2, and again viii. 3,) yet of less glorious appearance. This then will ap- pear to be the same kind of divine messenger, but coming with a more dignified commission, — to con- vey to the Church of Christ, through the apostle St. John, prophetical information of the highest import. Ver. 2. A7id he had in his hand a little book open.'] For the purpose above described he holds in his hand " a little book," a little, not in respect of its contents, which are of the greatest importance, but with a view to the object for which it was im- mediately designed— to be eaten and digested spi- ritually by the prophet. The book is open, unseal- ed ; by our Lord's merits it had become so, (see ch. v. 9.) It was probably a part of the larger sealed book which was opened by the Lamb, for it comes under the seals which are not yet emptied of their contents. It may also be the same in part with the prophecies of Daniel, (ch. xii. 4, 9,) which were sealed in his time for a distant period : a period CH. X.] THE APOCALYPSE. 219 which will be seen to have relation to the times of these apocalyptic visions now coming into view. Arid he set his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot on the earth.'] In the scene now before St. John, the heaven, containing God's throne and altar, and his surrounding ministers, are above; and the earth beneath, not suspended in an orbicular form, but extended as a plain, and containing the divisions, before marked, of land, sea, and rivers. The angel descends from heaven, and takes his station on the earth, placing one of his gigantic feet on the sea, the other on the land. The eastern nations, expressed by the division of the land, had been hitherto the principal scene of action under this trumpet. The angel's placing one foot on the sea, and that his principal or right foot, seems to intimate that the western nations, or Gentiles, are to be a principal object of the remaining prophecy under this trum- pet. And this accords with the commission given to St. John in verse 11, he is " to prophesy before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings." Ver. 4. And when the seven thunders had uttered their voices, I ivas about to icrite ; and I heard a voice from heaven, saying unto 7ne, seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not.~\ The whole prophecy is delivered under seven seals, seven trumpets, seven vials. In this passage a particular prophecy, or, it may be, seven distinct prophecies are uttered by seven voices, loud as thunder, awful and terrible as the lion-like voice of the angel who introduces them. But whatsoever intelligence may have been received by the prophet from this divine communication, he is forbidden to publish it. Thus events of great import, which were to happen under this seal and trumpet, are not revealed in this pro- 220 THE APOCALYPSE. [CII. X. phetical book. Some of the commentators have pretended to point out the history in which these unpublished predictions have been fulfilled. " But," says Bishop Newton, " as we know not the sub- jects of the seven thunders, so neither can we know the reasons for suppressing them." Suppressed they are by divine wisdom ; and all that we can fairly collect from the transaction is this, that there are great events in history, and probably relating to the Christian Church, which are not made the subject of open prophecy. Ver. 5. Lifted up his hand to heaven, and sware, &c.] The angel takes a solemn oath, in a form of scriptural antiquity, (Gen. xiv. 22; Deut. xxxii. 40 ; Ezek. XX. 5.) This mode of swearing has descended even unto our own times and nation, being still used in Scotland, and there allowed by act of parliament to those dissenters who are styled Seceders, (Paley's Moral Philosophy.) The solemn league and cove- nant, in the time of Charles the First, was taken in this scriptural form. Ver. 6 and 7. And sware .... that there should be time no longer : but in the days of the voice of the se- venth angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his ser- vants the prophets.^ There is considerable difficulty in this passage, as it stands in the original lan- guage. The student, who wishes to be ably con- ducted through it, will do well to read Vitringa's learned observations, (in locum,) and to add to these the remarks of an able scholar, who has successfully studied the use of the Greek article, as applied by the writers of the New Testament, (Dr. Middleton, late bishop of Calcutta,) who authorises us to translate the words irikiaBr} to CII. X.] THE APOCALYPSE. 221 fivartjpiov Tov Gfou, the ?ni/steri/ of God SHALL hejimshed. Many instances occur also in the Septuagint of the use of this tense, as applicable to future time. This supports the translation offered with great authority, for the Greek of the Septuagint is the language of the New Testament. These remarks tend to support those of the com- mentators, who, though they could not but see diffi- culty in the first clause of the angel's oath, y^povoq ovK iTi earai, yet seem clearly to have collected from the following part of it, that it refers upon the whole to that happy time, promised by divine prophe- cy, when the antichristian factions being sub- dued, the blessings of pure and peaceful religion shall abound. That period will occur under the seventh and last trumpet ; for then the Avarfare pre- dicted is concluded by the final victory and ascend- ancy of the Christian cause. In the visions suc- ceeding to that now before us, the prevalence of the beast and his false prophet are foretold. This con- solation therefore is now afforded us, before we enter upon that lamentable scene. Ver. 8 — 11. A?id the voice which I heard, &c. &c.] In this passage St. John receives commission, as a prophet to the Christian Church, in a form nearly re- sembling that by which, under the Old Testament, Ezekiel was commissioned as a prophet to the house of Israel, (Ezek. ii. and iii.) The roll, or book, (for they are the same,) upon which the prophecy is writ- ten, is delivered to each prophet with a command that he should eat it ; to eat it in a figurative sense, so that the contents, the prophetic denunciations, shall be completely possessed by him internally, that he may become " the living oracle of God." Both these prophecies contained woe, and were ungrateful to both prophets, though at their first re- 222 THE APOCALYPSE. [CH. X. ception they had seemed pleasant to the mouth. The gratification of curiosity is pleasant, the appoint- ment to a prophetic character is honourable ; but to read in the womb of futurity grievous denunciations against our country and church, must bitterly afflict an honest and benevolent mind. But why is this new commission to the prophet .'' He was sent originally to the seven Churches in Asia : Wherefore this new designation? " Thou must pro- pJiesy AGATN before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings?'" In answer to this it may be ob- served, that prior to the conquests of the Mahometan invaders, the seven Churches were situated near the centre of the Christian world. From that time they were no longer central in any sense : they lost their consequence, " repented not of their idolatry and wickedness," and in succeeding irruptions they fell a prey to the victorious enemy. " Their candlestick, or lamp-bearer, was removed," according to the threatening of their Lord, (ch. ii. 5.) But as the Christian religion receded in the east, before the arms and doctrines of the Mahometans, it spread and enlarged in the west. A new scene and a new audience have now their commencement. The Gen- tile nations (the sea on which the angel places his principal foot) come into view ; those ten kingdoms, into which the remains of the Roman empire were divided, are a principal part. Upon the vision exhibited in this tenth chapter, the difference of interpretation, by the principal commentators, is not such as to require much re- mark. Whether the little book be the same as that opened by the Lamb, or a part of it, or a codicil added to it, is not very material to the explanation of its contents. All are agreed that it contains the CH. X ] THE APOCALYPSE. 223 matter of the prophecy then coming forward, and by the complete possession of which St. John became the inspired and communicating prophet of that important period, ah^eady announced by the pro- phet Daniel in the same solemn manner as by the oath of the angel, to continue " a time, times, and an half," (Dan. xii. 7 ;) and this is the subject of a large remaining portion of the Apocalypse. It is likewise very generally accorded, that the Church of Christ, and more especially the great western branch of it, is th« main object of this part of the prophecy; and, as the development of it discloses a series of its sufferings under the usurpation and abuses of the antichristian ministers of Satan ; so a consolatory assurance, by the oath of a divine mes- senger, precedes the symbolical narrative of these evil days. The Church is assured, that though these afflictions must have their allotted period, their existence will altogether cease with the blast of the seventh trumpet. It is now also generally allowed, that the prophecies of the little book belong in a great measure to the sixth trumpet, which had been otherwise considered by Mede. The reader may see the opinion of this ingenious theorist candidly examined, and ably refuted, by Vitringa (in locum.) PART III. SECTION VII. The 7neasuring of the Te7nple, and the Witnesses. Chap. xi. ver. I — 14. 1 And there was given me a reed like unto a rod : and the angel stood, saying. Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein. 224 THE APOCALYPSE. [CH. Xl. I — 14. 2 But the court which is without the temple leave out, and mea- sure it not ; for it is given unto the Gentiles : and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months. 3 And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth. 4 These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks stand- ing before the God of the earth. 5 And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies : and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed. 6 These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy : and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will. 7 And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them. 8 And their 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 kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and an half, and shall not suf- fer their dead bodies to be put in graves. 10 And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth. 11 And after three days and a half the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet ; and great fear fell upon them which saw them. 12 And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them. Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud ; and their enemies beheld them. 13 And the same hour was there a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand : and the remnant were aff'righted, and gave glory to the God of heaven. 14 The second woe is past; and, behold, the third woe cometh quickly. Ver. 1,2. And there ivas given me a reed,^ &c.] St. John now enters upon the prophetic office, as- 1 It may be proper to observe, that the words '* And the angel stood," Gr. Kai 6 AyyeXoc €i(TTi]Kei, are rejected from the text by the best authorities, as not to be found in the most authentic manu- CH. Xi. 1 14.] THE APOCALYPSE. 225 signed to him in the last chapter. A measuring rod is placed in his hands, and the temple of God, the altar, and they who worship therein, are declared to be the objects of his mensuration. The temple of God, after the coming of the Mes- siah and the rejection of the Jews, is the Christian Church, (1 Cor. iii. 16; 2 Cor. vi. 16; 1 Tim. iii. 15 ; Epist. to Heb. passim.) The altar represents the worship therein duly performed ; and, by those who dwell therein, we must understand the true and pure worshippers. And by comparing Ezek. xl. 3, 4, and Zech. ii. 1 — 5, with this passage, we may deduce, that by such appointed mensuration, the places measured are appropriated to the worship of God. In this passage before us, no report is made of the number of worshippers, of those who were admitted to the interior courts and the altar ; but in the times, which are generally supposed to be prefigured in this prophecy, few there were, very few, who " wor- shipped in spirit and in truth." But the outer court of the temple is particularly mentioned, and the divine command is, that it shall not be measured — iK(3aXe e^oj, " cast it out, measure it not." The wor- shippers there are not admitted to the purer light of the divine presence. These are " the people and nations and tongues and kings," the Gentiles, be- fore whom St. John was appointed specially to pro- phesy. They are, however, to possess and occupy the exterior court. Christian they are by name and profession, but not admitted to that nearer commu- scripts. This interpolation seems to have taken place, with a view to supply a nominative case to the participle Xeywi', but it is not v^anted. We easily refer it, either to " the mighty angel" who gave to St. John the little book, or to " the voice from heaven," by which he had been called and directed in the last chapter, Q 226 THE APOCALYPSE. [CH.Xl.i 14. nication with the Deity, which imparts the purer knowledge and worship. But though excluded from the interior of the temple and its sanctuaries, they are to possess " the holy city." The holy city is that which contains the temple. Such was Jerusa- lem, (Matt. v. 35 ; xxvii. 53;) and after the rejec- tion and destruction of this holy city, such was, and is, the Christian Church, which in its renovated state is denominated " the New Jerusalem," (Gal. iv. 25, 26 ; Rev. iii. 12; xxi. 2, 10.) This holy city, the Christian Church, they are to tread forty and two months. The received transla- tion says, "tread under foot;" and many of the commentators have therefore understood it to sig- nify, that they shall trample upon, and tyrannize over the Church of Christ. This sense would be justly inferred, if the word in the Greek had been KaroTrar- r\Gov