. ¦ ,'

THE MESSIAH

THE APOSTLES

DR. BRIGGS'S WORKS.
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THE MESSIAH

OF

THE APOSTLES

BY

CHARLES AUGUSTUS BRIGGS, D.D.
ft*
EDWARD ROBINSON PROFESSOR OF BIBLICAL THEOLOGY IN THE
UNION THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY, NEW YORK

NEW YORK
CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS
189S

Copyright, 1895, by
CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS,

TRESS OF
EDWARD O, JENKINS' SON;
NEW YORK.

TO
THOMAS S. HASTINGS, D.D., LL.D.
PRESIDENT OF THE UNION THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY
GENTLE, LOVING, AND CHIVALRIC
COLLEAGUE AND FRIEND
®l)is Book
IS DEDICATED IN AEMIRATION AND LOVE

PREFACE.
THIS is the third of a series of volumes begun with
Messianic Prophecy in 1886, and continued in The
Messiah of the Gospels in 1894. It is my plan to
continue the series with The Messiah of the Church,
and to complete it with The Messiah of the Theo
logians, if life and health shall be given me. But it is
necessary to postpone these volumes in order that other
important, literary and professional engagements may
be fulfilled which have been already delayed too long
by ecclesiastical controversies in which I have been
compelled to engage.
The substance of this volume was cast into form for
publication several years ago and it has been revised
from year to year in several courses of lectures which
have been given in the department of Biblical Theology
in the Union Theological Seminary. But the whole has
been rewritten during the past year. So much more has
been learned about the Christ of the apostles during
these months that it seems to me that I knew very
little before. This experience makes it altogether prob
able that there is still more to be learned by myself and
by others. I shall be happy to contribute to such a
further advance and to be corrected and improved upon
by other Christian scholars.
The literature of Christology is exceedingly rich and
extensive. In order to avoid too great technicality it
seemed best to discard for the most part references to
the earlier literature, which were copious in the original
(vii)

viii PREFACE
draft of my work, and to refer chiefly to the later and
fresher contributions of recent scholars. This is not to
say that the labors of the older theologians on whom we
build are undervalued, — because to value them is to
estimate them aright and not undervalue or overvalue
them. No one who has studied through the literature
of Christology can do any other than say that the
researches of recent scholars have put the whole subject
in such new lights that the writings of the older scholars
have become for the most part antiquated. There are
doubtless many still living who are unwilling to accept
any theological opinions which have not been stamped
with the approval of the antiquarians. For such the
author does not write. The readers he desires are the
open-minded and the truth-loving, who would see the
Christ as the apostles saw him, and who will not be
restrained from the heavenly vision by the pretended
perils of the Higher Criticism and of Biblical Theology,
or by the supposed safer paths of traditional and eccle
siastical theology.
The study of the Messiah of the apostles is a study in
the department of Biblical Theology. The Higher
Criticism is presupposed. The author has frankly stated
his views in the Higher Criticism of the Literature of
the New Testament whenever it has been necessary to do
so ; but he has avoided going into its difficult questions
so far as possible. The Book of Revelation is an excep
tion. It was necessary to go somewhat at length into
the Higher Criticism of this book in order to get a basis
for the development of its Christology and an explana
tion of its manifold phases. This cost the author a great
amount of severe and extended labor, which he would
not have undertaken if it could have been avoided. In
the revision of his lectures on the Apocalypse, he was

PREFACE ix
converted to the documentary hypothesis, and in all
honesty could not do otherwise than endeavor to solve
the problem. He cannot flatter himself that he has suc
ceeded in all respects. But he feels assured that he has
made a contribution towards the solution of the most
difficult problem in the New Testament. Those who
may not be prepared to accept the documentary theory
of the composition of the book will yet find something
of value in the fresh light cast by the arrangement of its
material, on many difficult questions.
The study of the Messiah of the apostles has been to
the author a great source of comfort and happiness in
troublous times. The Christ of the New Testament
appears in fresh lines of grace, beauty, and grandeur, with
every fresh glance at him. The author has done his
best to turn away from the Christ of the. theologians
and of the Creeds and of the Church, and to see the
Messiah as he is set forth in the writings of the apostles.
He has made every effort to see the Messiah as he ap
peared to each writer in each separate writing. The
diversity is great. It is not always possible to combine
the diverse representations in a higher unity. It would
have been easy to construct what some call a logical
system. But it would not have been possible to con
strain all the material into such a system of deductive
logic. Such a method involves the sacrifice of material
which is essential to the portraiture of the Messiah. It
is owing to just such a craze for logical systems of
Christology that we have so many different, unsatis
fying Christologies in the Literature of the Church. The
only logical system the author has aimed at, is such a
system as results from inductive logic, which goes so far
in generalization as the facts enable us to go and not a
step further.

x PREFACE
The summary statement in the concluding chapter
gives the Christology of the apostles in quite different
proportions to those familiar in the dogmatic systems.
But these proportions are the proportions of the truth
and facts of the apostolic writings. If I were writing
the Christology of the Church, or the Christology of
the Dogmatic System, other proportions would doubt
less appear. Some day both of these may be written.
In the meanwhile the author will be faithful to his work
as a student of Biblical Theology and not transcend the
Christology of this discipline.
This third volume of the series is now given to those
who have read and studied the previous volumes, in con
fidence that they will see in it the crown of the Biblical
Messianic idea. It is a birth from many years of severe
study and discipline. It expresses my matured convic
tions. It may be regarded as a confession of my faith.

CONTENTS.

The Messianic Idea of the Judaism of New Testament
Times, p. i.
(i) The New Jerusalem of Baruch, p. i ; (2) The Felicity of the
Restoration, p. 3 ; (3) The Advent of the Assumption of
Moses, p. 5 ; (4) The Twelve Periods of the World, p. 7 ; (5)
The Two Messiahs, p. 10 ; (6) The Ten Generations of the
World, p. 13; (7) The Messiah of the Zealots, p. 15; (8)
The Prayer of Israel, p. 18. II.
The Messiah of the Jewish Christians, p. 21.
(9) The Advent of the Spirit, p. 21 ; (10) The Glorified Servant,
p. 29; (11) The only Saviour, p. 32; (12) The Judge of the
Living and the Dead, p. 38 ; (13) The Gentiles and the
Tabernacle of David, p. 41 ; (14) The Judge at the Door, p.
42; (15) The Unfading Inheritance, p. 45 ; (16) The Spiritual
Temple, p. 50; (17) The Saviour of the Living and the
Dead, p. 54 ; (18) The End of all things, p. 58 ; (19) The
everlasting Kingdom, p. 60; (20) The Judgment of Men and
Angels, p. 61 ; (21) The great Conflagration, p. 62 ; (22)
The Day of Judgment, p. 65.
III.
The Messiah of the Earliest Paulinism, p. 67.
(23) The Messiah standing at the right hand of God, p. 67 ; (24)
The Commission to the Gentiles, p. 70; (25) The Light of
the Gentiles, p. 74; (26) The Resurrection of the Saints, p.
85 ; (27) The Apocalypse of Paul, p. 89. (xi)

xii CONTENTS IV.
The Messiah of the Epistles to the Corinthians, p. 97.
(28) The one pre-existent Lord, p. 97 ; (29) Christ our Passove.-,
p. 100; (30) Christ the Wisdom of God, p. 103; (31) The
Inheritance in the Kingdom, p. 105 ; (32) The Fiery Judg
ment of the Parousia, p. 106 ; (33) The delivery of the
completed Kingdom to the Father, p. in; (34) The Messiah
became poor for us, p. 121 ; (35) At Home with the Lord,
p. 126. V.
The Messiah of the Epistles to the Galatians and to
the Romans, p. 132.
(36) The Messiah a curse, p. 132; (37) The Messiah redeems
from under the Law, p. 136; (38) The blood-besprinkled
Propitiatory, p. 142 ; (39) Raised for our justification, p. 149 ;
(40) Christ delivers from the dominion of Sin and Death,
p. 151 ; (41) The First-born among many brethren, p. 157;
(42) All Israel will be Saved, p. 166.

VI.
The Messiah of the Epistles of the Imprisonment, p. 175.
(43) The Kenosis, p. 178; (44) The Christian Commonwealth,
p. 186 ; (45) The Head of his body the Church, p. 188 ; (46)
The Christian Temple, p. 194 ; (47) The Age of the Ages,
p. 199; (48) Leading captives captive, p. 201; (49) The
glorious Church, p. 205 ; (50) The Image of the invisible
God, p. 210; (51) The Mystery of God, p. 218.

VII.
The Messiah of the Pastoral Epistles, p. 225.
(52) The one Mediator, p. 226 ; (53) The Epiphany of Glory, p.
234; (54) The Epiphany of the Judge, p. 237.

CONTENTS xiii
VIII.
The Messiah of the Epistle to the Hebrews, p. 242.
(55) The Heir of all things, p. 243 ; (56) Made Perfect through
Sufferings, p. 248 ; (57) Touched with the feeling of our
Infirmities, p. 253 ; (58) The High Priest after the order of
Melchizedek, p. 256 ; (59) The Mediator of the New Cove
nant, p. 260; (60) The better Country, p. 272; (61) The
immovable Kingdom, p. 276 ; (62) The Great Shepherd, p.
280.
IX.
The Messiah of the Apocalypse of John, p. 284.
Later criticism of the Apocalypse, p. 285 ; The critical analysis
of the Book, p. 290; Date and Authorship, p. 301 ; (63) The
Time is at hand, p. 306. X.
The Messiah of the Apocalypse of the Beasts, p. 309.
(64) The two Martyrs, p. 309 ; (65) The War of the Beasts, p.
319 ; (66) The Fall of Rome, p. 325 ; (67) The Conqueror on
a white horse, p. 330.
XI.
The Messiah of the Apocalypse of the Dragon, p. 334.
(68) The Messiah caught up to Heaven, p. 334 ; (69) The Mil
lennium, p. 341 ; (70) The great white Throne, p. 360; (71)
All things become new, p. 363.

xiv CONTENTS XII.
The Messiah of the Apocalypse of the Trumpets, p. 368.
(72) He cometh with the Clouds, p. 369 ; (73) Abaddon and his
army of demons, p. 371 ; (74) The Son of Man on the Clouds,
p. 382. XIII.
The Messiah of the Apocalypse of the Seals, p. 391.
(75) He who loveth us, p. 392 ; (76) The Adoration of the
Lamb. p. 394 ; (77) The Time of the Kingdom, p. 408 ; (78)
The white-robed Victors, p. 410.
XIV.
The Messiah of the Apocalypse of the Bowls, p. 415.
(79) The Song of the Victors, p.416 ; (80) Destruction of the har
lot City, p. 423 ; (81) The Bride of the Lamb, p. 429.

XV.
The Messiah of the Apocalypse of the Epistles, p. 438.
(82) The Son of Man is Yahweh, p. 439; (83) The Messiah's
awards to the Victors, p. 444.

XVI.
The Messiah of the Epistles of John, p. 462.
(84) The Word of Life, p. 463 ; (85) Jesus Christ the Paraclete,
p. d68 ; (86) The two Manifestations, p. 479 , (87) The
Saviour of the World, p. 488 ; (t>8) The Son of the Father,
P- 493-

CONTENTS xv

XVII.
The Messiah of the Prologue of the Gospel of John,
P- 495-
(89) The Incarnate Word, p. 495 ; (90) The only begotten Son,
p. 515.

XVIII.
The Messiah of the Apostles, p. 519.
The Pre-existence of the Messiah, p. 520 ; The Incarnation, p.
521 ; The Life of Jesus in the World, p. 523 ; The Death of
Christ, p. 525; The Descent into Hades, p. 530; The Res
urrection of Jesus, p. 534 ; The Reign of Christ, p. 538 ; The
great High Priest, p. 541 ; The Mediator, p. 543; The Church
of God, p. 548 ; The Age of Conflict, p. 550 ; The Second Ad
vent, p. 554; The Resurrection of the Dead, p. 556; The
Transformation of Nature, p. 557; The Messiah the Judge,
p. 558; The New Jerusalem, p. 561.

THE MESSIAH OF THE APOSTLES.

CHAPTER I.

THE MESSIANIC IDEA OF THE JUDAISM OF NEW TES
TAMENT TIMES.
In the first chapter of The Messiah of the Gospels the
Messianic idea of Prechristian Judaism was presented in
order to show the development of the Messianic idea of
the Old Testament in extra-Biblical writings prior
to the advent of Jesus the Messiah. In the seven
chapters which followed, the Messianic idea of the fore
runners and of Jesus himself was considered, and an
effort was made to answer the question whether Jesus
was the Messiah of the Old Testament or not. Before
taking up the Messianic idea of the Apostles and other
writers of the New Testament, it seems best to present
the Messianic idea of the Judaism of the New Testa
ment times as it developed in ancagonism to Rome on
the one side, and to Christ on the other.
THE NEW JERUSALEM OF BARUCH.
§ I. The scattered sons of Jerusalem will be gathered
from all lands and will return to her led by God Himself.

2 THE MESSIAH
Jerusalem will lay aside her mourning and be mantled
with glory by God, and be named, Peace of righteousness
and Glory of worship.
The book of Baruch ' represents a mild type of Phar
isaism. In the first section it reiterates the Abrahamic
promise. And I will bring them again into the land which I promised
with an oath unto their fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and
they will be lords of it : and I will increase them, and they will
not be diminished. And I will make an everlasting covenant
with them to be their God, and they shall be my people : and
I will no more drive my people Israel out of the land that I have
given them. (ii. 34-35.)
This passage refers to the new covenant of Jeremiah.2
The following passage, in the main stock of the book,
is based on Jeremiah and the exilic Isaiah
O Jerusalem, look about thee toward the east,
And see the joy that cometh unto thee from God.
Lo ! thy sons whom thou sentest away, come ;
They come gathered from the east unto the west
At the word of the Holy One, rejoicing in the glory of God.
Put off, Jerusalem, the garment of thy mourning and affliction,
And put on the comeliness of the glory that cometh from God
forever.
Cast about thee the mantle of the righteousness that cometh
from God ;
And set on thine head a diadem of the glory of the Everlasting
For God will shew thy brightness under all the heaven.

1 The book of Baruch is composed of two distinct sections, i.-iii. 8 and iii. 9-v.
The former is ascribed by Ewald, Bissell, and Gifford to the Persian period. The
latter part is of Palestinian origin, probably in the early part of the first Christian
century. Kneucker, Das Buck Baruch, assigns iii o-v. 9 to the early part of the
reign of Domitian, the remainder of the book to the close of the first century
a.d., or the opening of the second century.
3 xxxi. 31-33 ; xxxii. 40-41.

OF BARUCH 3
For thy name shall be called from God forever,
Peace of righteousness and Glory of worship.
Arise, Jerusalem, and stand on the high place,
And look about toward the East,
And see thy children gathered together, from the setting of the
sun unto the east
At the word of the Holy one, rejoicing in the remembrance of
God.
For they went out from thee on foot, led away by enemies:
But God will lead them in unto thee, exalted with glory,
As a royal throne, for God hath appointed it.
Every high mountain is to be cast down, and everlasting hills,
And valleys are to be lifted up to a plain of the land
That Israel may go safely in the glory of God.
Moreover even the woods and every sweet smelling tree will
overshadow Israel
At the word of God. For God will go before Israel in joy
In the light of his glory together with mercy and righteousness
that cometh from him. (iv. 36-v.)
THE FELICITY OF THE RESTORATION.
§ 2. The people of God will be gathered from all lands,
the temple will be rebuilt, Satan and all evil will be ban
ished. Human life will be lengthened to a thousand years,
and there will be great joy and blessedness. The right
eous will see the divine judgment upon their enemies.
The Book of Jubilees, or Little Genesis, is a Hagga-
distic work of the first Christian century.1 The Messianic
ideas are general and vague. The Lord says unto
Moses :

1 The Book of Jubilees has received careful criticism by Dillmann, who trans
lated it into German in Ewald's Jahrbiicher, ii. and iii. It has also been trans
lated into English with a brief introduction and notes by Schodde in the Bib-
liotheca Sacra, 1887, and in a separate impression entitled The Booh of
Jubilees, Oberlin, 1888. It was written in Hebrew by a Palestinian Jew in the
middle of the first Christian century. We shall use Schodde's translation.

4 THE MESSIAH
And then they will turn themselves to me from the midst of
the Gentiles with all their hearts and all their soul and all their
power, and I shall gather them from amongst all the Gentiles,
and they will seek me that I may be found for them, when they
seek me with all their heart, and with all their soul ; and I will
open to them much peace and righteousness. And 1 will trans
plant them as a plant of righteousness, with all my heart and
with all my soul ; and they will be to me for a blessing and not
for a curse, a head and not a tail ; and I will build up my sanctu
ary in their midst, and I will dwell with them, and I will be to
them their God, and they shall be to me my people, in truth and
in righteousness, and I will not desert them and will not deny
them, for I am the Lord their God. (i. 15, 16.)
This is a simple statement of the Messianic idea of
Jeremiah and of the great prophet of the exile. In the
second passage there are elements which are new to the
Messianic idea and which do not appear in the Old
Testament :
And in those days the children will begin to seek the laws
and to seek the commandments and to return to the path of
righteousness. And the days will begin to increase and grow
many, and the children of men generation by generation and
day by day, until their days approach to one thousand years and
to a multitude of years and days. And no one will be old or
satisfied with days, for all will be [like] children and youths.
And all their days will be in peace, and in joy they will end them
and live, and there will be no Satan nor any destroyer, for all
their days will be days of peace and healing and blessings. And
at that time the Lord will heal his servants, and they will arise
and will see great peace and will cast out their enemies ; and the
just shall see it and be thankful and rejoice in joy to all eternity,
and shall see judgment and curses upon all their enemies. And their
bones shall rest in the earth, but their spirits shall increase in
joy, and they shall know that the Lord is the doer of judgment,
and gives mercy to the hundreds and thousands and to all that
love him. (xxiii. 25-30.)
In this production from the Palestinian type of Jew-

OF THE ASSUMPTION OF MOSES 5
ish thought in the first century of our era, there is a
feeble echo of the Messianic idea of the Old Testament
on its divine side. There is no conception of a personal
Messiah. There is also a tendency to grosser views of
earthly felicity than.we find in the Old Testament.
THE ADVENT OF THE ASSUMPTION OF MOSES.
§ 3. The Heavenly One will arise from His holy habi
tation and go forth to avenge His people. His advent will
be accompanied with earthquakes and heavenly commo
tions, fsrael will then be happy in triumph over the
Roman eagle. There are 250 times from the death of
Moses until the judgment.
The Assumption of Moses ' gives the Messianic idea
a development in the spirit of the Pharisaism of the first
Christian century. The title of the book seems to be
in antithesis to the Ascension of Christ." The central
figure of the Messianic idea of this Apocalypse is a
Levite named Taxo, who resolves to fast three days
with his seven sons. He goes into a cave resolved
rather to die than transgress the commands of God.
He is assured that God will avenge his blood. This

¦ The Assumption of Moses, preserved only in a Latin translation of a Greek
original which was itself probably a translation of a Hebrew or Aramaic original,
has been given to modern scholars by Ceriani, who discovered it in the Ambro-
sian Library at Milan. It is assigned by Ewald, Schiirer, and Drummond to the
opening of the first Christian century. Schiirer suggests that it was composed
by one of the party of zealots who had begun to play an important part in the
history of Israel. Rosenthal argues strongly that it was written soon after the
destruction of Jerusalem by one of the zealots who was offended with the Phari
sees on account of their leaving the people of Jerusalem in the lurch and remov
ing to Jamnia. But it is quoted in the Epistle of Jude, and must therefore be
earlier. Baldensperger argues for a date prior to the destruction of Jerusalem,
and for a Pharisee author, who exalts Moses over against Christ,
> Baldensperger, Selbstbewusstsein Jesu, 3. 26,

Q THE MESSIAH
Taxo has been regarded by some as the Messiah. But
the story is modelled after that of the Maccabee mother
and her seven sons. Both set forth the faithfulness
which is required of Israel prior to the advent of the
Messiah. Taxo is rather a second Moses. Baldensper
ger ' thinks that the conception of Taxo is one of the
highest attainments of pious Judaism. Taxo and his
seven sons are in antithesis to Jesus and the twelve
apostles, and they are designed to excel them in self-
sacrifice. They die for the law of Moses with confidence
in its perpetuity as a divine law.
Then will His kingdom appear in all His creation. And then
will the devil have an end and sorrow vanish with him. Then
will the hands of the angels, standing in the highest place, be
filled, who will at once avenge them on their enemies. For the
Heavenly One arises from the seat of His kingdom, and goes
forth from His holy habitation with indignation and wrath, on
account of His children ; and the earth will tremble, even to its
extremities will it be shaken, and the high mountains will be
cast down and shattered, and the valleys sink. The sun will give
no light, and the horns of the moon be changed in the night and
be broken, and it will be entirely changed into blood, and the
host of the stars will be confounded. And the sea will retire to
the abyss, to the fountains of waters they will go forth, and the
floods will be terrified. For the most high, eternal and only
God arises and comes forth, in order to chastise the heathen and
destroy all their idols. Then wilt thou be happy, Israel, and
thou wilt ascend above the neck and wings of the eagle, and
they will have their fulfilment, and God will exalt thee and make
thee to soar into the starry heaven in the place of their abode,
and thou wilt look down from above and see thine enemies on
the earth, and recognize them, and rejoice, and give thanks, and
acknowledge thy creator.'2
Joshua is commanded to preserve these words, and

1 Baldensperger, Selbstbewusstsein Jesu, s. 28.
0 Ceriani, Monumenta Sacra et Profana, i. i, p. 60.

OF THE APOCALYPSE OF BARUCH ^
Is informed that from the death of Moses until the ad
vent, there will be two hundred and fifty times. The
judgment is here ascribed to God ; the author has no
conception of a Messiah.
THE TWELVE PERIODS OF THE WORLD.
§ 4. The Age of the world is divided into twelve periods,
of which eleven have passed. The last period is Messianic.
The Messiah is a conquering Prince who will destroy the
last ruler of the heathen and establish his kingdom.
Afterwards he will depart for a season and return in
glory at the universal resurrection for judgment. The
Holy Land will be transformed into a paradise. The new
temple, the model of all previous structures, is reserved in
heaven to descend and take the place of the old temple.
The joys of the Holy Land will be sensuous and complete.
The Apocalypse of Baruch ' is rich in Messianic
material of the grosser sort, advancing in the line of the
Apocalypse of Enoch.
While Baruch was mourning over the ruins of Jerusa
lem, the Lord said unto him :
Dost thou think that this is the city of which I said : I have
graven thee upon the palm of my hands?2 Not that building
that is now built in the midst of you is the one which shall be
revealed with me, which has been prepared here since I thought
of making Paradise. And I showed it to Adam before he sinned ;

1 The Apocalypse of Baruch was lost for centuries until it was given to the
modern world by Ceriani, who published a Latin translation in 1886, and issued
theSyriac text in 1871. The Hebrew or Aramaic original is lost. It is ascribed
by Schurer, Drummond, and others, to the latter part of the first century of our
era. Rosenthal maintains that it was written by a Pharisee, a pupil of the great
Rabbi Akiba, in the second century. Baldensperger thinks the apocalypse of
Ezra was written in the reign of Domitian, the apocalypse of Baruch at the
latest in the reign of Trajan. See also Konig, Einleitung in d. A. T., a. 503.
a Is. xlix. 16.

3 THE MESSIAH
but truly when he cast away my commandment, it was removed
from him, as also was Paradise. And afterwards I showed it to
mv servant Abraham, by night, between the divisions of the
victims.1 And again I also showed it to Moses on Mount Sinai,
when I showed him the image of the tabernacle and all its ves
sels.8 And now, behold ! it has been kept with me as also is
Paradise, (iv.)
Thus the new Jerusalem is to come from heaven at
the advent. It was prepared by God when He made
Paradise. It is kept in heaven with God as is Paradise.
The tabernacle and the temple were only modelled after
it. It was seen by Abraham, and even Adam, as their
ideals, as well as by Moses and David. It will be re
vealed from heaven at the end of times.
It is characteristic of the apocalypses of Moses and of
Baruch that they unfold the idea of pre-existence in a
parallel line to the New Testament. It is not synony
mous, but antithetical, and ever hostile to the pre-exist
ence of the Messiah of the Gospels. Doubtless the basis
was in the pre-existence of the Son of Man of the Apoc
alypse of Enoch. But they extend pre-existence to
Moses3 as well as to the new Jerusalem, the temple and
Paradise. So the later Rabbis taught that there were
several things which were prior to the creation of the
world ; the throne of glory, the law, the temple, the
name of the Messiah, repentance, gehenna, and paradise.'
We also have a glowing description of Messianic felic
ity in the holy land :
And it will come to pass after that what is about to be shall

> Gen. xv. 9-17. . Ex xxv g
' See Assumption of Moses in Ceriani, Monumenta Sacra et Profana, i. 1, p.
55- * Compare, Edersheim, Life and Times of Jesus, i., p. 17s ; Baldensperger,
Selbstbewusstsein Jesu, s. 75.

OF THE APOCALYPSE OF BARUCH 9
be accomplished, that it may come to pass in its parts, then will
the Messiah begin to be revealed. And Behemoth will be re
vealed out of his place, and Leviathan will ascend from the sea,
two great monsters which I created on the fifth day of creation,
and reserved even to that time ; and then they will be for food
for all who shall be left. The earth also will yield its fruits, one,
ten thousand ; and on one vine shall be a thousand branches,
and one branch shall produce a thousand bunches, and one
bunch shall produce a thousand grapes, and one grape shall pro
duce a cor of wine. And those who have been hungry shall re
joice. But again they will see prodigies every day. For spirits
shall go forth from my sight to bring every morning the fragrance
of aromatic fruits, and at the end of the day clouds dropping the
dew of health. And it will come to pass, at that time, the treas
ure of manna will again descend from above, and they shall eat
of it in those years ; since they are those who have come unto
the End of the time, (xxix.)
This is an extensive elaboration of the more carnal
conceptions of the book of Enoch. The duration of
this kingdom is not stated. But the author continues
without mentioning the departure of the Messiah, and
speaks of another advent thus:
And it shall come to pass after this, when the time of the ad
vent of the Messiah shall be fulfilled and he shall return in glory,
then all who sleep in hope "of him will arise. And at that time,
the storehouses will be opened, in which the number of the right
eous souls was kept, and they will go forth and a multitude of
souls will appear at once in one company of one soul, and the
first will rejoice and the last will not be sad. For one knows
that the time has come of which it is said, it is the End of times.
But the spirits of the wicked, when they see all these things, will
the more melt. For they know that their punishment has come
and that their perdition has arrived, (xxx.)
This idea of two advents of the Messiah is new to the
Messianic conception of Judaism. We may attribute
its origin to the Persian conception of the preparatory

10 THE MESSIAH
saviours.1 The conception is subsequently further un
folded. The fourth empire of Daniel is taken up and explained
as the Roman, which will be destroyed by the advent of
the Messiah. The last ruler bound in chains will be led
to Mount Zion, that he may be judged by the Messiah
and perish. Then the kingdom of the Messiah will be
confirmed in the holy land, where not only the remnant
of the Jews, but also those of the Gentiles who have not
been slain will be assembled.2
The period from the creation to the end of the world
is represented by a cloud full of white and black waters,
which pour down one after the other a series of twelve
floods. The first of these was the sin of Adam and its
consequences, including the fall of the angels, and the
flood. Eleven have passed. The twelfth is coming.3
In that time, after a little Zion will again be built, and its ob
lations will again be established, and the priests will return to
their ministry, and the nations will again come to glorify it.
But nevertheless it will not be fully as in the beginning. But it
will come to pass after these things, there will be the ruin of
many nations, (lxviii.)
Then come the final troubles -and the ultimate bless
edness. This division of times very much resembles the Per
sian, and with other features of the book betrays Persian
influence. THE TWO MESSIAHS.
§ 5. The age of the world is divided into twelve periods,
of which ten and a half have passed. There are two Mes
siahs ; the one will come as a lion and destroy the world
' See Messiah of the Gospels, p. 16. » xxxix.-xl. ! liii.-brvii.

OF THE APOCALYPSE OF EZRA J J
power, which is compared to a great eagle with twelve
wings and three heads. He will reign four hundred years
and die. The other will come at the universal resurrec
tion and judgment to reign forever.
The Apocalypse of Ezra' carries on still further the
predictions of the apocalypses of Enoch and Baruch.
Behold, the time will come, and it will come to pass, when
the signs which I have foretold thee shall come, that the bride
will appear and the land that is now withdrawn, becoming mani
fest will be shown. And whosoever is delivered from the pre
dicted evils will himself see My marvels. For My Messiah will
be revealed with those who are with him, and those who are left
will rejoice four hundred years. After these years, My son the
Messiah will die, and all men who have breath. And the world
will be restored to its ancient silence seven days, just as in the
first beginnings : so that no one will remain. And after seven
days the world, which is not yet awake, will be raised up, and
that shall die that is corrupt. And the earth will restore those
who sleep in her, and the dust those who dwell in it in silence,
and the storehouses will restore the souls which have been com
mitted to them. And the Most High will appear upon the
throne of judgment, and mercy will pass away, and the long-
suffering will have an end : but judgment only will remain, truth
will stand, and faith will wax strong, (vii. 26-34.)
This judgment decides the final destiny of all, and
there are very few who are saved. " The Most High
hath made this world for many, but the world to come for

1 The Apocalypse of Ezra is ii. Esdras of the Apocryphal books and iv. Ezra
cf the English Apocrypha. It is of the same period and type of thought as the
Apocalypse of Baruch. The original has been lost. It is preserved in Latin,
Syriac, Arabic, ^Ethiopic, and Armenian versions. (See Hilgenfeld, Mess. Ju-
daeorum. ) The main stock of the book is assigned by most scholars to the close
of the first century of our era (Ewald, Fritzsche, Schiirer, Lupton). Kabisch,
Das vierte Buch Ezra, finds in the book several apocalypses of the first century
A.D., and an earlier apocalypse of Ezra of 30 B.C., collected and edited as an
apocalypse of Ezra by a zealot, about a.d. 120.

j 2 THE MESSIAH
few." ' In this passage we have the Messianic idea of
Baruch still further elaborated into the four hundred
years between two advents of the Messiah. The age of
the world is divided into twelve periods, of which ten
and a half have passed.2 In this Ezra agrees with
Baruch. There is a vision of an eagle arising out of the sea
with twelve wings and three heads : from the wings
spring forth eight little wings. The twelve great wings
rule one after another; then two of the little wings.
The other six little wings are separated into two classes.
Four of them arise one after another to rule. Two of
these succeed for a brief time, but when the other two
are about to rule, the heads devour them. The great
head, after terrifying all the earth more than any of
the wings, suddenly disappears. The two remaining
heads then reign, but that on the right devours that on
the left. Then a roaring lion comes from the forest
and, addressing the eagle with the voice of a man, up
braids him for his tyranny and demands destruction
upon him. Then the last head vanishes. The two little
wings now remaining rise up to reign, but for a short
and tumultuous time. And, lo, they also disappear and
the whole body of the eagle is burnt and the earth trem
bles greatly.3
This eagle is interpreted, in the vision, as the fourth
beast of Daniel, and after the vision, as the fourth king
dom of Daniel." The lion is the lion of Judah, the
Messiah.6 This is the Messiah, whom the Most High hath kept for the
End of days who shall arise from the seed of David. He will
reprove them, and will upbraid them with their cruelty. For he
> viii. i. 2 xiv. ir, 12. See p. 10. s xi,-xii.
* See Dan. ii., vii. • See Kabisch, /. c, s. 96 seg.

OF THE APOCALYPSE OF EZRA 13
will set them before him alive in judgment, and will rebuke
them, and convict them. For the rest of my people will he de
liver with mercy, those who have been preserved upon my bor
ders, and he will make them joyful until the coming of the day
of judgment, whereof I have spoken unto thee from the begin
ning, (xii. 32-34.)
It is evident from this that the advent of the Messiah
is some considerable time before the Day of judgment.
It precedes the short tumultuous reign of the two little
wings. It seems therefore to be the first advent of the
Messiah of the previous chapter. Various efforts have
been made to identify these wings and heads, but with
little success.1 The difference of these numbers from
those of Daniel is striking. Daniel's fourth beast has
ten horns, with another little horn coming up among
them which plucked out three of them. Here we have
twelve wings with eight little ones springing out of
them; and it is first the three heads which devour two
of the little wings, and then the right head devours the
left one. The numbers are different, but there is essen
tially the same symbolism in other respects. This
fourth Beast of Daniel has but one head. But the Beast
of the Apocalypse of John 2 has seven heads, and ten
horns, and ten crowns.

THE TEN GENERATIONS OF THE WORLD.
§ 6. The age of the world is divided into ten genera
tions from the Deluge to the End. The eleventh is a
period of judgment. God will judge the righteous and the
wicked at the universal resurrection. The wicked will be
sent into darkness, and will be all covered over by the molten

1 See Dillmann, Adlergesicht in der Apoc. des Esra. a Rev. xiii.

14

THE MESSIAH

earth ; but the righteous will remain on the fruitful earth
which has been renewed by fire.
The Fourth book of the Sibylline oracles ' makes ten
generations from the Deluge until the Judgment. Six
embrace the time from the Flood onwards, during which
the Assyrians rule the world until they are overthrown
by the Medes. The Medes reign two generations until
they are overthrown by the Persians, who have the ninth
generation. In the tenth generation the Greeks subju
gate the Persians, and the Romans the Greeks. The
Romans spoil the temple at Jerusalem and destroy it.
A mighty king, doubtless Nero, expiates the bloody
crime of matricide ; and war and blood and commo
tions of nature are abundant on the earth.
But if, ill-minded, ye obey me not,
But loving wickedness, receive these things
With a base hearing, over all the world
Fire shall be, and the greatest omens, swords.
And trumpets, at the rising of the sun ;
All earth the mighty roaring sound shall hear.
The whole land he will burn, and the whole race
Of men shall perish, and he will consume
All cities, with the rivers and the seas ;
These all shall be reduced to smoky dust.
But when all things become an ashy pile,
God will put out the fire unspeakable
Which he once kindled, and the bones and ashes
Of men will God himself again transform,
And raise up mortals as they were before.
And then will be the judgment ; God himself
Will sit as judge, and judge the world again.
As many as committed impious sins
Shall Stygian Gehenna's depths conceal
'Neath molten earth and dismal Tartarus.

1 The fourth book of the Sibylline oracles is generally assigned to (he first
Christian century. The translation of Terry, in his Sibylline Oracles, is followed.

OF THE SIBYLLINE ORACLE 15
But the pious shall again live on the earth,
And God will give them spirit, life, and means
Of nourishment, and all shall see themselves,
Beholding the sun's sweet and cheerful light.
O happiest man, who at that time shall live ! (215-239.)
If we take the time from the Creation to the Deluge
as a generation, and the final judgment as a generation,
then this oracle will be in harmony with the apocalyp
ses of Baruch and Ezra as to the twelve Ages of the
World. The judge is God Himself who judges the righteous
and the wicked at the same time. These arise from the
dead for judgment. The earth passes through the fire,
which reduces everything to ashes. The wicked are
sent away into darkness and are covered over by the
molten earth. They acknowledge their sinful deeds.
The pious remain upon the renovated earth, which has
become very fruitful. Blessed is the man who shall
come to that time. This oracle knows nothing of a
personal Messiah. THE MESSIAH OF THE ZEALOTS.
§ 7. The zealots eventually became the dominant party
in the Judaism of the New Testament times. They
sought to overthrow the Roman yoke and set up the king
dom of God by a holy war. After the destruction of
Jerusalem, they rallied the nation about Bar Kocheba, and
brought upon the Jewish people national extinction.
The same Jewish sects as those described in our previ
ous volume, continued in the Judaism of the New Testa
ment times. The Essenes do not appear in the New
Testament. The Sadducees were ever hostile to Jesus.
The Pharisees of the school of Hillel were friendly to

IQ THE MESSIAH
Christ and Christianity. To this school belonged such
men as Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathsea of the
Gospels, and Gamaliel of the book of Acts. Large
numbers from this school embraced Christ as the Mes
siah. The school of Shammai were ever hostile to
Christ and Christianity. They were always ready to
sustain the Zealots in their revolutionary aims.
Josephus mentions in connection with the Zealots
their application of an ambiguous prophecy to them
selves in their insurrection. It was to the effect that
some one from their country would obtain the empire
of the world. Josephus says : " The oracle really in
dicated the elevation of Vespasian, he having been pro
claimed emperor in Judea." ' This makes it clear that
Josephus had no hope of a personal Messiah. He ap
plied Hebrew prophecy to heathen princes. " As he was
half Roman and half Jew in his outer life, so he waver
ed in his thinking between Judaism and Hellenism."2
Josephus was a Pharisee in education and early prin
ciples. He doubtless represents the common opinion
of the Pharisee of his time in his view of the kingdom
of God without a personal Messiah.
The Zealots continued to gain in strength during the
New Testament times. Men of this party gathered
about John the Baptist, until they were repelled by his
stern call to repentance and his rebukes of Pharisees and
soldiers. The same set of men assembled about Jesus
on the Sea of Galilee and would have made him king
by violence. But Jesus withdrew from them, and op
posed their violent and revolutionary views by his pro
found spiritual doctrine of a meek and holy life of

» De bello Jud., vi. 5 (4).
1 Langen, Tlieo. Quartalschrift, 1863.

OF THE ZEALOTS Jf
submission to authority in self-sacrifice and cross-bear
ing. This soon destroyed all their hopes of him. The
early popularity of Jesus was doubtless owing to the
zeal of these Galileans, who hoped that he would be
come their hero. When he disappointed them they be
came his bitter enemies, and, in the streets of Jerusalem,
united with the Pharisees of the school of Shammai in
demanding his crucifixion.1 This party continued to be
the most hostile to Christianity. We see them banding
together in Jerusalem to the number of forty, and vow
ing that they will neither eat nor drink till they have
killed Paul.2 These men increased in numbers until at
last, under the leadership of bold and unscrupulous
fanatics, they brought upon their city and nation the
doom predicted by Jesus. The school of Hillel, weak
ened by the numerous conversions to Christianity, were
overpowered by the school of Shammai, and the Zealots
drowned all voices for moderation in their frantic cries
for war. They slew the high priest and the chiefs of
the moderate party ; and though never at peace with
themselves, the several sects of the Zealots fought with
the most desperate courage until Jerusalem and the
temple became a mass of ruins and the nation was de
stroyed. But the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus in the year
70 of our era did not quench the ardor of the Zealots.
They fled to Egypt and Africa, Syria and the East, stirring
up insurrections at Cyrene, Alexandria, Cyprus, and other
large centres of Jewish population, being guilty of the
greatest cruelties, and committing atrocities of every
kind, until they were regarded as the enemies of the human
race. They were remorselessly crushed by the Roman

' John xviii. 40 ; xix. 6. » Acts xxiii. 12.

18 THE MESSIAH
legions. At last gathering in Palestine under Bar
Kocheba, the last act of the tragedy of Israel was per
formed. Rabbi Akiba, the leader of the Pharisees of
his time, the father of Rabbinism, recognized him as the
Messiah ' and gave the whole strength of his party to
the movement ; so that with the fall of Bether, Phar
isee and Zealot were involved in common ruin, their
hopes blasted and their religion disgraced by the Mes
siah whom they had preferred to the Messiah of the
Gospels.2 We may ascribe to men of this party such writings as
the Assumption of Moses and the Apocalypses of
Baruch and Ezra. In such a man as Bar Kocheba, the
earlier Messiah of these writings, who was to erect a
kingdom and reign for a limited period and die, finds its
historic connection. These Zealots were the party of
apocalyptic counting and of carnal hopes in the triumph
of the Jews, and of sensuous delights in the promised
land. Rabbi Akiba, the leader of the Pharisees of his
age, who united with the Zealots in their last supreme
effort, taught a Sabbath millennium s which was but
another symbolic form of the four centuries of the reign
of the Messiah in the Apocalypse of Ezra : and of the
work of the earlier Messiah in the Apocalypse of Baruch.
No other Messiah was left to Judaism than the Son of
Man of the Judgment throne.
THE PRAYER OF ISRAEL.
§ 8. Israel 's perpetual prayer is that God may come to
reign over them, restore them to the Holy Land and give
1 Schurer, Gescb. des Jiidischen Volkes, i., s. 571.
= Ewald, Geschichte Israels, vii., s. 402 ; and Schindler, Messianic Expecta
tions and Modern Judaism, p. 78.
3 Jost, Geschichte des Judenthums, i., s. 67.

OF THE PRATER OF ISRAEL 19
them freedom and prosperity; and that the shoot of David
may again reign gloriously in ferusalem.
The Liturgy of Israel contains at its basis two forms
of prayer which certainly come down from the first
century, some of the elements being much earlier.
These have been used by the Jewish people throughout
the world in all the Christian centuries; and are now
in use by them. They express the common prayer of
all Israel. These are the Shema and the Shemone Esre.
The Shema ' consists of the three sections of the Law,
Deut. vi. 4-9; xi. 13-21 ; Num. xv. 37-41, and accom
panying thanksgivings. It combines confession of faith
and prayer. It is referred to by Josephus2 and it is
prescribed in the Mishna3 that at morning prayer two
of the prayers shall precede the confession of faith and
one shall follow ; at evening prayers two shall precede
and two follow."
The Shemone Esre,6 or the 18 Benedictions, was of
gradual growth ; but with the exception of certain
minor modifications, was completed before the close of
the first Christian century.6 Four of them contain
Messianic elements.
10. Sound the great trumpet for our freedom ; and lift up a
banner to gather our captives ; and gather us together speedily
from the four corners of the earth to our own land.
Blessed art Thou, O Lord ; even He that gathereth the out
casts of His people Israel.

1 jjoej*. 5 Antiq. iv. 8, 13. ' Berachoth i. 4.
« Schiirer, Gesch. d. Jiid. Volkes, ii., s. 382.
6 rnfcty rOtoB> = Eighteen.
« Zunz, Die gottesdienstlichen Vortrage der Juden.,2te Aufl., 1892, shows that
the earliest of these Benedictions were 1, 2, 3, 16, 17, 18, that a second group of
6 were subsequently inserted, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 15, and that the others were added
later, the last of all the one relating to heretics, but all prior to the destruction cf
the temple at Jerusalem. This made nineteen, but the name was not changed.

20 THE MESSIAH
ii. Restore us our judges as at the first ; and our counsellors
as at the beginning ; ' and turn from us sorrow and sighing ; and
reign over us speedily, Thou, O Lord, alone, in compassion, in
righteousness and in judgment.
Blessed art Thou, O Lord, a king that lovest righteousness
and judgment.2
14a. Dwell in the midst of Jerusalem, Thy city, as Thou hast
said ; and establish in the midst of her speedily the throne of
David ; and build her an eternal building speedily in our days.
Blessed art Thou, O Lord, that buildest Jerusalem.
14*. Cause the Shoot of David Thy servant speedily to spring
forth; and let his house be exalted in Thy Salvation; for we
wait for Thy salvation day by day.
Blessed art Thou, O Lord, that causest the horn of salvation
to spring forth.3
These prayers belong to the latest of the groups of
Benedictions and doubtless come from the first Chris
tian century. They look forward to a divine advent
on the basis of the promise of Deuteronomy4 and of an
ancient Apocalypse," which will give them freedom, res
toration to the holy land, and prosperity under the reign
of God. They also look for the coming of the Shoot of
David on the basis of Jeremiah ° and Zechariah,7 and of
his reign in Jerusalem on the throne of David. They
adhere to the Messianic idea of the Old Testament in
its simplicity and in its purity. The Hope of Israel is in
eventually seeing, with the Christian world, that the
divine advent and the coming of the Shoot of David
coincide in Jesus, the Messiah of Israel and of the
world.

1 Isa- !- 26- ' Ps. xxxiii. 5.
' I follow the translation used by Westcott in his Epistle to the Hebrews, pp.
207-210. A German translation is given by Schurer in his Gesch. d. Jiid. Volkes
ii., s. 384 seq.
' Deut- xxx- ' Isa. xxvii. 13. See Messianic Prophecy, p. 3c8.
• xxiii. 5-8 ; xxxiii. T4-22. See Messianic Pro/hecy, p. 243.
' iii. 8-iv. 14. See Messianic Prophery, pp. 444 seo.

CHAPTER II.
THE MESSIAH OF THE JEWISH CHRISTIANS.
The ascension of Jesus, after his resurrection and
commission to his disciples, completed the Messianic idea
of Jesus. The disciples waited in accordance with his
command for the gift of the Holy Spirit to guide them
in the execution of their great commission. The de
scent of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost began
the apostolic period and advanced the Messianic idea
another stage in its development.
THE ADVENT OF THE SPIRIT.
§ 9. The descent of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pen
tecost was a Pneumatophany . It was at the same time an
advent of the enthroned Messiah in the Spirit to lay the
foundation of his kingdom.
The descent of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pente
cost was a theophany. The presence of the Spirit was
manifested in the rushing of a mighty wind, and in
tongues of fire distributing themselves upon the assem
bled disciples. The effect of this distribution of the
Spirit appeared in the ecstatic state of the disciples.
They became passive instruments of the Holy Spirit
who spake through them in the numerous dialects of the
attending multitudes. The narrative of the book of
(31)

22 THE MESSIAH
Acts thus describes a Theophany which was in some re
spects more glorious than any of the Theophanies re
ported in the Gospels, or described in the history of the
Old Testament.
And when the day of Pentecost was being fulfilled,1 they
were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from
heaven a sound as of the rushing of a mighty wind, and it filled
all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto
them tongues distributing themselves,2 like as of fire ; and it sat
upon each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy
Spirit, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave
them utterance.
Now there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from
every nation under heaven. And when this sound was heard,
the multitude came together, and were confounded, because
that every man heard them speaking in his own language. And
they were all ama2:ed and marvelled, saying, Behold, are not all
these which speak Galilasans ? And how hear we, every man in
our own language, wherein we were born ? Parthians and Medes
and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, in Judsea and
Cappadocia, in Pontus and Asia, in Phrygia and Pamphylia, in
Egypt and the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and sojourners
from Rome, both Jews and Proselytes, Cretans, and Arabians,
we do hear them speaking in our tongues the mighty works of
God. And they were all amazed, and were perplexed, saying
one to another, What meaneth this ? But others mocking said,
They are filled with new wine. (Acts ii. i— 13.)
This passage describes a divine advent in fire and
wind. Such advents are familiar to the Old Testament
history.3 Here the advent is specifically an advent of

1 av/nr^v/JOvaBat only in Luke. See Luke ix. 51. The margin of R. V. is
better than the text of R. V. " was now come," or of A. V. " was fully come."
2 diafispird/ievai yluooai. The participle is reflexive as in the margin of
R. V. , referring to the tongues. The fire is conceived as distributing itself in the
form of tongues upon the heads of the assembled disciples. The " parting
asunder " of the R. V. is not much better than the " cloven " of the A. V.
3 Ex. xix. 18-20 ; Ps. xviii. 6-15; 1 Kings xix. u, 12,

OF PETER 23
the Holy Spirit, who is thus prominent at this time in
order to introduce the age of the Spirit. The Pneuma-
tophany is to be compared with the Theophanies of the
Old Testament and the Christophanies of the Gospels.
The tongues of fire distributed themselves upon the as
sembled disciples in order to show the wide distribution
of the energy of the Spirit. The Spirit thus enables the
disciples to execute the great commission which Jesus
had given them to preach his gospel. The divine Spirit,
which at the baptism of Jesus rested upon him in the
form of a dove,1 now distributed itself among the
many disciples in the form of tongues of fire, imparting
to each of them a divine energy to do the mighty works
of preaching and miracle-working which the Messiah
now summons them to do.
Peter at once assumes the leadership of the apostles,
in accordance with the prediction of Jesus that he would
be the rock of the Church and the porter of the king
dom,2 and he gives the interpretation of this wonderful
event. But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice,
and spake forth unto them, saying, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye
that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and give ear
unto my words. For these are not drunken as ye suppose ; see
ing it is but the third hour of the day ; but this is that which
hath been spoken through the prophet Joel ;3 and it shall be in
the last days, saith God,4 I will pour forth of my Spirit 5 upon all
flesh : and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your

1 See Messiah of the Gospels, p. 75.
a See Messiah of the Gospels, p. 189.
' Joel ii. 28-32 (iii. 1-5).
1 "In the last days" instead of "after this" of Mass. and LXX, "Saith God"
is inserted to show that they are divine words taken by extract from a prophecy.
6 " Of my Spirit," after the LXX instead of the definite accusative of the Mass.
text, probably as Toy, Quotations in the New Testament, p. 98, suggests "from
a feeling that only a part of the divine Spirit could be given to men."

24 THE MESSIAH
young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream
dreams : ' yea and on my servants and on my handmaidens in
those days will I pour forth of my Spirit ; and they shall proph
esy.' And I will shew wonders in the heaven above, and signs
on the earth beneath ; 3 blood and fire, and vapour of smoke : 4
the sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood,
before the coming of that great and notable ° day of the Lord :
and it shall be, that whosoever shall call on the name of the
Lord shall be saved.
Ye men of Israel, hear these words : Jesus of Nazareth, a
man approved of God unto you by mighty works and wonders
and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, even as ye
yourselves know ; him, being delivered up by the determinate
counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye by the hand of lawless
men did crucify and slay : whom God raised up, having loosed
the pangs of death : because it was not possible that he should
be holden of it. For David saith concerning him,6 I beheld '
the Lord always before my face ; for he is on my right hand,
that I should not be moved : 8 therefore my heart was glad,
and my tongue " rejoiced ; moreover my flesh also shall dwell
in hope : because thou wilt not leave my soul to Hades,10 neither

i There is a transposition of these lines in disagreement with both LXX and
Mass. a " And they shall prophesy" is a rhetorical expansion. It is not found in
LXX or Mass.
3 "Above," "signs," and "beneath," are rhetorical expansions not in LXX
or Mass.
4 arfiida vapour is a generalization of the more specific "pillars" of the
Mass. text in which the author of Acts follows the LXX.
6 This passage follows the LXX in rendering kmtpavij which is based upon the
reading HSOJ. The Mass. text reads Nil}.
" Ps. xvi. 8-i r.
7 " I beheld " is an incorrect rendering of the Hebrew verb THE? by the LXX
which possibly rests on a different reading.
8 The LXX and Acts interpret this as a final clause, which is possible, although
there is no particle in Hebrew.
• The " tongue " is used by the LXX for the Hebrew TOO honour, which is a
synonym of the K>SJ. It is a paraphrastic rendering.
io The LXX and Acts both have dc adnv, which is a correct rendering of the
Hebrew. The R. V. is incorrect in rendering " in Hades."

OF PETER 25
wilt thou give thy Holy One to see corruption. Thou madest
known unto me the ways1 of life; thou shalt make me full2 of
gladness with thy countenance.
Brethren, I may say unto you freely of the patriarch David,
that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us unto
this day. Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had
sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins he would
set one upon his throne ; he foreseeing this spake of the resur
rection of the Messiah, that neither was he left to Hades, nor did
his flesh see corruption. This Jesus did God raise up, whereof
we all are witnesses. Being therefore exalted at the right hand
of God, and having received of the Father the promise of the
Holy Spirit, he hath poured forth this, which ye see and hear.
For David ascended not into the heavens : but he saith himself,
The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand,
Till I make thine enemies the footstool of thy feet.3
Let all the house of Israel therefore know assuredly, that God
hath made him both Lord and Messiah, this Jesus whom ye cru
cified. (Acts ii. 14-36.)
Peter, under the influence of the divine Spirit which
he had just received, becomes the porter of the Church
and gives the conditions of entrance into it.
He interprets the theophanic advent of the Spirit
as in fulfilment of the prophecy of Joel, which predicted
the advent of the divine Spirit in the last days upon all
classes and conditions of men." This prophecy of Joel
is one of a series of predictions of the advent of the
divine Spirit which are given in Ezekiel, in the great

1 The LXX and Acts are inexact in giving the plural " ways " for the Hebrew
singular " path."
a The verb nhnp&oeic of the LXX takes the place of the noun y3E*> of the Mass.
text. It possibly rests upon a different reading.
3 This is the same as LXX of Ps. ex. and a correct translation of the Hebrew
text. The ^ of the dative is rendered by a genitive ; the meaning is scarcely
changed. 4 See Briggs, Mess. Proph., pp. 154 seg.

26 THE MESSIAH
prophet of the exile, and in Zechariah. According to
Peter, the last days of prophecy, the times of the Mes
siah, have come, and the great events therein predicted
are in course of fulfilment. The distribution of the
Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost was even more ex
tensive than the original prediction. There the several
kinds of prophecy were to be enjoyed, and that by the
several ages, sexes, and conditions of men. Here the
assembled Christians of all classes enjoy the gift, and it
manifests itself in an ecstatic condition in which they
praise God in the languages of all the nations which
were represented in the assembly. This gift of the
Holy Spirit was a gift for an age of the Spirit and for a
period of preaching of the gospel. The Pneumatophany
was not a permanent one, any more than the presence
of the dove on the head of Jesus was permanent ; but
the presence of the Spirit was to be as permanent with
the disciples as it had been with Jesus.
A Pneumatophany was given a second time to the as
sembled disciples.1 On two other occasions similar
Pneumatophanies were granted, once to the assembled
Gentiles, in order to impart the divine Spirit to the
Gentiles as well as to the Jews,2 and once to a company
of disciples of John the Baptist at Ephesus.3 These were
theophanic manifestations of the Holy Spirit, who was
already present in the Church and in its preachers, in
order to confirm their faith and initiate new movements
of advance. The age of the Holy Spirit having come,
it was time for the apostles to undertake their great
commission of preaching the gospel. This gospel was
now made clear to them as never before. It could not
be plain to them until this initial event of the age. It
'Actsiv. 31. ' Acts x. 44 seg. 'Acts xix. 6.

OF PETER 27
was now evident that this Pneumatophany was not only
the fulfilment of the predictions of the prophets, but
also the accomplishment of the promises of Jesus.
Jesus the enthroned Messiah had poured upon them the
Holy Spirit as he promised them to do.' The Holy
Spirit coming forth from him was the surest evidence
that he was enthroned, and was now himself reigning on
his throne and administering the affairs of his kingdom.
And so the predictions of the Old Testament respecting
the reign of the Messiah were now for the first time
made evident.
The pious man of the Psalter who was not to be aban
doned to Hades, but who was to enjoy the favour and
presence of God,2 did not find his counterpart in the ex
perience of David. The ideal was fulfilled for the first
in the resurrection and ascension of Jesus, the second
David, his son and lord. The apostles had witnessed the
resurrection of Jesus and his ascension ; now they witness
his coronation gift, the descent of the Holy Spirit.
The Messiah had suffered and died as the faithful proph
et ; he had remained in the grave for three days ; he
had risen from the dead ; he had ascended to the right
hand of God ; he had been inaugurated as king in
heaven, and he was now the enthroned Messiah, the
king of Israel and of the world. Accordingly the apos
tle sees the Son of God, the king of Psalm ii., reigning
on his throne. The time has arrived in which all the
Messiah's enemies are to be reduced to submission
under his feet. The kingdom has come, a kingdom of
battle, of conquest, and of ultimate victory and glory.
The apostles see clearly, in the light of this Pneuma
tophany, the Messiah enthroned on his throne. The

i See Messiah of the Gospels, pp. 254, 288. * Ps. xvi.

28 THE MESSIAH
Spirit has come as his messenger to guide them in the
work of his kingdom. The kingdom has been estab
lished in heaven by the enthronement of the Messiah
there ; it is now established on earth by the advent of
the Spirit, and by the beginning of the work of the
kingdom in the preaching of the gospel under the im
pulse of the Spirit. The kingdom of grace has come.
The kingdom of glory is in prospect. First is the age
of the Spirit and of the preaching of the gospel, and
then the judgment. The kingdom of grace, the age of
the Spirit, the preaching of the gospel have now begun,
and the disciples have only to look forward with expec
tation to the judgment and the kingdom of glory.
Peter thus became the rock of the kingdom as its first
member, as the first to speak under the impulse of the
divine Spirit who had taken possession of him. He
opens the gate of the kingdom and gives the condition
of entrance.
Repent ye, and be baptized every one of you in the name of
Jesus Messiah unto the remission of your sins ; and ye shall re
ceive the gift of the Holy Spirit, (ii. 38.)
Repentance and Baptism open the gates of the king
dom here, as faith and baptism, in the Apostolic com
mission,1 and regeneration by the water and the Spirit,
in the Messiah's word to Nicodemus.2 And so three
thousand repented and were baptized ; they received
the gift of the Spirit and entered the kingdom. About
Peter, the eleven, and the original five hundred, three
thousand living stones were placed ; and the temple of
God rose many courses on this first day of the Messianic
age.

¦ See Messiah of the Gospels, p. 228.
> See Messiah of the Gospels, p. 261,

OF PETER 29
THE GLORIFIED SERVANT.
§ io. God has glorified his faithful and holy servant
Jesus in fulfilment of prophecy. The heavens will retain
him until the times of restoration and seasons of refresh
ing. The preaching of Peter and the apostles was followed
by miracle-working. In the name of the Messiah the
apostles work the miracles. They do not work them in
their own authority as did the Messiah, but they work
them in his authority and with the use of his name.
The miracle of healing the man born lame was the oc
casion of the second discourse of Peter in Solomon's
porch. And when Peter saw it, he answered unto the people, Ye
men of Israel, why marvel ye at this man ? or why fasten ye
your eyes on us, as though by our own power or godliness we
had made him to walk ? The God of Abraham, and of Isaac,
and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his Servant
Jesus ; whom ye delivered up, and denied before the face of
Pilate, when he had determined to release him. But ye denied
the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be
granted unto you, and killed the Prince of life ; whom God
raised from the dead ; whereof we are witnesses. And by faith
in his name hath his name made this man strong, whom ye be
hold and know : yea, the faith which is through him hath given
him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all. And now,
brethren, I wot that in ignorance ye did it, as did also your
rulers. But the things which God foreshewed by the mouth of
all the prophets, that his Messiah should suffer, he thus fulfilled.
Repent ye therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be
blotted out, that so there may come seasons of refreshing from
the presence of the Lord ; and that he may send the Messiah
who hath been appointed for you, even Jesus : whom the heaven
must receive until the times of restoration of all things, where
of God spake by the mouth of his holy prophets which have been

30 THE MESSIAH
since the world began. Moses indeed said, A prophet shall the
Lord God raise up unto you from among your brethren, like
unto me; to him shall ye hearken in ail things whatsoever he
shall speak unto you. And it shall be, that every soul, which
shall not hearken to that prophet, shall be utterly destroyed from
among the people.1 Yea and all the prophets from Samuel
and them that followed after, as many as have spoken, they
also told of these days. Ye are the sons of the prophets, and of
the covenant which God made with your fathers, saying unto
Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be
blessed.2 Unto you first God, having raised up his Servant,
sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from
your iniquities. (Acts iii. 12-26.)
In this discourse Peter points to Jesus as fulfilling
several predictions of the Old Testament, (a) He de
clares that he was the prophet greater than Moses,3
whose authority and teaching were to transcend that of
Moses and complete it. Peter here advances a stage in
his apprehension of the Messianic idea. He sees that
Jesus was a greater prophet than Moses, and that his
teaching and commission were higher than the law up
on which the Jewish religion was built. He rises to
the conception of the Messianic age as an age in which
the teachings of Jesus transcend the teachings of the
Law and the Prophets.
(b) He sees in Jesus the suffering servant who was
predicted in many Messianic prophecies of the Psalter,
the great prophet of the exile, and Zechariah.4 All these
predictions the Jews have unconsciously fulfilled in their

1 This is a paraphrase of the original Deut. xviii. 15, 18, ro, and in this re
gard differs from the LXX and Massoretic texts. But it gives its meaning in a
more rhetorical form.
2 The apostle refers to the Abrahamic covenant which is given in Gen. xii. 3
xxii. 18. He gives a free rendering of these passages.
3 Deut. xviii. 15-19. See Briggs, Messianic Profliecy, p. 110 seg.
4 See Messianic Prophecy, pp. 320 seq., 356 seq., 463.

OF PETER 31
persecution of Jesus, the Holy and Righteous One. In
this Peter unfolds the Messianic idea of the Gospels.1
(c) He sees in Jesus the fulfilment of the Abrahamic
covenant ; through whom the blessing of Abraham is to
be bestowed upon all the kindreds of the earth." The
Gospels do not use this Messianic ideal. Peter advances
beyond them when he sees that Jesus fulfils the Abra
hamic promise.
(d) But he not only combines the Messianic ideas of
Abraham and Moses with those of the servant of the
Psalter and the prophets, but he still further identifies
the seed and the servant with the son of David and
king of the Old Testament. This identification was im
possible until after the suffering servant had become the
enthroned king. But now Peter was guided by the
Spirit to see these identifications. The predictions
from Samuel onward respecting the seed and son of
David have now been fulfilled. In speaking of Samuel,
Peter doubtless refers to the prediction of Nathan, the
fundamental prophecy respecting the seed of David.
That seed has suffered the chastisements due to the
guilt of the line of David, but the mercy of God has not
departed from it. Jesus suffered and died, but he was
the Prince of life. He was raised from the dead by
God, as Peter and his associates could testify. He
had been enthroned in the heavens, where he must re
main until the time for his second Advent has come.
Reigning there, he imparts to his disciples the power of
working miracles. The apostle sees in these miracles
the presence of Jesus himself, whom God has sent not
only to heal them, but to turn them from their iniqui-

1 See The Messiah of the Gospels, p. 329.
a See Messianic Prophecy, pp. 83 seq.

32 THE MESSIAH
ties. He thus sees that the spiritual presence of the
enthroned Jesus which he now enjoys, is only a fore
taste of the visible and glorious presence of the second
Advent. The time of the remaining of the Messiah in
the heavens is indicated as the time until the " seasons
of refreshing," and the " times of the restoration of all
things." These times are prepared for by repentance
and the blotting out of sins. The interval between the
advents in the discourses of Jesus has been designated
as the times of the gospel, and the age of the Spirit.' In
accordance with these representations there is to be a
period of repentance and remission of sins. All these
things are characteristic of the kingdom of grace. But
these characteristics will all cease when the kingdom of
grace comes to its consummation in the kingdom of glory
at the second Advent of the Messiah from heaven.
The time of this End of the Age, in a discourse of
Jesus, was called the " regeneration," a new birth of the
world.2 So here the times of the advent are times when
all things are to be transformed, refreshed, and restored.
These times of the End of the Age are the burden of
all prophecy. Peter takes up this ancient burden and
becomes thereby the first prophet in the Messianic age.
THE ONLY SAVIOUR.
§ n. Jesus, the enthroned Prince, is the corner-stone of
the kingdom, against whom men struggle in vain. He is
the only Saviour, the giver of repentance and remission of
sins. We shall combine in this section the third and fourth

1 See The Messiah of the Gospels, pp. 144, 292 seq.
2 See The Messiah of the Gospels, p. 227.

OF PETER 33
discourses of Peter and the intervening words of the as
sembled Christians. The two discourses of Peter were
delivered before the sanhedrin. They give testimony
to the Messiahship of Jesus before the authorities of
the Jewish nation. The words of the assembled Chris
tians were occasioned by the resultof the first discourse.
Each one of these passages has its distinctive features,
but they all set forth the doctrine of the enthroned Mes
siah. To this we shall add the words of Peter before
the company of Cornelius, which give another import
ant feature.
Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said unto them, Ye
rulers of the people, and elders, if we this day are examined con
cerning a good deed done to an impotent man, in what this
man is saved ; be it known unto you all, and to all the people
of Israel, that in the name of Jesus Messiah ' of Nazareth, whom
ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even in him doth
this man stand here before you whole. He is the stone which was
set at naught of you the builders, which was made the head of
the corner. And in none other is there the salvation : 2 for
neither is there any other nsrme under heaven, that is given.
among men, wherein we must be saved. (Acts iv. 8-12.)
In this discourse Peter doubtless recalls the words of
Jesus in which the Messiah predicted that he would be
the rejected corner-stone of Israel.3 These words of
Jesus have now been fulfilled. The corner-stone was
rejected by the Jews when they crucified the Messiah.
But Peter tells this sanhedrin which had decreed the
death of Jesus, that Jesus the Messiah was risen and was
enthroned. As enthroned he is the head of the corner ;

1 ;c/MOT<5c=n,|t5>D here, as elsewhere in Peter's discourse, is an affirmation
of the Messiahship of Jesus. We lose sight of it in the word Christ, which has
become a proper name.
* v ournpia, the Messianic salvation, as Vincent (Word Studies, i. 465).
3 See The Messiah of the Gospels, p. 114.

34 THE MESSIAH
the corner-stone of the' divine kingdom is laid and the
temple of living stones is rising upon him. As the
corner-stone, the Messianic salvation is in him and in no
other. Jesus, when he spoke of the rejection as future,
predicted that the stone would be a judgment stone to
destroy the wicked builders.1 But Peter takes up the
other side and presents the stone as the stone of Mes
sianic salvation. His name is the only name under
heaven that is a saving name. Here Peter apprehends
the spiritual significance of the reign of the Messiah.
In the previous discourse he had opened the gates to
the repenting, that they might have remission of sins
and the gift of the Holy Spirit, and so enter the king
dom and become its citizens. He now represents Jesus
as the only Messiah, and as such the only Saviour. The
kingdom is a kingdom of salvation, and the Messianic
salvation cannot be gained apart from it and without
submission to the reign of this king. Peter does not
mean to teach that all who know not of this salvation
will be condemned to everlasting punishment at death.
Such a doctrine is nowhere to be found in Holy Scrip
ture. He is not teaching that there was no salvation in
the Old Testament dispensation ; or in the heathen
world ; or for those who by age or mental condition
are incapable of recognizing Jesus as their Saviour. He
teaches that Jesus is the only Messiah. No other Mes
siah will come. He is the only corner-stone of the
kingdom of God. No other will ever be laid. He has
brought the Messianic salvation into the world. No
other is to be expected. His salvation is the Messianic
salvation and no one else can give it. He is the only
Saviour who can give this salvation. There is no other

1 See The Messiah of the Gospels, p. 2T7.

OF PETER 35
name wherein men can receive it. All who would be
saved in the kingdom of the Messiah must be saved
through Jesus the only Messiah and Saviour."
This testimony was heard by the sanhedrin with as
tonishment and alarm. They could only warn him and
dismiss him. The experience of Peter was reported to
the assembled Christians in Jerusalem, and it reminded
them of the experience of Jesus and the prophetic
word. And being let go, they came to their own company, and re
ported all that the chief priests and the elders had said unto
them. And they, when they heard it, lifted up their voice to
God with one accord, and said, O Lord, thou that didst make
the heaven and the earth and the sea, and all that in them is :

¦ The theological questions which are often raised on the basis of this passage
with regard to the salvation of those who lived in the world prior to the Messiah's
advent, or who never hear the gospel and have not the knowledge of the enthroned
Messiah in this life, were not contemplated in these words of Peter. They must
be solved from the teaching of other passages of Holy Scripture or from Chris
tian experience. We must make similar distinctions here to those we have made
in the previous volume (The Messiah of the Gospels, p. 266). All those who are
to have complete salvation must eventually have the Messianic salvation which
Jesus alone can give ; they must come to him in faith and repentance, and gain
from his hands the remission of sins. All other salvations are preparatory to the
Messianic salvation. All who enjoy Salvation in its earlier stages of appropria
tion, must advance to the higher stage of the Messiah, if they would be really,
and truly, and ultimately saved. If they have not the opportunity of the Mes
sianic salvation in this life, they will probably have it in the Middle State after
death, and prior to the resurrection and ultimate judgment. But these are specu
lations beyond the scope of this passage, as truly as is' the more common specu
lation that all are everlastingly lost who do not in this life know Jesus as the
Messiah and. his salvation as the only salvation.
In the epistles of Peter and Paul we shall have to consider the salvation of the
second Advent, as the salvation which cannot be gained until the resurrection.
To this even the Messianic salvation enjoyed by faith in the enthroned Messiah,
is only preparatory, and in it is first consummated. There are indeed several
stages in the advance of the work of salvation in this world. Each stage of this
advance is a salvation so far as it initiates or advances men in that discipline of
grace which first attains its end at the second Advent.

36 THE MESSIAH
who by the Holy Spirit, by the mouth of our father David thy
servant, didst say,
Why did the Gentiles rage,
And the peoples imagine vain things ?
The kings of the earth set themselves in array,
< And the rulers were gathered together,
Against the Lord, and against his Anointed : *
for of a truth in this city against thy holy Servant Jesus, whom
thou didst anoint, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gen
tiles and the peoples of Israel, were gathered together, to do
whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel foreordained to come to
pass. And now, Lord, look upon their threatenings : and grant
unto thy servants to speak thy word with all boldness, while thou
stretchest forth thy hand to heal ; and that signs and wonders
may be done through the name of thy holy Servant Jesus. And
when they had prayed, the place was shaken wherein they were
gathered together ; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit,
and they spake the word of God with boldness. (Acts iv. 23-31.)
The assembled Christians saw in the events that had
just transpired in the experience of Jesus and Peter the
fulfilment of the predictions of the second Psalm. They
saw the Messiah on his throne and the nations vainly
striving against him. Jew and Gentile had combined
in putting Jesus to death, but he had risen from the
dead and ascended to his throne. He had sent forth
his Spirit, and given his apostles the authority to preach
the gospel and work miracles. The rulers have striven
against Peter and John, but the miracles and the preach
ing of Jesus are not stayed. They still continue, and
the name of the holy Messianic servant will fill the
world with wonders. This confidence of the assembled

1 This is an exact copy of the LXX text of Ps. ii. 1-2. The LXX version is
essentially the same as the Hebrew text. The only important difference is
owrixBriaav for the Hebrew nDU which seems to rest upon a reading YJWJ.
(See Toy, Quotations in the New Testament, p. 107).

OF PETER 37
Christians in the fulfilment of prophecy was rewarded
by a second Pneumatophany which was accompanied by
an earthquake.
The ministry of Peter and the apostles continued to
meet with marvellous success. Preaching and miracle-
working abounded, and " believers were the more added
to the Lord, multitudes both of men and women." The
sanhedrin were watching them and were becoming more
and more alarmed at the progress of the disciples of
Jesus. They at last interposed, and the apostles were ar
rested and imprisoned. But they were delivered from
prison by an angel and renewed their ministry in the
temple. They were again brought before the sanhedrin,
and Peter gave a second testimony to Jesus as the
Messiah. The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew, hang
ing him on a tree. Him did God exalt at his right hand ' to.be a
prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and re
mission of sins. And we are witnesses of these things ; and so
is the Holy Spirit, whom God hath given to them that obey
him. (v. 30-32.)
Here again Peter preaches the risen and enthroned
Messiah. He sees him at the right hand of God, the
prince as well as the Saviour. He sees him giving to
men from his throne the most precious gifts of repent
ance and remission. In the first discourse he had
taught that the Holy Spirit was the Messiah's gift and

1 The margin of R. V. " at his right hand " is better than the text of R. V.
and A. V. " with his right hand," ry Seijia avrov. The locality of the exalta
tion of the enthroned Messiah is in Peter's mind here as elsewhere, and not the
divine power of the Father that raised him. His exaltation requires the thought
"at his right hand" to supplement it, and to prepare for the thought of the
Prince and Saviour reigning there. This verb vibaotv is the same verb
that we found used in the Gospel of John (iii. 14) with reference to the exalta
tion of the Messiah. (See The Messiah of the Gospels, p. 267 seg.)

3g THE MESSIAH
had called upon his hearers to repent and be baptized
that they might receive this gift. Here repentance and
remission of sins are the gifts of the Messiah. In the
Pentecostal sermon repentance is in order to remission
of sins ; here it is the primary gift in order to remission,
the secondary gift. Repentance is the work of the sinner
as he turns toward the enthroned Saviour, but it is also
a gift of the enthroned Saviour as he turns toward the
sinner in his call to repentance. The call carries with it
an enabling act without which the sinner cannot make
the real and true repentance. The apostle thus sees the
enthroned Saviour himself, directing all the work of re
demption, and distributing to each one his gifts of sal
vation. This testimony of Peter before the sanhedrin
was heard with alarm. But they followed the advice of
Gamaliel, and dismissed the apostles with warnings and
beatings. THE JUDGE OF THE LIVING AND THE DEAD.
§ 12. Jesus came in Christophany to Peter and com
missioned him to open the door of the kingdom to the Gen
tiles. Peter fulfilled his commission and taught that
Jesus was the Judge of the living and the dead, the source
of remission of sins, predicted by the prophets.
Philip began preaching the gospel to the Samaritans,
but Peter and John were sent down from Jerusalem
to admit them into the kingdom by the laying on of
hands. Peter soon after was commissioned by Jesus
himself to open the door to the Gentiles. The Lord
Jesus appeared to him in a vision and taught him that
God had removed the distinction between the clean and
the unclean in the ceremonial of Israel, and that the
Gentiles were to be admitted to the kingdom of God.

OF PETER 39
By this Christophany the kingdom of the Messiah was
greatly advanced. Peter grows in his conception of the
kingdom of God. The words of Jesus and the extent
of his commission are more clearly understood. Ac
cordingly in his discourse before the Gentiles his
mind is enlarged, and he teaches them that Jesus,
Charged us to preach unto the people, and to testify that this
is he which is ordained of God to be the Judge of quick and
dead. To him bear all the prophets witness, that through his
name every one that believeth on him shall receive remission of
sins. (x. 42, 43.)
As in the discourses last considered, Peter saw the en
throned Messiah as the only Saviour, so here he
sees him as the only Judge. But he does not over
look the remission of sins which comes through the
Messiah alone. The prophets all of them give witness
to the divine judgment. Here Peter takes up the Old
Testament doctrine of the divine judgment and applies
it to Jesus. This implies that Jesus was not only the
seed of Abraham, the son of David, and the faithful
prophet, the various phases of the human Messiah of the
Old Testament ; but that he also took the place of the
God of judgment. Peter refers to the commission of
Jesus to declare him as such a judge. We do not find such
a doctrine in the great commission or in any of the lesser
commissions of Jesus in explicit terms. It is implied,
however, in the prediction of the judgment of those
guilty of rejecting the gospel, and still more in all those
predictions of Jesus in which the Son of Man is to come
on the clouds to judgment.1 But in the Gospel of John 2
a discourse of Jesus definitely represents him as the
judge of the living and the dead, arid it is possible that

1 See The Messiah of the Gospels, pp. 152, 221. » v. 22-29.

40 THE MESSIAH
Peter had this discourse in mind. The doctrine that the
Messiah is the judge of the living and the dead seems
to have been deeply impressed upon his mind and heart.
As he taught that Jesus descended to the abode of the
dead and ascended from thence,1 so he saw that the
Messiah had a work for the dead also. Here he is the
judge of the dead as well as the living. In the first
Epistle of Peter he is the Redeemer of the dead." The
departed, those who left the world prior to the advent
of the Messiah, are not excluded from his Messianic
ministry. They are to appear with the living for judg
ment before the Messiah their judge.
The admission of the Gentiles into the kingdom by
Peter was displeasing to large numbers among the Jew
ish Christians, who were not disposed to accept the tes
timony of Peter that he acted under the authority of
the Messiah in so doing. The apostles, however, ac
cepted his testimony and acknowledged the Gentile
Christians. But many of the Jewish brethren kept aloof
from them and dealt with them as the Pharisees had
been accustomed to deal with the proselytes.' Peter by
this action advanced beyond the mass of the Jewish
Christians and forfeited his leadership. Henceforth it is
James who is the spokesman at the head of the con
servative party. And thus the Petrine theology, as the
more progressive theology, is eliminated from the theol
ogy of James and the Jewish Christians as the more con
servative theology.
The call of the apostle Paul and his work among the
Gentiles brought the question of the relation of the Gen
tiles to the Jewish Christians into the position of a burn
ing question that must be decided in an apostolic coun-
1 Acts ii. 31, see p. 25. " See p. 54. , Acts x;

OF JAMES 41
cil. Paul, under the guidance of Christophanies given
to him alone, had gone far beyond the apostle Peter in
his views. Thus three parties were developed in the in
fant Church on this burning question. The decision of
the council was pronounced by James, who seems to
have presided and to have given the sentence in which
all concurred. James sees in the conversion of the
Gentiles the fulfilment of the prediction of the prophet
Amos.

THE GENTILES AND THE TABERNACLE OF DAVID.
§ 13. James sees in the conversion of the GentVes the re
building of the tabernacle of David and the extension of
his dominion over mankind.
James uses an appropriate citation to settle the differ
ences between the parties in the council at Jerusalem.
As the representative of the conservative Jewish party
he quotes a prophecy that carried in it all their Mes
sianic ideas.
Brethren, hearken unto me : Symeon hath rehearsed how first
God did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his
name. And to this agree the words of the prophets ; as it is
written,1 After these things I will return,2 and I will build
again 3 the tabernacle 4 of David, which is fallen ; and I will

1 Amos ix. n, 12.
* This clause is neither in the Mass. text nor the LXX and is a paraphrastic ad
dition. It is absurd for the R. V. to put this addition as a line of poetry.
3 The N. T. follows the LXX here in the use of the prefix av, again, but em
ploys a different verb, avotKotio/i-nou for a.vaoTT]Cu>. The Hebrew text is simply
D^pX, I will raise up. But in the second instance the N. T. and LXX are
agreed in the use of the verb.
* The N. T. agrees with the LXX in using OK-nvij for the Hebrew booth.

42 THE MESSIAH
build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up:1 that the
residue of men may seek after the Lord,2 and all the Gentiles,
upon whom my name is called, saith the Lord, who maketh
these things known from the begining of the world.3 (xv. 14-18.)
James sees in the conversion of the Gentiles the com
ing of the nations under the dominion of the Messiah.
This is a familiar conception of Messianic dominion as
set forth in the Old Testament. The conversion of the
Gentiles is connected with the upbuilding of the taber
nacle of David which was in ruins. This is the royal
house, the dominion of David. The enthroned Messiah
was the son of David. In his enthronement the house of
David was rebuilt. It was in keeping with the prophecy,
therefore, that the nations should submit to the rule of
the Messiah who had renewed the dynasty of David.
THE JUDGE AT THE DOOR.
§ 14. Jesus is the Lord, the Messiah reigning in glory.
The Parousia of the Messiah is at hand, the Judge is at
the door. The poor and the patient, who are rich in faith,
will inherit the kingdom.
The Epistle of James gives us the simplest form of

1 The R. V. wrongly gives this line as two lines of poetry. The LXX uses
to. irenTundTa aiTtjs for the Hebrew [ITX13, breaches ; but this is omitted
altogether by the N. T., which transposes ra KarcoKa/i/iha ai-ri/c, righUy used
by the LXX with the third verb, and uses it with the second verb. But it follows
the LXX in using avoiKodofii/ou for the Hebrew 71T1J wall up. However, it uses
avopSaoa for the LXX avaorqou and the Hebrew D'pK. It omits the clause
" and will build it as in days of old," which is given in the LXX.
' The Mass. text is supported by the Vulg., Peshitto, and Targum in reading
" that they may possess the remainder of Edom," QHN rV"INi^~nN 1l""I". But
the LXX is supported by the Arabic Version and followed by the N. T. in reading
D1K rV"INB> ", UN lBnTi and rendering either " that they may seek Yahweh
or me, the remnant of men."
a The N. T. paraphrases and substitutes this clause for the Massoretic and
LXX " doer of this."

OF THE EPISTLE OF JAMES 43
the Messianic idea that is found in the epistles. It is in
the style of the discourses of Jesus in the Logia. The
doctrine is built upon the Logia. There are three pas
sages only to be considered.
(i) My brethren, hold not with respect of persons
The faith of our Lord ; Jesus, Messiah ' of glory, (ii. i.)
Jesus is here conceived to be the Messiah reigning in
glory. Faith here is not the act of faith in him, but the
faith, the system of belief, which constitutes his religion,
his teaching, his gospel.2
(2) Hearken, my beloved brethren ;
Did not God choose them that are poor as to the world
To be rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom
Which he promised to them that love him ? (ii. 5.)
The kingdom is a future inheritance, as in the Sermon
on the Mount, and the poor are its heirs. This is the
kingdom of glory.
(3) Be patient 3 therefore, brethren, until the coming of the
Lord.
Behold, the husbandman waiteth 4 for the precious fruit of
the earth,
Being patient over it, until it receive the early and latter
rain.
Be ye also patient ; stablish your hearts :
For the coming of the Lord is at hand.

1 Xpiorov is without the article because it has become definite by usage.
But it is not yet a proper name, and accordingly we should render Messiah of
glory, or glorious Messiah, as parallel to Lord of glory or glorious Lord.
a This usage of faith is regarded by many as an evidence of a later date for
this epistle. But see Vincent, Word Studies, i., p. 475.
• fiaKpo6vfirjaa-et patient with longsuffering. See Vincent, Word Studies,
i., p 760.
* indexerai, with expectation, Vincent, Word Studies, i., p. 761.

44 THE MESSIAH
Murmur not, brethren, one against another, that ye be not
judged:
Behold, the judge standeth before the doors, (v. 7-9-)
James here looks at the Parousia as an advent of
judgment. It is near, it is at the doors. The use of
the apocalypse of Jesus in" these words is evident.1
James does not advance beyond the simple words of
Jesus with reference to the second Advent. He does
not seem to have apprehended the spiritual kingdom of
grace. He sees the Messiah reigning in glory and his
speedy Advent as judge.
THE EPISTLES OF PETER AND JUDE.
The first Epistle of Peter is rich in Messianic material.
The characteristics of this material are similar to those
we have seen in the discourses of Peter in the Book of
Acts. On this account it would be appropriate to con
sider it here even if the Epistle were not authentic. Its
authenticity is doubted by many able writers and denied
by others. It is defended by a still larger number of
critics of the first rank. The question is not yet finally
decided in the field of scholarship. I can only give my
opinion that the Epistle is authentic, without discussing
the question. Indeed, the authorship of the Epistle is
not of essential importance for our purpose.
The authenticity of the second Epistle of Peter is less
firmly established. The majority of recent critics are
against it. But Spitta has recently, with great ability,
defended its authenticity, and as it seems to me with
considerable success.2

1 See Messiah of the Gospels, p. 157.
3 F. Spitta, Der Zweite Brief des Petrus.

OF THE FIRST EPISTLE OF PETER 45
The Epistle of Jude is so closely associated with the
second Epistle of Peter, that one is dependent upon the
other. Critics have not yet decided the question of pri
ority. The Messianic idea of Jude is so meagre, that it
seems best for our purpose to treat it last.
The Messianic material of the first Epistle of Peter
we shall consider in four sections: (1) i. 3-21 ; (2) ii. 1-
10; (3) ii. 21-25, »>¦ 17-22; (4) iv. 6-7, 12, 13, 17-19;
v. 4, 10 ; of the second Epistle in three sections : (1) i. 10-
11 ; (2) ii. 9, 17 ; (3) iii. 3-13 ; and of the Epistle of Jude
in one section.

THE UNFADING INHERITANCE.
§ 1 5. The Messiah, after enduring the sufferings, gained
the glory predicted by the prophets. He was foreknown
as the lamb to be slain before the foundation of the world,
but was manifested at the last of the times to redeem by
his precious blood. The Holy Spirit was sent down from
heaven to make known the gospel of salvation. There is a
little time of affliction, but there is an unfading inherit
ance of grace and glory reserved in heaven for the faith
ful, to be revealed at the last time in the Revelation of
Jesus Christ.
The Epistle in its first chapter encourages the Chris
tians in their present sufferings with the hope of the in
heritance in store for them after a little time.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who
according to his great mercy begat us again unto a living hope
by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, unto an inher
itance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away,
reserved in heaven for you, who by the power of God are guard
ed through faith unto a salvation ready to be revealed in the last
time. Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a little while,

46 THE MESSIAH
if need be, ye have been put to grief in manifold trials,1 that the
proof of your faith, being much more precious than gold that
perisheth though it is proved by fire, might be found unto
praise and glory and honour at the Revelation of Jesus Christ:
whom not having seen ye love ; on whom, though now ye see
him not, yet believing, ye rejoice greatly with joy unspeakable
and glorified : ' receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation
oiyour souls. Concerning which salvation the prophets sought
and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should
come unto you : searching what time or what manner of time the
Spirit of Christ which was in them did point unto, when it testi
fied beforehand the sufferings for Christ,3 and the glories that
should follow them. To whom it was revealed, that not unto
themselves, but unto you, did they minister these things, which
now have been announced unto you through them that preached
the gospel unto you by the Holy Spirit sent forth from heaven ;
which things angels desire to look into. Wherefore girding up
the loins of your mind, be sober and set your hope perfectly on
the grace that is to be brought unto you at the Revelation of
Jesus Christ ; as children of obedience, not fashioning yourselves
according to your former lusts in the time of your ignorance : but
like as he which called you is holy, be ye yourselves also holy in
all manner of living; because it is written, Ye shall be holy; for
I am holy. And if ye call on him as Father, who without
respect of persons judgeth according to each man's work, pass
the time of your sojourning in fear : knowing that ye were re
deemed, not with corruptible things, with silver or gold, from
your vain manner of life handed down from your fathers; but
with precious blood, as of a lamb without blemish and without
spot, even of Christ : who was foreknown indeed before the
foundation of the world, but was manifested at the last of the
times4 for your sake, who through him are believers in God,

i The margin of R. V. is better than the temptations of the text, which in
modern English is too specific. In old English, temptation or lentation meant
trial. deSogaofiivri is glorified as in margin of R. V.
' elc xp'ordv, not " of Christ," but "for Christ," as Vincent, i., p. 634, " the
sufferings destined for Christ " designed to come unto him.
4 Not " end " as in R. V., because " End " has a technical sense in the apoc
alypse of Jesus (see The Messiah of the Gospels, p. 142), which cannot be the mean-

OF THE FIRST EPISTLE OF PETER 47
which raised him from the dead, and gave him glory ; so that
your faith and hope might be in God. (1 Peter i. 3-21.)
The epistle refers to the fulfilment of the predictions
of the Old Testament in the sufferings of the Messiah
and the glory that he now enjoys upon his heavenly
throne. It also reminds its readers of the vastly
greater privileges they enjoyed than did the ancient
prophets, in that they possessed the glory of salvation
brought by the Holy Spirit in his descent from heaven.
It then points them to the second Advent of Jesus as
the centre of their hopes. This advent is called a Reve
lation ; ¦ as the Epistle of James and the Evangelists
have called it an Advent? This Revelation will not
occur until the Last time. The disciples must wait
until that time for the possession of their inheritance of
glory, which is reserved for them in heaven, where the
Messiah is, and where he will remain until that time.
In the time previous to this Revelation, the disciples are
to be faithful and patient in suffering affliction. It is
indeed a little time. This little time is synonymous
with the "at hand" and "before the doors" of James3
and the apocalypse of Jesus.' It is little in its propor
tion to the times of glory Its precise extent is not
given here or elsewhere. We have thus an outline of an
extensive scheme of Christology and Eschatology.
The Messiah is here conceived of as the spotless lamb,
pre-existent before the foundation of the world in the

ing here. The " End" there is the End, the second Advent, the Revelation ; the
reference here is to the first advent. The proper rendering of laxaroc is also
last. It is unfortunate that it was thought necessary to translate iv natpu iaxo-Tu
of verse 5 " in the last time," and iw' iaxarov riivxpivav of verse 20 " at the end
of the times," for there is danger of confusion in the mind of the reader.
1 awoKaXvipic, s -Kaaovoia.
» See pp. 43, 44. « See The Messtih of the Gospels^ p 157.

48 THE MESSIAH
foreknowledge of God ; but manifest in the last of the
times. This pre-existence is an ideal one as in the
Apocalypse of Enoch,1 and not a real one as in the Gos
pel of John.2 The pre-existence of the Messiah as the
lamb of sacrifice in the foreknowledge of God is new to
the Messianic idea. We have seen in the Gospel of John
that Jesus was pointed out to his disciples as the sin-
bearing lamb.3 But that was the historical Messiah
after his baptism. Here the Messiah was foreknown as
the lamb of sacrifice before the world existed, therefore
before man was created and before there was any sin of
man. He was manifested in the woild in the last of the
times of the world. The author thinks that the times
of the world have been summed up and that the last of
these times came with the manifestation of the Messiah
when the lamb entered the world. This is the same
conception which we have seen in the preaching of the
kingdom of God by Jesus himself.' The Messiah was
manifested as a lamb, without blemish and without spot,
that is sinless, immaculate, altogether suited for a sacri
ficial victim. The lamb was a victim in order to the re
demption of those for whom he was manifested. They
were redeemed b not by a price in money, but by a vastly
greater price, by the precious blood of Christ. The
blood of the lamb is what has redemptive value. The
context does not teach how the blood was to be used
for purposes of redemption. In the salutation of the
epistle, however, reference is made to the " sprinkling of
the blood of Jesus Christ." * This is the sprinkling of

' See The Messiah of the Gospels, p. 27.
" See The Messiah of the Gospels, p. 283.
' See The Messiah of the Gospels, p. 69.
* See The Messiah of the Gospels, p. 78.
1 eXvTpuOt/Te.

OF THE FIRST EPISTLE OF PETER 49
the blood of the victim in the sacrifice of the covenant.
The blood of the covenant was sprinkled upon the
people at the institution of the covenant at Horeb.1
The new covenant established by the Messiah gave the
blood of sprinkling in the form of wine in a cup for
drinking.2 Doubtless the reference here is to the same
use of the blood. The blood of Jesus, the Messianic
Lamb of God, is to be applied to his people in order to
redeem them. In the Old Testament the term redemp
tion is not used in connection with the use of the blood
of any of the kinds of animal sacrifices. The blood of
the sin-offering covers over, expiates, cleanses the altars ;
the blood of the covenant sacrifice consecrates, purifies,
sanctifies those upon whom it is sprinkled. How did
the writer of this epistle come to use redeem in connec
tion with the blood ? The basis was probably in the
word of Jesus, " the Son of Man came to give his self a
ransom for many."3 The Messiah, as the faithful ser
vant of Yahweh, as the interposing Lamb of the second
Isaiah,* gave himself to suffering and death ; and there
by, bearing the sin of the world as bis burden of suffer
ing, paid the price of the world's sin in death. His pre
cious blood thus redeems those, whose Messiah he is,
from this death by securing for them, by his own resur
rection, their resurrection from the dead, and their ever
lasting life and blessedness. The sprinkling of this pre
cious blood upon them, or the giving of this blood to
them for drinking in the form of wine, bestows the
redemption thus purchased, and guarantees everlasting
life and blessedness. The Epistle accordingly lays
stress upon the resurrection of the Messiah, which has

» Ex. xxiv. 7, 8. Q See The Messiah of the Gospels, p. 120.
8 See The Messiah of the Gospels, p. no.
4 Is. liii. See Messianic Prophecy, p. 356 seq.

50 THE MESSIAH
given a living hope to Christians not only of a like res
urrection, but also of the inheritance which is carefully
reserved in heaven for them at the time of that resurrec
tion. This inheritance is an everlasting one, but it is
not to be taken possession of until the second Advent.
Between the advents, Christians are to be guarded by
the power of God, to be kept in the Holy Spirit. It is
a time of sojourning and of manifold trials, but the end
and final goal is a salvation. This salvation is not that
which they enjoy already by faith and the blood of
sprinkling ; it is a salvation which will first be revealed
in the last time when the Messiah himself will be re
vealed, a salvation which is the consummation of the sal
vation at the beginning of the Christian life and of all
other phases of salvation prior thereto.1 This last time
is the last (set) time2 of the last of the times.3 The
Manifestation * had been in the last of the times, the
Revelation B will be in the last time of the last.
THE SPIRITUAL TEMPLE.
§ 1 6. Christians are living stones of the temple of which
the Messiah is the corner-stone, a kingdom of priests, a
holy people, an inheritance of God.
In the second chapter, the Epistle uses the prophetic
symbol of the corner-stone, which Peter had used in his
discourse, reported in the book of Acts,6 and which not
unnaturally was a favorite with him, the rock of the
kingdom 7 to set forth the nature of the kingdom of
grace, which was to precede the kingdom of glory and

1 See p. 35. » mipdc. s xpovoi.
* <pavepu>0tvroct ver. 20. 0 anoKaTivibic, ver. 7.
1 See p. 33. » See The Messiah of the Gospels, p. 189.

OF THE FIRST EPISTLE OF PETER 51
the inheritance reserved therein. He combines with the
corner-stone the more ancient prediction contained in
the covenant at Horeb,1 and so shows that Christians
are the true Israel and heirs of all the promises.
Putting away therefore every * wickedness, and every guile,
and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings, as new-born
babes,3 long for the spiritual milk which is without guile, that
yo may grow thereby unto salvation ; if ye have tasted that the
Lord is gracious : unto whom coming, a living stone, rejected in
deed of men, but with God elect, precious, ye also, as living
stones, are built up a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to
offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God through Jesus
Christ. Because it is contained in scripture, Behold I lay in
Zion a chief corner stone, elect, precious : and he that believeth
on him shall not be put to shame.4 For you therefore who be
lieve is the preciousness : but for such as disbelieve, The stone
which the builders rejected, the same was made the head of the
corner ; 5 and, A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence ; 6 for
they stumble at the word, being disobedient : whereunto also
they were appointed. But ye are an elect race, a royal priest-

1 Ex. xix. See Messianic Prophecy, p. 101 seq.
a nac without the article should be every or all manner of as Vincent, Word
Studies, i., p. 641.
8 apTiyewnra is "peculiar to Peter, and only in this passage. Lit., born but
just now (apn)," Vincent, i. p. 641.
4 This citation of Is. xxviii. 16, differs in many respects from the Massoretic
text and the LXX, and is probably based on a synagogue Aramaic version as Bohl
supposes. The R. V. mistakes in its arrangement of the poetry. The same
passage is also cited by Paul in Rom. ix. 33, but still more freely. The " elect "
is for the Hebrew |ri3 = test, rendered by Toy and others " tested, tried."
The Massoretic text reads K^IT, haste away, but the LXX, Pesch. and Targum
read &)y, which is followed by Peter and Paul and is probably the true
reading. See Messianic Prophecy, p. 209.
6 The apostle brings into connection with the precious test'stone of Isaiah, the
rejected corner-stone of Ps. cxviii. 22, 23. (See also Matt. xxi. 42, Acts iv. n.)
This citation is like the original and the citation of Jesus.
6 The apostle gives a third and kindred passage from Isa, viii. 14, following
the Aramaic version, as Toy recognizes. This is nearer to the Massoretic text
than the LXX. It is quoted also in Rom. ix. 33.

52 THE MESSIAH
hood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession,1 that ye
may shew forth the excellencies of him who called you out of
darkness into his marvellous light : who in time past were no
people, but now are the people of God : who had not obtained
mercy, but now have obtained mercy.2 (i Peter ii. i-io.)
Jesus the Messiah is the corner-stone of the house or
temple of God. As a living stone, all who come to him
to be built upon him are also living stones. As Peter
himself was a living rock at the foundation of the
Church, so all Christians are living stones built. into it,
and thus the apostle sees Christians constituting a temple
of living stones. This is no material structure like the
temple at Jerusalem ; it is a spiritual temple. Nor does
it lack a priesthood ; for Christians are a holy priest
hood ministering in this spiritual house. Nor is there a
lack of sacrifices, for spiritual priests offer up spiritual
sacrifices and these find acceptance with God. This
spiritual priesthood is the royal priesthood of the Sina-
itic covenant. It was not realized by ancient Israel,
which thought more of subjugating the world than of a
priestly ministry toward it. But now that the Messiah
has come, and his kingdom is established as a kingdom
of grace with a commission to preach the gospel of re
pentance and remission of sins to the world, the disciples
of Jesus, the priests of that spiritual temple and kings
of that spiritual kingdom, are able to be the royal priests
for the world. They are also a holy people ; not only
as Israel of old, as the consecrated people of the holy
God, but now also as the consecrated people of the
holy Messiah. They are a people for God's own posses-

i The apostle adds a fourth reference to Ex. xix. 6, mingled with words from
Deut. xiv. a and Mal. iii. 17.
a The last reference is to Hos. ii. 23, which is also cited in Rom. ix. 25 26.

OF THE FIRST EPISTLE OF PETER 53
sion ; not as ancient Israel bought from Egyptian
bondage, but as a new Israel sprinkled with the precious
blood of the Lamb of God and redeemed by that blood
from the bondage of sin and death. In times past, prior
to their union with the Messiah, they were in darkness
and without the enjoyment of the mercy of God. But
now through faith in the Messiah they have come out
of the darkness into the light and have gained the en
joyment of the mercy of God. The Lo-ammi and Lo-
ruhamah of the prophecy of Hosea have become Ammi
and Ruhamah according to his prediction.1
In this passage Peter shows the same marvellous grasp
of the prophecy of the Old Testament that we have ob
served in his discourses in the book of Acts. He cites
and compacts together no less than five different pas
sages of the Old Testament, and traces the lines of sev
eral distinct Messianic ideals in the Messianic kingdom
of grace. He sees the kingdom of God already in ex
istence in the enthroned Messiah and his disciples, gath
ered from Israel and the nations. He sees it in its de
velopment as a kingdom, a priesthood, and a temple,
all combined in one ; and he points forward to a salva
tion at the Revelation of the Messiah from heaven un
to which they are to grow. They are sojourners and
pilgrims with " the Day of visitation " in view, the Day
when they will be judged 2 and when the approval of
their good works will give glory to God.3 In this the
apostle Peter has advanced beyond James in his concep
tion of the new dispensation.

1 See Messianic Prophecy, pp. 165 seq.
a This is the Day of judgment, the Day of the Revelation of the Messiah ;
compare Isa. *. 3 ; Jer. a. 13 ; Wisdom ii. 20 ; iii. 7, 13 ; iv. 15. See p. 32.
1 1 Peter ii. n, 12.

54 THE MESSIAH
THE SAVIOUR OF THE LIVING AND THE DEAD.
§ 17. The Messiah as the righteous and sinless Lamb
bore our sins to the cross. After death he went to the
prison of departed spirits and preached the gospel to them
also. He rose from the dead and ascended to the right
hand of God, to be the shepherd and overseer of men, and
the king of angels and other such superhuman authorities
and powers.
The apostle in his exhortations constantly reminds his
readers of what the Messiah had already done for them,
and encourages them in their Christian life by pointing
to what he is now doing and will ultimately do for them
and for mankind.
For hereunto were ye called : because Christ also suffered for
you, leaving you an example, that ye should follow his steps :
who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: who,
when he was reviled, reviled not again ; when he suffered,
threatened not ; but committed himself to him that judgeth
righteously: who his own self bare our sins in his body upon
the tree, that we, having died unto sins, might live unto right
eousness ; by whose stripes ye were healed. For ye were going
astray like sheep ; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and
Overseer of your souls. (1 Peter ii. 21-25.)
The sufferings of the Messiah are an example to his
disciples. They must follow in his footsteps. He suf
fered as a guileless and sinless man, and so they are to
suffer. Here Peter doubtless has in mind the baptism
of suffering that Jesus had predicted for his disciples.1
The sufferings of the Messiah bring into the apostle's
mind, here as elsewhere, the predictions of the Old Tes
tament. He sees the suffering, sin-bearing Lamb of the
second Isaiah, and the straying sheep for whom he suf-

1 See The Messiah of the Gospels, p. 110.

OF THE FIRST EPISTLE OF PETER 55
fered.1 Such was Jesus who bare our sins in his body
up to the tree of the cross, and who endured scourging
for our healing. By virtue of his interposition in suffer
ing and dying, the straying sheep returned to their shep
herd and overseer, who had thus interposed and borne
the consequences of their sins in order to redeem them.
The apostle here combines the conception of victim and
shepherd very much in the same way as Jesus did in his
parable of the good shepherd.2 To the conception of
shepherd is attached that of overseer.3 The term may
have been suggested by the day of visitation,4 or by the
office of the bishop in the Church. There is nothing to
suggest the latter in this epistle. The former is to be
preferred. The writer nowhere mentions the Church
or church officers. It was indeed natural and in accord
ance with the tendency of this epistle that the mind
of the writer should go from the shepherd to the
judge. The apostle again reverts to the sufferings of Christ as
an example, and in that connection opens up a view of
the work of the Messiah among the dead.
For it is better, if the will of God should so will, that ye suffer
for well-doing than for evil-doing. Because Christ also suffered
for sins once, just for unjust,5 in order that he might bring us to
God ; being put to death in flesh, but quickened in spirit ; B in

1 Isa. liii. J See The Messiah of the Gospels, p. 284.
8 £7Ti(TK07rOf. * £ntGK0TT7j, ver. 12.
5 As Vincent, Word Studies, i., p. 656, " the Greek without the article is more
graphic " than the A. V. or R. V. " the just for the unjust," " the righteous for
the unrighteous."
" " Flesh " and " spirit " are without articles, and are thus contrasted as the
external and internal in Christ, the one being laid in the grave, the other depart
ing to the spirit-world. ,Tne R- V. follows the A. V. in inserting the
articles.

56 THE MESSIAH
which also he went and preached unto the spirits l in prison,'
which aforetime were disobedient, when the long-suffering of God
waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, into
which3 few, that is eight souls, were brought safely through
water : which also after a true likeness * doth now save you,
even baptism, not the putting away of the filth of the flesh,
but the interrogation of a good conscience toward God, through
the resurrection of Jesus Christ ; who is on the right hand of
God, having gone into heaven ; angels and authorities and
powers being made subject unto him. (i Peter iii. 17-
22.) The sufferings of the Messiah were not only for the
living, but for the dead. He suffered for sins once as a
just man for unjust men, to bring them to God. But
after he died in the flesh, he was alive in the spirit ; and
as a living spirit went to the prison of the spirits of the
disobedient of former generations and preached the
gospel to them also. The antediluvians of the time of
Noah are selected possibly because they were the worst
sinners in the history of the world, and possibly also in
order to the use of the deluge as a type of baptism. If
the gospel was preached to these antediluvians, it is to
be assumed that it was preached to others of the de
parted also ; and if preached, surely not in vain, for the
preaching of Jesus, more than any other preaching, is
the power of God unto salvation even for the worst of

1 The disembodied spirits as in Heb. xii. 23, Luke xxiv. 27-29, and in the Simi
litudes of Enoch (see The Messiah of the Gospels, p. 27), such as the Messiah him
self was, when his body was in the grave.
2 iv tfivAaKy. This is the prison house of Hades where evil spirits of the dead
were confined. Compare the Tartarus of 2 Peter ii. 4, and the prison of Rev.
xx. 7.
8 tic ijv not wherein as R. V., but "a pregnant construction; into which
they were gathered, and in which they were saved." Vincent, Word Studies
i-, °57-
* ai-rirvirov = antitype.

OF THE FIRST EPISTLE OF PETER 57
men.1 The resurrection of the Messiah was for the sal
vation of the living and the dead, as it is expressed in
the ceremony of baptism which cleanses the conscience
rather than the flesh. The resurrection of the Messiah
was in order to the ascension to the right hand of God,
and he ascended thither to reign not only over men
but over angels, over all the authorities and powers
of the invisible world. In these passages Peter
takes a broad view of the work of the Messiah as it
extends to departed spirits and the heavenly intelli
gences. The apostle in his discourse on the day of Pentecost
had taught that Jesus descended into Hades like other
men ; but unlike other men he had not been left to
Hades. He arose from Hades and ascended into heaven
to his Messianic throne.2 In a later discourse he taught
that the Messiah was the judge of both the living and
the dead.3 Here now he tells of the work of the Mes
siah in Hades among the dead and gives a reason why
the Messiah is the judge of the dead, by teaching that
he had preached his gospel to them. All this is a har
monious and natural development of Peter's thought.
The Christology of this passage is comprehensive, and
the various stages in the Messianic activity are distinctly
marked : (a) the suffering for sins once, and the being
put to death in flesh ; (b) the being quickened in spirit
and preaching to the spirits in prison ; (c) the resurrec
tion ; (d) the session on the right hand of God ; (e) the
subjection of the angels and authorities of the invisible
world. The preaching to the spirits in the prison of

1 See Schmid, Bib. Theo. N.T.,% 65 (2).
* See p. 27.
8 See p. 39.

58 THE MESSIAH
Hades comes in its proper historical order in the work
of the Messiah.1
Baptism is here attached to the doctrine of salvation
in a manner similar to its use in the great commission,2
in the discourse of Jesus with Nicodemus,8 and in the
Pentecostal discourse of Peter.' Baptism is represented
as saving, that is, not by washing the body from filth,
but by securing a good conscience toward God. Bap
tism is connected with an internal spiritual change here
as elsewhere. Both the external and the internal
changes are necessary. The deluge was a type of bap
tism because its waters were the divinely appointed
means of saving the eight antediluvians of the family of
Noah. The antitype baptism is the divinely appointed
means of saving Christians. THE END AT HAND.
§ 1 8. The Messiah is about to judge the living and the
dead. The gospel has been preached to both to prepare
them for the judgment. The End of all things is at hand.
Judgment will begin at the house of God. The righteous
will scarcely be saved. They are to commit themselves in
well-doing to the faithful Creator. The chief Shepherd
will reward the faithful with crowns of glory.
From the Messiah as the Saviour the apostle passes

1 The effort of some interpreters to find a preaching to the antediluvians by
the spirit of Christ in the time of Noah, while they were alive on the earth and
before they went to the prison of Hades, has no justification in the usage of
Scripture. It can be made only by doing violence to grammar and context, and
is clearly seen to be nothing more than a rude and awkward refuge from a
troublesome doctrine.
2 See The Messiah of the Gospels, p. 229.
3 See The Messiah of the Gospels, p. 261.
4 See p. 28.

OF THE FIRST EPISTLE OF PETER 59
over to the Messiah as the Judge. This is mediated by
a recurrence to the favorite thought of his sufferings as
an example.1 He conceives of him as the Judge of the
living and the dead.2 We are reminded of a similar
phrase used in his discourse before Cornelius.3 The sig
nificance of it has become greater since he has learned
that Jesus preached to the departed spirits during his
abode in, Hades as well as to those living on the earth
during his ministry in Palestine.
For unto this end was the gospel preached even to the dead,
that they might be judged according to men in (the) flesh, but
live according to God in (the) spirit. But the End of all things
is at hand : be ye therefore of sound mind, and be sober unto
prayer  Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery
trial among you, which is taking place 4 for your trial,5 as though
a strange thing happened unto you : but insomuch as ye are par
takers of Christ's sufferings, rejoice ; that at the revelation of his
glory also ye may rejoice with exceeding joy. (1 Peter iv. 6, 7,
12, 1 3-)
The gospel was preached to the dead in order that
they might be judged. They must rise from the dead
and be judged in the flesh with all mankind. The
gospel is preached to them that they may live in the
spirit, and so when they are judged in the flesh they
may be saved. Their life in this world as men had
brought them into judgment and condemnation. The
gospel is a power of life to quicken their spirits unto
salvation. The End of all things,8 the "times of restitution of all

' iv. t. * iv. 5. ' See p. 39.
* So Vincent, Word Studies, I., p. 663, yivojihn. The A. V. makes it future.
The R. V. " which cometh upon you " also suggests the future.
6 So Vincent, irpdc neipao/idv, which is better than the paraphrase of R. V.
" to prove you."
" See The Messiah of the Gospels, p. 142.

60 THE MESSIAH
things,"1 the regeneration of all things2 is at hand.
This is the prophetic word that resounds through the
ages of prophecy, and which is familiar to us in the
apocalypse of Jesus. This End is an End of salvation
and an End of judgment. Then there will be a revela
tion of the glory of the Messiah.3 In view of this Chris
tians are to rejoice even in their sufferings. But the
End is also a judgment from which even the house of
God, the spiritual temple, will not escape.
For the time is come for judgment to begin at the house of
God : and if it begin first at us, what shall be the end of them
that obey not the gospel of God ? And if the righteous is
scarcely saved, where shall the ungodly and sinner appear ?
Wherefore let them also that suffer according to the will of
God commit their souls in well-doing unto a faithful Creator.
(i Peter iv. 17-19.)
The fires of this judgment will be so searching that
even the righteous will be saved with difficulty. The
faithful Creator, who has made them and will be faithful
to his creatures, is their confidence. The chief Shep
herd will be manifested with crowns of glory in his
hands to reward the faithful undershepherds.* There is
eternal joy with the Messiah for all who are called to it
by the God of all grace.1
THE EVERLASTING KINGDOM.
§ 19. Those diligent in their calling will secure an en
trance into the everlasting kingdom of the Messiah, the
Saviour. The second Epistle of Peter, like the previous one, is

1 See p. 32. ' The Messiah of the Gospels, p. 227.
3 See p. 45.
' 1 Peter v. 4. » 1 Peter v. 10.

OF THE SECOND EPISTLE OF PETER 61
chiefly a practical exhortation. The Messianic material
appears incidentally.
Wherefore, brethren, give the more diligence to make your
calling and election sure : for if ye do these things, ye shall never
stumble : for thus shall be richly supplied unto you the entrance
into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
(i. io, n.)
The kingdom in view is the kingdom of glory which
even Christians could not enter until the second Advent,
when it would be given them as a reward of their dili
gence in the kingdom of grace. The kingdom is the
kingdom of Jesus, who is recognized by the apostle in
the three titles given him as the Messiah, the Lord, and
the Saviour. These three titles combine in the en
throned Jesus, who in all these relations is dear to his
people. The kingdom of Jesus Christ here appears for
the first time instead of the kingdom of God of the
Gospels.
THE JUDGMENT OF MEN AND ANGELS.
§ 20. There is a day of judgment for which the fallen
angels are kept in chains in Tartarus. Then the unjust
will be punished in the blackness of darkness forever.
Peter seems to have apprehended the condition of the
world of the dead better than others. As in the pre
vious epistle he saw the departed spirits of the times of
Noah in their prison house hearing the preaching of
Jesus ; so now in this second epistle he sees the angels,
who corrupted the antediluvians and so brought on the
catastrophe of the deluge, imprisoned in Tartarus, in pits
of darkness, reserved there unto judgment.1 Tartarus is

u. 4.

62 THE MESSIAH
the prison of the Middle State where the wicked angels
are imprisoned until the day of judgment at the second
Advent of the Messiah. The imprisonment of evil angels
is referred to in the Old Testament1 and in the apoca
lypse of Enoch.2 This judgment embraces wicked men
as well as wicked angels. " The Lord knows how ....
to keep the unrighteous under punishment unto the day
of judgment."3 For them " the blackness of darkness
hath been reserved." '
THE GREAT CONFLAGRATION.
§ 21. As the former world perished by the Deluge, the
present world will pass through a conflagration, and new
heavens and earth, the abode of righteousness, will take its
place. This Day is to be eagerly awaited by the righteous,
but it will be preceded by scoffers who will deny the Parou-
sia, and it will overtake them as a thief. The seeming
slackness of God is due partly to his different estimate of
time, but chiefly to his long-suffering in order to the re
pentance and salvation of men.
The Epistle passes from the thought of the judgment
of men and angels to the larger events that are associa
ted with it.
Knowing this first, that in the last days mockers shall come
with mockery, walking after their own lusts, and saying, Where
is the promise of his coming ? for, from the day that the fathers
fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning
of the creation. For this they wilfully forget, that there were
heavens from of old, and an earth compacted out of water and
amidst water, by the word of God ; by which means the world
that then was, being overflowed with water, perished : but the

1 See Messianic Prophecy, p. 299.
' See The Messiah of the Gospels, p. 13.

u. 17.

OF THE SECOND EPISTLE OF PETER 63
heavens that now are, and the earth, by the same word have
been stored up for fire, being reserved against the day of judg
ment and destruction of ungodly men. But forget not this one
thing, beloved, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand
years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack
concerning his promise, as some count slackness ; but is long-
suffering to you-ward, not wishing that any should perish, but
that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord
will come as a thief; in the which the heavens shall pass away with
a great noise, and the elements shall be dissolved with fervent
heat, and the earth and the works that are therein shall be
burned up. Seeing that these things are thus all to be dissolved,
what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy living and
godliness, looking for and earnestly desiring the coming of the
day of God, by reason of which the heavens being on fire shall
be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?
But, according to his promise, we look for new heavens and a
new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. (2 Peter iii. 3-13.)
This passage gives the apocalypse of Peter, which de
pends upon the apocalypse of Jesus and the apocalypses
of the Old Testament. The Epistle reminds its readers
of the predictions of Jesus, of the prophets, and of the
apostles respecting the last days. He bids them know
that mockers will scoff at the idea of the Parousia of the
Lord. They say, " It has been long delayed, it will
never come." The reader is reminded of the warning of
Jesus, that the Advent would come upon them and sur
prise them as a thief in the night, and as the flood sur
prised the antediluvians. All this is derived from the
discourses of Jesus.1 But the destruction of the deluge
reminds the writer of the predictions of the great proph
et of the exile with reference to the new heavens and
the new earth ; 2 and he predicts that the world is to go

1 See The Messiah of the Gospels, pp. 163, 220, 246.
5 Is. lxv. See Messianic Prophecy, p. 403 seq.

64 THE MESSIAH
through the catastrophe of a great conflagration in order
to attain its glorious end.
The thought of the conflagration and renewal of the
earth is a further development of the teaching of Jesus
as to the regeneration,1 and the predictions of Peter in
his discourse in Solomon's porch, respecting the restitu
tion of all things.2 The new heavens and the new earth
having passed through the fires of judgment, only the
righteous, who have also passed through these fires, will
inhabit them.
The time when these great events will transpire has
not come so rapidly as was expected. This makes it
appear that God is slack in fulfilling his promises. His
slackness is only apparent. Time with God is on a dif
ferent scale from what it is with man. Man measures
by days and years of his life, which in its limits does not
reach a century. But the everlasting God knows no
such measurements. A thousand years are to God but
as a single day on the one side, when he would delay an
event ; and on the other, a single day is as long as a
thousand years when he would hasten it. God can ac
complish in a day what men would suppose would take
a thousand years, and yet he postpones for a thousand
years what men think ought to take but a day. In
these words which raise the uncertainty as to the time
of the Advent, by such an enormous arithmetical calcu
lation, to the utmost pitch, the apostle shows the folly
of any human calculation of the time. The author
builds on the words of Jesus, which distribute the times
of the Advent in the great night of history, in the un
certainty whether he will come in the early hours of the
night or at the break of dawn. If this uncertainty as to

See The Messiah of the Gospels, p. 227. 1 See p. 32

OF THE EPISTLE OF JUDE 65
the time of the Advent is reasonable from this point of
view, it is even more so when looked at from the re
demptive purposes of God. The judgment is delayed
that the grace of God may be magnified during the
period of redemption. Prior to the Day of judgment,
men may repent and be saved, but when the fires of
judgment have come, the era of grace and redemption
has come to an end, and there will be no further for
bearance and salvation for the wicked. It is the infinite
mercy, the boundless grace of God which postpones the
Day of the second Advent of the Messiah, and the hour
of his judgment for eternity.
Nevertheless the Day will surely come when the era
of grace will reach its end. It will come as a surprise
to the wicked, who are always unprepared for it. But
the people of God ought not to be surprised. They
should be ready and waiting for it, looking for it with
earnest expectation and eager hope ; for it is the day of
the consummation of their redemption, it is the day of
the glory of the Messiah and of the everlasting kingdom
of the saints. THE DAY OF JUDGMENT.
§ 22. The fallen angels are kept in prison in Tartarus
for the Day of judgment, when the Lord will come with
myriads of saints to execute judgment on the wicked.
This time will be preceded by scoffers.
The Epistle of Jude is similar to the second Epistle
of Peter and the Apocalypse of Enoch. It represents
the angels who left their proper home to seduce man
kind as " kept in everlasting bonds under darkness
unto the judgment of the great day." * This is in ac-
1 ver. 6.

g6 THE MESSIAH
cord with Peter1 and Enoch. It also quotes from
Enoch.2 Behold, the Lord came with ten thousands of his holy ones, to
execute judgment upon all, and to convict all the ungodly of all
their works of ungodliness which they have ungodly wrought,
and of all the hard things which ungodly sinners have spoken
against him. (ver. 14, 15.)
Finally it calls attention to the prediction of the
apostles, that there would be mockers in the last time.3

1 See p. 61. s See The Messiah of the Gospels, p. 11.
8 ver. 17, 18. See p. 62.

CHAPTER III.
THE MESSIAH OF THE EARLIEST PAULINISM.
The Gentile Christian tendency first manifested itself
in the Hellenists who had been chosen to care for the
Hellenistic poor at Jerusalem. Stephen was very effi
cient in miracle working and in preaching in their syna
gogues. His preaching seems to have excited great dis
cussion and conflict.
THE MESSIAH STANDING AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD.
§ 23. Stephen taught that the holy place would be de
stroyed and that the traditional law of Moses would be
changed. He testified that he saw the Messiah standing
at the right hand of God. Philip preached Jesus as the
suffering prophet.
The enemies of Stephen set up false witnesses against
him who said :
This man ceaseth not to speak words against this holy place,
and the law: for we have heard him say, that this Jesus of Naz
areth shall destroy this place, and shall change the customs
which Moses delivered unto us. (Acts vi. 13, 14.)
This charge is essentially the same that the Pharisees
made against Jesus.1 The apostles had not advanced

1 Mark xiv. 38. (67)

68 THE MESSIAH
in their teaching so far as Stephen. He seems to have
so apprehended the teaching of Jesus that he came up
to the danger point. After the example of Jesus he
was tried before the sanhedrin and condemned to death.
We have not the teaching of Stephen that gave rise to
this charge, but, in view of its general terms and the de
fense of Stephen himself, we need not stray far from his
doctrine. It is evident that Stephen as a Hellenist,
under the guidance of the Holy Spirit who filled him,
saw the antithesis between the Law and the Gospel.
The apostles had thus far been preaching that the
Gospel was the fulfilment of the Law and that Jesus
was the Messiah of the prophets. Stephen seems to
have made a new departure in his teaching. He pre
dicted the destruction of the temple, as Jesus had done
in his Apocalypse.1 He also taught that the customs
or laws of Moses were to be changed, in some way that
is not explained to us. It was probable that he was
following the teaching of Jesus and distinguishing be
tween the law itself and the traditions,2 which, as an
oral and interpreting body of scribal opinion, the Phar
isees confounded with the Law. In his apology before
the sanhedrin, Stephen is polemical rather than apologet-
ical or irenical. He reminds us of the discourses of Jesus
against the Pharisees, in the severity with which he
charges the rulers with the rejection of the prophets and
their final rejection of the Messiah.3 When he has
brought their guilt to the culminating point in his argu
ment, Jesus appears to him in Christophany.
But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, looked up steadfastly into
heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the
1 See The Messiah of the Gospels, p. 147.
2 See The Messiah of the Gospels, p. 175.
' See The Messiah of the Gospels, p. 212.

OF STEPHEN 69
right hand of God, and said, Behold, Usee the heavens opened,
and the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God. (Acts
vii. 55, 56.)
Stephen sees the Messiah, who had been crucified, at
the right hand of God in glory. He sees him not sitting
on his throne, but standing. The standing seems to
imply interest in the affairs of his kingdom, especially
in the testimony of Stephen before the rulers of Israel,
and a readiness to interpose.
The public testimony of Stephen before the sanhedrin
was rejected, just as the public testimony of Jesus him
self had been rejected, and he was stoned to death. In
his death he prayed : " Lord Jesus, receive my spirit," ]
recognizing Jesus as his Lord, the living Messiah, and
expressing his expectation of departing in his spirit to
the Messiah's presence. In this prayer Stephen seems
to have apprehended the teaching of Jesus, as expressed
in his last discourse with his apostles at the institution
of the Lord's Supper,2 that the disciple would go to the
presence of the Messiah at death.
The martyrdom of Stephen introduced the second
stage in the history of the apostolic Church, the stage
of persecution. The church at Jerusalem had become
so large that it must multiply itself by scattering its
preachers over Palestine "and the world. The persecu
tion was the means of accomplishing this purpose.3 The
work of Stephen was carried on by Philip, who intro
duced the gospel into Samaria. He preached the Mes
siah,' and the gospel " concerning the kingdom of God
and the name of Jesus Messiah." 6 Soon after, Philip

1 Acts vii. 59.
2 See The Messiah of the Gospels, p. 290.
» See Thatcher, The Apostolic Church, p. 86.
« Acts viii. 5. * Acts viii, 12.

70 THE MESSIAH
became the evangelist for Ethiopia, by converting the
treasurer of the queen. He interpreted to him the pre
diction of the suffering servant of the great prophet of
the exile,1 and showed that it was fulfilled in Jesus.2
THE COMMISSION TO THE GENTILES.
§ 24. Paul was converted by the Messiah in Christoph
any and was commissioned as the apostle to the Getitiles.
The conflict between Stephen and the Pharisees was
shared, on the side of the Pharisees, by the ardent Paul,
the pupil of Gamaliel and a zealot for the Law. Paul
took a prominent part in the martyrdom. He was
" consenting unto his death," 3 " keeping the garments
of them that slew him." 4 He was so zealous that he
received a commission from the sanhedrin to persecute
the refugees from Jerusalem in the cities of Syria,
whither some of them had escaped.5 He pursued his
career as a persecutor until he was stayed by a Chris
tophany which changed the arch-persecutor into a chief
apostle and transformed the zealous Pharisee into the
chief adversary of the Pharisees. There are three narra
tives of this Christophany upon which the theology of
Paul is based." It is sufficient for our purpose that we
should consider the last of these, which gives the apos
tle's own report of the occurrence. This account com
bines with it material given on another occasion, accord
ing to the historical narrative and the first account of
Paul himself.7
Whereupon as I journeyed to Damascus with the authority
and commission of the chief priests, at midday, O king, I saw on
1 Is. liii. a Acts viii. 26-35. » Acts viii. 1.
4 Acts xxii. 20. » Acts ix. 1, 2.
¦ Acts ix. 1-9 ; xxii. 5-11 ; xxvi. 10-18. ' Acts ix. 13-18 ; xxii. 12-21.

OF PAUL 71
the way a light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun,
shining round about me and them that journeyed with me. And
when we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice saying un
to me in the Hebrew language, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou
me ? it is hard for thee to kick against the goad. And I said,
Who art thou, Lord ? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom
thou persecutest. But arise, and stand upon thy feet : for to
this end have I appeared unto thee, to appoint thee a minister
and a witness both of the things wherein thou hast seen me,
and of the things wherein I will appear unto thee ; delivering
thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom I send
thee, to open their eyes, that they may turn from darkness to
light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may re
ceive remission of sins and an inheritance among them that are
sanctified by faith in me. (Acts xxvi. 12-18.)
It is evident that Paul was granted a Christophany of
the voice and of the glory of the Messiah. He hears
the voice of the Messiah expostulating with him for
persecuting him in his disciples. He sees the person of
the Messiah in glory and is blinded by the light. The
light of the glory was seen by his companions, but they
did not hear the Christophanic voice. This Chris
tophany to Paul must have reminded him of the Chris
tophany granted to Stephen before the sanhedrin, prob
ably in his presence. During the hours of his blindness
in Damascus he doubtless went over all his contro
versies with that martyr in the synagogues, so that the
teachings of Stephen became the starting-point in the
doctrine of Paul. But Paul was called by the Messiah
himself as immediately and directly as the twelve
apostles had been called. Upon this he, in his epistles,
bases his claim to the apostleship.1 The call to the
apostleship seems not to have been given in this Chris
tophany, although it is mentioned in that connection in

1 Gal. i. 16, 17; 1 Cor. ix. 1 ; 2 Cor. xi. 5 ; xii. 11, 12.

72 THE MESSIAH
the last report of the event. But it is evident that
Paul is there summing up all that we find elsewhere on
several distinct occasions, for the commission was given
at first through the mediation of Ananias and then sub
sequently in a second Christophany in the temple.1
Saul saw Jesus in these two Christophanies and was
commissioned by Jesus as an apostle to the Gentiles.
He had not known Jesus during his earthly ministry, he
had no personal knowledge of his crucifixion, his resur
rection, or his ascension. He had heard of all these
things in the controversies between the disciples of
Jesus and their opponents. He was familiar with all
that could be said about them by friends and foes. He
had not been convinced that Jesus was the Messiah by
the testimony and the miracles of the apostles. Ste
phen had only excited him to opposition and had made
him a more zealous advocate of the traditional Law
against the Gospel. But the Christophany changed
everything to him ; it convinced him by the evidence of
his own senses that Jesus was indeed living, as his apos
tles testified ; that he was indeed the enthroned Mes
siah, as the evangelist preached ; and that he was so in
tensely interested in behalf of his disciples that he inter
posed from heaven by personal presence and voice to
stay the hands of their chief persecutor. He now knew
that Stephen had indeed seen Jesus in Christophany, as
that martyr asserted before the sanhedrin. The Chris
tophany granted to himself was so similar that it attest
ed the one seen by Stephen ; and so it confirmed the
preaching of Stephen and the work of the apostles.
Saul was now compelled to reflect upon the whole
question of the relation of the Messiah to the Law. His

1 Thatcher, The Apostolic Church, p. 104,

OF PAUL 73
education as a Pharisee of the strictest sort prepared
him to consider this question as none of the twelve
could consider it. His religious experience under the
Law, so vividly described in the Epistle to the Romans,
made him quick to understand the advantages and dis
advantages of Legalism. His experience in his conflict
with Stephen constrained him to think in the channels
which Stephen had opened up to him. His experience
as an advocate of the traditional Law against the Gospel
made him by antithesis, when he became a believer in
the Gospel, a zealous advocate of the Gospel against the
Law. His personal acquaintance with the Messiah of
the throne induced him to look to personal union and
acquaintance with the enthroned Messiah as above and
beyond all Law. His commission to the Gentiles com
pelled him to question whether the traditional Law was
to be imposed upon them, under what forms of law
Jesus was to reign as the Messiah over the Gentiles, and
how Gentile and Jew could have a common Messiah.
It was fitting that several years of quiet independent
ministry, away from Jerusalem and apart from the apos
tles, years of reflection, of heart searching and of intense
study of these questions, should precede his great mis
sionary journeys and the instructions of his epistles, as
the great prophet to the Gentiles. He had to learn all
alone by himself from the teaching of Christ and the
Holy Spirit, the religion of the reigning Christ and the
meaning of that mystery which had been revealed to
him, that the Gentiles were fellow-heirs with the Jews
in the inheritance among the sanctified. He had to
prepare himself for his calling to turn them from the
darkness in which they were living under the authority
of Satan into the light of the authority of God. In his
own experience he had to realize that forgiveness of sins

74 THE MESSIAH
was to be offered to all who believed in Jesus as the
Messiah.1 THE LIGHT OF THE GENTILES.
§ 25. Paul saw in Jesus the crucified, risen and glori
fied Messiah, the source of the sure mercies of David and
of remission of sins, the light of the Gentiles and the sal
vation of the ends of the earth. The Church was pur
chased by his blood. The kingdom of God is to be entered
through much tribulation. God is about to judge the
whole world through the Messiah. All are called to re
pentance and remission of sins and an inheritance among
the sanctified.
Paul began his preaching at once in the synagogues of
Damascus proclaiming Jesus as the Son of God and
proving that he was the Messiah.2 We have no other
record of his earlier discourses. The doctrines of Paul,
as reported in the Book of Acts, appear in his discourses
in the synagogues of the dispersed Jews during his mis
sionary journeys. The first of these discourses reminds
us of the defense of Stephen, in its use of Jewish history
as an introduction to the doctrine of the Messiah. It
concludes with a new doctrine which became character
istic of Paulinism.
And when he had removed him, he raised up David to be
their king ; to whom also he bare witness, and said, I have found
David the son of Jesse, a man after my heart, who shall do all
my will.3 Of this man's seed hath God according to promise
brought unto Israel a Saviour, Jesus; when John had first
preached before his coming the baptism of repentance to all the

1 For an admirable discussion of the origin of Paul's theology in his religious
experience, see Bruce, St. Paul's Conception of Christianity, p. 26 seq.
2 Acts ix. 20-22.
3 1 Sam. xiii. 14 ; Ps. lxxxix. 20.

OF PAUL 75
people of Israel. And as John was fulfilling his course, he said,
What suppose ye that I am? I am not he. But behold, there
cometh one after me, the shoes of whose feet I am not worthy
to unloose. Brethren, children of the stock of Abraham, and
those among you that fear God, to us is the word of this salva
tion sent forth. For they that dwell in Jerusalem, and their
rulers, because they knew him not, nor the voices of the proph
ets which are read every sabbath, fulfilled them by condemning
him. And though they found no cause of death in him, yet
asked they of Pilate that he should be slain. And when they
had fulfilled all things that were written of him, they took him
down from the tree, and laid him in a tomb. But God raised
him from the dead : and he was seen for many days of them that
came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are now his
witnesses unto the people. And we bring you good tidings of
the promise made unto the fathers, how that God hath fulfilled
the same unto our children, in that he raised up Jesus ; as also it
is written in the second psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I
begotten thee.1 And as concerning that he raised him up from
the dead, now no more to return to corruption, he hath spoken
on this wise, I will give you the holy and sure blessings ot David.2
Because he saith also in another psalm, Thou wilt not give thy
Holy One to see corruption.3 For David, after he had in his
own generation served the counsel of God, fell on sleep, and was
laid unto his fathers, and saw corruption : but he whom God
raised up saw no corruption. Be it known unto you therefore,
brethren, that through this man is proclaimed unto you remis
sion of sins : and by him every one that believeth is justified from
all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of
Moses. (Acts xiii. 22-39.)
In this discourse Paul represents Jesus as the Mes
siah fulfilling four different Messianic prophecies of the
Old Testament, (a) He is the seed of David, the Mes
sianic king of the prophet Nathan. As such he is a

1 Ps. ii. 7.
* As in LXX Is. Iv. 3. The Hebrew has "sure mercies of David." See
Briggs, Messianic Prophecy, p. 364. ,
8 As in LXX, cf. Ps. xvi. 10. See Peter's use of this passage, p. 27.

76

THE MESSIAH

Saviour unto Israel. His salvation is preached unto
Jews and God-fearing Gentiles. Thus Paul lays stress
upon the Messianic salvation in connection with the
fulfilment of this prophecy.1 {b) Jesus is the Son of
God, the anointed king of the second Psalm. Paul ad
vances to the conception that the resurrection of Jesus
was the fulfilment of the inauguration depicted on the
official birthday of that Messianic psalm.8 (c) Jesus ful
fils the prediction of the great prophet of the exile as to
the sure mercies of David, embodied in the New Cove
nant, (d) The pious man of the sixteenth Psalm was
also realized in the experience of Jesus, who saw no cor
ruption. He was not left in Hades, but rose from the
dead. These prophecies of the Old Testament were uncon
sciously fulfilled by the rulers when they crucified Jesus ;
for the crucifixion led on to the resurrection and to the
witness of the apostles to the living Messiah.
In these references to the prophecies of the Old Tes
tament, and to the experience of Jesus prior to his en
thronement, Paul does not advance a step beyond the
Messianic idea of Peter. He was indeed dependent up
on the testimony of the apostles for these things. But
when he rises to the contemplation of the enthroned
Messiah, he not only with Peter presents him as Saviour
bringing the Messianic salvation into the world, the
source of repentance and remission of sins ; but he also
advances to an entirely new and original conception of
that salvation. He teaches that the Messiah accom
plished what the Law of Moses could not do. Israel
could not be justified by the Law of Moses. But every
one who believeth in the Messiah may be justified from

See p. 30. > See also Rom. i. 4.

OF PAUL 77
all things from which they could not be justified by the
Law of Moses. This passage seems to imply that there
might be justification by the Law of Moses within cer
tain limits, but beyond these the Law was impotent.1
The apostle doubtless has in mind the principle that
justification is by the Law so far as the Law is obeyed.
The Law justifies every one who obeys it. But the
Law exacts much more than the Jews were able to obey.
So far as they fell short in their obedience, just so far
they were not justified by the Law. The pre-eminence
of the Messiah is manifest in that in him there is justi
fication for men who have transgressed the Law. There
is no limit to justification by him. Doubtless Paul
gives us here the result of his own experience. In his
ardent pursuit of legal righteousness and justification by
the Law, he had found that over and beyond all his
conformity to the traditional Law there was an area of
transgression where he could not be justified by the Law,
but was left in condemnation by the Law. When the
Messiah conquered his faith, all this area of condemna
tion from transgression disappeared, and he found com
plete and entire justification in him. This is the first
statement of justification by faith in the enthroned Mes
siah. Paul ever preaches it as his own doctrine. It be
comes the most characteristic doctrine of Paulinism.
In a second discourse Paul turns from the Jews, who
railed at him, to the Gentiles, applying to them the pre
diction of the great prophet of the exile respecting the
servant of Yahweh.
I have set thee for a light of the Gentiles,
That thou shouldest be for salvation unto the uttermost part of
the earth.'2 (Acts xiii. 47.)

1 See Weiss, Bib. Theo., § 139*. 2 Isa. xlii. 6 ; xlix. 6.

78 THE MESSIAH
In his use of this passage, referring to the ministry of
the suffering servant, Paul rises above Peter and James.
They saw in Jesus the suffering Messiah, but, so far as
we can see from their discourses and their writings, they
had not observed the predictions respecting his world
wide ministry. Paul, looking at the enthroned Messiah,
sees that from his heavenly throne the light of salvation
shines unto the ends of the earth.
In another discourse, subsequent to his stoning by
the Jews at Lystra, Paul taught from his own expe
rience that " through many tribulations we must enter
into the kingdom of God." l Here the kingdom is a
future kingdom, the kingdom of glory, into which Paul
has not yet entered, but into which he and others are to
enter after their experience of tribulation has reached
its end.
In the synagogue at Thessalonica he " reasoned with
them from the scriptures, opening and alleging, that it
behoved the Messiah to suffer, and to rise again from
the dead ; and that this Jesus, whom, said he, I proclaim
unto you, is the Messiah." 2
In these discourses we observe no difference from the
teachings of Peter. But in the discourse upon Mars
hill, before the philosophers of Athens, Paul rises to a
broader conception of the Messiah and the Gospel.
Ye men of Athens, in all things I perceive that ye are very re
ligious.3 For as I passed along, and observed the objects of
your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription, TO AK
unknown GOD. What therefore, not knowing,4 ye worship,
1 Acts xiv- 22- ¦' Acts xvii. 3.
3 The American revision is better than the British " somewhat superstitious."
Vincent, Word Studies, i., p. 542, paraphrases "you are more divinity-fearing
than the rest of the Greeks."
' Better with Vincent " not knowing," " knowing not," for there is word play.
The A. V. and R. V. are not so good.

OF PAUL 79
this set I forth unto you. The God that made the world and all
things therein, he, being Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not
in temples made with hands ; neither is he served by men's
hands, as though he needed anything, seeing he himself giveth
to all life, and breath, and all things ; and he made of one every
nation of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, having
determined their appointed seasons, and the bounds of their
habitation ; that they should seek God, if haply they might feel
after him, and find him, though he is not far from each one of
us : for in him we live, and move, and have our being ; as certain
even of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.
Being then the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the
Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and
device of man. The times of ignorance therefore God over
looked; but now he commandeth men that they should all
everywhere repent : inasmuch as he hath appointed a day, in
the which he will judge the world in righteousness by the
man whom he hath ordained ; whereof he hath given assurance
unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead. (Acts
xvii. 22-31.)
Paul here presents to the Athenians the unknown God
whom they were worshipping, although not knowing who
or what or that He was. This God whom they knew
not, was not one of the many gods of Polytheism, nor
the national God of Israel, but the Creator and Lord of
all things, the source of life, the Father of all men. The
apostle here rises to the conception of God as the uni
versal Father. He then, using the language of the dis
course of Stephen,1 and thinking in the line of the
words of Jesus to the woman of Samaria,2 represents
God as above all local worship. He is not confined to
the temple at Jerusalem or the temples and altars of
Athens. He is everywhere present, and so really present
that He is not far from any one who will feel after Him ;
for such will find Him.

1 Acts vii. 48. % See The Messiah of the Gospels, p. 271.

gO THE MESSIAH
The universal Creator and Father has overlooked the
times of ignorance in which the Gentiles lived. But a
new time of knowledge has come ; and a time of the
End, the time of judgment, is at hand. On this Day of
judgment all men will be judged, and in view of it they
are called upon to repent. He who rose from the dead
as the Messiah will be the judge, and he will judge
all men in the universal ju'dgment. In this passage
Paul ignores the differences between Jew and Gentile,
puts all men on the same level, calls all to repentance in
view of the righteous judgment of the Messiah, who will
judge all men alike. Peter presented to the Gentiles
the doctrine that the Messiah was the judge of the
living and the dead, and that God was no respecter of
persons1 in dealing with Jew and Gentile. But Paul
first conceives of the Messiah, in accordance with
the teachings of Jesus in John,2 as the universal
judge. In his discourse before the elders of Ephesus, on his
way to Jerusalem, Paul gave utterance to several Mes
sianic ideas, (a) He represents that he had gone about
" preaching the kingdom." 3 This is doubtless the king
dom of glory, as in the previous discourse.* (b) " The
inheritance among all them that are sanctified " 5 is the
inheritance which belongs to the sanctified in the king
dom of glory. We have met the same phrase in the
commission of Paul by Jesus.' (c) He warns the elders
of the Church at Ephesus :
Take heed unto yourselves, and to all the flock, in the which
the Holy Spirit hath made you overseers, to feed the church of

1 Acts x. 34, 35, 42- ' See The Messiah cf the Gospels, p. 274.
3 Acts xx. 25. 4 Acts xiv. 22. s Acts xx. 32. « Acts xxvi. 18.

OF PAUL g\
the Lord,1 which he acquired2 with his own blood. (Acts
xx. 28.)
" The Church of the Lord " is only found here in the
New Testament, but it is the same in idea as the Church
of which Christ is the head, according to the Epistle to
the Ephesians.3 The Church of God is a favorite ex
pression of Paul in his epistles. Indeed the word
Church is a Pauline word. In his theology it takes the
place of the kingdom of grace of the Gospels and of the
Jewish Christian writers.4

1 There is a great difference of opinion as to the reading here. The external
authority of MSS., Versions, and citations is not decisive. Tischendorf, De
Wette, Meyer, and the mass of German critics read "Church of the Lord";
Scrivener, Westcott and Hort, and the leading British scholars read "Church of
God." If any unprejudiced man will compare the great mass of authorities cited
on both sides, he will be convinced that there is ample room for difference of
opinion. The context favors " Church of the Lord " This reading is also fa
vored by the fact that it is a unique reading and therefore difficult. Nowhere else
in the New Testament do we find the phrase "Church of the Lord." The
scribe in doubt would follow the usual phrase. That the more difficult reading
has survived is an evidence of its originality. The reading " Church of God "
gives by implication "blood of God." This is found in Ignatius and other early
writers, possibly on the basis of this passage, but it involves a conception
which is ahen to the New Testament. It is extremely improbable that Luke
would put into the mouth of Paul such an unexampled and extraordinary ex
pression under the circumstances. It involved a doctrine of startling conse
quences. Such a doctrine would not come into the language of Holy Scripture
in such an incidental way. The American Revision therefore is to be followed in
its reading "Church of the Lord" rather than the A. V. or the British Revision
" Church of God." See Ezra Abbot, Critical Essays, pp. 294 seq.
2 TrepiEiroif/aaTo is used only here and in 1 Tim. iii. 13, as a verb. There it
means " acquire as one's own "; but the noun irepi-Koinmq is used 1 Thess. v. 9,
" the obtaining of salvation," and Eph. i. 14, " redemption of God's own posses
sion." See also 2 Thess. ii. 14; Heb. x. 39 ; 1 Peter ii. 9.
3 Eph. v. 23 seq.
4 Church is used in the Gospels only Matth. xvi. 18, where it is probably not
original (see The Messiah of The Gospels, p. 190), and twice Matthew xviii. 17,
Where it is the local assembly after the usage of the LXX (I. c, p. 194). It is not
used in the Epistles of Peter, of Jude, or in the first or second Epistles of John.
It is used in the Epistle of James v. 14, of the local assembly with its elders, which
is virtually the same as synagogue. It is used in the Revelation in the prologue

82

THE MESSIAH

The Church of the Lord has been acquired as a pos
session by him. The means by which this precious ac
quisition has been made is by his blood. This blood,
according to the reading which has been adopted, is the
blood of the Messiah. We are reminded of redemption
by the blood of Christ, the lamb without blemish and
without spot, of the first Epistle of Peter.1 The blood
here, as there, is doubtless the blood of the sacrifice of
the new covenant as represented in the cup of the
Lord's supper. Parallel with the Church is the flock.
This parallelism is favored by the words of Jesus2 which
connect flock and kingdom, and it is in accordance with
the teachings of Jesus when he appointed his apostles to
act as shepherds of the flock.3 The Church of the Lord
is the flock of the Messiah which is to be fed by shep
herds appointed by him. These shepherds were consti
tuted by the Holy Spirit, so that they are shepherds of
the flock of Christ, by the authority of Christ. The
elders of the local church at Ephesus are addressed, ac
cording to the context. The apostle rises from the con
ception of the local church and flock to the universal
Church and flock, and recognizes that the elders of the

and in the epistles to the seven churches in Asia, i. 4-iii. 22, 19 times, elsewhere
only in the epilogue xxii. 16, always of local assemblies. It is used in the third
Epistle of John thrice of the local church. It is used in the epistles of Paul ;
Romans 5 times, Corinthians 31 times, Galatians 3 times, Ephesians 9 times,
Philippians 2 times, Colossians 4 times, Thessalonians 4 times, 1 Timothy 3
times, Philemon once ; in the Epistle to the Hebrews 2 times, in the historical
sections of the book of Acts 22 times, three of which refer to a Greek assembly.
The passage under consideration is the only one in the discourses of the book of
Acts, and it is a genuine Pauline expression. The Church of the Lord is used
only here, but the Church of God is used by Paul six times in the earlier epis
tles. In the Epistles of the imprisonment Church is used alone, without qualifi
cation. But in the Pastoral Epistles the Church of the living God is used 1 Tim.
iii. 15, and the Church of God 1 Tim. iii. 5.
1 See p. 47. a Luke xii. 32.
' John xxi. 15 seq. See The Messiah of the Gospels, p. 307.

OF THE EPISTLES TO THE THESSALONIANS 83
local church are shepherds of the universal Church of
the Lord. They are overseers, who have the flock in
charge. The eiders are bishops in the Church.
It is reported in the book of Acts, that Paul expound
ed the Gospel to the Jews at Rome, " testifying the
kingdom of God, and persuading them concerning Jesus,
both from the law of Moses and from the prophets," l
and again, " And he abode two whole years in his own
hired dwelling, and received all that went in unto him,
preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching the things
concerning the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness,
none forbidding him."2 The constant themes of Paul's
discourse in Rome seem to have been (a) Jesus the Mes
siah of the Law and the Prophets, and (b) the kingdom
of God, the kingdom of glory.3
THE EPISTLES TO THE THESSALONIANS.
Paul was a preacher of the gospel, wherever he went,
as we have seen from the narratives of the book of Acts.
He also became a writer of letters to the churches from
whom he was separated by long distances. These were
generally churches that he had himself established. His
epistles do not begin until the most of his recorded dis
courses were delivered. For convenience we have used
the few others of a later period, all the more that with
a single exception, they add nothing to the develop
ment of the Messianic idea contained in the earlier dis
courses. The first epistles written by the apostle were those to
the church of the Thessalonians. With regard to the
first epistle there is a general agreement of opinion
among critics, so that we have simply to state the re-
' xxviii. 23. 2 xxviii. 30, 31. 3 See p. 80.

84 THE MESSIAH
suits of criticism. It was written by the apostle from
Corinth during his first visit there about A.D. 53, some
15 years after his conversion.
The second epistle, which contains the Pauline apoc
alypse, has been assigned by recent critics to a much
later date, for the following reasons : (a) It consists
chiefly of a repetition of the exhortations of the first
epistle, showing the hand of a plagiarist, (b) This
apocalypse contains material different from that of the
other epistle and contradicts its eschatology. It be
longs to the later apocalyptic and is a pendant to the
apocalypse of John, (c) It lays great stress upon its
own genuineness and warns against forgeries which Paul
had no occasion to do, at least so early in his writing of
epistles.1 These reasons are insufficient, {a) The repetition of
the exhortations is such as we would expect to find, be
cause of their need and appropriateness. We find just
such repetition in the second Epistle to the Corinthians
and in the discourses of Jesus, (b) The difference in
the apocalypse is so marked that it gives a reason of a
contrary kind to the previous one and really destroys it.
It is true that it gives the apocalypse of Paul. But we have
apocalypses of Jesus and of Peter and of John, why not
one of Paul also? The hostility of some critics to
Christian apocalyptic prophecies is unreasonable. It is
true that this apocalypse corrects a misunderstanding of
the eschatology of the previous epistle, but it does not
correct the epistle itself. The interposition of the Man
of Sin before the Parousia is based on the apocalypse of
Daniel and is similar to the predictions of other apoc
alypses. (V) It is not so clear that Paul was not exposed

1 See Pfleiderer, Urchristenthum, 3. 77, 78.

OF THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE THESSALONIANS 85
to forgeries of his epistles even at this early date. The
Zealots among the Jews who opposed him at this time
were capable of this iniquity.1
THE RESURRECTION OF THE SAINTS.
§ 26. Believers must be unblamable and wholly sancti
fied at the Parousia. The Day of the Lord will come as
a thief in the night and men should be watchful, ft
brings sudden destruction to the unwary. The Messiah
will descend from heaven with a shout of command. The
dead saints will rise from their graves and come with him.
The living will be caught up in the clouds to meet the
Lord in the air.
The first Epistle to the Thessalonians is full of Mes
sianic material. The apostle looks for his crown of
glorying in his disciples at the Parousia.2 He prays that
they may be "unblamable in holiness before our God
and Father, at the Parousia of our Lord Jesus with all
his saints." 3 " The God of peace himself sanctify you
wholly ; and may your spirit and soul and body be
preserved entire, without blame at the Parousia of our
Lord Jesus Christ." * The Parousia, or second Advent
of the Messiah, is conceived as an advent with the
saints, the holy ones from among the dead. It is also
taught that those who are to share in its blessedness
must at that time be saints, entirely blameless in holi
ness and wholly sanctified in body, soul, and spirit.
Paul has no other idea than that taught by Jesus him-

1 Spitta, Urchristenthum,'\., s. i?aseq., seeks an explanation of the differences
between the two epistles by the theory that the first epistle was dictated to
Timothy by Paul and sent in the name of Paul, Silas, and Timothy ; but that
the second epistle was written by Timothy in his own language, not by dicta
tion, but by authority of Paul, and sent in the name of the three.
s ii. 19. * iii. 13. 4 v. 23.

86 THE MESSIAH
self that only the godlike, the perfectly sanctified will be
approved at the Parousia and will inherit the kingdom
of God.1 Accordingly where the Thessalonians are
called by God " into his own kingdom and glory," 2 the
kingdom is the kingdom of glory at the Parousia. The
attitude of those who serve the living and true God is
" to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from
the dead, even Jesus, who delivereth us from the wrath
to come." 3 They look back at the resurrection of
Jesus, and they look forward to the Advent of Jesus
from heaven. That Advent brings them a salvation
which they cannot have before, namely, deliverance from
the wrath to come. The wrath to come is the wrath
coming in the Day of judgment at the Parousia. Jesus
the Messiah will deliver his disciples from the wrath on
that Day.4 Throughout the epistle Jesus is regarded as
Lord, and Christ is used as a proper name. The favor
ite expression is the Lord Jesus Christ!" The same
usage is so characteristic of the other epistles of Paul
that it will need no further attention.5 The Holy Spirit

1 See The Messiah cfthe Gospels, pp. 173 seg.
2 ii. 12. s i. 10.
* This deliverance at the Parousia is the same as the salvation at the Revela
tion. 1 Peter i. 5 ; see p. 50.
« i. i, 3 ; v. 9, 23, 28.
6 itvpioc is used for God in the epistles of Paul, only in citations from the
Old Testament ; unless it be 1 Thess. iv. 6; 2 Thess. iii. 16, and 1 Cor. x. 9, which
passages may be regarded as doubtful. ¦> Thess. iii. 16 uses the phrase b Ki-pioc
Tijc Eipf/vnc = 6 6eb( rfjc elpr/vng 1 Thess. v. 23. The nvptoc of 1 Cor. x. 9
is exchanged for Christ in some ancient authorities and in the context Christ
is conceived as pre-existent in the angel of Yahweh. In 1 Thess. iv. 6tlie
reference to God is more probable. In all other passages Kvptoc is used
of Christ. The Lordship of Christ has cast Uie Lordship of God the
Father into shadow. The Lord was the common term for God among the
Jews in the time of Jesus, nvpioc in the LXX was read for Yahweh as well
as Adonay many thousand times. So also in the Hebrew synagogues Adonay
was read for Yahweh. The change of usage by Paul in applying Lord so ex-

OF THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE THESSALONIANS 87
is present and working among the disciples.1 This also
is a constant theme of the other epistles of Paul. We
shall omit all such references from our study except
when they are inextricably involved in our main theme,
the person and work of the Messiah.
These scattered references to the Messiah and his
Parousia and to the kingdom of glory are incidental to
the body of Messianic material contained in the section
now to be considered.
But we would not have you ignorant, brethren, concerning
them that fall asleep ; that ye sorrow not, even as the rest, which
have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again,
even so them also that are fallen asleep in Jesus will God bring
with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord,
that we that are alive, that are left unto the Parousia of the
Lord, shall in no wise precede them that are fallen asleep. For
the Lord himself shall descend from heaven, with a shout, with
the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God : and the
dead in Christ shall rise first : then we that are alive, that are
left, shall together with them be caught up in the clouds, to
meet the Lord in the air : and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
Wherefore comfort one another with these words. But con
cerning the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need
that aught be written unto you. For yourselves know per
fectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.
When they are saying, Peace and safety, then sudden destruc
tion cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child ;

clusively to Christ and in carefully abstaining from using it for God the Father
was a radical change of an importance which it is hard for any one to exaggerate.
It involved the practical substitution of the sovereignty of the Messiah for the
sovereignty of God during the Messianic age. cf. Phil. ii. n. Jesus the Messiah
having ascended his throne in person at the right hand of God the Father, all
sovereignty has been given into his hands and he reigns as the sovereign Lord of
man whom he has redeemed. He is Lord during the Messianic age and
Judge at its close.
1 i. 5, 6 ; iv. 8 ; v. 19. In these passages the more fundamental conception of
the Holy Spirit appears, in producing the ecstatic state of worship and of
prophecy, and also the ethical activity which is so characteristic of Paulinism.

88 THE MESSIAH
and they shall in no wise escape. But ye, brethren, are not in
darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief : for ye
are all sons of light, and sons of the day : we are not of the night,
nor of darkness ; so then let us not sleep, as do the rest, but let
us watch and be sober. For they that sleep sleep in the night;
and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. But let us,
since we are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of
faith and love ; and for a helmet, the hope of salvation. For
God appointed us not unto wrath, but unto the obtaining of sal
vation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that,
whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.
(i Thessalonians iv. 13-v. 10.)
This passage sets forth the doctrine of the Parousia,
and the resurrection and judgment connected therewith.
The Parousia is with the saints and for the saints. It is
therefore connected with the resurrection of the sainted
dead. These will rise first, and they will be brought
with the Lord when he descends from heaven. The
descent from heaven will be accompanied by theophanic
signs. These are not those mentioned in the apoc
alypse of Jesus ; [ but they are modelled after the the-
ophany on Mt. Horeb.2 They are, (a) the shout: this
shout may be the commanding voice of the Messiah
himself, or the acclamations of the angels and saints;
(b) the voice of the archangel is probably a summons to
the dead to rise ; (c) the trump of God is similar to the
trumpet blast at Horeb, the signal for all mankind to
attend. These heavenly calls are responded to by the
living saints, who are caught up in the clouds to meet
the Lord in the air, and to be ever with him. And thus
the Messiah comes surrounded by all his saints, the
living and the dead. This is the blessed hope of the
faithful. They have already learned that the time is

See The Messiah of the Gospels, pp. 152 seq. i Ex. xix. 16-19.

OF THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE THESSALONIANS 89
uncertain. They know perfectly from the teachings of
Jesus and his apostles that the Day of the Lord will
come as a thief in the night. It will come like travail
on a woman with child. There will be no escape from
it. It brings blessedness to the faithful, the watching,
and the sanctified ; but sudden destruction to the care
less, the sleeping, and the profligate. The Parousia is
thus for the faithful the '' obtaining of salvation," as the
antithesis of " wrath " appointed for those who are un
faithful. This salvation is obtained through the Lord
Jesus Christ at his Parousia. It was the purpose of his
death that he should obtain this salvation for us. He
died for us that we should live together with him.
When he died for us his purpose was that we should rise
from the dead and live together with him in the king
dom of glory. The work of the Lord Jesus for us in his
death, in his resurrection, and in his Parousia, was to ob
tain for us this salvation and the everlasting life in glory.
This doctrine of the Parousia is original to Paul in its
mode of expression, and yet it is a legitimate deduc
tion from the discourses of Jesus, especially those given
by Luke. THE APOCALYPSE OF PAUL.
§ 27. The patient and believing will be counted worthy
of the kingdom at the Revelation of the Messiah. He
will come with the angels to be glorified in his saints, but
with a flame of fire for the disobedient, who will suffer
everlasting destruction from his presence. The Parousia
will be preceded by apostasy and also by the revelation of
the man of sin, who will oppose all that is holy and will
set up his throne in the temple, claiming to be God. He
will work according to the working of Satan with mira
cles and deceitful works. The mystery of lawlessness was

90 THE MESSIAH
already at work, but was restrained by an irresistible
power for a season, after which the man of sin would be
manifested. But he is doomed to Gehenna, and will be
destroyed by the breath of the Messiah and the manifesta
tion of his Parousia.
The second Epistle to the Thessalonians gives the
apocalypse of Paul. It is a fuller explanation of the
doctrine of the Advent contained in the first Epistle,
which had been misunderstood. The apocalypse has
two parts, (i) i. 3-10; (2) ii. 1-12.
I.
We are bound to give thanks to God alway for you, brethren,
even as it is meet, for that your faith groweth exceedingly, and
the love of each one of you all toward one another aboundeth ;
so that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your
patience and faith in all your persecutions and in the afflictions
which ye endure ; which is a manifest token of the righteous
judgment of God ; to the end that ye may be counted worthy of
the kingdom of God. for which ye also suffer: if so be that it is
a righteous thing with God to recompense affliction to them that
afflict you, and to you that are afflicted rest with us, at the Reve
lation of the Lord Jesus from heaven with the angels of his
power in flaming fire, rendering vengeance to them that know
not God, and to them that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus :
who shall suffer punishment, even everlasting destruction from
the face of the Lord and from the glory of his might, when he
shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be marvelled at in
all them that believed (because our testimony unto you was be
lieved) in that day. (2 Thess. i. 3 10.)
In this part, the Epistle unfolds still further the doc
trine of preparation for the Day of the Lord. The Ad
vent is here conceived of not as a Parousia, but as a
Revelation of the Messiah, just as in the first Epistle of
Peter,1 and it is connected with the inheritance of the
1 See p. 47.

OF THE SECOND EPISTLE TO THE THESSALONIANS 91
kingdom, just as in the first Epistle to the Thessalo
nians. The faithful are to be prepared for it by patience
and faith, in all their persecutions and afflictions, and so
will be counted worthy of the kingdom of God. The
kingdom is therefore the kingdom of glory at the Reve
lation. The Messiah will be revealed from heaven with
angels of his power in flaming fire. He will be glorified
in his saints and marvelled at in all believers. But the
disobedient will suffer punishment, even everlasting de
struction from his presence. The Advent to judgment
is in the style of the Apocalypse of Daniel.1 The flam
ing fire corresponds with its river of fire. The angels
are with him here. Only the archangel was mentioned
in the advent scene of the previous epistle. The at
tendance of the angels reminds us of the apocalypse of
Jesus,2 only there they gathered the elect, here they are
angels of his power to punish the disobedient.
II.
Now we beseech you, brethren, touching the Parousia of our
Lord Jesus Christ, and our gathering together unto him ; to the
end that ye be not quickly shaken from your mind, nor yet be
troubled, either by spirit, or by word, or by epistle as from us, as
that the day of the Lord is just at hand ; 3 let no man beguile
you in any wise : for it will not be, except the falling away come
first, and the man of sin * be revealed, the son of Apoleia,5 he
that opposeth and exalteth himself against all that is called God
or that is worshipped ; so that he sitteth in the temple of God,
setting himself forth as God. Remember ye not, that, when I
was yet with you, I told you these things ? And now ye know

1 Dan. vii. 10. 2 See The Messiah of the Gospels, p. 152.
3 tvioTnaev, "is just at hand." The American Revision is preferable to the
British Revision, " is now present."
4 djuaprlac ¦ Westcott and Hort read avo/iiac.
e anti'Aeia is here a proper name of the place of the lost in Hades = IH3K.
See The Messiah of the Gospels, pp 27, 205. He is called the Son of Apoleia,
because he belongs there, just as one is called Son of Gehenna, Matth. xxiii. 15.

92 THE MESSIAH
that which restraineth, to the end that he may be revealed in his
own season. For the mystery of lawlessness doth already work :
only there is one that restraineth now, until he be taken out of
the way. And then shall be revealed the lawless one, whom the
Lord Jesus ' shall slay with the breath of his mouth, and bring to
nought by the manifestation of his Parousia ; 2 even he, whose
coming is according to the working of Satan with all power and
signs and lying wonders, and with all deceit of unrighteousness
for them that are perishing ; because they received not the love
of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God
sendeth tnem a working of error, that they should believe a lie :
"that they all might be judged who believed not the truth, but
had pleasure in unrighteousness. (2 Thessalonians ii. 1-12.)
In the second part of this apocalypse, the Thessalo
nians are warned against thinking that the Day of the
Lord, the Parousia, was so at hand that it was impend
ing and at once to come. Here Parousia, referring to
the words of the first epistle, takes the place of Revela
tion used in the first section of this epistle. Certain
events must precede it. These are, (1) an apostasy and
(2) the revelation of the Man of Sin. The apostasy is
the same as that predicted in the apocalypse of Jesus.8
But the Man of Sin is a new development in the Mes
sianic idea of the New Testament. It has its basis, how
ever, in the anti-Messiah of Daniel,4 whose judgment
scene the apostle evidently has in view in the judgment
already considered. It is not without connection with
the false Messiahs of the apocalypse of Jesus.6 But we
find no such single figure in any of the predictions of
the New Testament thus far considered. The Man of
Sin is more fully described than the anti-Messiah of

1 Jesus is a doubtful reading. It is bracketted in Westcott and Hort.
'J ry £7rtfavcia rijc -Kapovoiac (ivtov.
3 See The Messiah of the Gospels, p. 143.
* Dan. vii. 25, 26 ; see Briggs, Messianic Prophecy, p. 419.
' See The Messiah of the Gospels, p. 140.

OF THE SECOND EPISTLE TO THE THESSALONIANS 93
Daniel, and in somewhat different terms. The title
Man of Sin, or Man of Lawlessness, of many MSS., is a
Hebraism which indicates that he is a man whose bent
and nature are sinful. He is a lawless one, subject to
no law and no authority, a transgressor in his very
nature. He is an adversary opposing all that is holy.
He is arrogant, exalting himself to supremacy. He
even goes so far as to make himself an object of worship,
setting up his throne in the temple of God and showing
himself off as God. In several of these attributes he is
like the Satan, the devil, the adversary of the Old Testa
ment and the Gospels ; and yet he is not Satan, for he
works after his model, using miracles and lying wonders
and every form of deceit to lead men astray. He is
finally named the Son of Apoleia. This is another
Hebraism which indicates that Apoleia is his place. It
is like the sons of Gehenna of the discourse of Jesus,
only Gehenna is the place of final doom and Abaddon
or Apoleia is the prison of the intermediate state.1 The
Man of Sin belongs to the prison of the lost rather than
to the world of man. This diabolical man 2 stands in
the way of the Advent of Jesus the Messiah. His reve
lation or manifestation comes first.
The temple of God, in which the Man of Sin is en
throned after his manifestation, would most easily be in
terpreted as the temple at Jerusalem ; and then the
apostle would think of the abominable desolator of the
Apocalypse of Jesus and of the Apocalypse of Daniel,
entering into the temple, taking possession of it as his
own, erecting his throne instead of the throne of God
in the Holy of Holies and claiming divine worship.3 We

1 See p. 62.
3 Comp. John viii. 44, " Ye are of your father the devil."
3 See The Messiah of the Gospels, p. 147.

94 THE MESSIAH
would then be obliged to think of the conquest of Jeru
salem by the Romans and of a desecration of the holy
place at that time, or of some previous desecration of
the holy place such as that proposed by Caligula,1 or
Nero.2 But the features of the Man of Sin in Paul do
not in any respect correspond with the Roman deso
lator. The features are diabolical in a religious and
moral sphere, and beyond the realm of politics.3 Paul
never in all his career antagonized the Roman authori
ties, but rather claimed the rights of a Roman citizen.
There is no evidence that he saw in Rome a diabolical
power hostile to Christianity, certainly not at so early a
stage in his career. The features of the Man of Sin
correspond rather with the Pharisaic children of the
devil and sons of Gehenna as Jesus paints them in his
discourses.4 The miracle-working does not suggest the
Roman empire or any Roman emperor, but points to a
false prophet and false Messiah in the sphere of Judaism.
Are we then to suppose that the apostle sums up what
Jesus said about the false Messiahs and prophets, who
were connected with the judgment upon Jerusalem, and
concentrates them in his figure of the Man of Sin?6
Then we should look for the Pharisaic spirit coming to
a head in the zealots,' and becoming embodied in a
monster of iniquity or some monstrosity in connection
with the siege of Jerusalem, which had been predicted

1 See Spitta, Urchristenthum, i., s. 136.
2 See Schmiedel, Handcommentar zum N. T., ii., s. 30.
3 See Pfieiderer, Urchristenthum, s. 357.
' See Matth. xxiii. 15; John viii. 44.
0 It is noteworthy that the recently discovered Apocalypse of Peter seems to
expand the conception of the single man of sin into a number of false prophets.
The ^evSoirpofijrat are described with the identical terms of our apocalypse,
namely viol rijc anufelac and also viol ri/c avo/ilae.
" See p. 17.

OF THE SECOND EPISTLE TO THE THESSALONIANS 95
by Jesus and which was the common stock of apocalyp
tic expectation in the earlier apostolic age.
The epistle represents that this Man of Sin was not
yet revealed, but that the mystery of lawlessness was at
work which would result in his revelation. The Man of
Sin can hardly be a principle or a tendency, for that
principle or tendency was then present ; but the Man of
Sin is the one in which the principle was to culminate
and he therefore was not yet present. What was there
in the apostle's times that was so much a mystery
of lawlessness as that Pharisaic hatred of Jesus and
his disciples and that fanaticism of the zealots who
raged in revolt against Rome, and who were about to
bring total ruin upon the nation of Israel. This mystery
of lawlessness was restrained at the time by something
that held it in check. This restraining power is new to
the apocalyptic ideal. It is thought by some to have
been the Roman empire, by others some special emperor,
and by still others the decree of God. It was probably
the military power of the civil government, which re
strained this wicked religious influence from taking head.
But this military power would eventually be insufficient
to restrain the spirit of lawlessness. It would burst
through all barriers and the Man of Sin would come into
manifestation. He was to have a short period of do
minion and then be destroyed. He was not to be de
stroyed by the restraining power, or by any other power
or person than by the Messiah himself at his Advent.
When the Messiah's Parousia is manifested the breath
of his mouth will destroy the wicked one. This de
struction of the Man of Sin at the Parousia is after the
model of the destruction of the anti-Messiah by the
Advent of the Son of Man on the clouds, in the Apoc
alypse of Daniel. We cannot see any fulfilment of this

96 THE MESSIAH
prediction in the story of the destruction of Jerusalem.
Doubtless the foreboding of that destruction gave color
and form to the apocalypse of Paul as it did to the
apocalypse of Jesus. But the presence of the Man of
Sin was not disclosed at that time any more than the
presence of the Messiah. The advent of the anti-Mes
siah of this prediction and the Advent of the Messiah
are both alike still in the future, at the End of the age,
which the apocalypses always have in view. The spirit of
lawlessness which was at work among the Pharisaic
zealots has ever been operative, and is still at work in
the sphere of religion even in the holy places of the
Christian temple, the Church ; but we still await the
Man of Sin as we await the Messiah. And it is not at
all certain that the Church of Rome and the Papacy
have the monopoly of this spirit, as the early reformers
supposed. The Romanists saw it, at the same time, in
the revolutionary and lawless acts and teachings of
Protestantism. It is within the range of possibility that
the anti-Christ may be born either of Romanism or of
Protestantism or of some other type of Christianity which
is yet to be developed. When the Man of Sin appears
he will be the counterpart of the apostolic description.
After his revelation he will continue his supremacy until
the Advent of the Messiah, who only can destroy him.
The faithful Thessalonians are " beloved of the Lord,"
chosen of God " from the beginning unto salvation in
sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth," " to
the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ." '
This obtaining of the glory of Jesus is at the Parousia
of Jesus, and so this salvation unto which they were
chosen is the Salvation at the Parousia.2
' ii- 13, M- » See p. 86.

CHAPTER IV.
THE MESSIAH OF THE EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS.
The Epistles to the Thessalonians were soon followed
by the two Epistles to the Corinthians, which in their
great bulk, contain, a large amount of religious, doc
trinal and ethical material. There is no dispute among
critics as to these two epistles, so that we need not de
tain ourselves with questions of criticism. They were
written, the first from Ephesus in the spring of A.D. 57,
and the second from Macedonia in the autumn of the
same year.
The Messianic idea of the first Epistle may be divided
into several sections. It will be convenient to consider
first the scattered material topically and then the more
comprehensive passages by themselves.
THE ONE PRE-EXISTENT LORD.
§ 28. Christ was pre-existent as the spiritual Rock of
Israel in the wilderness, as the original image after which
Adam was created, and as the one through whom all
things were made.
The epistle does not refer to the earthly life of Jesus ;
but there are several passages which seem to imply his
pre-existence. (a) The most important of these is where
the Messiah is in a unique position with God. " There
(97)

98 THE MESSIAH
is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we
unto him ; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom
are all things, and we through him." ' There is but one
Lord, and he is Jesus the Messiah. The " all things "
as distinguished from "we," must refer to things outside
the circle of the disciples of Jesus. There is nothing in
the context to limit it in any way. The context rather
suggests in the antithesis of the one God to the many-
gods of the nations, and the one Lord to their many
lords ; and in the reference to meat offered to idols, a
reference to the creative activity of God ; and if this be
so with regard to God, it is most probable that it is so
with reference to Christ in the parallel clause.2 Accord
ingly the Messiah is the one through whom all things
come into being as well as the one through whom his
disciples came to be.
(b) The headship of the Messiah over man may also
be regarded as a headship of original pre-existent au
thority. " The head of every man is Christ ; and the
head of the woman is the man ; and the head of Christ
is God." 3 This is so comprehensive in statement that
it goes beyond the range of the disciples and the king
dom of redemption, and points to an original and an es
sential relation of Christ to humanity as such. The
headship of man over the woman is in the context based

1 viii. 6.
2 Bruce, St. Paul's Conception of Christianity, p. 339, well says, " The apos
tle here sets one real 6ebe over against the many 8eo1 Atyd/ievoi of Pagan
ism, and one real lord over against its nvpioi ttoA/.oi. And one cannot fail to
feel that the title Lord ascribed to Jesus in such a connection is charged with
great significance. It seems as if the apostle meant thereby to introduce Christ
into the sphere of the truly divine, urged on thereto by the imperious exigencies
of his religious faith, and against his piejudices as a Jew in favor of a strict
abstract monotheism inherited from his forefathers."
3 xi. 3.

OP THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 99
on the creation of woman out of man.1 The headship
of the Messiah over the man must therefore lie back of
the creation of the man. The man was created in the
image of God. This image in which he was created is
here conceived of by the apostle as the image of the
pre-existent Christ. The only question that remains is
whether he was conceived of as ideally pre-existent as
the archetype of the man or as really pre-existent. The
relation between man and woman is a real historic rela
tion. It is most natural to think therefore of a real his
torical relation of headship between the pre-existent
Christ and Adam.
(c) The pre-existence of Christ during the Exodus is
also taught : They " did all eat the same spiritual meat ;
and did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they
drank of a spiritual rock that followed them : and the
rock was Christ." 2 Back of the manna from heaven
and the water from the rock which supplied the physical
needs of the Israelites in the wilderness, the apostle sees
a spiritual bread and drink in the pre-existent Christ who
was the living rock which followed Israel in all their
journeys. Doubtless Paul is thinking of the Angel of
Yahweh and sees the Messiah really present in that
theophanic presence of God.
The Israelites were baptized into Moses in the cloud
and in the sea, and after their baptism they ate and drank
of the holy feast of manna from heaven and of water from
the rock, and thereby drank of the spiritual water and
living bread of the pre-existent Messiah. It is evident
that the two sacraments, baptism and the Lord's supper,
are in the mind of the apostle, and he sees the pre-existent
Messiah in the Angel of Yahweh, and the pillar of cloud,

¦ Gen. ii. 18-23. ' x. 3, 4.

100 THE MESSIAH
doing for Israel essentially what the risen and glorified
Messiah does for Christians in baptism and the Lord's
supper. These passages do not necessarily imply a real pre-
existence. They may be interpreted of an ideal pre-
existence. But that is not so simple and natural an ex
planation. CHRIST OUR PASSOVER.
§ 29. Christ was crucified aud died for the sins of his
disciples, and so bought them with the price of his own
blood. He thus became at once the permanent passover
feast as well as the covenant sacrifice, of which the disci
ples are to continually partake until the second Advent.
Though crucified, he was the Lord of glory, the power of
God and the wisdom of God.
The death on the cross is mentioned several times in
cidentally,1 but more frequently with its saving mean
ing. Christ was crucified for his disciples,2 died for
the weak brother,3 " for our sins." 4 The apostle, in
his reference to the Old Testament Scriptures, doubt
less was thinking of the sin-bearing sufferer of the great
prophet of the exile. Twice he reminds the Corinthians,
" Ye were bought with a price." 6 The price which was
paid for their purchase was the price paid at the crucifix
ion, the price of the Messiah himself as expressed in his
blood and his body.
Paul conceives of the death of Christ as a sacrifice, of
the class of peace offerings. He is in accord with the
synoptic gospels in representing it as a covenant sacri-

1 '• x7. 18 ; ii. 2. j i. 13i i,„{p 'nEpty
3 61 bv, viii. 11. t vn^ xv, 3-
5 T/yopdoOnre rtpf/c, vi. 20 ; vii. 23.

OF THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 1Q1
fice.1 He also agrees with Luke in connecting it with
the annual passover feast, not only in his account of the
institution of the holy supper,2 but still more distinctly
when he says : " For our passover also hath been sacri
ficed, even Christ." 3 By the death of the Messiah as the
sacrificial victim, his flesh and blood were furnished as
the passover feast of the new covenant. Thus the
Lord's supper has to Paul the double significance of an
initial sacrifice of the new covenant, and of the annual
passover sacrifice, both of which have their common and
essential feature in the communion meals. It is evident,
however, that Paul also attaches to the Lord's supper
the meaning of the communion meals of the ordinary
peace offerings. These were celebrated both among
the Hebrews and the Gentiles at all festivals. When
ever, indeed, a feast was given, it was customary to se
cure the presence of the deity at the feast by the sacri
fice of the animal whose flesh they were to eat, as a peace
offering. Hence Christians were in danger of commun
ion with the idols of the Gentiles when they feasted
with the Gentiles and even when they bought flesh in the
market. Accordingly the apostle makes the antithesis
between the Christian love feast and the heathen feasts.
The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a communion of
the blood of Christ ? The bread which we break, is it not a com
munion of the body of Christ ? seeing that we, who are many,
are one bread, one body : for we all partake of the one bread.
Behold Israel after the flesh : have not they which eat the sacri
fices communion with the altar ? What say I then ? that a thing
sacrificed to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? But
/ say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice
to demons and not to God : and I would not that ye should have
communion with demons. Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord,

1 See The Messiah of the Gospels, p. 120,
' 1 Cor, xi, 23-25. s 1 Cor. v. 7.

102 THE MESSIAH
and the cup of demons : ye cannot partake of the table of the
Lord, and the table of demons, (i Cor. x. 16-21.)
Thus to Paul the Lord's supper combined the signifi
cance of the covenant sacrifice, the passover, and all the
communion meals of the peace offerings of the Old
Testament. And so the Holy feast was to be con
stantly celebrated in order to constant communion with
Christ and with fellow Christians.
The Lord's supper is to be observed until the second
Advent : those who partake of it " proclaim the Lord's
death " (and its redemptive meaning) " till he come "; '
and so precious is it and so worthy of reverence that
those who partake of it unworthily are " guilty of the
body and the blood of the Lord." 2
The great theme of the preaching at this time was
" Christ crucified, unto Jews a stumbling-block, and unto
Gentiles foolishness ; but unto them that are called, both
Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom
of God." e The wisdom of God was disclosed when those
who were called saw in the crucifixion the mystery of sal
vation ; and the power of God was experienced in the
redemptive effects of the blood of the cross. A Messiah
who had died a malefactor's death was so contrary to the
conception of the Messiah received among the Jews that
they stumbled at such a Messiah ; and the Greeks found
in him not the Messiah of their philosophic expectation,
but his antithesis. But the One who was crucified was
not a malefactor or a conspirator. He was the ruler
whom the Jews had unworthily crucified, he was and
ever is the Lord. The Messiah had died, but he had
risen and had ascended to a heavenly throne, where he
was reigning as the Lord in glory."
1 xi- 26. » xi. 27. » i. 23, 24. « ii. 8.

OF THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 103
CHRIST THE WISDOM OF GOD.
§ 30. Paul had seen the enthroned Messiah and he made
him his ideal for imitation. Christ as the Wisdom of
God is the righteousness, sanctification, and final redemp
tion of those who are in union with him. They become
united to him in baptism and are washed, consecrated, and
justified in him. They are thereby united with him into
one body of which all Christians are members, each with
his own special place and gift.
The mind of the apostle, in this epistle, is directed
chiefly to the enthroned Messiah and the redemption
flowing from him. He is assured of the reality of his
reign. " Have I not seen Jesus our Lord ? are not
ye my work in the Lord?" ' He recalls the Christopha-
nies he had witnessed and his successful ministry as evi
dences of the reality of the Messiah's enthronement.
Accordingly Christ is his aim. " Be ye imitators of me,
even as I also am of Christ." 2 He reminds the Corin
thians of their high calling : " of him are ye in Christ
Jesus, who was made unto us Wisdom from God, both 3
righteousness and sanctification * and redemption." '
Christ is the Wisdom of God as comprehending in him
self the mystery of salvation. This salvation is a chain of

> ix. 1. * xi. x.
3 i. 30. The R. V. and favors the view that Wisdom is one of four terms in
their order ; but the structure of the sentence in the original favors the separa
tion of Wisdom from the other three terms as in the margin of the R. V. See
Edwards' Comm. on 1 Cor., p. 40.
4 ayiacfioc, Sanctification is sometimes the sanctification of consecration at
the initiation of the Christian life, as i. 2 ; vi. ti ; vii. 14; at other times the pro
cess of making holy, as 1 Thess. v. 23 ; Rom. vi. 19, 22, etc. The order of terms
here favors the latter.
6 ti-KoliiTpuaic is also sometimes the initial redemption by union with Christ.
Rom. iii. 24 ; Eph. i. 7 ; Col. i. 14 ; Heb. ix. 15 ; at others the final redemption
at the Parousia. Luke xxi. 2b ; Rom. viii. 23 ; Eph. i. 14 ; iv. 30. It is here the
latter* See Weiss, Bib. Theo., § 80, 8.

104 THE MESSIAH
three great links, righteousness, sanctification, and re
demption. Christ is our righteousness as the ever-abid
ing cause of our being justified and of our remaining
justified until the work of sanctification is complete.
He is our sanctification, because he is the ever-living
source of the transforming grace which is ever sanctify
ing us and which will make us holy, prior to the Day of
judgment. He is our redemption also, because when
our sanctification has been completed at his Advent, we
will receive the redemption purchased for us, will be ap
proved in the judgment, and will obtain an entrance into
the kingdom of glory.
In a later passage Paul looks at the beginning of the
Christian life and says to the Corinthians, " But ye were
washed, but ye were sanctified, but ye were justified in
the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in the Spirit of
our God." ' The washing is the washing of baptism, here
as elsewhere connected with the divine Spirit.2 The wash
ing of baptism in the Spirit accomplished two things
for the Corinthians : sanctification and justification.
Sanctification is first mentioned because it is more
closely connected with the washing of the persons of the
baptized. It is the consecration or solemn setting apart
of the baptized, when they are then initiated into Christ.
Justification is what is accomplished for them on the
divine side in the presence of God through the righteous
name of Christ.
The union with Christ, in whom is wrapt up all the
wisdom of salvation, involves a membership in Christ
which is so intimate that it is most suitably compared
to the parts of a body. Christ and his disciples are
members of the same body. The body is his body and
¦V.". 'Seep. 58,

OF THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 105
they are members of it. " Know ye not that your
bodies are members of Christ ? " ' Even the bodies of
Christians are a part of this mystic membership. The
whole of the disciples thus constitute one body. " For
as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the
members of the body, being many, are one body ; so also
is Christ. For in one Spirit were we all baptized into
one body." 2
Baptism by water and by the Spirit of God thus at
taches each disciple in turn to the mystical body of
Christ. This body is one and it is Christ's body. No
one can become a member of it without this baptism ;
just as Jesus said no one could enter the kingdom of
God without it.3 Each disciple has his part to do in the
organism of the body and he should be content to do
the work assigned him in humility, fidelity, and brother
ly love. " There are diversities of gifts, but the same
Spirit. And there are diversities of ministrations, and the
same Lord. And there are diversities of workings, but
the same God, who worketh all things in all." 4 " Now
ye are the body of Christ, and severally members there
of." 6
THE INHERITANCE IN THE KINGDOM.
§ 31. The Holy Spirit unites believers in the one body of
Christ, dwelling in each one as in a temple of God. The
kingdom of God is the kingdom of glory at the Parousia.
The Church of God is the organized body of Christians in
this age of the rvorld.
The work of the divine Spirit is so closely identified
with the work of the Messiah that it is not easy always

> vi. 15. 2 xii. 12, 13.
* See The Messiah of the Gospels, p. 261, 4 xii. 4-6. ° xii. 27.

106 THE MESSIAH
to distinguish them. The Holy Spirit is ever present
in the disciple. " Know ye not that ye are a temple of
God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you ? " '
" Know ye not that your body is a temple of the Holy
Spirit which is in you?" 2 The body of each disciple is
a temple of God, and the Holy Spirit dwells in each one
as did the theophany of glory in the ancient temple at
Jerusalem. This is in accord with the prediction of
Jesus in the discourse respecting the Paraclete.3
In connection with the work of the indwelling Christ
and the Holy Spirit we may consider the doctrine of the
kingdom of God and the Church of God. The kingdom
of God is used four times in this epistle and always as
an inheritance4 — it is therefore the kingdom of glory of
the second Advent. In place of the kingdom of grace
or the kingdom of God prior to the Advent, Paul uses
the Church of God,6 which in these passages does not
refer to local congregations ; but to the whole body of
Christians organized in one great congregation before
God and so God's congregation. This is in accordance
with Paul's address to the elders of Ephesus* and also
the use of Church in the Gospel of Matthew.'
THE FIERY JUDGMENT OF THE PAROUSIA.
§32. The Parousia is near, the ends of the ages have come
upon the writer's generation and they are to await it with
out entangling themselves in worldly affairs. Then there
will be a judgment of the Church and each one will be
rewarded according to his work. The gold, silver, and

1 iii- 16. » vi. 19.
3 See The Messiah of the Gospels, p. 291.
4 iv. 20 ; vi. 9, 10 ; xv. 50. » x. 32 ; xi. 22 ; xv. 9.
0 See p. 81. ' See The Messiah of t lie Gospels, pp. 190 seq.

OF THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 107
precious stones, the truly excellent will abide the fire, but
the wood, hay, and stubble, the profitless disciples, will be
consumed. In view of this judgment Church discipline is
to be conducted. The world passeth away as a shifting
show. Only those in harmony with the Messiah will
abide. The apostle, in the beginning of his epistle, represents
Christians as " waiting for the Revelation of our Lord
Jesus Christ ; who shall also confirm you unto the end,
that ye be unreprovable in the Day of our Lord Jesus
Christ." 1 This attitude of waiting is in accordance with
the exhortation of Jesus and of Peter, and the appro
priate position of Christians in view of the Advent.2
The apostle expects that they will be confirmed so as
to be unreprovable at that time. This corresponds
with the teaching of the Epistles to the Thessalonians
that they were then to be unblamable in holiness and
wholly sanctified.3 The Advent appears in three differ
ent terms. Revelation * has been used in the Epistle to
the Thessalonians as a synonym to Parousia and
Epiphany, the three being combined in the Pauline
Apocalypse.'' The End is familiar to us from the Apoc
alypse of Jesus.6 The Day of the Lord Jesus' in the
epistles of Paul takes the place of the Day of Yahweh
of the Old Testament, and is pre-eminently the Day of
judgment. This doctrine of the judgment of Christians is taught
more fully in the following passage :
According to the grace of God which was given unto me, as a
wise masterbuilder I laid a foundation ; and another buildeth

1 i. 7, 8. * See p. 65. • See p. 85. 4 a-Konakvfic.
• See p. 91. • See The Messiah of the Gospels, p. 142. T See p. 87.

108 THE MESSIAH
thereon. But let each man take heed how he buildeth thereon.
For other foundation can no man lay than that which is laid,
which is Jesus Christ. But if any man buildeth on the founda
tion gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay, stubble; each man's
work shall be made manifest: for the Day shall declare it, be
cause it is revealed in fire ; and the fire itself shall prove each
man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work shall abide
which he built thereon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's
work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss : but he himself shall
be saved ; yet so as through fire, (i Corinthians iii. 10-15.)
The apostle here uses the familiar figure of the temple
for the Church. The foundation is the Messiah. The
apostles are the builders and their work is carried on by
the disciples. That which is built into this building is
living stones which, in accordance with the Messiah as
the foundation and the use of the figure elsewhere, are
disciples.1 These disciples are mixed in character.
Some are of various degrees of excellence, represented
by gold, silver, and precious stones. These will endure
the test of the fires of judgment. Here the apostle con
ceives of the judgment as by fire in accordance with the
second Epistle to the Thessalonians.2 Some of the dis
ciples are worthless, mere wood, hay, stubble, poor com
bustible material which will be consumed in the fiery
judgment. The epistle takes the same view as the first
Epistle of Peter, that the righteous will have difficulty
in being saved when the judgment begins at the temple
of God.3 The apostle has a warning to the builders
that they take care to build with excellent material, else
when they are saved themselves they will see their work
perish in its worthlessness.
Christians are to keep this Day of judgment in view,
and therefore not be hasty in their own judgment.

So Bengel, Hoffmann, et al, a See p. 91. » See p. 60,

OF THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 109
Wherefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord
come, who will both bring to light the hidden things of dark
ness, and make manifest the counsels of the hearts ; and then
shall each man have his praise from God. (iv. 5.)
The apostle urges the Corinthians to conduct their
church discipline in view of this judgment :
For I verily, being absent in body but present in spirit, have
already, as though I were present, judged him that hath so
wrought this thing, in the name of our Lord Jesus, ye being
gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord
Jesus, to deliver such a one unto Satan for the destruction of the
flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the Day of the Lord Jesus.
(v- 3-S>
The Day of the Lord Jesus is the Day of judgment
and of salvation. That day can be endured only by those
who are blameless. The sinful must, by discipline, be
brought to repentance and reformation or they cannot
be saved. The casting out of the guilty by the congre
gation is a delivering over to Satan with this end in
view. It is a temporary punishment for an eternal sal
vation. This temporary punishment is in the name of
the Messiah by virtue of his power, granted to the dis
ciples gathered together in his name. It is the exercise
of discipline in accordance with the command of Jesus
himself.1 In view of this same Day of judgment, Chris
tians are warned not to go before the judgment seat of
the heathen for judgment of their affairs ; but to let
wise men among themselves judge among them.
Know ye not that the saints shall judge the world? and if the
world is judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest
matters ? Know ye not that we shall judge angels ? how much
more, things that pertain to this life ? (vi. 2, 3.)

1 See The Messiah of the Gospels, p. 193.

110

THE MESSIAH

In the Day of judgment the saints, the sanctified
Christians, will take part with the Messiah in his judg
ment,1 and in that judgment there will not only be men
to be judged, but also angels.2
The apostle, as we have already seen, teaches the im
minence of the Advent. Accordingly he warns the
Corinthians, as he had warned the Thessalonians, to order
their daily life in view of it.
But this I say, brethren, the time is shortened, that henceforth
both those that have wives may be as though they had none ;
and those that weep, as though they wept not ; and those that
rejoice, as though they rejoiced not ; and those that buy, as
though they possessed not; and those that use the world, as not
abusing it : for the fashion of this world passeth away, (i Cor.
vii. 29-31.)
It is evident that the apostle looks upon the inter
val between himself and the Advent as very short, so
short that the time had been cut off or shortened by
God. This shortening of the time reminds us of the
shortened time of the affliction in the Apocalypse of
Jesus,3 and the broken week of Daniel." In view of this
brief interval, men are to live as free as possible from
worldly anxieties and cares. The world is like a show
or theatrical representation, which is presented for a
moment for the purposes of the play, is then shifted and
passes away forever. In this passage Paul warns his
readers against worldly entanglements. In another pas
sage he warns them from tempting God by murmurs
and sin in view of the same Day of judgment.
Neither let us tempt the Lord, as some of them tempted, and
perished by the serpents. Neither murmur ye, as some of them

1 See p. 85. a See pp. 6i, 65.
8 See The Messiah of the Gospels, p. 149.
4 Messianic Prophecy, p. 426.

OF THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHTANS m
murmured, and perished by the destroyer. Now these things hap
pened unto them by way of example ; and they were written for
our admonition, upon whom the Ends of the ages are come.
(x. 9-1 1.)
These Ends of the ages that have come upon the
generation in which Paul lived, are Ends of the ages
prior to the judgment of the world. He here conceives
that he and the Corinthians are living in the days of the
End, as in the previous passage he stated that the time
had been cut off and shortened. So Peter speaks of the
Last of the Times.1 The judgment is very near and
Christians are to beware lest they perish in it, as the
Israelites perished by divine judgment when they
tempted God and murmured against him.
THE DELIVERY OF THE COMPLETED KINGDOM TO
THE FATHER.
§ 33- Jesus came from heaven as the second Adam, a
life-giving spirit. He died, was buried and rose again on
the third day, the first-fruits of the dead. He ascended
to heaven and reigns there until all things have been re
duced to submission. Death the last enemy will be de
stroyed at his Parousia and Revelation. Then the dead
will rise and the living will be changed at the blast of the
trumpet and the bodies of all will be transformed into the
image of the heavenly body of the Messiah himself. The
mediatorial kingdom having been completed, it will be de
livered up by the Messiah to the Father, and God will reign
supreme over all. The Lord cometh.
The doctrine of the resurrection of the righteous dead,
of the 15th chapter, is a fuller unfolding of the doctrine
contained in the Apocalypse of Paul in the second
¦ See p. 46.

112 THE MESSIAH
Epistle to the Thessalonians.1 The resurrection of the
Messiah has been briefly referred to in a single passage,
" God both raised the Lord, and will raise up us through
his power." 2 In the first section of the fifteenth chapter
(1-1 1) a brief reference is made to the death of Christ for
our sins in order to lay stress upon his resurrection on
the third day. Paul here mentions six Christophanies
to the apostles and others ; {a) to Cephas; 3 (b) to the
twelve ; ' (c) to more than five hundred brethren ; (d)
to James ; (e) to all the apostles ; 6 and (/) to Paul him
self.6 These six are all of the same class. Paul does not
distinguish his seeing of the risen Christ from that of
the others, except to say that it was the last of the
series. The third and fourth have nothing to corre
spond with them in the Gospels. These witnesses to the
risen Christ, which Paul reports, establish sufficiently to
his readers the reality of the events.
In the second section (12-19) the apostle shows that
the resurrection of the Messiah and the resurrection of
Christians from the dead are so inseparably connected
that to deny either of them is to deny both of them.
In the third section he advances to new and higher
conceptions. But now hath Christ been raised from the dead, the firstfruits
of them that are asleep. For since by man came death, by man
came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die,
so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own
order : Christ the firstfruits ; then they that are Christ's at his
Parousia. Then cometh the end, when he shall deliver up the
kingdom to God, even the Father ; when he shall have abolished
1 See P- 90. . vi. 14.
• See Luke xxiv. 34. . Luke xxiv ^ = John
» Possibly the same as Acts i. 6-8. • See pp. 70, 103.

OF THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS H3
all rule and all authority and power. For he must reign, till he
hath put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy that
shall be abolished is death. For, He put all things in subjection
under his feet. But when he saith, All things are put in subjec
tion, it is evident that he is excepted who did subject all things
unto him. And when all things have been subjected unto him,
then shall the Son also himself be subjected to him that did sub
ject all things unto him, that God may be all in all.
(1 Cor. xv. 20-28.)
This passage distinguishes four stages in the work of
the Messiah, the resurrection, the reign, the second Ad
vent, and the delivering of the kingdom to the Father.
In the first stage the Messiah was raised from the dead
as the firstfruits of the dead. That implies a whole har
vest of the dead rising after him when the season of the
reaping had come.1 There is an antithesis between the
first Adam and the second Adam which seems to be orig
inal to the apostle Paul. It meets us here for the first
time. It will recur again and again in the writings of
Paul ; but not elsewhere in the New Testament. It is
doubtless based on the conception of the Son of Man in
the usage of Jesus, and the Son of Man of the apoca
lypses of Daniel and of Enoch.2
Through the first Adam came death into the world.
In him, by virtue of the descent of all men from him and
of their union in him in one original germ of life, all
men die. Through Christ life came. Christ, with all the
children of Adam, descended into the tomb and the
abode of the dead. But the second Adam rose from
the abode of the dead, came forth from the tomb, and
brought life into the world. In Christ all shall be made
alive. The apostle does not say all who are in Christ

1 Milligan, The Resurrection of the Dead, p. 43, rightly sees underlying this
imagery, the offering of the 'Omer sheaf according to Lev. xxiii. 10-12.
"See Beyschlag, Neutest. Theologie, ii., s. 63.

H4 THE MESSIAH
shall rise, but in Christ all shall rise. The resurrection
is therefore for all men, just as in the antithesis death is
the common doom of all men in the first Adam. The
life which came through Christ is as universal as the
death which came through Adam.1
But there is an order in the resurrection. Christ is
the firstfruits — then they who belong to Christ at his
Parousia. The harvest of the dead who belong to Christ
will not be until the Parousia. But what about those
who do not belong to Christ ? They are not included
among those who rise in the harvest of the Parousia, ac
cording to the apostle's conception here. Is there an
aftermath for the tares of the harvest of the dead ? Such
a thought may have been in the background of the
apostle's thought, but it does not appear in his argu
ment. Between the resurrection of the Messiah and the res
urrection of the saints at the Parousia is the reign of the
Messiah. The reign is here conceived of as a holy war
of conquest of enemies. One enemy after another is
subdued under his feet. Every rule, every authority,
every power, every different gradation in rank and in
fluence in the angelic world will be subdued each in its

1 Milligan, The Resurrection of the Dead, pp. 46 seq., maintains that the
verb ru>o7roi7iH7]oovTai cannot mean simply " shall be raised from the grave ";
but that it always in the New Testament when applied to persons bears the
pregnant meaning " shall be made alive with spiritual and eternal hfe." He re
fers to John v. 21; vi. 6j; Rom. iv. 17; viii. 11; 1 Cor. xv. 45; 2 Cor. iii. 6; Gal.
iii. 21, as "conclusive upon the point." But a careful examination of these pas
sages has convinced me that they are not so conclusive. Three ot them, John
v. 21; Rom. iv. 17; viii. 11, simply refer to the resurrection of the dead ; three
others, John vi. 63; 2 Cor. iii. 6; Gal iii. 2r, refer to spiritual resurrection. I
cannot see that any of them has the comprehensive meaning, including both
resurrections and a spiritual and eternal life beyond. The context of our pas
sage, as well as that of ver. 45, shows that the reference is to physical resurrec
tion and not to spiritual resurrection or a comprehension of the two.

OF THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS H5
turn. The last enemy will not be subdued until the
Parousia itself. The last enemy of the Apocalypse of
Paul was the Man of Sin, the anti-Messiah.1 The Man
of Sin is overlooked here. Possibly he was one of those
enemies subdued before the last. He is lost sight of in
the contemplation of the last great enemy. Even the
devil does not appear. He also may be included in the
prior angelic enemies. Death is greater than both of
them or than all others. Death the last enemy is abol
ished at the Parousia. The End has now come. The
work of the Messiah has been completed, the kingdom
has been conquered in all its wide extent of heaven and
earth, every enemy subdued, all his people redeemed.
Death and all other enemies are dead under his feet.
His disciples are living and triumphant at his side. The
kingdom is complete and perfect in holiness. What will
he do with it? He will present it as his crown of rejoic
ing into the hands of the Father. He has accomplished
his Messianic mission, his mediatorial work, and now at
the head of all his redeemed he puts himself and them
in the meekness of his highest glorification, at the feet
of the Father, that God may be all in all.
In the fourth section (29-34) the apostle briefly con
trasts his own dying daily in view of the resurrection
with the sensuous life of those who have no hope in the
resurrection. In the fifth section (35-49) he compares the dead with
seed sown in the ground.2 The thought here is an un
folding of the first-fruit and harvest of the previous con
text. As seed goes before harvest, so death must pre
cede resurrection. The manner of body at the resur-

» See p. 89.
* Jesus uses the same figure of speech in the Gospel of John for his own death.
See The Messiah of the Gospels, p. 287.

116 THE MESSIAH
rection will be as different from the manner of the first
body as the life into which they rise will be different
from the present life. There are different kinds of flesh
and there are different kinds of bodies. God gives each
such a body as may please Him. These preliminary
statements are in order to the more positive description
of the resurrection of the dead.
It is sown in corruption ; it is raised in incorruption : it is sown
in dishonour ; it is raised in glory : it is sown in weakness ; it is
raised in power : it is sown a sensuous ] body ; it is raised a spiritual
body. If there is a sensuous body, there is also a spiritual body.
So also it is written, The first man Adam became a living soul.
The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. Howbeit that is not
first which is spiritual, but that which is sensuous ; then that
which is spiritual. The first man is of the earth, the second man is
of heaven. As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy :
and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.
And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear
the image of the heavenly, (xv. 42-49.)
In the sowing in death, the corruption, the dishonor,
the weakness of the sensuous body inherited from the
first Adam, all appear. These qualities find their destruc
tion in death. There is, however, something in man that
is separable from this corruption, dishonor, and weakness,
something which death does not destroy. There abides
after death, in the body as in the seed which is sown,
a germ of life. In the resurrection this germ of life ap
pears with a spiritual body superior to death with qual
ities antithetical to those of the sensuous body, with in
corruption, glory, power. This spiritual body is a heav
enly body and not a sensuous body or an earthly body.

1 The A. V. and R. V. "natural" conveys a false sense. fvxiK6c adj. of
¦ibvxfi - B>QJ, implies, in Biblical usage, the inner nature of man nearest to the
senses and whose seat is in the blood. Milligan, in /. c. p. 150, happily suggests

' sensuous.

OF THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS H7
The first man Adam was made of the earth and was
earthy in the substance of his body. He became a liv
ing sensuous being, his sensuous nature being in the
blood of his flesh, according to the conception of the
Pentateuch.1 All his descendants in their bodies were
also earthy, and sensuous in their substance of flesh and
blood. The second man, the Messiah, is from heaven.
As the second Adam he became a life-giving spirit.2
Christians have first the earthy and sensuous body com-

i Gen. ii. 7 ; Deut. xii. 23. The association of K>BJ = ipvxq with the blood is
doubtless the reason for the use of i/w^utdf in this passage.
J There is considerable difference of opinion among scholars as to the question
when the second Adam became " a life-giving spirit" and "of heaven." The
statements of the text and context do not decide the question for us. It is not
at all certain that Paul thought of the question, still less that he decided it. It
is not, therefore, a question of Paulinism, but a question of speculative theology in
which we may use other sources of knowledge. The general opinion, as ex
pressed among others by Meyer; Schmidt, Paulin. Christ., s. 108 ; Vincent, Word
Studies, iii., p. 284 ; Milligan, The Resurrection of the Dead, pp. 182 seq. ;
Bruce, St. Paul's Conception of Christianity, p. 331, refers it to the resurrection
of Christ with the view that he was born with a sensuous earthly body, but rose
from the dead with a spiritual, heavenly body with life-giving power. On the
other hand, Baur, Paulus, ii., s. 268 ; Pfleiderer, Urchristenthum, s. 211 ;
Beyschlag, Neutest. Theologie, ii., s. 64 ; Schmiedel, Handcom., ii., s. 168, et al.,
think of the pre-existent ideal archetypal second Adam coming from heaven with
a life-giving spirit. Edwards, Com. en First Corinthians, p. 444, refers it to
the Incarnation ; and Beet, Com. on First Corinthians, in loco, to the second
Advent. It is quite true that the Messiah does not in fact become a quickening-
spirit to mankind until the resurrection of the dead at the Parousia ; that he
first took his position at the head of redeemed humanity as a heavenly life-giv
ing spirit when he rose from the dead and was enthroned in heaven ; and that
he first appeared to men as a life-giving spirit when he rose from the dead. But,
in accordance with John x. 18, Christ must have been a life-giving spirit before
his resurrection, or he could not have had authority to lay his life down and take
it again. According to John v. 21, the Son had in himself as the Son the power
to quicken whom he would. The life-giving power was not communicated to
the Son when the Father raised him from the dead ; but it belonged to the Son
as the Son of the Father. Accordingly that principle of life must have entered
the world with him. He became the second Adam, the man from heaven at his
incarnation ; just as he was born as the Messianic king. But he did not begin his
reign until his ascension. He does not in fact become a life-giving spirit to men
until the Parousia.

118 THE MESSIAH
posed of flesh and blood inherited from the first Adam,
which is buried in the grave, but afterward at the Parousia
they will have a heavenly body animated by a living
spirit. The image of the heavenly and spiritual Messiah
is the goal of the transformation at the resurrection,
just as the image of the earthy and sensuous Adam was
the original likeness borne during the earthly life. The
difference between the heavenly body and the earthly
body is not therefore in the form of the body, but in the
substance of which the body is composed, the earthly
body being composed of earthly material of flesh and
blood ; the heavenly of spiritual material without flesh
and blood.1
The last section (50-58) carries on the doctrine of the
resurrection to its climax.
Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit
the kingdom of God ; neither doth corruption inherit incorrup
tion. Behold, I tell you a mystery : We shall not all sleep, but
we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye,
at the last trump : for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead
shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this
corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put
on immortality. But when this corruptible shall have put on
incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then
shall come to pass the saying that is written. Death is swal
lowed up in victory.1' O Death,3 where is thy victory ? O Hades,

1 I cannot agree with the view of Wendt, Die Begriffe Fleisch und Geist,
s. 131, adopted by Dickson, St. Paul's Use of the Terms Flesh and Spirit,
pp. 432 seq.; that Paul is thinking of diversity of form and appearance of the
bodies rather than of diversity of substance. The reference to flesh and blood
in ver. 50 shows that Paul excludes flesh and blood from the substance of the
spiritual heavenly body.
2 Is. xxv. 8. The apostle here gives the passive for the active in the original
Hebrew and " unto victory " for the Hebrew " forever," which do not modify
the sense in anything essential.
8 Hos. xiii. 14. The best Greek MSS. followed by Tischendorf, Westcott and
Hort, and others read "death" for the "Hades" of Uie less valuable MSS.

OF THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS H9
where is thy sting ? The sting of Death is sin ; and the power of
sin is the law : but thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory
through our Lord Jesus Christ. Wherefore, my beloved brethren,
be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the
Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not vain in the
Lord. (xv. 50-58).
Flesh and blood, the characteristic substance of the
earthly body, cannot inherit the kingdom of God. The
body which enters the kingdom of glory must be of a
substance in which flesh and blood have no part. The
dead rise at the resurrection with heavenly bodies in
which a heavenly substance has taken the place of the
substance of flesh and blood.
But some will be alive on the earth, at the time of the
resurrection, in their earthly bodies ; what shall become of
these? They will be changed in a moment. When the
trumpet shall sound the dead will rise with heavenly
bodies, and the earthly bodies of those living will be
transformed into heavenly bodies ; and so the living and
the dead in one vast congregation will live in heavenly
bodies after the image of the heavenly body of the Mes
siah ; and death will be abolished forever.1

But the LXX follows the Hebrew in reading Hades for Sheol. This substitu
tion is very strange. It looks like a copyist's mistake. It would be easier for
him to change Hades into Death than the reverse. The apostle had no reason
for the change. It was rather in his interest to retain Hades. This is a case in
which the more difficult reading and intrinsic probability should prevail over the
external evidence. The apostle substitutes victory for penalty of the LXX and
plagues of the Massoretic text. This was doubtless an assimilation to the victory
of the previous citation.
' But what of the bodies of those who do not belong to Christ and who do not
share in the glory of the resurrection ? The apostle seems not to have thought
of them in this connection. They are to share in the resurrection. They are
included in the all who will be made alive in him. They will not rise in bodies
of flesh and blood ; they also will have bodies transformed in substance so as to
correspond with the new condition under which they will be placed. But the
image of Jesus Christ cannot be their model. Their model may be that of the evil
spirits, and their substance like that of those who are doomed to the Gehenna of fire.

120 THE MESSIAH
The continuance of the dominion of Death until the
Parousia seems to be out of accord with the teachings
of Jesus in the Gospel of John, who represents that be
lievers are delivered from the power of death when they
first believe, and so they can no longer die. But Jesus
is teaching a spiritual resurrection of the redeemed dur
ing their abode in the earthly body. The bodies of the
righteous and the wicked alike remain in their graves
until the voice of the Messiah calls them to the universal
resurrection. Paul is here thinking of the resurrection
of the last Day and of the kind of bodies which will
come forth at the blast of the trumpet. A transforma
tion is necessary. Not the flesh and blood of an earthly
body will come forth, but a heavenly body, spiritual, in
corruptible, glorious, powerful, in substance like the
heavenly body of the reigning Messiah. This transfor
mation takes place in a moment. The trumpet ' will
sound the summons and all the righteous, living and
dead, will hear it.2 The living and the dead are distin
guished here as in the first Epistle to the Thessalonians.
The dead, having put away, in the grave, properties sub
ject to death, the living cast them off in a moment.
Both assume at the same time the heavenly body. The
apostle limits his vision to the resurrection of the right
eous. He leaves out of view the resurrection of the
wicked and the judgment of the wicked living and dead.
He does not here see the combustion of the earth and
the transformation of nature. Al! these are in the dark
ness of the background of his vision of glory.
The Epistle concludes with an Aramaic phrase, Maran-

1 The same trumpet as we have met in the first Epistle to the Thessalo
nians. 2 This trumpet-call is the same as the voice of the Messiah in the Gospel of
John. See The Messiah of the Gospels, p. 273.

OF THE SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 121
atha,1 which seems to have been a watch-word among
. the early Christians.
THE SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS.
There are several passages in which the Messianic idea
of this epistle is fully presented ; but a large amount of
material is found in detached passages and in incidental
references. THE MESSIAH BECAME POOR FOR US.
§ 34. The Messiah, who was rich in a pre-existent life, be
came poor in an earthly life in order to enrich his disciples.
He was meek, gentle, and sinless. God in Christ was
reconciling the world unto Himself, not reckoning their
trespasses, but the righteousness of Christ. God made the
sinless Messiah sin. He died suffering the death-penalty
of sin and all men died in him. On account of his right
eousness he was raised from the dead, and all in him were
raised also as new creatures into a new and Christlike
life. The pre existence of the Messiah is taught in a sug
gestive passage.
For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though
he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through
his poverty might become rich. (2 Corinthians viii. 9.)
Christ was not rich during his ministry or during his
youth. He was poor throughout his earthly life. He
was not poor through necessity, but his poverty was a
voluntary poverty. He did not first become poor when
he began his ministry after his baptism. He had no

1 Mapav add = KHK NJ"iD, the Lord doth come, or as others, our Lordcome.

122 THE MESSIAH
riches to divest himself of at that time. He became
poor when he began his earthly life. His riches were
prior to his earthly life in a pre-existent life with God.
He became poor when he entered the world, with a defi
nite purpose to enrich his disciples. This enrichment
was not in earthly goods, but in the same riches he him
self originally possessed. He became poor, in this world,
in order that his disciples might become rich in the
heavenly world.1
Two references are made to the character of the Mes
siah as he appeared in his earthly life : " the meekness
and gentleness of Christ," 2 and " him who knew no sin." 3
It is not to be assumed, however, that these character
istics are not those of the enthroned Christ also.
The sufferings and death of Christ are more frequently
mentioned. Paul says to the Corinthians, " For as the
sufferings of Christ abound unto us, even so our comfort
also aboundeth through Christ."4 The sufferings of
Christ are shared in by his disciples, as he himself pre
dicted, and they abound unto them in manifold persecu
tion. Yet the comfort from the enthroned Messiah also
aboundeth. Similarly Paul represents himself and some
at least of his readers, as " always bearing about in the
body the putting to death of Jesus, that the life also of
Jesus may be manifested in our body. For we which
live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that
the life also of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal
flesh." B The experience of Jesus in dying and rising
from the dead is to be their experience. They live as
men condemned to death for Jesus' sake, but the resur
rection life of Jesus will be manifested also in their bodies.

1 See Beyschlag, Neutest. Theologie, ii., s. 76.
" x- *• 3 v- 2I- * i. 5.

OF THE SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 123
The same is taught again at the close of the epistle :
" He was crucified through weakness, yet he liveth
through the power of God. For we also are weak in
him, but we shall live with him through the power of
God toward you." '
The Pauline doctrine of the death of Christ is stated
quite fully in a passage now to be considered.
For the love of Christ constraineth us ; because we thus judge,
that one died for all, therefore all died ; and he died for all, that
they which live should no longer live unto themselves, but unto
him who for their sakes died and rose again. Wherefore we hence
forth know no man after the flesh : even though we have known
Christ after the flesh, yet now we know him so no more. Where
fore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature : the old things
are passed away ; behold, they are become new. But all things
are of God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and
gave unto us the ministry of reconciliation ; to wit, that God was
in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, not reckoning unto
them their trespasses, and having committed unto us the word
of reconciliation. We are ambassadors therefore on behalf of
Christ, as though God were intreating by us : we beseech you on
behalf of Christ, be ye reconciled to God. Him who knew no
sin he made to be sin on our behalf; that we might become the
righteousness of God in him. (2 Corinthians v. 14-21).
The doctrine of the passage depends upon the nature
of the union with Christ which is here taught. The use
of all and the world would seem to imply an interest of all
men, of the entire world in Christ's work. He died for
all, and it is the world God reconciles to Himself in
Christ. But if that be true with regard to the death of
Christ it cannot be true with regard to the living here ;
for there is a limitation in the phrases " they which live,"
and " if any man is in Christ." The most comprehen
sive statement is that " God was in Christ reconciling the
1 xiii. 4.

124 THE MESSIAH
world unto himself." This is partially defined as " not
reckoning unto them their trespasses." This does not
teach that the world in its entirety will be finally recon
ciled to God, but that the aim of the reconciliation is the
world as a whole, and that the world is looked at by God
in Christ as reconcilable, their trespasses not being
reckoned to them, because there is in Christ super-
abounding righteousness which covers over and hides the
trespasses of the entire world.
God made his Son to be sin " that we might become
the righteousness of God in him." There is a reckoning
to men of righteousness which overlays the reckoning of
their trespasses. There is an approval of the righteous
ness of the Messiah as the righteousness of God which
involves the reckoning of righteousness and the non-
reckoning of trespasses to all. This is clearly stated in
the antithesis between sin and righteousness. The Mes
siah knew no sin, and yet God made him sin. God made
him sin " on our behalf," because the Messiah being one
with us, became involved with us in the consequences of
sins which were not his, but ours. As one with the race
of men the second Adam was made the sin of the race.
Accordingly he suffered the penalty of the sin of man
kind. He died for the sin of mankind. When he died
all men died in him. It seems to be improper to limit
the universal reference of the death of Christ here,
whether it can be done elsewhere or not. It was for all,
for the world, for mankind. If Christ died for all, why
should all die ? Some seek to answer this question by re
garding the death and the life in Christ as ethical, as the
moral renewal of mankind.1 But the ethical and the
physical are combined in the representation. Christ died

> Stevens, Pauline Theology, p. 232.

OF THE SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 125
a physical death in order that he might rise from the
dead in physical life. There is nothing saving in his
death as such. As Westcott says in a passage quoted
and endorsed by Milligan: " The crucifix with the dead
Christ obscures our faith. Our thoughts rest not
upon a dead, but upon a living Christ." ' If Christ
had remained dead, all men would have remained
dead with him.2 It is because his death issues in res
urrection that it is redemptive. Christ died a physical
death and suffered for the sin of the world. All who
died in him were therefore relieved from that death as a
penalty. Accordingly they no more suffer the penalty
of death. Death ceases to be a penalty by the death of
Christ. He has taken away sin, the sting of death. It
is no longer a penalty involving imprisonment, punish
ment, judgment — it is the gateway of life,2 it is the guar
antee and pledge of a resurrection. The resurrection of
Christ gained physical life and resurrection. This in
volves the universal resurrection of the Day of judgment.
But prior to that universal resurrection of which Christ's
is the firstfruits, described so fully in the previous epistle,4
there is a spiritual resurrection. In this spiritual resur
rection, this ethical change, all men do not share. There
is a mystical body of Christ, union in which is necessary
for this resurrection. This ethical life is emphasized in
our passage. " If any man is in Christ he is a new
creature." He is a new creature here as he is a new-born
man in the discourse of Jesus.6 As such he lives in
Christ, no longer in the old self — he lives unto Christ
and not unto himself. " All things are become new."

'Milligan, The Ascension, p 349.
"Beysrhlag, Ncutest. Theologie, ii., s. 131.
s Weiss, Bib. Theo., %%od. ' See p. 112.
• See The Messiah of the Gospels, p. 261.

126

THE MESSIAH

He is no longer after the flesh as he used to be. He
lives for Christ.
It lies in the very nature of the case, that, as the con
nection of all men with the first Adam is physical and
moral, involving sin and death ; so our connection with
the second Adam should be both physical and moral.
Our physical connection involves physical resurrection
from the dead at the Parousia. Our moral connection
involves spiritual and moral death and resurrection when
first we believe in him. All men have the physical ben
efits of Christ's death. Only those who become united
to him by faith and baptism in the ethical mystic union
have the spiritual benefits.1
AT HOME WITH THE LORD.
§ 35- Jesus is the Son of God, the Messiah. Every thought
is to be brought into captivity to him. Believers are the
temple of the living God, epistles of Christ written by the
Holy Spirit. Paul was caught up to the heavenly para
dise. At death he expects to receive a new and heavenly
body and to be at home with the Lord. During this life

i Bruce, St. Paul's Conception of Christianity, p. 176, well says : " Thus,
because Christ was made sin for us by subjection to death, therefore, ipso facto,
God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing unto men
their trespasses. So again, because Christ was made subject to temptation aris
ing from the flesh, God condemned sin in the flesh, declared that the dominion
of the flesh, as of the law, must take end, and be replaced by the benign dispensa
tion of the Spirit. In a word, at whatever point in our low estate Christ comes
in contact with us, in life or in death, His touch exercises a magical emancipat
ing influence, beneficently altering in relation to God the situation of the world.
" But this is not the whole truth. The objective change takes place with a
view to a corresponding subjective one, without which the former would remain
an abstract ideal and a barren benefit. The objective privilege must be subject
ively realized. The position of sonship must be accompanied with the spirit of
sonship, otherwise I shall be a slave of legalism, though living in the era of grace.
The general amnesty which ensued from Christ having been made sin must be
realized individually as a divine forgiveness of personal sin."

OF THE SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 12Y
believers are being transformed by the glory of the Messiah
into his image. It is the aim of the living and the dead
alike to be well-pleasing to Christ before whose judgment-
seat they must stand at the resurrection.
Paul expresses his faith in God "who raiseth the
dead," ' and his confidence that he and .his Corinthians
will glory in one another " in the Day of our Lord
Jesus." 2 He preached Jesus Christ as the Son of God,
the Messiah.2 The Holy Spirit is an earnest in the
hearts of believers.4 In the third chapter he represents
that believers are epistles written with the Spirit of the
living God." He contrasts the glory shining from the
face of Moses with the glory shining from the face of
Christ. The glory of Moses was transient, and needed
to be veiled to hide its gradual disappearance ; but the
glory reflected from the face of Christians is permanent,
they have constant access with unveiled faces into the
presence of the glory of the enthroned Messiah.
Now the Lord is the Spirit : and where the Spirit of the Lord
is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face reflecting as a
mirror the glory of the Lord, are transformed into the same im
age from glory to glory, even as from the Lord the Spirit. (iii. 17, 18.)
The apostle here teaches that Christians are admitted
to the presence of the Messiah, as Moses was into the
tabernacle of God, with unveiled faces, so that they look
upon his glory. This glory is not transient. It does
not fade away from their faces, as the glory faded from
the face of Moses. They have no need to veil their
faces as he did. It is a glory that abides upon them.
Their faces are like a mirror reflecting the glory of the

1 i. 9. * i. 14. • i. 19. 4 i. 22. ' 111. 3.

128 THE MESSIAH
Messiah. But the glory is not merely to be reflected. It
is a glory to be appropriated. It transforms the dis
ciple into the same image, into the glory of the Lord.
The glory of the Lord, imaged in the disciple at the
Parousia, is the ultimate aim of the transformation.
It is accomplished through the working of the Mes
siah himself ; it is a transformation that proceeds from
the glory of the Messiah and has its goal in the glory of
the Christian. The Messiah as the Lord of glory, from
whom this transformation proceeds, is the Spirit. This
seems to be an identification of the Messiah with the
Divine Spirit. As in the first Epistle to the Corinthians '
the Messiah was said to be the life-giving spirit ; so here
he is the glorifying spirit.2 The enthroned Messiah is
essentially spirit, and from him all spiritual influences
proceed. The divine Spirit is his spirit. The Spirit so
bears in him the presence and authority of the Lord,
that he virtually is the Lord.3 This transformation of
Christians by the glory proceeding from the Spirit, the
Lord, the enthroned Messiah, is a further unfolding of
the doctrine that they must be wholly sanctified at his
Parousia.4 The light of the gospel is a light coming forth from
the glory of the enthroned Christ, and Christ is the
image of God.6 The glory of God shines on the face of

1 See p. 117.
2 In Rom. i 4, he is the spirit of holiness.
a As Bengel in loco says, ubi Christ us est ibidem spiritus Christi, ubi spiritus
Christi ibi Christus. So in Rom. viii. 9-1 1, the Spirit of God dwelling in
Christians, having the Spirit of Christ, and "Christ in you," are one and the
same. We may also compare the words of Jesus, John xiv. 9, " He that hath
seen me hath seen the Father," and John xiv. 23, " we will come unto him, and
make our abode with him." See The Messiah of the Gospels, pp. 292 seq. ; also
Beyschlag, Neutest. Theologie, ii., s. 203 ; and Gloel, Der Heilige Geist, s. 120.
* See p. 85.
' iv. 4.

OF THE SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 129
Jesus Christ, and shines from his face into the hearts of
his servants.1 Christians are to pass through the earthly
experience of Jesus, are to suffer and die and afterwards
attain the resurrection of the dead. " Knowing that he
who raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also with
Jesus, and shall present us with you." 2 The outward
man is decaying, but the inward man is being renewed,
and more and more prepared for an eternal weight of
glory.3 The apostle was comforted not only by the experience
of the glory of the Messiah, transforming his life into
the same glory as its goal, and the contemplation of
the exceeding weight of glory in store for him at the
Parousia ; but he was even prepared to die in order that
he might enjoy the blessedness of the Intermediate
State. There is a transformation to take place at death
which is intermediate between the transformation in life
and the transformation at the resurrection.
For we know that if the earthly house of our tabernacle be
dissolved, we have a building from God, a house not made with
hands, eternal, in the heavens. For verily in this we groan,
longing to be clothed upon with our habitation which is from
heaven : if so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked.
For indeed we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being bur
dened ; not for that we would be unclothed, but that we would
be clothed upon, that what is mortal may be swallowed up of
life. Now he that wrought us for this very thing is God. who
gave unto us the earnest of the Spirit. Being therefore always
of good courage, and knowing that, whilst we are at home in
the body, we are absent from the Lord (for we walk by faith, not
by sight) ; we are of good courage, I say, and are willing rather
to be absent from the body, and to be at home with the Lord.
Wherefore also we make it our aim, whether at home or absent,
to be well-pleasing unto him. For we must all be made mani-
j iv. 6. » iv. 14. * iv. 16-18.

130

THE MESSIAH

fest before the judgment-seat of Christ; that each one may
receive the things done in the body, according to what he
hath done, whether it be good or bad. (2 Corinthians v.
1-10.) The body is to be laid aside as a temporary structure,
and another body is to be assumed as a building from
God, eternal, in the heavens. This heavenly body, which
comes as a clothing upon the disembodied spirit, is not
the resurrection body, but the body given to the believer
at death, and is suited to the heavenly abode with the
Messiah. It is such a heavenly body as the Messiah
himself has during his mediatorial reign. The body of
the Resurrection will be like the body of glory of the
Messiah at his Parousia. Into the Paradise of the heaven
of the Intermediate State Paul had already been per
mitted to look.1 Thither he longs to go through the
gate of death. The apostle, and those Christians who
are associated with him, do not feel at home in this
world; they are not comfortable in the earthly body;
they are so uncomfortable that they cannot but groan in
their sufferings, so anxious are they for the heavenly
body and the heavenly home.2 Christians have a work
to do, and that is chiefly to be well-pleasing to the Mes
siah, and this aim they must keep in view, whether in
this life or in heaven. For at the end of both, of the
earthly life for those who live until the Parousia, and
of the heavenly life for those who die, is the judgment-
seat of the Messiah before which every one must be

1 xii. 4.
2 It is evident that Paul himself expects to go into the immediate presence
of the Lord in heaven at death, and that he associates some others with him in
this expectation. It is not certain, however, that he regards this as the universal
or even the general expectation of Christians. That question, which is disputed
between Roman Catholics and Protestants, depends for its solution upon evi
dences from other sources than this passage.

OF THE SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 131
made manifest for judgment to receive the awards ac
cording to the good or the evil he has done.
The ministry of the apostles was conducted in the Holy
Spirit,1 and by the Holy Spirit Christians walk.2 They
are temples of the living God ; 3 and the communion of
the Holy Spirit is with them.4
The apostle tells the Corinthians, " I espoused you
to one husband, that I might present you as a pure
virgin to Christ." 5 This presentation here, as elsewhere
in Paul, is at the Parousia.8 The Christian warfare is to
bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of
Christ.' There is no reference to the kingdom of God or to the
Church of God in this epistle. The churches referred to
are all local congregations.

1 vi. 6. " xii. 18. > vi. 16. * xiii. 14.
* xi. 2. « See p. 83. '15,

CHAPTER V.
THE MESSIAH OF THE EPISTLES TO THE GALATIANS
AND TO THE ROMANS.
The Epistle to the Galatians is universally recognized
as one of the most characteristic writings of the apostle
Paul. It was written soon after his second visit to the
churches in the Roman province of Galatia, which he
had founded in his first missionary journey. It was
probably written in the spring of A.D. 58, a little later
than the Epistles to the Corinthians.
THE MESSIAH A CURSE.
§ 36. Christ loved us and gave himself for us. He be
came a curse for us to deliver us from the curse of the Law
and from this present evil age of the world. He was
raised from the dead and revealed himself unto Paul.
In the preface to the epistle, it is taught that God
raised the Messiah from the dead,1 and that the Messiah
" gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us out
of this present evil age." 2 Giving himself for our sins is the
same as " died for our sins." 3 The purpose was to de
liver us out of the present evil age,4 and transfer us into
the coming age, the Messianic age, introduced by the
1 *' '• 2 >• 4- > 1 Cor. xv. 3. See p. 112.
4 ek tov atavoc tov hveoTuToc, cf. cvvriXua tov ai&voc, Matth. xxiv. 3. See
The Messiah of the Gospels, p. 138.
(132)

OF THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS 133
Parousia of the Messiah. The giving himself for our
sins was for the final redemption in the age which is in
troduced by the Parousia. The apostle claims that he
received his gospel " through revelation of Jesus Christ." '
The apostle had to resist the Judaizers who still in
sisted upon the observance of the Mosaic law by Chris
tians. He argues, " by the works of the law shall no flesh
be justified."2 A man cannot be justified by works of
the law. Justification is only to be found by faith in
Christ. For I through the law died unto the law, that I might live unto
God. I have been crucified with Christ ; yet I live ; and yet no
longer I, but Christ liveth in me : and that life which I now
live in the flesh I live in faith, the faith which is in the Son of
God, who loved me, and gave himself up for me. I do not make
void the grace of God : for if righteousness is through the law,
then Christ died for nought, (ii. 19-21.)
Through the Law Christ was crucified. Paul by virtue
of union with Christ was crucified with him. All who
like Paul are in Christ were also crucified with him. All
who are in Christ died unto the Law and are no more
under its bondage or subject to its penalties. As Christ
was raised from the dead into an everlasting life, so Paul
and all others who are in Christ rose also to that new
life. Christ liveth in them as a new vital energy, a life
of faith in the Son of God, a life of justification in Christ,
who loved Paul and other such men, and, because of that
love, gave himself for them.3
Christ was so openly and vividly set forth before the
Galatians, in Paul's preaching, that they saw him cruci
fied. They recognized him as their Messiah and Sav-

1 cmoKakvipic. i. 12, referring to the Christophany. See p. 70.
a ii. 16. 3 See '• 4-

134 THE MESSIAH
iour, received the gift of the Holy Spirit, and miracles
were wrought among them. These came not from their
doing the works of the Law, but from their faith in the
crucified Messiah when they heard him preached by Paul.
The apostle here makes the same antithesis between
the Law and the Gospel, that we have seen in the dis
courses of Stephen, and in his own discourse in the Book
of Acts.1 With the discourses and the Epistle of Peter
he agrees in making Christians the heirs of the promise
to Abraham, and so of all the predictions of the Old Cov
enant. But he differs from Peter's discourses and epis
tles in making the Law the precursor of the Gospel, so
that without the Gospel it is void of its proper influence
and purpose. And so it must not obstruct the Gospel,
but pass over into the Gospel as its fruition. The
Judaizers, who insisted upon the Law and would make
the Gospel a mere appendage to it, had to learn from
Paul that the Law was swallowed up in the Gospel. The
apostle uses the Abrahamic promise to set this forth.
The blessing of Abraham was for all nations, and not for
the Jews alone.2 The Law required obedience to every
one of its precepts, and pronounced a curse upon any
one who did not persevere in obedience to all things
written in the Law. Thus from the very nature of the
case no man perfectly obeyed the Law ; every one failed
in some particular. Therefore no man was justified by
the Law in the sight of God. Every man was exposed
to the curse of the Law. Over and above all obedience
to the Law, faith in God was necessary to salvation, ac
cording to the primary covenant with Abraham and the
teaching of the prophets. The Law was impotent to give
justification and everlasting life. The Messiah, when he

1 xiii. 39. Seep. 76. » See Briggs, Mess. Proph., p. 84.

OF THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS 135
came under the Law, became exposed to the curse of
the Law, not on his own account, for he was sinless,1 but
on account of his participation as a born Jew in the
Jewish inheritance of guilt.
Know therefore that they which be of faith, the same are sons
of Abraham. And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify
the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand unto Abra
ham, saying, In thee shall all the nations be blessed.'2 So then
they which be of faith are blessed with the faithful Abraham.
For as many as are of the works of the law are under a curse :
for it is written, Cursed is every one which continueth not in all
things that are written in the book of the law, to do them.3
Now that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, is
evident : for, The righteous shall live by faith ; 4 and the law is
not of faith ; but, He that doeth them shall live in them.5 Christ
redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse
for us : for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a
tree : 6 that upon the Gentiles might come the blessing of Abra
ham in Christ Jesus; that we might receive the promise of the
Spirit through faith. (Gal. iii. 7-14.)
The curse of the Law came upon Christ, when he was
crucified on the tree of the cross. When he was cruci
fied all his people were crucified with him. Accordingly
the curse of the Law, having come upon Christ once for
all, it cannot come again on any who are Christ's.
Christ redeemed them from the curse of the Law ;

1 See p. 122.
3 This is a combination of the prediction of the two passages, Gen. xii. 3, xviii.
18, following the LXX in rendering the verb as passive instead of reflexive.
' Deut. xxvii. 26. The LXX makes the command more specific than the orig
inal Hebrew, and the apostle improves on the LXX in this respect.
* Hab. ii. 4. The apostle here and in Romans i. 17 follows the LXX and ren
ders the Hebrew HJIOX, fidelity, faithfulness, by the weaker word, faith, -klotic.
1 -."¦
» Lev. xviii. 5.
• Deut. xxi. 23. This is a free citation of the original or of an Aramaic ver
sion differing both from the LXX and the Massoretic text.

136 THE MESSIAH
they have come forth into the acceptance of the Gos
pel.1 THE MESSIAH REDEEMS FROM UNDER THE LAW.
§ 37. In the fulness of time God sent the Messiah. He
was bom of a woman, the one seed of Abraham, under the
Law, that he might inherit the Abrahamic blessing and
redeem them that were under the Law. By baptism be
lievers are joined to him in vital union and are clothed with
him so that all that he has done or will do is theirs. The
Law was a tutor for the times of pupilage and bondage to
convict of sin and to prepare for the freedom and right
eousness of sonship and heirship in Christ. Christians are
new creatures in Christ, one body with him. The Church
is the organized body of believers in this world, the true
Israel of God. The kingdom of God is a future inherit
ance for the righteous. The Jerusalem above is the mother
of all believers.
The epistle represents that Christ is the seed promised

1 Dr. Everett, in his very suggestive book, The Gospel of Paul, seems to base
his theory of the Pauline doctrine of redemption on his interpretation of this
passage. He says :
" It was because he was crucified that he was accursed. We here reach the
centre of Paul's thought and the essential thing in his argument. It is a thing
that has been too often overlooked ; but so far as we overlook it, we fail utterly
to understand what Paul is talking about. It is important to notice that Christ
was accursed because he was crucified. He was not crucified because he was
accursed." (pp. 114-115.)
He objects to the theory of Dr. Shedd, that the essential thing in the atone
ment is the suffering of Christ, and the theory of Dr. Cave, that it is the death
itself, and insists that it is the form of the death, the accursed death of the cross
that made Christ a taboo and all who are Christians therefore taboo with him.
The best statement of his theory, however, seems to be in his interpretation of
Colossians ii. 13, 14.
"The law condemned him and won thus a temporary victory ; but in con
demning him it condemned itself. By this last act of authority it abdicated its

OF THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS 137
to Abraham.1 Itwas not a promise to all those who
should descend from Abraham *by physical descent.

authority. Thus it was nailed to the cross by a permanent crucifixion. Jesus
rose glorified ; the law died eternally. The passage before us insists that the
forgiveness of our trespasses was the result of the crucifixion of the law; that
is, of its abrogation through the crucifixion of Christ, which is directly opposed
to the commonly received view." (p. 161.)
Prof. Everett limits his attention too strictly to the relation of crucifixion to the
ceremonial Law. The Law, in the hands of unscrupulous interpreters and
wicked executives, was the power of sin in declaring Jesus accursed and putting
him to the accursed death. It is not altogether true, therefore, that Jesus was
accursed because he was crucified. He was crucified because the executives of the
Law pronounced him accursed and condemned him to death. Prof. Everett,
himself, in the second extract, seems to go back of the form of the death to the
condemnation to death. It is true that the Law condemned itself by condemning
the Messiah, and that it abdicated its authority by this last exercise of its authority
in the service of Sin. It was the power of the Law, as an instrument of the objec
tive authority of Sin, that put Jesus to death. Death, Sin, and Law, the trinity of
evil, exhausted themselves in bringing the curse upon Jesus. In tabooing him
they virtually tabooed themselves. His resurrection vindicated his righteousness
and tabooed them with an everlasting curse. Al! who rose with Jesus from the
dead are delivered from the curse of the Law, of Sin and of Death, in him. It
is not the suffering of Christ, or the death of Christ, or the mode of his death
that redeems us, it is his interposition on our behalf in a righteous obedience
even unto the accursed death of the cross, which secures us resurrection and ever
lasting righteousness.
The theory of Prof. Everett is not in accord with the facts of the case as to
the usage of terms in the writings of Paul. The cross is not so essentially con
nected with the death as his theory requires. It is more frequently omitted than
mentioned when the death of Christ is referred to. Notwithstanding the fre
quent reference to the redemptive death of Christ in the Epistles to the Thessa
lonians and the Romans, and in the Pastoral Epistles, oravpoc and oTavpda
are not used at all in these epistles. ovoTavpdu, however, is used in Rom. vi. 6 ;
Gal. ii. 20. The cross does not, therefore, seem to be essential to the argument
of Paul in the Epistle to the Romans where we would expect it, if anywhere.
The omission of cross in the Epistle to the Romans is sufficient to condemn
Prof. Everett's theory. The references to the cross are, 1 Cor. i. 13, 17, 18, 23;
ii. *, 8 ; 2 Cor. xiii. 4 ; Gal. iii. 1 ; v. 11, 24; vi. 12, 14 ; Eph. ii. 16 ; Phil. ii. 8,
iii. 18; Col. i. 20 ; ii. 14. But few of these passages can be used by Prof. Ever
ett in support of his theory. See Von Soden, Das Interesse des Apost. Zeitalt-
ers in der Evangel. Geschichtein Tlieol. Abandlungen, Weizsacker Gewidmet.,
s. 116.
1 iii. 15-17.

138 THE MESSIAH
It was not " to seeds, as of many ; but as of one, And to
thy seed,1 which is Christ."
Christ is the seed of Abraham as the unit in whom all
the faithful descendants of Abraham first inherit the
blessing, and through whom all the Gentiles share in it.
The Abrahamic promise was prior to the Law. The
Law coming after could not annul it. The Law had an
intermediate purpose between the Abrahamic promise
and the Gospel. The Law was designed to shut up all
things under sin — to expose the bondage and point out
the path of freedom.
But before faith came, we were kept in ward under the law,
shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. So
that the law hath been our tutor to bring us unto Christ, that we
might be justified by faith. But now that faith is come, we are
no longer under a tutor. For ye are all sons of God, through
faith, in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into
Christ did put on Christ. There can be neither Jew nor Greek,
there can be neither bond nor free, there can be no male and
female : for ye are all one man in Christ Jesus. And if ye are
Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, heirs according to promise.
(iii. 23-29.)
The Law was a tutor, having a temporary obligation
of instruction, to keep those who were under its disci-

1 There can be no doubt that the original Hebrew JJ"if is collective and
generic for the descendants of Abraham. It does not refer to a single individual.
On the other hand it is not a plural— it is not distributive, and therefore does not
involve every individual of Abraham's descendants. The apostle is doubUess
using an ancient Hebrew method of exegesis, which is not convincing according
to modern ideas, as Luther saw when he said it was " zum Stiehe zu schwach."
But the apostle is arguing against the distributive sense of the seed, and in this
he is correct. He is incorrect in referring it to Christ alone as a person. But
he certainly has in mind in the context and probably also here the collective
sense; for he and all believers are conceived of as so one with Christ that they
die in him, live in him, and inherit the Abrahamic promise in him. If Paul had
unfolded his argument further, he doubtless would have avoided the incidental
error. He left his argument unguarded at this point.

OF THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS 139
pline, in ward, and to prepare them for the Advent of
the Messiah. The Law was not meant to justify, but to
show the need of another justification, to bring unto the
Messiah, in order that justification might be gained by
faith in him. Through faith in the Messiah the Jew
passes out from his tutelage into his inheritance of son-
ship. The entrance upon the life of sonship is here con
nected with baptism.1 By baptism the believer is bap
tized into Christ, into vital union with him. That vital
union involves a putting on of Christ, a clothing oneself
with him, so that Christ ever appears for us in the eyes
of the Law, and also in the eyes of God. The difference
between Jew and Greek disappears with the bringing
forth of the Jew from the bondage and tutelage of the
Law, and the clothing with Christ. The blessing of
the Abrahamic covenant comes at the same time upon
Jew and Gentile through Christ. All distinctions of sex
and condition are disregarded. " All are one in Christ
Jesus," all are " Abraham's seed, heirs according to
promise." 2 The Jew under the Law was a child in tute
lage until the term appointed for his majority.
But when the fulness of the time came, God sent forth his
Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, that he might redeem
them which were under the Law, that we might receive the adop
tion of sons. And because ye are sons, God sent forth the Spirit
of his Son into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father. So that thou
art no longer a bondservant, but a son ; and if a son, then an heir
through God. (iv. 4-7).
The " fulness of the time " 3 corresponds with the " last
of the times " of the first Epistle of Peter,4 and " the time

1 Just as was the entrance into the kingdom in the discourse of Jesus with
Nicodemus. See The Messiah of the Gospels, p. 261. Comp. also pp. 28, 58, 104.
a iii. 28, 29. 3 to wAfipupa roil xpovov,
* bf iaxo-rov rav xpbvuv. See p. 46.

140 THE MESSIAH
is fulfilled " of Jesus.1 It was the time for the first ad
vent of the Messiah. Then God sent forth his Son,-
probably, though not necessarily, from a pre-existent
state. As sent of God the Messiah was born of a woman,
and so became one with the race of man, born under the
Law, and so a Jew subject to the ordinances of the Law.
The Messiah became a man and a Jew for the accomplish
ment of a divine purpose of redemption. That purpose,
as expressed in this passage, was to redeem the Jews from
bondage to the Law, and in order that Jew and Gen
tile alike might receive the adoption of sons. This adop
tion is testified by God's sending forth the " Spirit of. his
Son " into the hearts of his sons, enabling them to recog
nize him as Father and call upon him as Father. The
Holy Spirit is the Spirit of the Son of God as the
representative or surrogate of the Messiah in the hearts
of believers.2 The sonship involves also heirship in all the
blessings contained in the divine promise of blessedness.
The apostle is in travail until Christ be formed in them.3
Like a mother in the labors of child-birth, he is in travail
that the embryo Christ-likeness in his disciples may be
born into a living, well-formed image of Christ.
He now returns in his teaching to the antithesis of
Christ and the Law. The freedom of the Gospel is set
forth by an allegory taken from the life of Abraham.4
The concubine Hagar and her children in bondage rep
resent Mt. Sinai, the mountain of the Law, and also the
Jerusalem " that now is," the holy city of the Law. But
Sarah, with her free-born son Isaac, represent the Abra
hamic promise, and also the Jerusalem that is above,
the mother of all believers. The mountain of the Law
and the holy city of the- Law are intermediate between

1 Mark i. 15. -n-cirAypuTai 6 natpSc. See The Messiah of the Gospels, p. 78.
' See The Messiah of the Gospels, p. 293. • iv. 19. » iv. 21-31.

OF THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS 141
the covenant with Abraham and the heavenly city.
They were only temporary and provisional in their char
acter. The heavenly city and the Abrahamic covenant
were prior to them and outlast them, are more compre
hensive and enduring.
The Jerusalem above is the holy city predicted by
the great prophet of the exile.1 In this doctrine of
the heavenly Jerusalem, as the holy city of believers,
Paul advances in the line of the discourse of Jesus
with the woman of Samaria 2 and his own discourse
on Mars hill.3 This heavenly Jerusalem, where the Mes
siah is enthroned and from whence he reigns, is the
centre of worship, the mother, the home of all be
lievers, Jew and Gentile alike. This is a genuine Pauline
conception. It is entirely parallel with his hopes of a
heavenly body at death to fit him to dwell in this heavenly
city.4 It resembles the heavenly city and temple of the
Jewish apocalypses,5 so far as he conceived that it was
situated in the heaven and as in antithesis to the Jerusa
lem on earth. But it differs from the conception of
these apocalypses in that it is not, as they are, the model
of the imperfect earthly copies ; but rather their an
tithesis. The earthly represents a temporary bondage
which has been done away with by the Messiah, the
heavenly a permanent freedom of sonship into which be
lievers have been graduated by the Messiah. Christ
has set us free with freedom.6 Accordingly the apostle
glories :
In the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world
hath been crucified unto me, and I unto the world. For neither
is circumcision any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature.
(Galatians vi. 14, 15.)

1 Is. Ix. 2 See The Messiah of the Gospels, pp. 271 seq.
3 See p. 79. 4 See p. 130. <¦ See p. 8.

142 THE MESSIAH
He was crucified with Christ and so he was separated
from the world by death as Christ was. The old cre
ation died in Christ ; with the resurrection of Christ he
rose into new life as a new creature. In this new cre
ation it matters little whether one has been circumcised
as a Jew or has been an uncircumcised Greek.
The kingdom of God in this epistle is the kingdom of
glory which is to be inherited. But those who do the
works of the flesh will not inherit it.1
The Church of God was persecuted by Paul.2 Here,
as in the first Epistle to the Corinthians, he conceives of
Christians as an organized body of believers in the age
of the world. He uses the Israel of God as a synonym
of the Church,3 in order to show that the true Israel was
not Israel after the flesh, but Israel after the spirit.4
THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS.
The Epistle to the Romans is recognized by critics as
the genuine production of the apostle Paul and a master
piece of his genius. It was written soon after the Epistle
to the Galatians, in the spring of A.D. 58. It shows a
considerable development of theology in its conceptions
of the second Adam and of the Messianic future.
THE BLOOD-BESPRINKLED PROPITIATORY.
§ 38. Jesus Christ was born of the seed of David ac
cording to the flesh. God raised him from the dead, accord
ing to his spirit of holiness, and installed him on his throne
in heaven. There he is the blood-besprinkled Propitiatory
where the sins of all believers are covered by the blood of
a perpetual sin-offering, and where their justification is

¦v. 21. 3i. 13. « vi. 16.
4 Comp. 1 Corinthians x. 18 ; Romans ii. 28.

OF THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS 143
secured by his righteousness. God passed over sin until
the time when he provided and accepted this righteousness.
There is a day of judgment when God will judge, by Jesus
Christ, all men according to their works and according to
the Gospel.
The apostle opens his epistle with the statement that
the Gospel had been promised by the prophets of the
Old Testament, who had predicted concerning the death
and resurrection of the Messiah.1 He made a similar
statement in his discourse in the synagogue of Antioch,2
showing that Jesus was the Messiah of the Old Testa
ment. Jesus Christ " was born of the seed of David
according to the flesh." 3 He was a son of David, a de
scendant of the line of David." In antithesis with the
birth according to the flesh was the birth according to
the spirit. He " was declared to be the Son of God with
power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resur
rection of the dead." 5 Paul is thinking of the birth of
the Messiah in the second Psalm :
Let me tell of a decree of Yahweh,
He said unto me, Thou art my Son,
I, to-day, have begotten thee.

1 i. 2. a Acts xiii. 16-41. See p. 76. ' i. 3.
« Paul nowhere in his epistles seems to know of the conception of Jesus in
theophany, as described in the Gospel of Luke (see The Messiah of the Gospels,
p. 49) . It does not appear that his theology was constructed in view of the vir
gin birth of our Lord. But the lack of knowledge of the apostle does not ex
clude the reality of the event. (Beyschlag, Neutest. Theologie, ii., s. 66, asserts
this, but Weiss, Bib. Theo., s. 291, 292, opposes ) It is not necessary to think of
a descent from David through the Virgin Mary. Paul speaks of the descent in
a general way, which may apply either to father or to mother. But inasmuch
as the inheritance comes through the father, it is most likely that he thought of
Jesus as a son of Joseph, without reflection upon the question how descent from
Joseph was reconcilable with his doctrine of the relation of Jesus to the inherited
original sin of the race. See Bruce, St. Paul's Conception of Christianity,
P- 334.
»i. 4.

144 THE MESSIAH
He sees this birth, or installation of the Messiah, as the
Psalm must be interpreted,1 when Jesus rose from the
dead and ascended to his heavenly throne. Then for
the first time he was declared to be the Messiah with
power. This clause is in a threefold antithesis to the previous
one. The birth into his Messianic reign is represented
as " according to the spirit of holiness." The antithesis
with flesh implies that the spirit of holiness is the spirit
of the Messiah himself. The spirit of holiness has the
same relation to the installation of the Messiah as the
flesh has to the birth of the Messiah. The third antith
esis is between the seed of David and the resurrection
of the dead. The Messiah in being born goes forth out
of the seed of David ; the Messiah in being installed
goes forth by resurrection from among the dead. It is
according to his flesh that he was born from the seed of
David. It is according to the spirit of holiness that he
was installed by resurrection from the dead. The spirit
of holiness is not the divine nature of the Messiah as
distinguished from the human, it is not the Holy Spirit
in him, it is the holy spiritual nature of the Messiah,2
the inner, higher spiritual life of holiness which de
scended into the abode of the dead when the body was
buried in the grave, and which arose from the abode of
the dead and re-entered the body, making it a spiritual
body. We have seen in the first Epistle to the Corinthians
that he was "a life-giving spirit."3 According to this
spirit the resurrection birth of the Messiah took place.
So in the first Epistle of Peter the Messiah as a living
spirit preached to the spirits of the dead.4 This risen

1 See Briggs, Mess. Proph., p. 135.
" See Vincent, Word Studies, iii., p. 4.
¦ 1 Cor. xv. 45. See p. 117. « See p. 35.

OF THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS 445
and enthroned Messiah is Lord, and from him Paul re
ceived grace and apostleship.1
In the second chapter, in exposing the sins and ex
ceeding guilt of the Gentiles, and also of the Jews who
condemned them, Paul reminds them that they are
treasuring up " wrath in the day of wrath and revelation
of the righteous judgment of God ; who will render to
every man according to his works," 2 to Jew and Gentile
alike, " for there is no respect of persons with God." 2
" For as many as have sinned without Law shall also
perish without Law ; and as many as have sinned under
Law shall be judged by Law ; for not the hearers of
Law are just before God, but the doers of Law shall be
justified," 4 and this judgment will ensue " in the day
when God shall judge the secrets of men, according to
my Gospel, by Jesus Christ." '
Here Paul teaches no other doctrine than that of his
discourse at Athens,6 that there will be a universal judg
ment, that Jesus Christ will be the judge, and that the
rule of judgment will be the Gospel. The Gentiles,
judged according to the law written in their hearts, the
Jew according to the Law of Moses, are condemned
already. Only the doers of the Law will be justified.
If they go before the throne of the judge in the Day of
judgment they will be judged according to their works
and they will be condemned.
Both of these laws condemn men, they do not justify
them. There will be no justification to any through their
knowledge, but only through their obedience ; and if
they cannot find justification in this way, they have
nothing but condemnation to expect in the Day of
judgment. Unless some other justification is provided,

1 i. 5. 3 ii. s. • ii. 11. * ii. 12, 13. » ii. 16. • See. p. 79.

14(J THE MESSIAH
all men will be condemned in that Day. A justification
has been provided, and it is the great theme of the
epistle in the subsequent chapters to set it forth.
The Epistle to the Romans moves on in the same
essential sphere of thought as the Epistle to the Gala
tians. It emphasizes the antithesis between the Law
and the Gospel, and the originality and perpetuity of
the Abrahamic covenant.
By the works of the law shall no flesh be justified in his sight :
for through the law cometh the knowledge of sin. But now
apart from the law a righteousness of God hath been manifested,
being witnessed by the law and the prophets ; even the right
eousness of God through faith injesus Christ unto all them that
believe ; for there is no distinction ; for all have sinned, and fall
short of the glory of God; being justified freely by his grace
through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus : whom God set
forth to be a propitiatory, through faith, by his blood, to shew
his righteousness, because of the passing over of the sins done
aforetime, in the forbearance of God ; for the shewing, I say, of his
righteousness at this present season : that he might himself be
just, and the justifier of him that hath faith in Jesus, (iii. 20-26.)
The Law of Moses did not and could not give justifi
cation except to him who obeyed it in every precept
and in the minutest particular. No Jew did this.
Therefore, by the works of the Law no one can be jus
tified. The Law gives the knowledge of sin, just in
those very particulars where man fails to obey it.1
The righteousness of God has been manifested in an
other form than in the Law of Moses, and that manifes
tation is in fulfilment of the witness of the Law and the
Prophets which point to a second Moses and a new cov
enant with new institutions.2

1 We have seen the same argument essentially in the Epistle to the Galatians.
See p. 139.
3 See pp. 77, 137.

OF THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS 147
This righteousness of God is manifested unto all who
believe in the Messiah. The Jews and the Greeks are
alike in their relation to this manifestation. Prior to the
advent of the Messiah, God in His long-suffering was
passing over sins,1 overlooking them, provisionally, in
view of the Messianic redemption he had provided in
the future. So in his discourse on Mars hill, Paul rep
resented that the times of ignorance God overlooked.2
These " sins done aforetime," these " times of igno
rance" are over for those to whom the Messiah is
preached. God " at this present season," 3 the season of
the Messiah, hath shown His righteousness. He is
righteous, and yet He may justify believers in Jesus.
He justifies them freely by His grace through the re
demption that is in Christ Jesus. The Messiah redeemed
them from the condemnation and purchased for them jus
tification. This he did through the price of his blood.4
This blood we have seen in its appropriation by believers
in the form of wine in the cup of the sacrifice of the new
covenant," and in the sprinkling of the blood of the cov
enant upon them." Here the blood is not applied to be
lievers, but is connected with the propitiatory, the Kap-
poreth, the throne of grace.' This connection suggests
the application of his blood, as the blood of the victim
of the sacrifice for sin, to the propitiatory in accord-

1 irapeoic = passing over, overlooking, letting go ; comp. lay. Mic. vii. 18.
It is to be carefully distinguished from afcoic remission, forgiveness.
2 vveptdov. Acts xvii. 30. See p. 80.
a iv t£> vvv Kaipu. * See PP- 48. i°°-
» See The Messiah of the Gospels, p. 120. * See p. 49.
' iAao-T-fiptov. This word is used in the LXX to translate the n"lS3> the
place of covering over sin, the highest altar, the throne of mercy, above the ark
in the Holy of Holies. (See Heb. ix. 5.) Here the blood of the highest sin-
offering of the day of atonement was taken once in a year and sprinkled upon
it, and seven times before it.

148 THE MESSIAH
ance with the ritual of the day of Atonement.1 The
throne of grace is no longer in the temple at Jeru
salem, but in the Jerusalem above,2 the heavenly temple,3
whither Jesus has gone. We have seen in the Gospel of
John that Jesus is the temple of the new dispensation.4
He is the corner-stone of the kingdom.5 It is in keep
ing with these conceptions that he should also be the
throne of grace, the propitiatory in that temple. The
propitiatory of the tabernacle and the temple needed the
application of the blood once every year in order to
cover over the sins of the Jewish nation. The blood of
the Messiah was applied to the Propitiatory of the
heavenly sanctuary once for all at his ascension. That
blood abides with its cleansing power perpetually on the
Propitiatory, needing no renewal. There is thus a
combination in Paul's conception of the two ideas of
victim and altar. Jesus is at once the sin-offering whose
blood covers over sin at the altar-throne ; and he is also
that altar-throne itself. The Messiah is thus the
blood-besprinkled propitiatory, the everlasting throne of
grace. The sins of his people are covered by the en
during and perpetual blood of his sin-offering. There
can, therefore, be no longer any condemnation of their
sin. They are covered once for all and forever. There
can be no longer any overlooking or overseeing of their
sins because believers are seen and looked at in the Mes
siah in whom they live and are. The acceptance of the
Messiah and his enthronement on his blood-besprinkled
throne of grace, provide a righteousness which is com
plete and perfect, sufficient as a guarantee of the right
eousness of his people, and ample for the justification of

1 Lev. xvi. 14, 13. > See p. 141. > See p. 262.
4 See The Messiah of the Gospels, p. 259. • See pp. 32, so.

OF THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS 149
all over whom the Messiah reigns during his reign of
grace.1 RAISED FOR OUR JUSTIFICATION.
§ 39. Jesus was delivered to death for our trespasses when
we were weak and yet sinners. He was raised for our justi
fication that we might be reconciled to God, have peace and
access to grace. There is a salvation to be expected from
the wrath of God and an enjoyment of the glory of God
in the Day of Christ.
The apostle renews the argument which we have
studied in the Epistle to the Galatians : 2 that the promise
was made to Abraham as the father of all believers, cir
cumcised and uncircumcised alike.3 He recurs to the
work of Christ for us in the antithesis " who was deliv
ered up for our trespasses, and was raised for our justifi
cation."4 It was because of our trespasses that he was
delivered over to death, in order that we might die in him
to those trespasses and their penalty. It was because of
our justification, for the sake of it and in order to it, that
he was raised from the dead. The resurrection here as
in most places includes the enthronement. The Messiah
was raised from the dead to his throne, and reigns upon
his throne as our righteousness, for our justification, and
God justifies us in him, the blood-besprinkled throne of
grace. Being therefore justified by faith, let us have peace with God
through our Lord Jesus Christ; through whom also we have had
our access by faith into this grace wherein we stand ; and let us

1 This reference to the Propitiatory is made by Augustine, Origen, Luther,
Calvin, Tholuck, Delitzsch, Ritschl, Forbes, Vincent, et al. The references to
the sin-offering and to the abstract propitiation, although well supported by
learned authorities, have no support in the usage of the New Testament or the
LXX. ' See p. 139. • Gal. iii. 29. « iv. 25.

150 THE MESSIAH
rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only so, but let us
also rejoice in our tribulations : knowing that tribulation worketh
patience ; and patience, probation ; and probation, hope : and
hope putteth not to shame ; because the love of God hath been
shed abroad in our hearts through the Holy Spirit which was
given unto us. For while we were yet weak, in due season Christ
died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one
die: for peradventure for the good man some one would even
dare to die. But God commendeth his own love toward us, in
that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more
then, being now justified by his blood, shall we be saved from
the wrath of God through him. Foi if, while we were enemies, we
were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much
more, being reconciled, shall we be saved by his life ; and not
only so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus
Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.
(Romans v. i-ii.)
Those who by faith have taken possession of this
justification, provided for them in Christ, have reconcili
ation to God, peace, and access unto the grace of God.
Christ died for them when they were weak and ungodly
and yet sinners. In his blood, thus shed in death and
perpetually on the blood-besprinkled propitiatory, they
are justified. God commended His love in the death of
Christ for us and also in the gift of the Holy Spirit unto
us. This justification, and the state of grace which it in
volves, is in order to a final salvation. This salvation is
by participation in the life of Christ. It will be enjoyed
in the Day of Christ. It is a salvation from the wrath
of God on the Day of judgment.1 This salvation at the
Parousia we have studied already in the epistles of Peter
and Paul.2 The glory of God will first be enjoyed by
believers at that time. Therefore they rejoice in hope
of it, during their state of justification and grace.3
1 See Kabisch, Eschatologie des Paulus, *. 48.
2 See pp. 50, 86. s See Kabisch, /. c, p. to.

OF THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS 151
CHRIST DELIVERS FROM THE DOMINION OF SIN AND
DEATH.
§ 40. Sin entered the world through the first Adam and
death reigned over man until the death and resurrection of
the second Adam delivered man from his bondage. The
reign of grace began with the enthronement of Christ. By
his one act of righteous obedience, justification comes upon
all men. His righteousness is appropriated by faith and
baptism. He who is baptized enters into vital union with
Christ and shares in all his work. He was crucified in
him, died with him, was buried with him, and rose in
him to his throne of righteousness. The bondage to sin
and death was therefore done away with once for all. He
has risen by death in Christ into a new spiritual life, to
serve God, to share the holy war against sin, to be sancti
fied, and at the End receive the gift of eternal life.
The apostle, in his discussion of the relation of the
Gospel to the Law, went back of the Law of Moses to
the covenant of Abraham as a basis for the righteous
ness of faith ; he now goes still further back to the sin
of Adam for a basis of the reign of Sin and Death,
which is to be overcome by the reign of Grace and Life.1
Through the one man, the first Adam, Sin entered the
world and through Sin, Death. Sin was in the world
before the Law of Moses. Death reigned over man
from Adam to Moses. All men are under the dominion
of Death. Death is conceived of as reigning over men
here, just as in the first Epistle to the Corinthians he is
represented as the last enemy to be subdued by Christ
at the ultimate resurrection. Sin reigns in him as his
I V. 12-21.

152 THE MESSIAH
prime minister.1 All men share in the sin of the race.
All men are condemned to death for the Sin which
reigns over them. Death is their king.' Sin is his
sting.3 The Law of Moses came that the trespasses might
abound, that Sin might become more evident in his
tyrannous bondage, and that the reign of Death might
become more and more terrible to the consciences of
men. But the grace of God exceeded the excesses of Sin.
In every respect and at every point Sin and Death are
overcome and their reign replaced by the reign of Life
and of Grace. Grace reigns through righteousness unto
eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. The reign
of Grace begins with the enthronement of Christ, it is
carried on through the Messianic King as the life of
men. It is through righteousness. His righteousness is
the justification of all who are in him, united to him by
faith. It is a free gift of God to sinful men. It is a gift
of righteousness through the one man, Jesus, the second
Adam. By one act of trespass the many, all the race of
men, were constituted sinful men. By one act of right
eous obedience to God, even unto the death of the cross,
the many, the same race of men are constituted righteous
men. As Dr. Forbes well says : " Thus, in Adam, humanity
fell; in Christ, humanity rose again. All are involved in
the ruin of the first man ; all are equally interested in
the salvation by ' him that was to come.' " 4
Thus through Jesus Christ a reign of Grace and Life
has been established in place of the reign of Sin and

' Kabisch, Eschatologie des Paulus, s. 96.
a See Ps. xlix. 14, where Death is the shepherd of the dead.
3 See p. 119.
• Analytical Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans, p. 193.

OF THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS 153
Death. All men are under the reign of Sin and Death
until they have come under the reign of Grace and Life.
The ethical and spiritual removal from the one dominion
into the other is made by faith in the enthroned Mes
siah so far as the individual man is concerned. It was
made externally and physically for the race by the grace
of God in the resurrection and justification of the race
when Christ himself was justified, raised from the dead,
and inaugurated on his throne of grace.
The reign of Christ is a reign of war against Sin and
Death, and of triumph over them. The deliverance of
the race of man will not be finally accomplished until the
resurrection of the second Advent, when Death, the last
enemy, will be destroyed ; ' but it was already accom
plished potentially and decisively in the resurrection and
enthronement of the Messiah. Death was then dethroned,
and Sin cast out of his primacy. Henceforth, during the
reign of Life and the primacy of Grace, they are enemies
to be more and more trampled under foot by the Mes
siah and his people until they are ultimately destroyed.
As Dr. Forbes again says: " Through Christ's obedience
all who are united to Him are ' constituted righteous,'
not putatively merely, but morally, by a change imme
diately begun, and so thoroughly guaranteed to be com
pleted, as to vindicate the truth of the sentence of justi
fication pronounced upon them." 2
The apostle having shown that faith is the subjective
means of appropriating the righteousness of Christ, now
takes up baptism, the objective means of union with
Christ. What shall we say then ? Shall we continue in sin, that grace
may abound ? God forbid. We who died to sin, how shall we
¦ Seep. 113. »/. ft, p. S24.

154 THE MESSIAH
any longer live therein ? Or are ye ignorant that all we who
were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death ?
We were buried therefore with him through the baptism into
the death : that like as Christ was raised from the dead through
the glory of the Father, so we also might walk in newness of life.
For if we have become united with him by the likeness of his
death, we shall be also by the likeness of his resurrection ; know
ing this, that our old man was crucified with him, that the body
of sin might be done away, that so we should no longer be in bond
age to sin ; for he that hath died is justified from sin. But if we
died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him ;
knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more ;
death no more hath dominion over him. For the death that he
died, he died unto sin once : but the life that he liveth, he liveth
unto God. Even so reckon ye also yourselves to be dead unto
sin, but alive unto God in Christ Jesus. (Romans vi. i-ii.)
Baptism is a baptism into Christ, into a mystic and
vital union with him which involves participation in his
death and life and all the benefits therein involved.1
The baptism was into the death of Christ, and so all
Christians died in Christ. They were buried in him. So
also when the glory of the Father, the theophanic light
shone down into the realm of the dead and raised Christ
from the dead, Christians also rose in him.2 They were

¦ See Gloel, Der Heilige Gcist, s. 144.
' Doubtless the ceremony of baptism by submersion, symbolizes in a most
graphic manner the burial and the resurrection from the grave. But I cannot see
that the apostle had this symbolism in mind in this passage. The baptism is
into Christ, and being into Christ it is into all the redemptive activity of Christ.
Bunal and resurrection from the tomb are only two of these activities. Back of
the burial are the crucifixion and the death which are vastly more important and
which are not symbolized by submersion. Beyond the resurrection from the
grave are the ascension to heaven and the reign of grace which were certainly
included in the resurrection in the mind of the apostle. They are not symbol
ized by rising from the water after submersion. Moreover, burial under water
more appropriately symbolizes the modern putting of the body under ground in
the soil of the earth, than it does the Biblical mode of burial by depositing the
body on shelves in rock tombs or catacombs.

OF THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS 155
united with him both in death and in resurrection. The
old man, the fleshly man, the descendant of Adam, was
crucified with Christ. The body of sin, the bondagCto
Sin was thereby done away. ChrisUdied unto sin, once
for all. The objective dominion of Sin passed away
with the death of the sinner. He who died with Christ,
and in him paid the death-penalty of sin, could no longer
be under condemnation to that penalty. He was justi
fied from it and freed forever from it.
The disciple shares in the resurrection of the Messiah.
This resurrection is in order to a newness of life, a life
unto God in Christ Jesus. There are difficulties that
spring up in our mind which are not answered by the
apostle here. It is doubtful whether they were contem
plated by him. We have to distinguish the physical
death and resurrection and the spiritual death and res
urrection. There can be no doubt that physical death
and resurrection are chiefly in the mind of the apostle.
But I cannot agree with Kabisch that the spiritual resur
rection is altogether absent from his mind. It is in the
background here. It comes into the foreground later."
The physical resurrection of Christ bears with it the
physical resurrection of all believers : Christ the first-
fruits, they the harvest.2
There is an interval in time, but there is no separation
in the potency of his resurrection ; they are united as
cause and effect. It is the resurrection of Christ, and of
him alone and of his resurrection once for all, which in
volves and assures the resurrection of the race. So there
is an interval in time between the death of Christ and
the death of his disciples, but that interval in time in no
way separates the essential vital tie between them. The

1 See Kabisch, Eschatologie des Paulus, ». 99. • See 1 Cor. xv., p. 113.

156 THE MESSIAH
virtue of the death of Christ on the cross once for all,
is communicated to the death of every individual Chris
tian. It is in effect, in the ultimate result and in the
abiding potency before God, the same as if the death
and the resurrection of the whole body of believers took
effect at one and the same time as the physical death
and resurrection of Jesus. This is the point of view
of the apostle here. In the first Epistle to the Cor
inthians his point of view is the universal resurrec
tion when the triumph over death is ultimately accom
plished. The state of believers from the moment of baptism is
a state of life and justification before God. But the con
tinuance of the believer in his life in this world for a
brief period of time raises the question as to his relation
to the sin of the world and the sin of his own flesh with
which he comes in contact during that time. This
question the apostle also considers. He states that the
union with Christ in his physical death and resurrection
involves also a spiritual and a moral resurrection. The
external sin of the world no longer dominates the Chris
tian. Death is no more his king of terrors. He is in
the realm of grace and the living Christ is his king.
How then shall he continue in sin? How shall Sin
reign in his mortal body? How can he present his
members as weapons to be used in the unholy war of
Sin? It is a terrible inconsistency that the Christian
may do all these things. He is exhorted, therefore, to
be on his guard against them. During his life in this
world he has to wage a war with Sin The dominion of
Sin has been taken away. But Sin is his enemy still.
He has risen into a new spiritual life, he should present
his members as weapons for the holy war against Sin, he
should live as a servant of God and of righteousness,

OF THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS 157
with sanctification in view ; and the End, the final goal,
eternal life.
This eternal life is the free gift of God in Christ Jesus
our Lord, the ultimate gift at the End of the Age, when
the physical resurrection will coincide with the comple
tion of the spiritual resurrection. This gift of eternal
life at the End of the Age of grace is in striking antith
esis with death, the wages of Sin.1
The apostle uses another image, that of marriage, to
illustrate his teaching. As a woman is bound by law to
her husband only while he liveth, and is discharged by
the Law from her husband when he dies and is free to
enter into bonds with another husband ; just so the Law
of Moses has dominion over a Jewish man while he
liveth. The Christian being made dead to the Law
through the death of the body of Christ, no longer liveth
under the Law, but is freed from the Law ; he lives a
new life in the risen Christ entirely apart from the Law.
Being raised from the dead in Christ, he serves God in
newness of the spirit and brings forth fruit unto God.2
THE FIRST-BORN AMONG MANY BRETHREN.
§ 41. God sent his Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, as
a sin-offering, in order to condemn sin in the flesh and to
secure justification to believers. The Spirit of God accom
panied by Christ comes to believers and dwells in them,
giving them the spirit of adoption in which they recognize
God as their Father and themselves as joint-heirs with
Christ. The present suffering with Christ will result in
glorification with Christ. The revelation of the glory of
the sons of God is earnestly expected by the whole creation
with birth-throes. Then it will be delivei ed from the bond-

1 vi. 12-23. ' vii. 1-6.

158 THE MESSIAH
age of corruption into the freedom of the glory of the chil
dren of God. Then will man attain the redemption of the
body and be conformed to the image of the Messiah.
The eighth chapter of Romans sets forth the great
hope of believers in the revelation of their sonship, in
which the entire creation shares. It adds important fea
tures to the Messianic idea. It begins with a reference
to the Christological principles already established.
There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in
Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus
made me free from the law of sin and of death. For what the
law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God,
sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an
offering for sin, condemned sin in the flesh : that the ordinance
of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh,
but after the spirit. (Romans viii. 1-4.)
God sent his Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, not in
the mere appearance of sinful flesh, but in a flesh subject
to the external dominion of Sin and the reign of Death.1
This sending in flesh is parallel with the sending " born
of a woman," 2 and also " born of the seed of David ac
cording to the flesh." 3 To this a new statement is
added, " and as an offering for sin, condemned sin in the
flesh." The Messiah was sent to be a sin-offering ; and
he was sent under the dominion of Sin and Death, as
flesh, to condemn the sin in the flesh by becoming an
offering for that sin.4 The coming of the Messiah as

> Lipsius, Handcommentar, ii. Abth. ii., s. 132.
a Galatians iv. 4. See p. 139. ' See p. 143.
* It is altogether probable that nepl d/iapriac means for a sin-offering;
dfiapria is the technical term of the LXX for sin-offering = )"IHOn of the
priests' code of the Old Testament. At the same time there are many scholars,
such as Lipsius, Beyschlag, Bruce, Vincent, who give the more general render
ing " for sin "; and so think of the " whole relation of the mission of Christ to
Sin." But the specific reference is more suited to the context.

OF THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS 159
the victim of the sin-offering, whose blood according to
the ritual must be applied to the horns of the altar to
purify the altar and cover over the sin of the people de
filing it, was a condemnation of the sin which required
such a cleansing of the altar. The Law also prescribed
that the victim should be sinless flesh, because only a
pure, an immaculate victim, could be used in sacrifice.
Christ was in the likeness of sinful flesh and under the ex
ternal dominion of Sin. But Sin gained no entrance into
him. Sin could not rule over him except by its external
violence and penalty. The blood of this sin-offering was
not applied to the altars of the temple in Jerusalem, but
to the heavenly altar of the heavenly temple. We have
here a parallel conception to that of a previous chapter.1
There the Messiah, as the sin-offering of the day of atone
ment, was conceived of as the blood-besprinkled throne.
Here he is conceived of as the ordinary sin-offering
whose blood was applied to the heavenly altar. The
Law could not accomplish so much. Its own sin-offer
ings constantly repeated were an evidence of this, al
though Paul does not refer to them in this respect.
Christ, by his one sin-offering of himself, delivered from
condemnation, freed from the Law which convicted of
sin and condemned to death, and gave justification and
a new law of life, which rules by the divine Spirit in the
spirits of redeemed men, who walk after the Spirit. The
Spirit of God dwells in them. He is the Spirit of
Christ, and being the Spirit of Christ, Christ also is in
them.2 This indwelling of Christ and of the divine
Spirit reminds us of the teaching of Jesus in the Gospel
of John,1 and of the similar identification of Christ

i Seep. 147. "viii. 9, 10.
s See The Messiah of the Gospels, p. 292.

16Q THE MESSIAH
and Spirit in the second Epistle to the Corinthians.1 The
indwelling Spirit is the guarantee of the ultimate resur
rection. But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead
dwelleth in you, he that raised up Christ Jesus from the dead
shall quicken also your mortal bodies through his Spirit that
dwelleth in you. (Romans viii. n.)
The living in the Spirit and after the spiritual nature
and by it, involves a new relation to sinful flesh. They
are not to live after it, they are to mortify or put to
death its doings. It died potentially in Christ, it is to
be put to death actually in the life struggles of the be
liever during the earthly life.
The presence of Christ and his Spirit within believers
makes them sons of God.
For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of
God. For ye received not the spirit of bondage again unto fear ;
but ye received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba,
Father. The Spirit himself beareth witness with our spirit, that
we are children of God : and if children, then heirs ; heirs of God,
and joint-heirs with Christ ; if so be that we suffer with him, that
we may be also glorified with him. (Romans viii. 14-17.)
The spirit of bondage has been put aside in the death of
the Messiah. The spirit of adoption has been received in
the resurrection and enthronement of the Messiah and
has been brought to the consciousness of the believer by
the impulses of the indwelling Spirit, who enables him
to recognize God as Father. The same has been taught
in the Epistle to the Galatians.2 But sonship involves
heirship. This sonship is by virtue of vital union with
Christ — it is therefore joint-heirship. It begins with
suffering with him, it ends with glorification in him. The
' See p. 128. » iv. 6. See p. 140.

OF THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS \Q\
antithesis between the present suffering and the ultimate
glory is the basis of the conception of the Messianic
future. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not
worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed to
us-ward. For the earnest expectation of the creation waiteth
for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was sub
jected to vanity, not of its own will, but by reason of him who
subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also shall be deliv
ered from the bondage of corruption into the liberty of the glory
of the children of God. (Romans viii. 18-21.)
The sufferings of this present time, the time of this
present age of the world prior to the second Advent of
the Messiah,1 are the sufferings which are involved to the
disciples in the sufferings of the Messiah, and their par
ticipation in work which he has given them to do. They
are not worthy of comparison with the glory which is
about to be revealed. This revelation 2 is a revelation
of the sons of God, that is a revelation of the glory of
the sons of God. They are sons of God in the posses
sion of the spirit of adoption now ; but in outward ap
pearance they are not sons of God, but sons of men.
Their sonship will be revealed in glory when the glory
of the Messiah is revealed to the world. This revelation
of the glory of the sons of God is earnestly expected by
the creation, the whole frame and constitution of the
visible world. This creation was subjected to vanity and
involved with man in the bondage of corruption. But it
has a common hope with man of being delivered from
that bondage into the liberty of the glory of the children
of God. So earnest is this expectation that the creation

1 rov vvv Katpov. See p. 147.
2 anoadAmbtc. See pp. 47, 107, where the same term is used for the Revela
tion of the Messiah at the second Advent.

1^2 THE MESSIAH
is groaning in birth-throes in hope of it, about to bring
it to the birth. In the Apocalypse of Jesus the suffer
ings of the shortened time are said to be the beginnings
of the birth-throes of the Messianic age.1 But Jesus no
where represents the material universe as sharing in the
redemptive hopes of man. Paul is here thinking in the
line of the apocalypses of the Old Testament and of the
Pseudepigrapha. He does not speak of the new heavens
and new earth of the second Isaiah,2 and of the apoca
lypse of Peter,3 but his conception is similar. Out
of the creation suffering under the bondage of corruption
is to be born a new creation, which will share in the free
dom and glory of man and the glory of the Messiah.
The new birth of the creation is really involved in the
resurrection of the body. For of what use the risen and
glorified body of believers except that it may dwell in a
regenerated, transformed, and glorified creation ? It is
entirely natural that the creation and man should share
in the expectation, groaning, and birth-throes.
For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth
in pain together until now. And not only so, but ourselves also,
which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan
within ourselves, waiting for our adoption, to wit, the redemption
of our body. For by hope were we saved : but hope that is seen
is not hope : for who hopeth for that which he seeth ? But if
we hope for that which we see not, then do we with patience wait
for it. (Romans viii. 22-25.)
Christians, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, who
enjoy the gift of the Holy Spirit, his indwelling, and the
spirit of adoption, brought to consciousness by him, have
still the harvest of the Spirit, the glory of the revelation

1 See The Messiah of the Gospels, p. 148.
* Is. lxv. 17. See Briggs, Mess. Proph., p. 402. a gee p ^

OF THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS 1(53
of the sonship in prospect. They all the more hope for
it, and in longing groan for it. The glory to be revealed
is the redemption of the body which will not be until the
resurrection of the body at the second Advent of the
Messiah. This redemption at the second Advent ' is now
a familiar thought. It is also represented as adoption.
The adoption of the Epistle to the Galatians was an adop
tion when first the Holy Spirit was given,2 and is the
same as the spirit of adoption of the previous context.3
But the adoption here is an adoption in connection with
the resurrection of the body. It is the revelation of the
sons of glory, the manifestation of the glory of the adop
tion and the sonship.4 The earlier adoption is an adop
tion in the consciousness of the believer witnessed by the
Holy Spirit, but not revealed to others. The final
adoption is an adoption revealed in a glory of sonship
which will be public, and so manifested to all the world.
Such a salvation is not in possession of the believer, it is
not seen by him. It is in the promise of God, it is an
object of hope, and he must in patience wait for it until
the day of the Parousia.
The earnest expectation of the creation and of be
lievers is accompanied with the expectation of the in
dwelling Spirit. The groaning of the creation and of
Christians is sustained by the unutterable groaning of
the divine Spirit who interposes for us and intercedes for
us and represents us in the prayer for the revelation of
the glory.
And in like manner the Spirit also helpeth our infirmity: for
we know not how to pray as we ought ; but the Spirit himself
maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be

i a-KOAvTpuoie. See pp. 103, 147. » Gal. iv. 6. See p. 140.
' Romans viii. 15. * Beyschlag, Neutest. Theo., ii., s. 201.

K54 THE MESSIAH
uttered ; and he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the
mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints
according to the will of God. (Romans viii. 26, 27.)
The Holy Spirit leads the choir of the creation and
the Church in petition for the Advent. It is a petition
which is according to the purpose of God. God's final
aim in the work of redemption from the beginning has
been this purpose of glory.
And we know that to them that love God all things work to
gether for good, even to them that are called according to his
purpose. For whom he foreknew, he also foreordained to be
conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the first
born among many brethren : and whom he foreordained, them
he also called : and whom he called, them he also justified : and
whom he justified, them he also glorified. (Romans viii. 28-30.)
The purpose of God was that the redeemed might be
glorified, that is, be conformed to the image of His Son,
that he might be the first-born among many brethren.
The image of His Son is the incorruptible, powerful,
glorious, spiritual, and heavenly body of the Messiah
himself, which is to be attained on the day of resurrec
tion, according to the first Epistle to the Corinthians.1
It is also the ethical conformity to his spirit of holiness,
the goal of our sanctification. And so the Messiah will
no longer be unique and alone in his possession of the
favor of God as a man well-pleasing to Him and entirely
conformed to His holy will. Such he is, and such he re
mains during his mediatorial reign. But at his second
Advent he will be able to present to God many brethren
conformed to his image and like him in holiness and
glory, so that he will be the first-born among a multi-
1 See p. 116.

OF THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS IQg
tude of sons of God, no longer covered by him and
justified by him, but themselves recognized as holy and
glorious sons of God. This was the goal of the divine
purpose from the beginning. The chain of grace links
the original purpose to its final accomplishment. God
foreknew, foreordained, called, justified, and glorified.
The first link in the chain of grace involves every other
link and especially the last. The link of sanctification is
here omitted. There is no significance in this, because
sanctification is closely involved in the conformity to
the image of God's Son. The links are not all men
tioned. It was sufficient to mention the earlier links
which emphasized the purpose of God, and then spring
at once to the last. This wonderful conception cannot
reach its end without rising to the enthroned Messiah.
What then shall we say to these things ? If God z'jfor us, who
is against us ? He that spared not his own Son, but delivered
him up for us all, how shall he not also with him freely give us
all things ? Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's
elect ? It is God that justifieth ; who is he that shall condemn ?
It is Christ Jesus that died, yet rather, that was raised from the
dead, who is at the right hand of God, who also maketh inter
cession for us. (Romans viii. 31-34.)
The delivering up of God's own Son to death for us
all involves the gift of all things with him. The Christ
who died delivers us from condemnation. The resur
rection of Christ involves our justification. The session
at the right hand of God involves his interposition for
us. Here for the first time in the Theology of the New
Testament the heavenly intercession of the Messiah ap
pears. The intercession of the Messiah in heaven is the
counterpart of the intercession of the Holy Spirit on
earth, and it secures for us the entire accomplishment of
our salvation. In the first Epistle to the Corinthians

l(;g THE MESSIAH
the reign of the Messiah was to subjugate all enemies ;
here it is to interpose and intercede for his own dis
ciples. ALL ISRAEL WILL BE SAVED.
§ 42. God cast away Israel after the flesh, but on the
true spiritual Israel the Gentiles were grafted. The Mes
siah is the end of the Law as its goal of righteousness.
The blindness of Israel as a nation will continue until the
full complement of the Gentiles has entered the Church.
Then all Israel will be saved.
In the section embraced in Romans ix.-xi., the apos
tle sets forth the relation of Jews and Gentiles to
the Gospel. He here adheres to the position of the
Epistle to the Galatians, but advances therefrom to
higher views. It is true that the Jews were the heirs of
the promises, and that the Messiah was born of Israel
according to the flesh.1
But not all Israel are the true Israel. Israel after the
flesh is to be excluded now as were Ishmael and Esau.
The true Israel is the spiritual Israel. But the promises
were not for Israel alone. The prophets predict the

1 ix. 4-5. This is connected with an ascription of blessedness. It is not plain '
whether it is to God or to Christ. Interpreters differ very much in their opinion.
We have not found in the epistles of Paul thus far any definite assertion that
Christ was God. It is not probable that he would make this assertion here at
the beginning of his argument as to the relation of the Jews to Christ. Why
should he say that Christ is God and bless him forever in view of his statement
of the privileges of the Israelites ? It would be natural for him to bless God for
these privileges, but it would be unnatural for him to assert that Christ was Goi
in order to bless him for them. Moreover, it was the climax of the privileges of
the Jews that Christ was of them as concerning the flesh. It would not be
natural for him to abruptly spring to the assertion that Christ was God. Ac
cordingly I prefer the rendering " He who is over all, God, be blessed forever."
See Beyschlag, Neutest. Theologie, ii., s. 71 ; also Ezra Abbot, Critical Essays,
PP 332-438-

OF THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS 167
share of the Gentiles in the blessing of Israel, and de
clare that only a remnant of Israel will be saved.
As he saith also in Hosea, I will call that my people, which
was not my people; and her beloved, which was not beloved.1
And it shall be, that in the place where it was said unto them,
Ye are not my people,2 there shall they be called sons of the liv
ing God. And Isaiah crieth concerning Israel, If the number of
the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, it is the remnant
that shall be saved : for the Lord will execute his word upon the
earth, finishing it and cutting it short.3 And, as Isaiah hath
said before, Except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we
had become as Sodom, and had been made like unto Gomorrah.4
What shall we say then ? That the Gentiles, which followed not
after righteousness, attained to righteousness, even the righteous
ness which is of faith : but Israel, following after a law of right
eousness, did not arrive at that law. Wherefore ? Because they
sought it not by faith, but as it were by works. They stumbled
at the stone of stumbling ; even as it is written, Behold, I lay in
Zion a stone of stumbling and a rock of offence : and he that
believeth on him shall not be put to shame.5 (Romans ix. 25-33.)
The apostle now gives the reason of their stumbling
and fall. They did not know the righteousness of God.
They were in pursuit of their own righteousness. The
righteousness of God was for the first time presented to

1 The apostle cites from Hosea ii. 25, these two lines, which he transposes and
gives with unimportant verbal changes.
3 The apostle here cites from Hos. ii. 1, in accordance with the LXX, except that
avrolc and koX avroi are omitted and knei inserted. The LXX is closer to the
Massoretic text. In both of these passages the prophet has in mind rejected
Israel and not the Gentiles. Paul gives the passage a wider application.
3 The apostle cites Is. a. 22, 23, m a shortened form, with many verbal varia
tions from the LXX as well as the Massoretic text.
» The apostle cites Isaiah i. 9 in exact correspondence with the LXX, both
substituting "seed" for the "remnant" of the original, and omitting the
"almost" before "as Sodom."
* The apostle here combines in free citation Is. viii. T4 and xxviii. 16. The
R. V. is incorrect in giving them mixed in two lines of poetry.

103 THE MESSIAH
them in the Messiah. " For Christ is the end of the Law
unto righteousness to every one that believeth." ' This
is the same doctrine as that given in the Epistle to the
Galatians, that the office of the Law was to lead to the
Messiah. This righteousness of the Messiah gained by
faith is in accordance with the prophets.
For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not
be put to shame.2 For there is no distinction between Jew and
Greek : for the same Lord is Lord of all, and is rich unto all that
call upon him : for, Whosoever shall call upon the name of the
Lord shall be saved.3 How then shall they call on him in whom
they have not believed ? and how shall they believe in him whom
they have not heard ? and how shall they hear without a
preacher ? and how shall they preach, except they be sent ? even
as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that bring
glad tidings of good things!4 But they did not all hearken to
the glad tidings. For Isaiah saith, Lord, who hath believed our
report?5 So belief cometh of hearing, and hearing by the word
of Christ. But I say, Did they not hear ? Yea, verily,
Their sound went out into all the earth,
And their words unto the ends of the world.6
But I say, Did Israel not know ? First Moses saith,
I will provoke you to jealousy with that which is no nation.
With a nation void of understanding will I anger you.1
And Isaiah is very bold, and saith,
I was found of them that sought me not ;
I became manifest unto them that asked not of me.

>x.4.
3 This is after the LXX of Is. xxviii. 16 except the explanatory Ijr' avrif'.
' Paul cites Joel iii. 5 after the LXX.
* Paul probably cites from an Aramaic version of Is. Iii. 7, which was nearer
the Hebrew original than the LXX. See Toy, Quotations in the A'ew Test.
P- 150-
6 This citation is after LXX of Is. liii. 1.
* Paul cites from Ps. xix. 4, 5, after the LXX.
* Paul cites from Deut. xxxii. 21 after LXX, except that he changes the third
person of the pronoun into the second in order to make it more personal and
direct.

OF THE EPISI'LE TO THE ROMANS 1(59
But as to Israel, he saith, All the day long did I spread out my
hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people.' (Romans x. 11-21.)
God did not cast off His people as a people. Their
unfaithfulness merited such a rejection. But there was
a remnant according to the election of grace. Only the
unfaithful and disobedient were rejected. But the
prophets looked beyond Israel and saw the nations wel
coming the Gospel. The promise was not to Israel
alone, but to whomsoever shall call upon the name of
the Lord. What then is the relation of Jew and Gentile
in the new dispensation ? The apostle sets this forth by
the figure of the olive tree :
But if some of the branches were broken off, and thou, being a
wild olive, wast grafted in among them, and didst become par
taker with them of the root of the fatness of the olive tree ; glory
not over the branches : but if thou gloriest, it is not thou that
bearest the root, but the root thee. Thou wilt say then, Branches
were broken off, that I might be grafted in. Well ; by their un
belief they were broken off, and thou standest by thy faith. Be
not high-minded, but fear : for if God spared not the natural
branches, neither will he spare thee. Behold then the goodness
and severity of God : toward them that fell, severity ; but toward
thee, God's goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: other
wise thou also shalt be cut off. And they also, if they continue
not in their unbelief, shall be grafted in : for God is able to graft
them in again. For if thou wast cut out of that which is by
nature a wild olive tree, and wast grafted contrary to nature into
a good olive tree : how much more shall these, which are the
natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree ? For I
would not, brethren, have you ignorant of this mystery, lest ye
be wise in your own conceits, that a hardening in part hath be
fallen Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in ; and so
all Israel shall be saved : even as it is written,
There shall come out of Zion the Deliverer:
He shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob :
1 This is a free citation after the LXX of Is. txv. 1, *.

170 THE MESSIAH
And this is my covenant unto them,
When I shall take away their sins.1 (Rom. xi. 17-27.)
Israel is the olive tree of God, fat with the grace of
God. The unfruitful branches were broken off, but the
tree itself abides. The Gentiles were not a new olive
tree, but were grafted into the old olive tree. They will
remain enjoying the fatness of the tree if faithful, but if
unfaithful they also will be cut off. But even those of
Israel who have been cut off will not be neglected by the
grace of God. They also will be grafted on again. There
is a definite period assigned for the unbelief of Israel
which will reach its end in the salvation of all Israel.
Israel, that is the unfaithful, disobedient part of Israel
which was cut off from the true Israel, those who reject
their Messiah, will remain in hardness of heart towards
the Gospel until the complete number of the Gentiles
have come in ; and then Israel also will come in.
This prediction of the apostle is in some respects the
most remarkable in the New Testament. It gives a new
feature to the interval between the advents and to the
Advent itself. This period during which the complete
number of the Gentiles will come into the Church is the
same as the Times of the Gentiles of the Gospel of Luke '
and the time of preaching the gospel to the world of the
Gospel of Matthew " and the age of the Holy Spirit of
the Gospel of John.1 During all this period a large por
tion of the Jews will be hardened against their Messiah.
But at the end of the period this hardness will pass away
and all Israel will be saved. Here the apostle interposes
between himself and the End a period of the conver-

1 These are free citations after LXX of Is. xxvii. 9 ; lix. 20, 21,
3 See The Messiah of the Gospels, p. 150.
3 See The Messiah of the Gospels, p. 145.
4 See The Messiah of the Gospels, pp. 297, 312,

OF THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS 171
sion of the nations and Israel. This is the antithesis to
the development of the apostasy and the Man of sin, of
the apocalypse of Paul. His conception is a grand one.
His ideal is a union of all Israel and the complete num
ber of the Gentiles in the Church of Christ — it is a world
united in one holy community in Christ.1
With the twelfth chapter, the Epistle to the Romans
makes a new advance to the more ethical section of the
epistle in which the Messianic references are more in
cidental. Paul represents that Christians are " one body
in Christ," 2 just as in the first Epistle to the Corinthians.3
He teaches that " now is salvation nearer to us than when
we first believed." This salvation4 is the salvation to
be enjoyed at the Parousia, which is nearer every day
of the Christian life. This future salvation we have
seen in many previous passages.6 He exhorts, " put ye
on the Lord Jesus Christ." ' This reminds us of the
statement of the Epistle to the Galatians that the bap
tized " did put on Christ." 7 The putting on at baptism
is preliminary to a putting on of Christ more and more
in Christian life. The Christian life is to be regulated by
the Lord, the Messiah, and to be lived with him in view.
For none of us liveth to himself, and none dieth to himself.
For whether we live, we live unto the Lord : or whether we
die, we die unto the Lord : whether we live therefore, or die,
we are the Lord's. For to this end Christ died, and lived
again, that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living.
But thou, why dost thou judge thy brother ? or thou again,
why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand
before the judgment-seat of God. For it is written, As I live,
saith the Lord, to me every knee shall bow, and every tongue

1 See an admirable discussion of these chapters in Steinmeyer, Apostel Paul
und das Judenthum.
3 xii. 5. 3 See p. 105. * xiii. 11. h ournpia,
« See pp. 50, 86, 89, 96 « xiii. 14. ' See p. 139.

172 THE MESSIAH
shall confess to God.1 So then each one of us shall give account
of himself to God. (Romans xiv. 7-12.)
Whether we live or die, to the Lord we live, because
we belong to him in life and in death. This was the
purpose of the death and resurrection of Christ, that he
might be the Lord of both the dead and the living.
Whether men live in this world, therefore, or whether
they die and pass into the Middle State of the dead
prior to the resurrection, in both states alike they belong
to the Lord Christ. In both states alike they are under
his rule. In both states alike they live for him. At the
end of the life in this world, and of the state of the dead
in the Middle State, is the judgment-seat of God, on the
Day of judgment when each one of us will give his ac
count to God. This is the same doctrine that we have
learned in the second Epistle to the Corinthians."
The apostle exhorts Christians to avoid being stum
bling blocks. " Destroy not with thy meat him for
whom Christ died. Let not then your good be evil
spoken of : for the kingdom of God is not eating and
drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the
Holy Spirit." '
It is not clear whether the kingdom of God here is
the kingdom of glory, or the kingdom of the Church in
this world. Paul thus far has always used it of the king
dom of glory. The presumption is that it has the same
reference here. Eating and drinking are not the char
acteristics of that kingdom of glory. Eating and drink
ing are not the preparation for it. But its characteristics
are righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.

1 This citation differs from the LXX and the Massoretic text so greatly that it
probably is more in accordance with the Aramaic Targum of the times.
3 See p. 130. • xiv. 15-17.

OF THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS 173
These things are to be sought for. Only those who have
them will inherit the kingdom.
The exhortation to please our neighbor is fortified by
the example of Christ very much as in the first Epistle
of Peter.1 " For Christ also pleased not himself," 2 and
again, Receive ye one another, even as Christ also received you, to
the glory of God. For I say that Christ hath been made a
minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, that he might
confirm the promises given unto the fathers, and that the Gen
tiles might glorify God for his mercy ; as it is written,
Therefore will I give praise unto thee among the Gentiles,
And sing unto thy name.3
And again he saith,
Rejoice, ye Gentiles, with his people.4
And again,.
Praise the Lord, all ye Gentiles ;
And let all the peoples praise him.5
And again, Isaiah saith,
There shall be the root of Jesse,
And he that ariseth to rule over the Gentiles ;
On him shall the Gentiles hope.6 (Romans xv. 7-12.)
Here the apostle cites several passages of the Old
Testament in order to show that Jesus fulfilled them in

1 See p. 54. 3 xv. 3.
1 The Massoretic texts of Psalm xviii 50 = 2 Sam. xxii. 50, are here followed,
except in the omission of Yahweh, which is not in the LXX, and should be
omitted because it makes the first line too long.
' This follows the LXX of Deut. xxxii. 43, but is incorrect, for the Hebrew
gives " O nations make his people to rejoice." It should be acknowledged that
the Massoretic text does not give a sense suited to the context.
6 The apostle gives the sense of the original Hebrew, but varies in some verbal
expressions from the LXX, as well as from the Massoretic text of Psalm cxvii. 1
6 The apostle agrees in his citation of Is. xi. 10 with the LXX, but both vary
from the Massoretic text by substituting the weaker " hope " for " resort," and
by paraphrasing the middle line, which reads in the original " which is about to
stand as a banner of the peoples."

174 THE MESSIAH
the mercy of the Gospel now offered to the Gentiles.
The most important of these predictions is that of the
root of Jesse in Isaiah, which becomes a standard about
which the nations rally. This could not be until after
the resurrection and enthronement of the Messiah. It
was a prediction that was in course of fulfilment rather
than fulfilled.
In the closing chapter Paul encourages the Romans
with the prediction, " And the God of peace shall bruise
Satan under your feet shortly." Here the apostle
thinks of the Protevangelium and the promise to the
womanVseed. The woman's seed is the Church of the
Messiah. They are going to fulfil this prediction. And
it will be soon.1 This soon is the same in substance with
the cut-off time of I Corinthians,2 and the sudden of
the first Epistle to the Thessalonians.'

' xvi. 20, hi rdxec. 3 See p. no. 8 See p. 87.

CHAPTER VI.
THE MESSIAH OF THE EPISTLES OF THE IMPRISONMENT.
THE Paulinism of the great epistles we have thus far
considered, is separated from the later Paulinism by a
considerable interval of time. During this interval the
apostle passed through a remarkable experience, which
enriched his personal relation to Christ and his intellect
ual apprehension of the person and work of the Messiah.
The Book of Acts tells us the story of his journey from
Ephesus to Jerusalem, his conflicts there, his long im
prisonment at Csesarea, his journey to Rome, and his
two years of confinement in the metropolis of the world.
The tradition of a temporary release and of a last mis
sionary journey to Asia and to Spain, followed by his
second imprisonment and death, cannot be made certain
by the scanty historical evidence which has been pre
served, but seems altogether probable.1
The group of Pastoral Epistles cannot be explained
within the limits of the life of Paul given in the Book of
Acts. It is sufficiently difficult to bring all the group of
the Epistles of the Imprisonment within those limits.
We shall discuss the Messiah of the Epistles of the Im-

• Able arguments for a second imprisonment are given by Lightfoot, Biblical
Essays, pp. 410-437; and Spitta, Urchristenthum, ,., ». 1-108; against it by
Weizsacker, Apostohsches Zeitalter, s. 472 seq. (175)

176 THE MESSIAH
prisonment in this chapter, and of the Pastoral Epistles
in the following chapter.
The Epistles of the Imprisonment show a very great
advance upon the Paulinism thus far considered, espe
cially in the Christology which is within our field of study
at this time. It is difficult to explain such a great
change in so short a time. And yet the circumstances
were such that a rapid development was to be expected.
It is doubtful whether any man ever went through such
a wonderful experience as the apostle Paul in his journey
from Ephesus to Rome and in his two imprisonments at
Cassarea and at Rome. The growth, that we have
already noted, of the Paulinism of the Epistles to the
Galatians and the Romans beyond the earlier Paulinism
and the rapid development of his theology in the few
months which separate the first Epistle to the Thessa
lonians from the Epistle to the Romans should prepare
us for a still more rapid and rich development in those
eventful years which separate the Epistle to the Romans
from the first of the epistles written from Rome.
I cannot undertake to discuss the critical theories
which cluster about this group of epistles. I shall
simply give my opinion that the Epistle to the Philip-
pians is certainly an epistle of Paul, and that in all prob
ability the Epistle to the Ephesians belongs to him also,
with less probability the Epistle to the Colossians.
We shall arrange these epistles, therefore, in this order
without undertaking to determine which of them was
prior in time. If they were written by Paul during his
first imprisonment they fall within the few months of
A.D. 62 and 63. '

' See Lightf oot, Biblical Essays, pp. 224 seg.

OF THE EPISTLE TO THE PHILIPP1ANS 177
THE EPISTLE TO THE PHILIPPIANS.
This epistle is probably the earliest of the group. It
is nearest in doctrine to the earlier Paulinism. It is less
disputed than the others. It is regarded as genuine by
Pfleiderer,1 who denies the genuineness of the others.
It was written from Rome while the issue of Paul's
cause was still uncertain. As Bishop Lightfoot says :
" Thus it forms the link which connects these two
epistles with those of the third apostolic journey. It
represents an epoch of transition in the religious contro
versies of the age, or to speak more correctly, a momen
tary lull, a short breathing space, when one antagonistic
error has been fought and overcome, and another is dimly
foreseen in the future. The apostle's great battle
hitherto has been with Pharisaic Judaism ; his great
weapon the doctrine of grace. In the Epistle to the
Philippians we have the spent wave of this controversy.
In the third chapter the apostle dwells with something
like his former fulness on the contrast of faith and law,
on the true and the false circumcision, on his own per
sonal experiences as illustrating his theme. Henceforth
when he touches on these topics, he will do so briefly
and incidentally. Even now in his apostolic teaching,
as in his inner life, he is ' forgetting those things which
are behind and reaching forth unto those things which
are before.' A new type of error is springing up — more
speculative and less practical in its origin — which in one
form or other mainly occupies his attention throughout
the Epistles to the Colossians and Ephesians and the
Pastoral Epistles; and which under the distinctive name
of Gnosticism in its manifold and monstrous develop-

1 Urchristenthum, s. 153.

178 THE MESSIAH
ments will disturb the peace of the Church for two cen
turies to come." '
We may divide the Messianic idea into two sections,
the former contained in chapters i.-ii., the latter in
chapter iii. THE KENOSIS.
§ 43. The Messiah, being in his pre-existence in the form
of God, did not grasp after equality with God ; but emptied
himself of the form of God, took the form of a prophetic
servant and became obedient unto the death of the cross.
Therefore God enthroned him at His right hand, giving
him the name above every name, and all things in heaven
and earth and Hades bow the knee to him. It is very de
sirable to depart and be 11 ith the Messiah. The Day of the
Messiah is a day of reward to believers who have been
made perfect.
The epistle begins very much as the Epistles to the
Thessalonians and to the Corinthians, with the aim of the
apostle that his disciples might be perfect in the Day of
the Messiah, " being confident of this very thing, that
he who began a good work in you will perfect it until
the Day of Jesus Christ," 2 " that ye may be sincere and
void of offence unto the Day of Christ."3 This is a
genuine Pauline idea that in the Day of the Messiah
Christians must be blameless, wholly sanctified, and
perfectly conformed to the image of Jesus Christ.'
The apostle has passed through an experience of perse
cutions and sufferings. He knows not the end of them.
He knows not what most to desire, whether life or death.

> The Epistles of Paul : Philippians, 2d edition, p. 41.
3 i. 6. a ;. I0,
4 1 Thess. v. 23 ; 1 Cor. i. 8 ; v. 5 ; 2 Cor. i. 14. See pp. 8s, 107, 109, 127.

OF THE EPISTLE TO THE PHILIPPIANS 179
For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if to live in
the flesh, — if this is the fruit of my woik, then what I shall
choose I wot not. But I am in a strait betwixt the two, having
the desire to depart and be with Christ ; for it is very far better :
yet to abide in the flesh is more needful for your sake.
(Phil. i. 21-24.)
Paul has the same essential idea of the condition after
death, as we have seen in the earlier epistles.1 He de
sires to depart to heaven to the presence of the Messiah.
This he knows is far better than life in this world. But,
whether he lives or dies, it is for Christ that he lives and
dies. In the second chapter, the apostle exhorts the Philip-
pians to have the same mind as Jesus Christ, to imitate
him, to be like him. He then sets forth the mind of
the Messiah in one of the most sublime passages of the
New Testament.
Have this mind in you, which was also in Christ Jesus : who,
being in the form of God, counted it not a thing to be grasped
to be on an equality with God, but emptied himself, taking the
form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men ; and being
found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, becoming obedi
ent even unto death, yea, the death of the cross. Wherefore also
God highly exalted him, and gave unto him the name which is
above every name ; that in the name of Jesus every knee should
bow of things in heaven and things on earth and things under
the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ
is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians ii. 5-1 1.)
The epistle distinctly sets forth three different states
of the Messiah : pre-existence in heaven, humiliation on
earth, and enthronement in heaven. Each of these is
presented with a wealth of meaning beyond anything
taught in the previous Paulinism.
1 See pp. 130. r72-

180 THE MESSIAH
(i) The pre-existence of the Messiah is a pre-existence
in the form of God. The pre-existence thus far con
sidered has been involved in the sending of the Messiah ; :
in the conception of the second Adam, the archetypal
man from heaven ; '' and especially in the self-impover
ishment of the rich Messiah for our sake.3 But richness
in a pre-existent state, prior to his poverty in this world,
by no means amounts to " being in the form of God."
While pre-existing in the form of God he did not
deem equality with God in rank a thing to be grasped
at. It was the divine purpose that he should have
that equality with God." It was indeed involved in his
existing in the form of God that he should be equal in
rank with God. From that point of view it might be
said that he would not grasp after his own rank to which
he was entitled as the Son of God.6 But it is probable
that the apostle had in mind the antithesis between the
first and the second Adam which is so characteristic of
his theology.' He is thinking of the sinful grasping of
the first Adam after equality with God under the instiga
tion of the serpent.7 As the second Adam he will not
grasp after equality with God, even though it is his
birthright. He will receive it from the hands of God

1 Gal. iv. 4 ; Rom. viii. 3. See pp. 139, 158.
3 1 Cor. xi. 3 ; xv. 46, 47. See pp. 98, 117.
3 2 Cor. viii. 9. See p. 122.
« As Weiss says : " The correct interpretation of this passage, which Schmidt
and Pfleiderer maintain, depends on the correct distinction between to elvat
laa 6eu, which was only appointed for Christ, and the ftopdy 6eov, which he
already possesses in his pre-temporal existence, and this is necessarily required
by any exact interpretation of dpirayjibc.'' Biblical Theology, ii., p. 101, T.
& T. Clark's edition.
6 " He did not look upon equality with God as a prize which must not slip
from His grasp." Lightfoot, in loco.
6 See p. 113. Comp. Beyschlag, Neutest. Theologie, ii., s. 84, 85.
' Genesis iii. 5.

OF THE EPISTLE TO THE PHILIPPIANS 181
as a gift of love after he has earned it by obedience,
just as the first Adam ought to have done. Accordingly
the Messiah did the very reverse of grasping after equal
ity with God. He emptied himself of the form of God.1
II. The humiliation of the Messiah is in several stages.
(a) It begins with a Kenosis, — a self-abnegation or self-
emptying. In the second Epistle to the Corinthians
the Messiah divested himself of his riches and became
poor. Here he divested himself of the form of God and
became a servant. The Kenosis is not an emptying
himself of his original deity as some have supposed ; for
that interpretation has nothing in the terms used or in the
context to favor it, and it would really involve the con
ception of the extinction of his deity, which is in contra
diction to the very idea of deity. The Kenosis is of that
which the Messiah is represented in the context as pos
sessing in his pre-existence. That was the form of God.
He emptied himself of the form of God so completely
that he no longer appeared in the form of God, no longer
could be recognized as God ; and in the reverse he took
the form of a servant, was made in the likeness of men,
and was found in fashion as a man. The coming of
the man Christ Jesus into the world has thus far been
conceived of by Paul as a sending by God.3 Here the
Messiah enters the world of his own accord. He empties
himself of the form of God. He himself takes the form
of a servant. There is an antithesis between God and
man, and especially between equality with God and
servitude to God. What is involved in the " form of
God," in the writer's mind can only be determined from
the scope of the passage. And yet it seems not alto-

1 See Dorner, System der Christlichen Glaubenslehre, ii., s. 286.
3 Gal. iv. 4 ; Rom. viii. 3,

182 THE MESSIAH
gether satisfactory to find the clue to the meaning of
the " form of God " in the antithetical " form of a ser
vant." ¦ The " form of God " is the characteristic form
of existence of God and not merely a temporary appear
ance or occasional manifestation of God. The existence
of the Son of God in the " form of God " implies his
existing as God and being God ; * and yet his divine ex
istence is not so dependent upon his characteristic form,
that he may not change that form and continue his
divine existence in another form ; especially if he take to
himself another and an additional existence. This he
did when he assumed not only the characteristic form
of existence of a servant, but also the existence of a ser
vant, and undertook the life of a divine servant with its
manifold changes, as described in the stages of humilia
tion and exaltation in the subsequent context, with its
resultant in the form of existence of a glorified divine
servant and human Lord.
(b) The second stage of the humiliation is his becom-

1 " The best clue to the nature of the riches renounced, the glory foregone, the
form laid aside, is the floppy So'vAov, to which the fiopiby 8eov stands opposed. We
have to consider what was involved in this servile state ; and if we find that limi
tation of divine attributes, such as knowledge, exposure to temptation, liability
to the curse pronounced on man for sin, hardships supplying severe tests of
obedience, were all involved in it, and necessary to its completeness and thor
oughness, — then we may infer that the /xoptfii) 6eoii forms a contrast to the finp<t,y
doiiAov in all these respects : in respect to divine attributes (metaphysical), in re
spect to divine exemption from moral trial, and in respect to divine felicity ; the
kenosis, of course, extending to all, in whatever sense the kenosis is to be taken,
whether as absolute or as relative." Bruce, The Humiliation of Christ, p. 364.
3 " Though fiopfi/ is not the same as ipboiq or ovaia, yet the possession of the
/iop<py involves participation in the ovaia also : for fiopipi/ implies not the external
accidents but the essential attributes. Similar to this, though not so decisive, are
the expressions used elsewhere of the Divinity of the Son, e'ikuv tov deob, 2 Ccr.
iv. 4 ; Col. i. 15, and xo-paKTyp rye inrocTaoEuc tov Beov, Heb. i. 3. Similar
also is the term which St. John has adopted to express this truth, 6 \6yoc -oi
6eov," Lightfoot, The Epistles of St. Paul: Philip} ians, 2d edition, p. 108.

OF THE EPISTLE TO THE PHILIPPIANS 183
ing man. Three terms are used, " form of a servant,"
"likeness of men," and "fashion as a man."1 These
terms of decreasing intensity of meaning, as they recede
from the term with which they are in antithesis, are com
prehensive and so emphasize the real humanity of the
Messiah, as it were, from every point of view. So in the
Epistle to the Romans, God's Son was sent " in the
likeness of sinful flesh " 2 and was " born of the seed of
David according to the flesh "; 3 and in the Epistle to
the Galatians, he was " born of a woman, born under
the Law." 4 He did not come into the world merely as
a Christophanic or Theophanic appearance ; but he
became a real man, just as he was real God. He
became not a royal man, a king, such as the Messiah
was expected to be, but a bondman, a servant. The
writer is thinking of the suffering prophet of the exilic
Isaiah,5 and he represents Jesus as deliberately assuming
the form of a prophetic servant instead of a Messianic
king. This is because of the antithesis to equality with
God which the Messiah would not grasp at. He would
assume no rank, not the rank of God, not the rank of the
Messianic king, but only the functions of a prophetic ser
vant, (c) As a prophet he humbled himself and became
obedient unto the death of the cross. He was obedient
in all his prophetic ministry even unto death. And his

1 " The form of a servant is concerned with the fact that the manifestation as
a servant corresponded with the real fact that Christ came as the servant of
mankind. In the phrase in the likeness of men the thought is still linked with
that of His essential nature which rendered possible a likeness to men, but not
an absolute identity with men. In being found in fashion as a man the
thought is confined to the outward guise as it appealed to the sense of mankind.
Likeness states the fact of real resemblance to men in mode of existence :
fashion defines the outward mode and form." Vincent, Word Studies, iii., pp.
434, 435-
3 Rom. viii. 3. See p. 158. s Rom. i. 3. See p. 143.
4 Gal. iv. 4. See p. 139. • Is. liii.

184 THE MESSIAH
death was the shameful death of the cross, the death of
the accursed. Thus the humiliation of the Messiah be
gan in the Kenosis of the form of God and ended in the
shameful death of the cross. It embraces the entire life
and experience of the Messiah from his departure from
pre-existent glory until he lies dead in the shame of the
cross and the tomb. The previous Paulinism emphasizes
the death of the cross for man's salvation ; ' the cross in
this epistle is an incident of the Kenosis.
III. The enthronement is in antithesis with the humil
iation, (a) God highly exalted him. The exaltation is
the reward of the shameful death of the cross. The
apostle has in mind the exaltation of the martyr prophet
of the great prophecy of the exile. The resurrection is
apparently overlooked. But in the usage of Paul it is
sometimes involved in the enthronement, and sometimes
the enthronement is involved in it. (b) God gave him
the name which is above every name. The supreme
name is the reward of the taking the form of a prophet.
The faithful prophet is exalted to be the Messianic
king. In his name every knee will bow. This is the
reward of his becoming man. He will be honored by
men, by all things on the surface of the earth. Beyond
this earth his honor extends. The departed spirits of
the world below and all things in that realm of the dead
will join in his worship. And over and beyond these,
all things in heaven, the angelic hosts, will unite in the
universal homage. The man Christ Jesus, the second
Adam, will be enthroned on the praises of the universe
of God. (c) The climax of the exaltation is reached in
the confession which rings forth from every tongue in this
choral of the universe : Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory

' See pp. 132 seg.

OF THE EPISTLE TO THE PHILIPP1ANS 185
of God the Father. The Kenosis has gained its reward.
The equality with God, which he would not grasp for,
has been put in his grasp by God the Father. The Mes
siah, who emptied himself of the form of God, is now
recognized in the form of God-man and hailed as equal
with God by the assembled universe ; and the glory of
the Messiah redounds to the glory of God the Father.
The apostle grasps the entire period of the enthrone
ment from its first moment at the ascension until its cul
mination at the second Advent. He contemplates the
glory of the enthroned Messiah in one transcendent
scene. In the Epistle to the Corinthians he had de
scribed a gradual subjugation of all enemies under his
feet with the ultimate delivery of the perfected kingdom
into the hands of the Father.1 The apostle here pre
sents the whole work of the Messiah from his Kenosis
until his supreme glorification as involved with the Keno
sis in the mind of Christ. This mind Christians should
imitate. He exhorts them :
Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is
God which worketh in you both to will and to work, for his good
pleasure. Do all things without murmurings and disputings ;
that ye may be blameless and harmless, children ol God without
blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation,
among whom ye are seen as luminaries in the world, holding forth
the word of life ; that I may have whereof to glory in the Day of
Christ, that I did not run in vain neither labour in vain.
(Philippians ii. 12-16.)
Their salvation is to be worked out. It is not yet com
plete. It is to be worked out in a life of holy obedience
after the model of Christ's life. It will then be gained
in a holy exaltation after the manner of Christ's exalta-
1 See p. 115.

186 THE MESSIAH
tion. They are luminaries in the world, they should shine
with the light of God. They are children of God, they
should be blameless, harmless and without blemish. The
goal of it all will be in the Day of the Messiah.
THE CHRISTIAN COMMONWEALTH.
§ 44. The Christian commonwealth is in heaven with
the Messiah. When the Messiah comes from heaven he
will transform the bodies of humiliation so that they will
be conformed to his body of glory. It is the chief ambition
of the apostle to attain this ideal.
The apostle warns the Philippians, in the third chap
ter, to beware of the Judaizers who, like dogs and evil
workers, would mislead them to confidence in the flesh.
He gives his own experience as one who sought to be
found in the Messiah and to have the righteousness of
faith, knowing " him, and the power of his resurrection,
and the fellowship of his sufferings, becoming conformed
unto his death ; if by any means I may attain uwto the
resurrection from the dead." '
This is the same mystic and vital union we have seen
in the Epistle to the Romans. Paul knows Christ and
the redemptive power of all his gracious acts. He is
conformed to his sufferings and his death that he may
attain the resurrection from the dead.
Paul had not yet reached this perfection ; but he
presses on toward it as a prize. He exhorts the Philip
pians to imitate him in this effort and encourages them
by the assurance :
For our commonwealth is in heaven ; from whence also we
wait for a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ : who shall fashion
1 iii. io, 11.

OF THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 187
anew the body of our humiliation, that it maybe conformed to the
body of his glory, according to the working whereby he is able
even to subject all things unto himself. (Philippians iii. 20, 21.)
The thought that the commonwealth of Christians is
in heaven with the Messiah is the same as we have found
in the Epistle to the Galatians, where the heavenly Jeru
salem is contrasted with the earthly.1 The Messiah is
in this commonwealth, and therefore it is the centre of
the Christian hope. This commonwealth is not to re
main in heaven, it is to come down on earth with the
Messiah at his Advent. This Advent will be the cul
mination of salvation in the resurrection of the body.
Here for the first time Paul speaks of Jesus as Saviour,
because he brings the salvation of the Parousia. We
are reminded of his fuller teaching in the earlier epistles.3
The natural body is conceived as a body of humiliation
here, as it was represented there as corruptible, earthy,
and dishonored. But it is to be transformed, and that
transformation has as its model the body of glory of the
Messiah himself. The Messiah will accomplish the
transformation by that power which he has of subduing
all things.3 The epistle gives the Christian watchword
in the Greek, 6 xupeo; ^77-ric, the Lord is at hand ; ' just as
in the first Epistle to the Corinthians he had given it in
the Aramaic, Maran atha.6
THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS.
The Epistle to the Ephesians is in some respects the
greatest of the Pauline epistles. And yet on this very
account it is regarded by many critics as not genuine.

1 See p. 140. * See pp. 85, 116.
1 This is the same thought that we find in 1 Corinthians xv. 24-28, where he
reigns until he subdues all things, even Death, the last enemy of all. See p. 113.
« iv. j, 6 1 Cor. xvi. 23.

183 THE MESSIAH
For the difference between it and the other epistles is
very great, especially in Christology.
The Judaizers, who were Paul's foes in the other
epistles, no longer appear, but instead of them enemies
of an entirely different character, more like the Gnostics
of the second century. There is no sufficient reason
why a party of this kind should not have appeared at an
early date. It is a no less natural deflection from the Hel
lenistic Christian theology than Judaizing was from the
Palestinian Jewish-Christian theology. A party rallied
about the name of Apollos in Corinth, which may have
been a precursor of this tendency, as a Jewish-Christian
party used the name of Peter, and a still more radical
party of Judaizers rallied about the name of Christ.
The earlier phase of the Alexandrian tendency was sup
pressed at Corinth, but it would be likely to burst out,
and speedily, in Asia Minor.
It seems probable that the epistle was encyclical1 and
that it was addressed to the churches of Asia, and that
the traditional reference to the Ephesians is a mistake,
as it is not sustained by the earliest manuscripts or the
most ancient authorities.

THE HEAD OF HIS BODY THE CHURCH.
§ 45. God raised the Messiah from the dead and en
throned him in heaven, where he reigns supreme over all,
filling all things. He is head of his body, the Church,
which he fills with the fulness of his presence, fn the ful
ness of times all things will be summed up in him. Be
lievers are sealed by the Holy Spirit, have forgiveness of
sins, and redemption by the blood of Christ. There is in

' Lightfoot, Biblical Essays, pp. 377-396.

OF THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 189
store for them in heaven adoption and an inheritance of
glory when they will be holy and without blemish.
The epistle begins with blessing God for " every
spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ." 1
The Messiah is in the heavenly regions and every spirit
ual blessing for Christians is with him.2 God " before
the foundation of the world chose us in him," and " in
love foreordained us." The aim of this election and
foreordination was " that we should be holy and without
blemish before him." s This entire sanctification of the
believer at the Parousia we have seen to be the aim of
Paul in his earlier epistles.* The aim of holiness can
only be accomplished in the "adoption as sons." The
adoption as sons is here conceived of, not as the spirit of
adoption received by faith at the beginning of a Christian
life, but as its goal, as in the Epistle to the Romans.'
The origin of redemption is in the good pleasure of
God's will ; its final aim is the praise of the glory of His
grace. This grace is freely bestowed on those who are
in Christ. He is the Beloved of God.6 God in love
foreordained us in the Beloved and bestowed upon us
His grace in him. This grace consists, in its first incep
tion to men, in the redemption through his blood, and
in the forgiveness of trespasses. Neither of these terms
has been used in the earlier Pauline epistles. The for
giveness of trespasses 7 takes the place of justification

> i. 3. 3 Phil. iii. 20, 21. See p. 187. 3 i. 4-
? See pp. 85, 164. 6 See p. 161.
« This phrase, iv tu yyawyftha, ver. 6, is new to Paulinism ; but it is essen
tially the same as the word of the theophanic voice, 6 dyavyrbc, Luke iii. 2.2.
See The Messiah of the Gospels, p. 76. Comp. Col. i. 13 ; John iii. 35.
7 aibeoig tuv Kapairru/iaTuv ver. 7, is found nowhere else. But afeoic dfiapnav
is used in the discourses of Paul in the Book of Acts xiii. 38, xxvi. 18, and
the verb afiy/it in a translation of Ps. xxxii. j , in Romans iv. 7 ; but

190 THE MESSIAH
from sin of the Epistle to the Romans.1 The redemp
tion through his blood '2 is a conception which is com
mon to the different writers of the New Testament. It
appears in many different forms and expressions. Some
times the blood is applied to persons, as in the sacrifice
of the covenant,3 sometimes to the heavenly altar, as in
the sin-offerings. The latter has been the usage of
Paul.* There is nothing to show a specific reference
here. The epistle again returns to the final purpose of God :
" Unto a dispensation of the fulness of the times, to sum
up all things in Christ, the things in the heavens, and
the things upon the earth." B This summing up of all
things in the Messiah is similar to the subjugation of all
enemies, in the first Epistle to the Corinthians,6 and the
universal recognition and worship of his name, in the
Epistle to the Philippians.7 The things in heaven and on
earth, however, are not so comprehensive as the heaven
and earth and under the earth of the latter epistle. The
summing up is the unity of the subjugation of enemies of
the former epistle and the homage of worshippers of the
latter epistle. It does not imply a final redemption of

neither noun nor verb, in the sense of forgiveness, is used by Paul in his
earlier epistles. In the later Paulinism the noun is used only Col. i. 14 ; comp.
Heb. ix. 22 : x. 18, and the verb not at all in this meaning. The verb is used
in James v. 15, but neither noun nor verb in the epistles of Peter or Jude. The
verb is used 1 John i. 9 ; ii. 12, but neither noun nor verb in this sense in the
other Johannine epistles or in Revelation. The noun ' and verb are frequently
used in the Gospels and the Book of Acts, by John the Baptist, Jesus, Peter, and
others. 1 Rom. vi. 7. See p. 154.
* il d-KoAvrpuoic did tov difiaroc avroii, ver. 7, is found only here. But the same
thought is given in irepiEiroiyoaTO did tov alparoc tov idiov, Acts xx. 28. See
p. 81.
3 1 Peter i. 2, 19. See p. 48. * Rom. iii. 25 ; v. 9. See pp. 146, 150.
1 i. 10. 6 See p. 115. 7 See p. 184.

OF THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 191
all things. The bringing all things to a unity in the
Messiah is to be accomplished in the fulness of the
times.1 This fulness is at the second Advent when, in
accordance with the first Epistle to the Corinthians, the
last enemy, death, will be subdued. The times of the
present age of the world will roll on until the age is ripe
and the fulness of its times has come.
To this fulness of the times believers are " sealed with
the Holy Spirit of promise, which is an earnest of our
inheritance, unto the redemption of God's own posses
sion, unto the praise of his glory." 3 The redemption of
God's own possession is the final aim of the purpose of
God. His own possession is, as in the first Epistle of
Peter, the possession of his people.3 This possession is
that which is to be redeemed. Its redemption will first
be accomplished in this fulness of the times.* Then will
believers for the first time take possession of their in
heritance in the kingdom of glory.5 They have an
earnest, a pledge, an assurance of this inheritance of
glory in the sealing by the Holy Spirit. This sealing of
believers' is a sealing of their spirits with the spirit of
adoption.7 It is to be compared with the gathering by
the angels at the Parousia of which it is the prelude.8
The apostle now prays for his readers :
That ye may know what is the hope of his calling, what the
riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, and what the
exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, accord
ing to that working of the strength of his might which he wrought

1 -n-Aijpafia tov Katpoiv, ver. io, cf. n^paua tov XP^V0V 0I tne first Advent,
Gal. iv. 4. See p. 139. This, however, refers to the second Advent as the iv mipu
iaxo.ru, 1 Peter i. 5. See p. 47.
3 i. 13, 14. 3 1 Peter ii. 9. See p. 52. * See pp. 86, 106, 12S.
« See p. 47. • See also iv. 30. ' Romans viii. 15, 16. See p. 160.
e See The Messiah of the Go 1 pels, p. 152.

192

THE MESSIAH

in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and made him to
sit at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule, and
authority, and power, and dominion, and every name that is
named, not only in this age, but also in that which is to come :
and he put all things in subjection under his feet, and gave him
to be head over all things to the church, which is his body, the
fulness of him that filleth all in all. (Ephesians i. 18-23.)
The apostle prays that they may have such a knowl
edge of God through the wisdom and revelation of the
divine Spirit that they may know the blessing they are
to receive from God in the fulness of the times, (a) The
hope of His calling is the hope to which He has called
them, the hope as the object of their expectation, (b)
The riches of the glory of His inheritance among the
saints is the inheritance promised by God in the glory
of God and among the saints of God. (c) The wonder
ful power of God towards believers, which He wrought
in Christ, comprehends all the work of Christ for them.
The method of the apostle here reminds us of his method
in the Epistle to the Philippians. There the exhorta
tion to have the mind of the Messiah is followed by a
comprehensive view of his work from his Kenosis to his
Lordship over all. Here the contemplation of the in
heritance at the Parousia is followed by a similar com
prehensive view of the work of God in the Messiah,
which secures it and is the measure of it. The epistle
here passes over the pre-existence of the Messiah and
his state of humiliation in order to dwell upon several
features of his work as the enthroned Messiah. It com
prehends in its representation (1) the resurrection. This
is simply stated without an unfolding of its meaning to
the Church. (2) The enthronement at the right hand of
God in heaven. The Messiah is enthroned far above all
rule as the supreme ruler, over above every name as the

OF THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 193
highest name. His rule not only embraces the present
age of the world, but also the coming age. His enthrone
ment is above every authority and name. This is simi
lar to the having the name above every name of the
Epistle to the Philippians.1 But it also looks at the
darker side of the throne. It is for the subjugation of
all things, just as in the first Epistle to the Corinth
ians.2 The epistle now advances to a conception of the work
of the enthroned Messiah which is new to the Pauline
Christology, as we have thus far studied it. This new
conception becomes the chief theme of the epistle. The
Messiah is Head over all things to the Church. His rule
is in the interests of his Church. The Church is his body,
which he fills full with himself. This doctrine is an
advance upon that of the first Epistle to the Corinth
ians, which represents Christians as one body with vari
ous gifts and employments and the one body as the body
of Christ.3 Here we have the conception of the Church
as one body and of the Messiah in heaven as the Head of
that one body. All Christians here on earth as well as
elsewhere are the body of Christ, They are filled full
with his presence. They are governed and controlled
by the Head who, as transcendent, is head over them
and rules them and makes all things subordinate to him
and to them ; and who, as immanent, fills them with his
own fulness. As the universal ruler he fills all over
which he rules and is in all. But his Church, his own
body, he fills full with his fulness and so makes it the
fulness of his earthly presence. The apostle here
teaches a doctrine which is the counterpart of that of
the Epistle to the Romans. There believers were all

' Phil. ii. 9. See p. 184, 3 1 Cor. xv. 24-28. See p. 115.
3 See p. 105.

194 THE MESSIAH
in Christ. Here Christ is in them. But in both repre
sentations Christ and Christians are one body.
THE CHRISTIAN TEMPLE.
§ 46. The Messiah broke down the barriers between Jew
and Gentile, making them into one new body, the common
wealth, the household of God. He became the corner-stone
of a new temple whose foundations are apostles and prophets,
and whose buildings are believers, who together constitute
a living, growing temple, the habitation of God through
the Holy Spirit.
In the second chapter the epistle sets forth the work
of the Messiah as the Head of the Church. God not only
exalted the Messiah, but also the Church in him.
But God, being rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he
loved us, even when we were dead through our trespasses, quick
ened us together with Christ (by grace have ye been saved), and
raised us up with him, and made us to sit with him in the heav
enly places, in Christ Jesus : that in the ages to come he might
shew the exceeding riches of his grace in kindness toward us
in Christ Jesus : for by grace have ye been saved through faith ;
and that not of yourselves : it is the gift of God : not of works,
that no man should glory. For we are his workmanship, created
in Christ Jesus for good works, which God afore prepared that
we should walk in them. (Ephesians ii. 4-10.)
The organic union of the Messiah and the Church in
one human body is the basis of the conception of the
union of the Messiah and his Church in the entire re
demptive work of God. The redemption had its source
in the great love, the rich mercy of God. This love came
to sinful men in Christ the beloved Son. By virtue of
union with him, they share in the love of God. This love
finds men by nature, as natural men, in a condition of
death and exposure to the wrath of God in the Day of

OF THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 195
His wrath. Their condition is a condition of spiritual
death into which they have come by their trespasses and
sins. They are under the dominion of the evil spirit,
the prince of the power of the air, the devil.1 This is a
somewhat different conception from that of the Epistle
to the Romans, where physical Death had the dominion
over the natural man through his vicegerent Sin.3 Here
Paul teaches that the natural man is in a condition of
spiritual death before he experiences physical death.
While in this condition of spiritual death he was
quickened together with Christ, brought to life with
him. The quickening of the Epistle to the Romans was
a physical quickening which all potentially experienced
at the resurrection of Christ by virtue of their union with
him, the second Adam.3 The quickening here is a spirit
ual quickening which believers experience in virtue of
their union with Christ, by faith and baptism. The his
torical quickening of Christ, his resurrection and en
thronement, are the objective grounds of this spiritual
quickening, resurrection, and enthronement of believers
with him and in him. The Epistle to the Romans dwelt
upon the physical change in believers, the spiritual was
in the background. Here the spiritual man is alone in
view. The purpose of it all is that God may shew the
e«ceeding riches of His grace in kindness toward us
through Christ. In the Epistle to the Romans the out
look was eschatological, here it is soteriological. Accord
ingly salvation is a present experience. Believers have
been saved by the grace of God. They are his workman
ship, created in Christ Jesus.
The workmanship here ' reminds us of the new creature
of the Epistle to the Galatians,' and the regeneration of

1 ii. 1-3. 3 See p. 152. 3 See p. 154.
4 woirijia, ver. 10. * See p. 14s.

196 THE MESSIAH
the Gospel of John.1 The ages to come, in which the
exceeding riches of God's grace in Christ are to be shown,
are the ages subsequent to the present age. The Mes
sianic age of the earlier epistles has become an indefinite
number of ages.3
The general statement of the spiritual benefits, derived
from union with Christ in the present and in the ever
lasting future, prepares the way for the various images
in which these are more fully set forth.
Wherefore remember, that aforetime ye, the Gentiles in the
flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called Cir
cumcision, in the flesh, made by hands; that ye were at that time
separate from Christ, alienated from the com mon wealth of Israel,
and strangers from the covenants of the promise, having no hope
and without God in the world. But now in Christ lesus ye that
once were far off are made nigh in the blood of Christ. For he
is our peace, who made both one, and brake down the middle
wall of partition, having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even
the law of commandments contained in ordinances ; that he
might create in himself of the twain one new man, so making
peace ; and might reconcile them both in one body unto God
through the cross, having slain the enmity thereby : and he came
and preached peace to you that were far off, and peace to them
that were nigh : for through him we both have our access in one
Spirit unto the Father. So then ye are no more strangers and
sojourners, but ye are fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the
household of God, being built upon the foundation of the apostles
and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the chief corner stone ;
in whom each several building, fitly framed together, groweth
into a holy temple in the Lord ; in whom ye also are builded to
gether for a habitation of God in the Spirit. (Ephesians ii. 11-22.)
The apostle reminds his Gentile readers that " at that
time," the time prior to the redemptive activity of
Christ, described in the previous context, they were (a)
1 See The Messiah of the Gospels, -p. 261. 2 See p. 132.

OF THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 197
" separate from Christ." They had not the Messianic
promise which the Jews had. (b) They were " alienated
from the commonwealth of Israel." They were in
hostility to the organized commonwealth of God under
the old dispensation, (c) They were " strangers from
the covenants of the promise." They had not been cir
cumcised into the Abrahamic covenant, and they had no
share in the subsequent covenants. Accordingly they
had not the hope which inspired the Jew ; they had not
the only living and true God of Israel. Such was the
condition of the Gentiles. In these things the Jew had
the advantage over them.
But Jesus Christ once for all changed all this. Every
one of these disadvantages was overcome, so that Jew
and Gentile share in him equally and alike, (a) In Christ
Jesus the Gentiles are no longer separate and afar off, as
they were aforetime ; they are " made nigh in the blood
of Christ." The blood of Christ is doubtless referred
to as the redemptive means, whether conceived of as
sprinkled on the person redeemed, or on the divine
altar. Paul probably is here thinking of the latter in
accordance with his previous usage.1 He conceives
that by the blood of Christ's sin-offering the sins of the
Gentiles are covered at the divine altar, and that right
eousness was gained for them as well as for the Jews.
(b) In Christ Jesus the alienation of Jew and Gentile
has passed away. For Christ abolished the enmity by
breaking down the partition between the commonwealth
of Israel and the Gentiles. That partition consisted in
the Mosaic Law, whose ordinances separated Israel from
the nations and occasioned alienation and hostility.
Christ in his flesh, as an Israelite made under the Law,
suffered the curse of the Law, and delivered the Jew from
» See p. 147.

198 THE MESSIAH
under the Law and its curse,1 so that the partition of the
Law was abolished. Through the death of the cross the
enmity was slain, because the death of the cross was for
Jew and Gentile alike. They have nothing more to be
at enmity about. They have a common reconciliation
unto God. They have one and the same salvation.
Christ made of the commonwealth and its aliens one
commonwealth. He made of the two bodies one new
body. Both alike and together have the same access
unto the Father in the one Holy Spirit and through the
one Messiah.
(c) In Christ the Gentiles are no longer strangers from
the covenants of the promise. They are no longer mere
sojourners, as proselytes, in the inheritance of Israel.
They have an equal share in it with the Jews. The apos
tle uses three successive images to express his mean
ing, all based on Messianic promises of the Old Testa
ment, and making up the hope of Israel. The Gentiles
are " fellow-citizens with the saints." The common
wealth of God is a commonwealth of saints. Jews and
Gentiles are fellow-citizens in that commonwealth, and
therefore have equal rights and privileges as citizens.
The Gentiles have the hope of Israel, they are " of the
household of God," belonging to His family. He is
their Father. They are no longer " without God in the
world." They are more than citizens and brethren of
the same family — they belong to the very temple of
God. This conception is already familiar to us in the
previous writings. The Messiah is the corner-stone of
this holy temple. About him the foundations are laid.
These are the apostles and prophets. The prophets are
not the Old Testament prophets, but the New Testa
ment prophets who are associated with the apostles in
1 See p. 135.

OF THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 199
laying the foundation of the Church. They come next
to the apostles in order, — they, as it were, make the
second row of foundation-stones. This conception of
the apostles as foundation-stones is an elaboration of
the prediction of Jesus that Peter was to be the rock of
the Church.1 The corner-stone and the foundations
having been laid, the structure itself rises, and that in
several buildings all fitly framed together. We have
already seen this thought of Christians as living stones
in the first Epistle of Peter,3 and in the first Epistle to
the Corinthians.3 But the figure here is more elaborate.
The building is in course of erection. It grows as a liv
ing temple. Every stone is living, every building is liv
ing, the whole structure is living and growing. It is not
yet completed. It is to be a holy temple. It is the
habitation of God in the Spirit. The Spirit of God ani
mates it with life and growth. God himself inhabits it
as the living temple, of which the temple in Jerusalem
was the outer form and type.
THE AGE OF AGES.
§ 47. The Church is to make known the manifold wis.
dom of God to the angels, and in the Messianic Age of
ages to manifest the glory of God. Christ dwells in the
hearts of believers and God fills them with His fulness.
In the third chapter Paul reminds the Ephesians that
he had received his commission as an apostle to the Gen
tiles by revelation,4 and that to the holy apostles and
prophets it had also been revealed by the Holy Spirit
that " the Gentiles are fellow-heirs, and fellow-members
of the body, and fellow-partakers of the promise in Christ

1 See The Messiah of the Gospels, p. 189. 3 ii. 5. See p. 50.
8 ill. 10-15. See p. 108. * See pp. 70, 103, 133.

200 THE MESSIAH
Jesus." ¦ This mystery had been hid in the secret pur
pose of God until the present time. Now it was not only
to be known to the Church and the world, but through
the Church to the angels in heaven. They would see in
the Church the unfolding of the manifold wisdom of God
as Jew and Gentile combined in one organism of salva
tion. This was the eternal purpose of God in Christ
Jesus. In accordance with this purpose Paul himself
prays to the Father of all fatherhoods ' on earth and in
heaven, that this manifold wisdom of God may be known
in the Church, that Christ may dwell in the hearts of be
lievers, that they may be filled with the fulness of God.3
In the previous sections of the epistle the Church was
the fulness of Christ, who filled it with himself.4 Here
Christians are filled with the fulness of God the Father.
The temple of the Church was a habitation of God.'
Here Christ dwells in the hearts of the individual mem
bers of the Church, and his knowledge-surpassing love is
the goal of their own loving apprehension.
This part of the epistle concludes with a doxology
which is to resound in the Church and in Christ for ever.
It contemplates the glory of God as manifest at the Parou
sia. It sees that glory in Christ and also in the Church. It
sees that glory in Christ and in his Church in all the gen
erations of the Age of the ages. The vast reaches of the
times of the Messianic Age, correspond with the vast
reaches of the love of Christ and of the wisdom of God
in the previous context. We have already seen that the
Messianic Age of the previous writings had expanded in
the mind of the writer of this epistle to " the ages to

i iii. 6.
3 God is conceived as the Universal Father under whose paternal authority all
men and angels are grouped in fatherhoods— or families of numberless kinds.
3 iii. 14-19. 4 i. 23. See p. 193. « ii. 22. See p. 199.

OF THE EPISTLE TO.THE EPHESIANS 201
come." l These ages are now conceived of as an Age of
ages, an Age of innumerable ages. And these are still
further conceived of as divided into innumerable gener
ations. Through all these generations of the Age of the
ages the glory of God is to be manifested in the Church.
It is evident that the Church has become to the apostle
something more than the organized body of Christians
in this world corresponding with the kingdom of grace,
of the Gospels : it is something more than the mystic
body of Christ for the age of the world. It is here car
ried over into the sphere of the kingdom of glory. It is
conceived of as the body of Christ sounding forth the
glory of God in all the generations of the ages of the Mes
sianic Age.
The conception of the Church has become more defi
nite in this epistle. It no longer needs to be called the
Church of God as in the earlier epistles ; the Church has
now become such an institution that no one can mistake
its meaning.3 LEADING CAPTIVES CAPTIVE.
§ 48. The Messiah ascended to his throne leading cap
tives delivered from Hades. He thence gave the ministry
for the building up of his body, the Church, that it may at
tain perfect manhood after the likeness of the Messiah.
The unity of the body in the Father, the Messiah and the
Spirit is to be zealously maintained.
In the fourth chapter Paul returns to the figure of the
human body.3

1 ii. 7. See p. 196.
3 In the epistles of the imprisonment inK^r/ola is used with the article and
without tov 6eov, Phil. iii. 6 ; Eph. i. 22 ; iii. 10, 21 ; v. 23, 24, 25, 27, 29, 32 ;
Col. i. 18, 24.
3 He elaborates it more fully than the Sgure of the temple, going farther than
the representation of 1 Corinthians xii.

202 THE MESSIAH
I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beseech you to walk
worthily of the calling wherewith ye were called, with all lowli
ness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another
in love; giving diligence to keep the unity of the Spirit in the
bond of peace. There is one body, and one Spirit, even as also
ye were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith,
one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all, and
through all, and in all. But unto each one of us was the grace
given according to the measure of the gift of Christ. Wherefore
he saith, When he ascended on high, he led captivity captive,
and gave gifts unto men.1 (Now this, He ascended, what is it
but that he also descended into the lower parts of the earth ? 2 He
that descended is the same also that ascended far above all the
heavens, that he might fill all things.) And he gave some to be
apostles; and some, prophets ; and some, evangelists ; and some,
pastors and teachers ; for the perfecting of the saints, unto the
work of ministering, unto the building up of the body of Christ :
till we all attain unto the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge
of the Son of God, unto a full-grown man, unto the measure of
the stature of the fulness of Christ : that we may be no longer
children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of
doctrine, by the sleight of men, in craftiness, after the wiles of

1 The quotation differs from the Massoretic and LXX texts, but is in accord
with the Peshitto and the Targum. It was probably a citation from an oral Tar-
gum. The substitution of " gave " for " receive " is important, especially for the
purpose of the citation, to show the distribution of endowments to the several
officers of the Church. The first line of the quotation is, however, in conformity
to the LXX and the Massoretic texts, except in change of person of the verb. The
captives that he led, are captives taken from the enemy, and not the enemies
taken captive. The context of Ps. lxviii. 19 (18), represents the train of the con
queror as consisting of the tribes of Israel with bands of singers.
'' rd KariiTEpa fikpn Tfjc yijc is not the same as -yv yijv or Ttjv yf[v /cd-u,
but involves a contrast between the earth itself and its lower parts. Its
lower parts are the subterranean abodes of the dead, Sheol, Hades. The con
trast is here, as elsewhere, between heaven above and Hades beneath, compre
hending on the one side the lowest descent of the Messiah, and on the other
the highest ascent. The reference to the descent to Hades is recognized by
Tertullian, Jerome, Irenaeus, Pelagius, Erasmus, Bengel, Ruckert, Olshausen,
Delitzsch, Lechler, Ewald, Bleek, Baur, Meyer, Vincent, et al. The must of
those who object to this rendering are influenced by dogmatic considerations and
by opposition to the doctrine, such as Beza, Calvin, Grotius, Hammond, Har-
less, DeWette, Hofmann, Schenkel, Schmid, Beyschlag, et al.

OF THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 203
error ; but speaking truth in love, may grow up in all things into
him, which is the head, even Christ ; from whom all the body
fitly framed and knit together through that which every joint
supplieth, according to the working in due measure of each sev
eral part, maketh the increase of the body unto the building up of
itself in love. (Ephesians iv. 1-16.)
The apostle, in simple but comprehensive terms, sets
forth the ideal of the unity of the Church of Christ. It
is a unity of the Holy Spirit circumscribed by a bond
which is the peace of the Spirit. Within this area of
the peace of the divine Spirit is the unity of the Church.
This unity is to be guarded and zealously maintained.
It is a unity of a triad of trinities. The first triad is in
the Holy Spirit. With him are associated the one body
of the Church and the one hope to which the Church is
called. The second triad is centred in the Lord, the
Messiah. With him are the one faith in him which men
are to exercise, and the one baptism into him which they
are to undergo. The third triad is in God, the Father,
who is over all as transcendent ruler of the universe, over
and above and beyond all ; who is through all as immanent,
sustaining and pervading all things by His almighty in
fluence ; who is also in all as a gracious redemptive
energy of life. Every individual Christian has his place
in this unity assigned him by the reigning Christ.
The Messiah descended at his death into the abode of
the dead. But he did not remain there. He ascended
from among the dead victorious over death. He took
away from death its captives. He led them in his train
in his ascension into heaven.1 There, seated on his

1 These captives of death, taken out from under the dominion of death, can be
no other than those who participated in the resurrection of the Messiah. We
have seen in the Epistle to the Romans that Christ delivered the human race
from the dominion of death and secured them by his resurrection an ultimate
resurrection. But the captives in this passage seem to be not those who parties-

204 THE MESSIAH
heavenly throne, he distributes his gifts to men. These
gifts are different kinds of ministry, but they all have
the same end in view, the perfecting the saints, the min
istering to and building up the Church, the body of the
Messiah. The first Epistle to the Corinthians goes more fully
into this diversity of operations and the necessity of co
operation and mutual love.1 Our epistle looks more at
the end to be accomplished by them. And here we see
a transformation of the body similar to the transforma
tion of the temple in the previous section.3 The one
body is ever growing up unto the Messiah, the head.
Its parts are fitly framed and knit together through that
which every joint supplieth. This thought of a perfect
head and a body in course of construction is complex
and difficult to understand. It is probable that the
apostle is thinking of the growth of the body from early
childhood to full manhood. That is certainly his con
ception when he alludes to the diversity of workers.
They are at first babes liable to be misled, they are to
grow into men and ultimately into full-grown men, into
the measure of the stature of the fulness of the Messiah.
Every member of the body is a miniature of the whole
body, as the Messiah himself is the model of the whole
body and of each member of it. It is probable there
fore that, as the individual Christian is conceived as
growing from infancy into manhood, so the whole body
of Christians passes through the same experience and
does not reach its manhood until one and all have at-

pate in the ultimate resurrection, but those who shared in the resurrection of the
Messiah, those who came up from the abode of the dead in his train. This then
is that intermediate resurrection from the abode of the dead to be with Christ in
heaven, which is the privilege of some since the resurrection of Christ. See
John v. 25 ; The Messiah of the Gospels, pp. 275, 276.
'Seep. 103 • See p. 199.

OF THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 205
tained the perfection of the Messiah. Accordingly we
have an involved figure of speech which corresponds
with that of the living and growing stones of the temple.
The Messiah is the temple of God, every Christian is a
temple and the whole Church is the temple. So the
Messiah is the perfect man, every Christian is to become
a perfect man, and the whole Church is to become the
perfect man. The organic and vital union of the Mes
siah with his people involves this threefold relation.
THE GLORIOUS CHURCH.
§ 49. In Christ God forgives and the Holy Spirit seals
belhvers for the day of redemption. Christ is the whole
burnt-offering, a sweet odour unto God for us. He is the
head, husband, and Saviour of the Church. He cleanses it
in baptism, sanctifies it and makes it holy, and finally
makes it a glorious Church. The wicked have no inherit
ance in the kingdom.
In the hortatory part of the epistle there are several
indirect Christological references. The readers of the
epistle are exhorted, " grieve not the Holy Spirit of God,
in whom ye were sealed unto the day of redemption." 1
This sealing of the Spirit in a previous section was an
earnest of the inheritance unto the redemption of God's
own possession ; 3 here the Day of redemption is in view.
The Day of the Lord in the previous references 3 becomes
here the Day of redemption, because the redemptive
work of that day is in view, instead of the retribution
which is prominent in the other passages.
The doctrine of forgiveness of sins is again taught,
but in different terms. God forgiving them in Christ is
the model for their forgiving each other.'
1 iv. 30. ' i 13, 14. 3 See pp. 85, 107.
4 Xapifrfiai is a word only used in the New Testament in the writings of Paul

206 THE MESSIAH
The imitation of God, in His gracious forgiveness of
sins, leads on to the more comprehensive advice to be
imitators of God as beloved children and to walk in love
as Christ walked in love. The love of Christ is held up
for imitation here, as the mind of Christ had been held
up in the Epistle to the Philippians.1 There the mind
of Christ was presented in his entire ministry from his
Kenosis to his lordship over all. Here the love of
Christ is presented in the sacrifice of himself which he
made. In this sacrifice Christ gave himself for us. His
sacrifice was a gift of love in order to redeem us.3 The
sacrifice is spoken of in terms which seem to imply that
it is the whole burnt-offering the apostle has in view.
The terms for offering and sacrifice are general, and
therefore would not necessarily imply any one of the
special sacrifices of the Old Testament ; yet the specifi
cation " for an odour of a sweet smell '' is only appropri
ate to the whole burnt-offering in which the offering
ascended in the flame to God as an act of worship.3
Thus Christ is here conceived of as a whole burnt-offer
ing, ascending to God in behalf of all and making all
accepted by God. His offering was a love gift. It gave
forth the odour of a sweet smell. God accepted it as
most pleasing to Him. Christians may imitate Christ in
the whole burnt-offering. They may not be a sin-offer
ing, or an offering of the covenant, but they may be a
whole burnt-offering. Accordingly Paul, in the Epistle
to the Romans, had exhorted : " present your bodies a
living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God." 4 In the earlier

and Luke. It has the meaning of forgiveness of men by men, Luke vii. 42, 43 ;
2 Cor. ii. 7, 10, 10, 10 ; xii. 13 ; Eph. iv. 32 ; Col. iii. 13 ; of forgiveness of men
by God, only in the two Epistles of the Imprisonment, Eph. iv. 32 ; Col. ii. 13 ;
iii- 13-
1 See p. 179. " v. i, 2. 3 Gen. viii. 21 ; Ex. xxix. [8, 23.
* xii. 1.

OF THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 207
Paulinism the Messiah was a sin-offering, and the blood
of the sin-offering was emphasized. Here, in connection
with Christ as the whole burnt-offering, the blood has no
place. Paul warns the Ephesians that no wicked man " hath
any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God." '
The kingdom of God as an inheritance is a common con
ception of Paul.3 The kingdom of God is often used.
Here for the first the kingdom is also the kingdom of
Christ. Paul fortifies his exhortation to wives and husbands
by using as an illustration and model the relation of
Christ to his Church. This he conceives of as a relation
of marriage. -
For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the
head of the church, being himself the saviour of. the body. But
as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives also be to their
husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, even as
Christ also loved the church, and gave himself up for it; that he
might sanctify it, having cleansed it by the washing of water
with the word, that he might present the church to himself a
glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing ;
but that it should be holy and without blemish, (v. 23-27.)
Christ is the head of the Church as in the previous sec
tions,3 but he is also the Saviour of his body, the Church.
The conception of salvation in Christ is a familiar one to
the earlier Paulinism, but first in the epistles of the im
prisonment is Christ called Saviour.'
He is the Saviour of the Church because of the work
of salvation he has to do for the Church, as described in

' v. 5. 3 See pp. 80, 106, 142. 3 See pp. 188, 203.
* See Phil. iii. 20 ; 2 Tim. i. 10; Titus i. 4 ; ii. 13 ; iii. 6 ; and the discourse
of Paul in Acts xiii. 23, for the Pauline usage. But it is found in the discourse
of Peter in Acts v. 31 ; 2 Peter i. 1*11 ; ii. 20 ; iii. n, 18 ; 1 John iv. 14 ; John
iv. 42, and in the Gospel of the Infancy, Luke ii. 11.

208 THE MESSIAH
the subsequent context. This salvation begins in his
redemptive love. He loved the Church as a husband
should love his wife. His love was so great that he gave
himself up for it, a sacrifice of whole burnt-offering to
God, as in the previous context.1 The purpose of the
Saviour in giving himself for his Church was to save it.
This salvation is unfolded in three stages, (a) By bap
tism he cleanses the Church. Each member goes into
the bath of baptism and comes out of it cleansed from
sin, a new man in Christ Jesus. The whole body of the
Church, baptized by the one baptism, is cleansed by
Christ in the bath of baptism, (b) He sanctifies the
Church. This sanctification is interpreted by some as if
it were the sanctification of consecration, which is the
positive side of the act of cleansing.3 But it is better to
regard it as the process of sanctification, the making
holy.3 This is favored by the fact that sanctification is
made so prominent in the purpose of the salvation, and
that it is so closely connected with the glory of the
Church. The glorious Church must be holy and without
blemish. This is much more than cleansing ; it is a -posi
tive holiness of the Church and such a blameless condi
tion that it may endure the test of the Day of judgment.
It is therefore parallel with the goal of sanctification so
frequently referred to in the epistles of Paul," and espe
cially in this identical language, in the first section of our
Epistle.6 (c) The final stage of the salvation is to " present to
himself a glorious Church." This glory of the Church
can be no other than the glory of the kingdom at the
second Advent, the glory of the inheritance. The
apostle therefore sees that the Church is to be glorified
1 v. 2. 3 So i Cor. vi. n. Seep. 104. 3 1 Cor. i. 30. See p. 103.
' See pp. 85, 107, 165. » See p. 189.

OF THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS 209
after it has been sanctified, and that Jesus Christ as Sav
iour has not accomplished his work of salvation until his
Church has been made glorious. He conceives of a
Church of glory as well as a Church of grace. The
Pauline conception of the Church thus virtually covers
the ground of the kingdom of the Gospels. This is in
accord with a previous section where the glory of God
in the Church is to be manifest for all the generations of
the ages of the Messianic Age.1 The sanctification of the
Church is carried on by Christ with all the loving regard
of a husband to his bride. He loves it, he nourishes it,
he cherishes it, and it is subject to his government.
The Messianic idea of the Old Testament uses the
marriage relation both to set forth the relation of the
Messianic king to his people and the nations of the
world, and the relation of Yahweh to Israel.3 We meet
it now for the first time in the Christology of the New
Testament. THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS.
This epistle is so kindred to the Epistle to the Ephe-
sians that they must either have been written about the
same time by the same author, or else the one is in imi
tation of the other and they are by different authors.
The two have to meet similar errors, and they teach
similar truths. Some give the priority in time to the
Epistle to the Ephesians, others to the Epistle to the
Colossians. Some have regarded the one, others the
other, as a later assimilation. The Christology of the
Epistle to the Colossians is certainly further developed
than that of the Epistle to the Ephesians.

1 See p. 200. a Briggs, Messianic Prophecy, pp. 482, 493.

210 THE MESSIAH
THE IMAGE OF THE INVISIBLE GOD.
§ SO. Christ in his pre-existence was the image of the
invisible God, the first-born prior to all creation, through
whom all things were created and in whom they consist.
God reconciles all things, men, and angels to Himself
through the blood of the cross. Christ is the first-bor?i
from the dead, the head of his body the Church. In all
things he is to have the pre-eminence. All the fulness of
God dwells in his body. God delivered the faithful from
the realm of darkness and transferred them into the king
dom of the Son of His love. They have forgiveness of sins
and their hope is an inheritance in the light.
In the first chapter the epistle begins with a brief ref
erence to the hope which is laid up in the heavens.1
This is the thing hoped for. It is the inheritance of the
Epistle to the Ephesians.3 It is the inheritance of the
saints in the realm of light which is the introduction to
the Messianic idea and is the burden of the prayers of
the apostle.
Giving thanks unto the Father, who made us meet to be par
takers of the inheritance of the saints in light ; who delivered us
out of the power of darkness, and translated us into the kingdom
of the Son of his love ; in whom we have our redemption, the
forgiveness of our sins : who is the image of the invisible God,
the first-born of all creation ; for in him were all things created,
in the heavens and upon the earth, things visible and things in
visible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or
powers ; all things have been created through him, and unto
him ; and he is before all things, and in him all things consist.
And he is the head of the body, the church : who is the begin
ning, the first-born from the dead ; that in all things he might
have the pre-eminence. For it was the good pleasure of the
1 i- 5- * i. i3i 14.

OF THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS 211
Father that in him should all the fulness dwell ; and through
him to reconcile all things unto himself, having made peace
through the blood of his cross ; through him, / say, whether
things upon the earth, or things in the heavens. And you, being
in time past alienated and enemies in your mind in your evil
works, yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh
through death, to present you holy and without blemish and
unreproveable before him. (Col. i. 12-22.)
We have first to notice the antithesis between the in
heritance in light and the authority of darkness. The
inheritance in light is the future inheritance of the saints
in the region of light, in the kingdom of glory, where
their hope is laid up in store for them. The authority
of darkness is the authority that rules over the realm of
darkness, the evil superhuman power who dominates
men, that live in the gloom and darkness of the world
of sin and death. As the Epistle to the Romans saw the
natural man under the dominion of Death and his vice
gerent Sin,1 this epistle sees him in spiritual darkness
and death under the dominion of an evil angelic author
ity. This is doubtless the same as the devil with his
principalities, authorities, world-rulers, and spiritual hosts
of wickedness, of the Epistle to the Ephesians.3 Be
lievers have been delivered from that authority of dark
ness. They have been translated into another dominion.
This dominion is the kingdom of the Son of God's love.
This translation is not something in the future. It be
longs to the experience of Paul and the Colossians.
They are no longer in the bondage of the prince of
darkness. They are already in the kingdom of the Son
of God's love. Elsewhere in the Pauline epistles the king
dom has always had an eschatological reference and has
been an inheritance, a kingdom of glory. At first glance
¦ See p. 151. * vi. 11, 12.

212 THE MESSIAH
the kingdom here is entirely different, as it apparently
refers to a kingdom into which all Christians are con
ceived as already translated. This is the view I have
had of this passage for many years. But my final study
of it, in its connection with the Messianic conception of
the Epistles of the Imprisonment, leads me to the opin
ion that the kingdom is eschatological here also. It is
parallel with the inheritance in light. As the kingdom
is elsewhere an inheritance, its parallelism with inherit
ance and its substitution for it in a common antithesis
to authority of darkness, favors that reference here.
The only difficulty is in explaining how Christians may
be said to be transferred into a kingdom which in its
nature is eschatological. The solution of this difficulty
is found in the parallelism with citizenship in heaven of
the Epistle to the Philippians ; ' and with the life hid with
Christ of our Epistle.3 The kingdom of Christ is where
he reigns as king in heaven. It will first be manifested
with him at the second Advent. There in heaven is the
life of the Christian, his citizenship, and his place in the
kingdom. It is a reality, but it is a hidden, spiritual
reality, not a visible manifested reality in this world.
Believers have been delivered from the authority of
darkness, although they still live in bodily presence in
this world and are obliged to battle with that authority.
They have been translated into the kingdom of God's
Son, although they as yet live in that kingdom only by
spiritual presence. The kingdom of the Son of His love
not only designates the kingdom as that of God's Son,
as in the Epistle to the Ephesians it is " the kingdom
of Christ and God "; a but it represents this kingdom as
an object of the love of God. God loves His Son and

1 See p. 186. 3 See p. 223. » Eph. v. 5. See p. 207.

OF THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS 213
the kingdom that belongs to His Son. The Son of His
love is a richer expression than the Beloved of the
Epistle to the Ephesians.1
This wonderful deliverance wrought by God through
his Son leads to the contemplation of the person and
work of the Son of God on such a comprehensive scale
that it transcends all that we have seen thus far in our
studies. We shall compare its various statements with
similar representations of the earlier Paulinism.
(I.) We have to consider the pre-existence of the Son
of God. We have met with intimations of the pre-ex
istence of the Messiah in the earlier Paulinism, but no
direct statement except in the Epistle to the Philip-
pians.2 There the Messiah was originally in the form of
God prior to his Kenosis. Here the pre-existence is
conceived of in somewhat different terms which more
fully unfold the deity of the Messiah, {a) He was the
" first-born of all creation," " before all things." These
phrases remind one of the pre-existent Wisdom, the en
ergy of Yahweh of the Book of Proverbs.3 They repre
sent that the Messiah was prior to all things. These
"all things" in the subsequent context embrace several
ranks of angelic beings and therefore comprehend all
things in heaven and on earth, in the entire universe of
God. Christ was in pre-existence before the work of
creation began, as the first-born of all creation. All
creation was subsequent in birth to him. Strictly this
might imply that the Messiah was also born as a creature,4

1 Eph. i. 6. See p. 189. 3 See p. 180. 3 Proverbs viii.
4 So Beyschlag, Neutest. Theologie, ii., s. 83, argues with great force that
•n-purdTOKOc in tuv VEKpav, Col. i. 18, means first-born among those who rose
from the dead ; and npuTdTOnov iv itoaao'ic oSea^o'ic, Rom. viii. 29, implies
many sons of God. It is most natural, therefore, here to think of the Messiah
as the first-born among all creatures. This much must be conceded.

214 THE MESSIAH
but it does not force to that opinion, for it is manifestly
used in order to represent his pre-existence prior to all
things else.
(b) But his pre-existence was not as a creature, he was
creator. All things were created in him and through
him. " In him all things consist." Through him, as
agent, all created things have their origin, and in him
they continue to exist. He is the medium of the crea
tion and of the providential work of God in the creation.
This reminds us again of the office of Wisdom in the
Book of Proverbs.
(c) The epistle rises now to the higher thought that
the Messiah is " the image of the invisible God," the
image in which the invisible God makes Himself visible,
the medium of God's revelation of Himself to His crea
tion. This is a doctrine which is new to the Pauline the
ology. There is a single passage in the second Epistle
to the Corinthians which might be regarded as a prepa
ration for this doctrine: " who shined in our hearts, to give
the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the
face of Jesus Christ." 1 But this only represents the face
of Jesus Christ as reflecting the glory of God as the
face of Moses reflected that glory, and it refers to the
work of the enthroned Messiah, and not to his pre-exist
ence. Jesus in his pre-existence was the image of the
invisible God, just as in the Wisdom of Solomon the
Wisdom of God is personified.
She is the breath of the power of God,
And a pure influence flowing from the glory of the Almighty:
Therefore can no defiled thing fall into her.
For she is the effulgence 2 of the everlasting light,
The unspotted mirror of the power of God,

1 2 Cor. iv. 6. 2 dirabyaa/xa furbc aidlov. See Heb. i. 3.

OF THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS 215
/
And the image ' of his goodness.
And being one, she can do all things :
And abiding in herself, she maketh all things new :
And in all ages entering into holy souls,
She maketh them friends of God, and prophets. (Wisdom vii. 25-27.)
Jesus as the Wisdom of God, manifest in the salvation
of man, is also the Wisdom of God in his pre-existence,
and as such not only the image of His goodness, but still
more of His invisible self.3 It is evident that the Epistle
is here tending toward the Alexandrian philosophy in a
way which is foreign to the other epistles and which re
minds us of the theology of John rather than of the the
ology of Paul. And yet if the apostle in his later years
had to meet errors that had sprung up out of Hellenistic
philosophy, it was quite natural that he should do so by
eliminating the true Wisdom from the false Wisdom,
just as in his earlier epistles he had overcome the false
legalism by the righteousness of Christ.
However we may explain the genesis of this epistle, it
unfolds the doctrine of the pre-existent 'Messiah beyond
anything that we could be prepared to expect from our
study of the other epistles. To the doctrine of the
form of God, in the Epistle to the Philippians, we have
added the doctrine that the pre-existent Son of God was
the mediator between God and the creature, in creation,
in providence, and in redemption.
(II.) The humiliation of the Messiah is in the shadow
of this passage. It is brought into view under the
Father's work of reconciliation. The Father reconciles

1 e'ikov rr/g dyafidTTjToc avTOv.
3 Beyschlag, Neutest. Theologie, ii., s. 80, thinks that the incorporation of this
conception of Wisdom with the historical Christ leads the apostle to overlook
the distinction between an idea and a person, and that so the idea is conceived
of as a person.

216 THE MESSIAH
all things unto Himself through the Son.1 In the Epis
tle to the Ephesians the Son of God reconciled Jew and
Gentile in one body unto God through the cross. Here
it is God the Father who reconciles to Himself all things
through the Son. The reconciliation of Jew and Gen
tile, all mankind, of the Epistle to the Ephesians, has
now expanded into heavenly things as well as earthly
things. These heavenly things that God reconciles to
Himself through the Son are the thrones, dominions,
principalities, and powers of the invisible world, men
tioned in the previous context. This seems to imply a
realm of evil spirits whom God reconciles to Himself,3
and that Christ is the medium of reconciliation for the
heavenly beings as well as for men on the earth.
The reconciliation to God is accomplished through
the blood of the cross, through the blood shed upon the
cross by the Messiah. The mode of the use of this
blood to effect reconciliation is not stated. It is prob
able that we are to think of the blood of the sin-offering
applied to the heavenly altar to cleanse it from sin.
The reconciliation is also stated to be through the death
of the Messiah, and in the body of his flesh. The body
of his flesh is to be understood of the fleshly body in
1 dwoKaTaAAd^ai only here i. 20, 21, and Eph. ii. 16. Vincent, Word Studies,
iii., p. 474, well says : " The compounded preposition otto gives the force of
back, hinting at restoration to a primal unity."
3 Fairbairn, Place of Christ in Modern Theology, p. 319, well says : " The
old antithesis of Adam and Christ is not denied, but it has disappeared, or been
sublimed into a higher— the Son and the prince of the power of the air, the king
dom of light and of darkness. The categories of time and history have thus
ceased to be here applicable ; sin is no longer an affair of man or earth, but of
the universe. The conflict against it is extra-temporal ; its field is the whole
realm of mental being, the protagonists God and the devil. The soteriology is
as the cosmology ; the arena and the range of the creative and the redemptive
energies are coincident and coextensive ; in other words, what had been earlier
conceived as a question of God and man is now conceived as a question of God
and the universe."

OF THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS 217
which the Messiah died on the cross, the body in the
likeness of sinful flesh, of the Epistle to the Romans.1
This reconciliation unto God has as its aim " to present
you holy and without blemish and unreproveable before
him." This is the standing expression for the character
which believers must have in order to sustain the tests
of the Day of judgment.3 Parallel with the reconcilia
tion on the part of God is the " redemption " and " the
forgiveness of our sins." These are essentially the same
as the " redemption through his blood " and the " for
giveness of our trespasses," of the Epistle to the Ephe
sians,3 and therefore to be conceived of as enjoyed by
believers as a present possession, when they are deliv
ered out of the authority of darkness.
(III.) The doctrine of the resurrection and the medi
atorial reign is richer, (a) Christ is " the beginning, the
first-born from the dead," as in the first Epistle to the
Corinthians he was the firstfruit.4 The beginning in the
resurrection implies a* succession of others to follow.
The first-born implies other subsequent births, just as
the firstfruit implies the harvest. The conception of the
resurrection as a birth we have had already in the Epistle
to the Romans.6 (b) As the enthroned Messiah, he is the
Head of his body the Church, as in the Epistle to the
Ephesians." (c) The purpose of God " that in all things
he might have the pre-eminence," is essentially the same
as " the name which is above every name " of the Epistle
to the Philippians,' and the summing up of all things in
him of the Epistle to the Ephesians.6 (d) " It was the
good pleasure of the Father that in him should all the
fulness dwell." All the fulness here must refer to the

1 See p. 158. 3 See pp. 85, 107, 189. 3 i. 7. See p. 189.
• 1 Cor. xv. 20. See p. 114. B i. 4. See p. 143. * v . 23. See p. 207.
' ii. 9. See p. 184. 8 i. 10. See p. 190.

218 THE MESSIAH
fulness of God. The fulness of God dwells in the Mes
siah. This is more fundamental than the teaching of
the Epistle to the Ephesians that the Messiah himself
fills all things, and that he fills the Church with his ful
ness.1 The fulness of God dwells in Christ, as the ful
ness of Christ is in Christ's Church.
The apostle represents that he is filling up that which
is lacking of the afflictions of Christ. The sufferings of
Christ for his body the Church continue in the suffer
ings of Paul for the Church. He suffers in his flesh for
it, as Christ suffered in the flesh for it.3 Christ dwell
ing in the believers is their hope of glory. In him the
glory they hope for is contained. It is to be found in
him and in him alone at his Parousia.3 Paul labors to
present every one of them perfect in Christ at that
time." THE MYSTERY OF GOD.
§ 51. The Messiah is the Mystery of God in whom are
hid all the treasures of Wisdom. In him dwelleth all the
fulness of the Godhead bodily. On the cross the ordinances
against us were blotted out and God triumphed over all
enemies in the Messiah. His people died, were buried,
rose again, and ascended to heaven m him. Enthroned in
heaven he is the Head of all things, the centre of the be
lievers'' life and hope. When he shall be manifested then
will they be manifested with him in glory.
In the second chapter the author enlarges upon the
Christology of the first chapter. The apostle is anxious
that the Colossians and the Laodiceans may be " knit
together in love," and that " they may know the mys
tery of God, Christ, in whom are all the treasures of
1 i. 23. See p. 192. 3 i. 24. 3 i. 27. « j. 28, 29.

OF THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS 219
wisdom and knowledge hidden." ' The Messiah, as the
mediator of creation, providence, and redemption, is the
Mystery of God, the only one through whom the mys
tery of the invisible God can be known. In him, there
fore, is wrapped up and hidden all wisdom and all knowl
edge. He is the great teacher and the only path of
wisdom. The Colossians are to beware of other teachers
than the Messiah.
For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily, and
in him ye are made full, who is the head of every principality and
power : in whom ye were also circumcised with a circumcision
not made with hands, in the putting off of the body of the flesh,
in the circumcision of Christ ; having been buried with him in
baptism, wherein ye were also raised with him through faith in
the working of God, who raised him from the dead. And you,
being dead through your trespasses and the uncircumcision of
your flesh, you, I say, did he quicken together with him, having
forgiven us all our trespasses ; having blotted out the bond writ
ten in ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us :
and he hath taken it out of the way. nailing it to the cross ; hav
ing put off from himself the principalities and the powers, he
made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in him.2
(Col. ii. 9-15.)
The Christology of this passage is rich in its unfold
ing of the work of Christ in his two states of humiliation
and of exaltation. (1) The state of exaltation first ap-

1 "• 2, 3-
3 Commentators differ very much in their interpretation of iv avru. The
R. V. follows Meyer and most modern interpreters in referring it back to
TijioTavpQ (ver. 14). But Erasmus, Melancthon, Bengel, De Wette, Vincent,
and others rightly refer it to Christ. This is correct, because the whole section
has to do with him : iv ovtu dwells all the fulness of the Godhead (ver. 9) ;
iv abru are ye made full (ver. 10) ; iv J ye were circumcised (ver. 11) ; aiiTu
buried (ver. 12) ; iv u, raised from the dead (ver. 12) ; aim aiiru made alive
(ver. 13). The clause (ver. 14, 15), giving what God wrought for us in the for
giveness of sin, blotting out the bond apainst us, triumphing over the evil spirits,
is brought to a climax in the statement, 6pia/j./3Evaac avrovc iv amy.

220 THE MESSIAH
pears in the representation, (a) " In him dwelleth all
the fulness of the Godhead bodily." As the Mystery of
God, in whom all the treasures of wisdom and knowl
edge are hidden, he is filled full with all that may be
known of God. It pleased God that in him all fulness
should dwell.1 He is full of God. Being in the body of
man in which he was born into the world and in which
he rose from the dead and ascended into heaven, the
fulness of the Godhead is in the body of the enthroned
Messiah. There is an antithesis between the fulness
with God as the enthroned Messiah and the emptiness
of the divine rank and equality, of the Epistle to the
Philippians.3 The emptiness was during his state of
humiliation, from his birth until the descent into the
abode of the dead. The fulness of the Godhead came
into the body of the risen and enthroned Messiah. En
throned in heaven, he is no longer empty but full, full
not only with the form of God which he had prior to
the Kenosis, but full with the entire Godhead in his
bodily form, (b) He " is the head of every principality
and power." These are the angel authorities, as in the
previous context,3 over whom the Messiah is pre-emi
nent. In the previous epistles all things were in course
of subjection under the feet of the Messiah,4 and he was
ruling over all.6 Here he is the head of all angelic au
thorities. (2) The apostle looks back from the enthroned Mes
siah to his work prior to the enthronement. This work
in all its parts is shared in by all believers by virtue of
their mystic, organic union with him, just as in the
Epistle to the Romans."
(a) The putting off of the flesh of the body in death
1 i. 19. 3 See p. 181. 3 i. 16.
1 See p. 114. » Sec p. 184. « See p. 164.

OF THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS 221
is regarded as a circumcision. Christ was thus circum
cised when he put off not merely the flesh of his fore
skin, but the flesh of his human body. By union with
him in his death all believers were circumcised with him.
As circumcision initiated into the covenant with Abra
ham and all its benefits, this circumcision in the death
of Christ initiated believers into all the benefits of
Christ's covenant. They were dead through their tres
passes and, as Gentiles, uncircumcised in their flesh prior
to their initiation into Christ. Just so in the Epistle to
the Ephesians, they were in a state of spiritual death
when God quickened them.1 This quickening was due
to the fact that God had forgiven us all our trespasses.3
It was connected with the blotting out of the bond
that was against us. The bond was the Law with its
ordinances, which bore testimony to our sin and con
demned us to the curse of the Law and the death-pen
alty of sin. This bond of condemnation was taken out
of the way by nailing it to the cross. It was nailed to
the cross when Christ was nailed there. As the Epistle
to the Galatians represents, he was made a curse for us
and hung upon the tree, suffering the death-penalty of
the Law to redeem us from under the Law.3 When
Christ died, the Law and its opposing ordinances were
taken out of the way, blotted out and rendered invalid
once for all and forever.
(b) We were " buried with him in baptism." So in
the Epistle to the Romans we were baptized into his
death and buried through the baptism into his death."
The baptism is used here as parallel with circumcision in
the previous clause. This epistle having used circum
cision in connection with the death of Christ, where the

1 ii. s. -' cf . Eph. iv. 32.
8 See p. 13s. See P- JS4-

222 THE MESSIAH
Epistle to the Romans had used baptism, it was now
necessary either that circumcision should be used in con
nection with the burial also, or that it should give place
to the parallel conception of baptism. Baptism initiates
into the new covenant of Christ as a ceremonial purifi
cation, just as circumcision initiated into the Old Cove
nant. (c) We were also raised with him from the dead. This
resurrection is through faith in the working of God, who
raised Christ from the dead. This epistle leaves the
physical resurrection of believers, which was kept in
mind in the Epistle to the Romans,1 in order, as in the
Epistle to the Ephesians, to emphasize the spiritual
quickening.3 (d) In connection with the resurrection of Christ, God
is represented as despoiling principalities and powers
and making an open show of them in triumph. These
principalities and powers are manifestly the same as
those previously referred to,3 and therefore angels.
They are hostile angels, because God triumphs over them
gloriously. This triumph seems to be connected with
the death and resurrection of Christ. It is not, therefore,
the same as the subjugation of enemies during his reign,
of the first Epistle to the Corinthians.4 It reminds us
of the triumph of the ascending Messiah of the Epistle
to the Ephesians.6 There he led in his train captives
whom he had rescued from the world below. Here
there is a triumph over hostile angels. God triumphs
here and makes a display of His conquered enemies.
But the triumph is in Christ, as all the other phases of
the redemptive work are in him. This triumph of God
over hostile angels is to be compared with His reconcili-
1 See p. 155. 3 Sde p. 195. a i. 16 ; ii. 10.
* See p. 114. 0 See p. 203.

OF THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS 223
ation unto Himself of all things in the heaven through
the Messiah. There is therefore a work of conflict, of
victory, and of redemption among the angels as well as
among men, living and dead, in connection with the
death and resurrection of the Messiah.
The exhortation of the apostle rises in several stages
on the basis of these Christological facts, and there is a
constant return to the conception of the mystic union
with Christ, and all the Messianic idea involved therein.
He exhorts to hold fast " the Head, from whom all the
body, being supplied and knit together through the
joints and bands, increaseth with the increase of God." ¦
This is the same thought of the growth of the Church
as a body with Christ as the Head, which we have
studied in the Epistle to the Ephesians.3
Believers died with Christ, and so died to all the ordi
nances of law. They rose with Christ to a new life.
They should live in that life.
If then ye were raised together with Christ, seek the things
that are above, where Christ is, seated on the right hand of God.
Set your mind on the things that are above, not on the things
that are upon the earth. For ye died, and your life is hid with
Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall be manifested,3
then shall ye also with him be manifested in glory. (Col. iii. 1-4.)
The epistle here contemplates the Messiah in heaven
at the right hand of God, as the centre, the seat, and the
source of the life of all Christians. Their mind is to be
directed thither, and heavenly things are to be their chief
employment. This is to be the experience of Christians
during the heavenly reign. But they are also to look
forward to the manifestation at the Advent, for that is
1 ii. 19. 3 See p. 193. ' (pavEpuBy.

221 THE MESSIAH
a manifestation of glory in which they are to share.
This is similar to the doctrine of the Epistle to the
Philippians,1 only there the heavenly commonwealth is
emphasized, here the heavenly Messiah. During the en
tire period of the reign of the Messiah prior to his man
ifestation, the life of Christians is a hidden life. They
died with Christ on the cross, they rose with him and as
cended into heaven with him, and they live in him. Their
life is hidden while he is hidden in heaven. Their life
will come into manifestation when he is manifested.
This life is the physical life as in the Epistle to the Ro
mans. But wrapt up in that physical life is a spiritual
life. This spiritual life begins with faith in Jesus Christ
and baptism into his name. It is also a hidden life, be
cause it is the life of the spirit of the believer in the life
of the Spirit of Christ. Christ is that life as its original
source and perennial fountain.
1 See p. 187.

CHAPTER VII.
THE MESSIAH OF THE PASTORAL EPISTLES.
The group of epistles called the Pastoral Epistles on
account of the stress laid upon the government and dis
cipline of the Church, embracing the two Epistles to
Timothy and the Epistle to Titus, give evidence of a
considerably later date of composition than the epistles
of the imprisonment just considered. If these betray a
later Paulinism, and are therefore disputed as to their
genuineness, still more is this the case with the Pastoral
Epistles. The doctrine of the constitution and offices of
the Church is further developed than in any other writ
ings in the New Testament. Christian doctrine has be
come fixed in a body of teaching. Christology is more
a creed and less a life. The incipient Gnosticism of the
Epistle to the Colossians is in a more developed form.
As Lightfoot says : " Taking into account all the con
ditions of the problem — the internal character of the
Epistles themselves as regards style and teaching, no less
than the historical notices which they contain, whether
relating to the Church at large, or to personal matters — we
arrive at this simple result, that they cannot be placed
within the compass of the history contained in the Acts,
and that they must have been written after the other let
ters of the Apostle, towards the close of his life. The
later criticism, based on a deeper appreciation of the
style of the Pastoral Epistles, is obviously tending to
(225)

226 THE MESSIAH
this result, though there are still some important excep
tions, and it may be safely predicted that the alternative
of placing them at the close of the Apostle's life, or of
abandoning the Pauline authorship, will be accepted
by both impugners and defenders alike, as common
ground." 1
The Christology is not without development, although
it is much less prominent than in any one of the Christo-
logical epistles. We shall embrace all the material of each
epistle in single and separate sections. Sanday dates the
first Epistle to Timothy from Macedonia A.D. 65 or 66,
the Epistle to Titus from Macedonia A.D. 66, and the
second Epistle to Timothy from Rome A.D. 67.
THE ONE MEDIATOR.
§ 52. Christ is the one mediator, who came into the world
to give himself a ransom for all and to save sinners. He
witnessed a good confession before Pilate. He was mani
fested in the flesh, justified in the spirit, seen of angels,
preached among the nations, believed on in the world, and
taken up in glory by the Church, which holds him up as
the Truth, the Mystery of godliness, on itself as a pillar
and ground. Christ is longsuffering in dealing with sin
ners. He is the hope of Christians. In the last ii;::cs there
will be an apostasy. Christians must be without spot or re
proach at his Epiphany.
The first Epistle to Timothy begins with the concep
tion of God as our Saviour and of Christ Jesus as our
hope.3 God our Saviour is a new phrase of Paul, which
is confined in his usage to the Pastoral Epistles.3 The
1 Biblical Essays, pp. 399, 400. 3 i. 1.
a 1 Tim. i. 1 ; ii. 3 ; iv. 10 ; Titus i. 3 ; ii. 10 ; iii. 4 ; elsewhere in the New
Testament in the song of the Virgin, Luke i. 47, and in Jude 25. It is frequent
in the second Isaiah.

OF THE PASTORAL EPISTLES 227
Messiah as the Hope, we have met in the Epistle to the
Colossians as the " Hope of Glory." ' The apostle
alludes to his own experience of salvation :
Faithful is the saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that
Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners ; of whom I am
chief : howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me as chief
might Jesus Christ shew forth all his longsuffering, for an en-
sample of them which should hereafter believe on him unto eter
nal life. (l Tim. i. 15, 16.)
The Messiah came into the world.3 This does not
necessarily imply pre-existence, but, inasmuch as the
pre-existence of the Messiah is plainly taught in the
subsequent context, it is better to think of the pre-exist
ence here and to see the purpose of his coming into the
world from pre-existence to save sinners. The mode
of salvation is not stated. The apostle returns to this
theme later on. The longsuffering of the Messiah in
his dealings with Paul, who was the chief of sinners in
that he persecuted the Messiah in his disciples, is an ex
ample of his longsuffering in his dealings with other
sinners whom he came to save. Though sinners, they
may be saved and may look for an eternal life through
faith in the Messiah. The salvation is more fully set
forth in the following passage:
This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour ;
who willeth that all men should be saved, and come to the
knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, one mediator
also between God and men, himself man, Christ Jesus, who gave
himself a ransom for all ; the testimony to be borne in its own
times. (1 Tim. ii. 3-6.)
God Himself is our Saviour. He willeth that all men

1 Col. i. 27. See p. 218.
3 This is a phrase of John i. 9 ; vi. 14 ; xi. 27, etc. It is not used in the Paul
ine epistles thus far considered,

228

THE MESSIAH

should be saved. When the Son of God came into the
world to save sinners, he came in accordance with the
will of God the Father. He came to give himself a
ransom ' for all. He gave his entire self in a work of
interposition and of mediation, so as to cover and pur
chase the redemption of all for whom he mediates. He
mediates for all men, because God willeth that all men
should be saved. He is a ransom for all. The Mesr
siah is the one mediator, as God is the one God ; there
can be no other mediator, no other ransom, no other
salvation. If men are not saved it is because they re
fuse the one mediator and his one and only salvation.
The one mediator here is a more practical form of the
teaching of the Epistle to the Colossians, that the Mes
siah was the image of the invisible God, the medium of
all His work of creation, providence, and grace. Here he
is the mediator of salvation.
The apostle advises Timothy " how men ought to be
have themselves in the house of God, which is the
church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the
truth." 3 The house of God is here, as in the Epistle to
the Ephesians,3 the household of God, the family of
which God is the Father. As the household there was
parallel with commonwealth and temple, so here it is
the Church of the living God. The Church of the liv
ing God takes the place of the Church of God, of the
earlier Paulinism,4 and the Church of the later Paulin
ism.6 God is the living God here in order that the

' dvT'CKvTpov is found only here. It is essentially the same as the 'Ai-rpov
of Matthew xx. 28 = Mark x. 45, in the discourse of Jesus. That which the
Messiah gave according to the gospel was t}/v \bvxyv ai-Tov, which I have ren
dered according to Hebraistic usage, " his self." See The Messiah of the Gospels,
p. no. Here the Messiah gives iavrbv, himself. The conception is exactly the
same. 3 iii. 13. 3 ii. 19. See p. 198. * Seep. 81. » See p. 201.

OF THE PASTORAL EPISTLES 229
Church may be conceived of as a living Church, com
posed of living men, behaving themselves properly in
the family of God. A living Church is similar to the
living temple of the Epistle to the Ephesians. The
Church is conceived of as the pillar and ground or stay
of the Truth. This is a later conception of the Church.
In the Epistle to the Ephesians the temple was com
posed of living stones and of living buildings. The stones
and the buildings were parts of the structure. Here
the whole Church is conceived of as a pillar on which
the Truth is lifted up and as a ground or stay upon which
it rests. The figure is probably that of a platform or
basis supported by a pillar. The Church is this basis and
its pillar. The Truth is that which rests upon this
base, and . is lifted up before the world on it. The
Truth that is thus lifted up and supported, is the living
Truth ; it is the Mystery of godliness ; it is the Messiah
himself, as set forth in the lines of an ancient credal
hymn, which follows. It is possible that the writer has
in mind the Messianic conception of the Old Testament
that the Messiah is the cope-stone which finishes the
structure of the new temple, which is brought forthwith
shoutings, " Grace, grace unto it." a The Messiah as
the cope-stone here would be the antithesis to the Mes
siah as the corner-stone of the Epistle to the Ephesians.
The Messiah, thus exalted as the cope-stone, the head of
the Church, is the revelation of the Mystery of God.
He who was manifested in the flesh,
Justified in the spirit,
Seen of angels ;
Preached among the nations,
Believed on in the world,
Taken up in glory. (i Tim. iii. 16.)

i Zech. iv. 7. See Briggs, Mess. Proph., pp. 442 seq.

230 THE MESSIAH
The three states of the Messiah are here set forth in
early Christian song, (i) The pre-existence is implied in
the term, " He who was manifested in the flesh." This
term, manifestation, is sometimes employed for the sec
ond Advent,1 at others for the first advent.3 In both cases
there is a manifestation from heaven. The manifestation
of this epistle is a manifestation in the flesh. In the Epis
tle to the Romans God sends His own Son in the like
ness of sinful flesh.3 Here the coming in the flesh is a
manifestation ; a coming forth from the invisible into
the visible. In the Epistle to the Philippians the Mes
siah emptied himself of the form of God, and humbled
himself to the form of a man and the rank of a suffering
and dying prophet. He emptied himself of his pre-
existent glory.4 Here he was manifested in 'the flesh.
The coming in the flesh was a manifestation of himself.
In the Epistle to the Colossians the pre-existent Messiah
was the image of the invisible God, the medium of all
wisdom and knowledge, and of the works of creation,
providence, and redemption. Here the one mediator is
manifested in the flesh. His manifestation is the mani
festation of his mediatorial person as a ransom for all.
(2) " Justified in the spirit," reminds us of the word
of Paul in the Epistle to the Romans, that the Messiah
was '' declared to be the Son of God with power, accord
ing to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection of the
dead." ' The spirit of holiness was his spirit as holy,
acceptable to God, justified and therefore raised from
the dead and enthroned. So here he was justified in his
spirit at the resurrection.
(3) " Seen of angels " is a new expression to Paulin
ism, but the underlying thought is found in the Epistles
1 1 Peter v. 4 ; Col. iii. 4. » j peter i. 20 ; 1 John iii. s, 8.
3 viii. 3. See p. 138. < See p. 181, « i. 4. See p. 143.

OF THE PASTORAL EPISTLES 231
of the Imprisonment. According to the Epistle to the
Philippians, heavenly beings bend the knee in confessing
him as Lord.1 According to the Epistle to the Ephe
sians, the Messiah is enthroned " far above every rule,
and authority, and power, and dominion." 3 According
to the Epistle to the Colossians, God reconciles heavenly
things through the blood of Christ's cross 3 and triumphs
over principalities and powers at his resurrection.4 In
this reconciliation through his death, triumph at his
resurrection and recognition at his enthronement, we
have all that is implied in " seen of angels." It is prob
able, however, that the author is thinking of this seeing
of angels as subsequent to the resurrection, which is im
plied in the "justified in the spirit," and that the ascen
sion and reign are in his mind.
(4) " Preached among the nations " refers to the
preaching of the Messiah by his apostles and their suc
cessors and helpers.
(5) " Believed on in the world " refers to the believers
who had faith in the preaching, accepted Jesus as their
Messiah, and constituted a body of believers in the world.
(6) "Taken up in glory" is more difficult of expla
nation. If it were not for the two intervening lines we
would think of the enthronement of the Messiah. But
these two lines refer to events subsequent to the en
thronement, and the order of events is destroyed if the
reference of the third line be to the enthronement.5 Von
Soden " refers it to the taking up of Christ in glory, by

1 ii. 10, 11. See p. 184. 3 i. 20. See p. 192.
3 i. 20. See p. 216. 4 ii 15- See p. 222.
» dvaAafifldvu, Acts i. 2, 11, 22 ; Mark xvi. 19, refers to the ascension. But
in Acts vii. 43 it is the lifting up of a tabernacle in order to carry it, and in Eph.
vi. 13, 16, it is the putting on of armor. See also LXX of Job xl. 5, Is. lxiii. 9,
Ezek. xii. 6-7, Amos v. 26.
0 Handcom., iii., s. 231-232.

232 TilE MESSIAH
Christians, either in the ascription of glory to Christ or
in the glory imparted to men thereby. This line is then
the climax of the last three lines which refer to the
Church in antithetical parallelism with the previous
three lines referring to Christ.
If the interpretation of the Church as the pillar and
ground of the cope-stone, the Messiah, be correct, and
the Messiah as the head of the Church is to be conceived
of as sustained on the Church as his base, or throne,
then it would be natural to think here of the lifting up
of the Messiah on that base, and of the glory as the
glory sung in the hymns of the Church. We would
then have Christ enthroned in glory on the songs of his
Church, just as Yahweh is conceived of in the Old Testa
ment as enthroned on the praises of Israel.1
The writer's thought now springs to the "later
times," 3 in which he sees an apostasy, as the Holy Spirit
had said through him and others. The epistle doubt
less refers to the apocalypse of Paul which predicts such
an apostasy,3 as indeed we find it in the apocalypse of
Peter,* and at the root of all, in the apocalypse of Jesus.6
This passage describes the apostasy as an apostasy in
doctrine. This doctrine is a doctrine of demons, and
in its ethical form it is ascetic, forbidding marriage and
eating of meats. It is an apostasy in the direction of
mysticism and asceticism such as we find in the earlier
Gnostic systems. It seems very clear that the author
has in mind the Gnosticism which was springing up
among the Christians of Asia, and which became the chief
peril to the infant Church. This the author regards as
1 Psalm xxii. 3.
2 iv vOTipoic Kmpolc iv. t, only found here, but essentially the same as the
kv iaxdTacc i/ftipaic of 2 Tim. iii. 1.
" 2 Thess. ii. 3. See p. 92. « 2 Peter iii. 3 ; cf. Jude 17-19,
8 Mark xiii. 6. See The Messiah of the Gospels, p. 140.

OF THE PASTORAL EPISTLES 233
ah apostasy in later times, shortly before the Advent.
Over against this apostasy he exhorts to godliness which
" is profitable for all things, having promise of the life
which now is, and of that which is to come." [ The an
tithesis between the life which now is and the life to
come, is the same as that between the time which now
is3 and the age to come,3 and this age and the age to
come.4 The life to come, as the age to come, refers
not to the life of the middle state between death and the
judgment, but to the life at the resurrection of the body
in the Messianic age.
The Epistle concludes with an exhortation to Timothy
to labour, with the Advent ever in view.
I charge thee in the sight of God, who quickeneth all things,
and of Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed the
good confession ; that thou keep the commandment, without
spot, without reproach, until the Epiphany of our Lord Jesus
Christ : which in his own times he shall shew, who is the blessed
and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords.
(i Tim. vi. 13-15.)
This epistle uses Epiphany for the Advent of the
Messiah, a term which is not found in any of the pre
vious writings, except in the apocalypse of Paul, where
it is used in connection with the Parousia.6 But here
Epiphany is used for the Parousia itself. The Epiphany
of the Messiah has " his own times " and God will then
shew it. The charge to Timothy is to keep sacredly the
commands, with that time in view, so as to be spotless
and irreproachable at that time.

1 iv. 8. 3 Rom. viii. 18.
3 Luke xviii. 30. * Matth. xii. 33 ; Eph. i. 21.
6 imfdveia ttjc irapovoiac avrov. 2 Thess. ii. 8.

231 THE MESSIAH
THE EPIPHANY OF GLORY.
§ 53. There has been an Epiphany of grace and there
will be an Epiphany of glory. This is the hope which in
spires men to live in holiness in this world.
The Epistle to Titus gives the same doctrine of the
Epiphany that we have seen in the first Epistle to
Timothy, only from a slightly different point of view.
For the grace of God hath appeared,1 bringing salvation to all
men, instructing us, to the intent that, denying ungodliness and
worldly lusts, we should live soberly and righteously and godly
in this present age ; looking for the blessed hope and Epiphany
of the glory of the great God and our2 Saviour Jesus Christ ;
who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all in
iquity, and purify unto himself a people for his own possession,
zealous of good works. (Titus ii. 11-14.)
The epistle puts two Epiphanies in antithesis, the
former an Epiphany -of grace, the latter an Epiphany of
glory, (a) In the Epiphany of grace, the grace of God
brought salvation to all men. That salvation is a salva
tion of instruction and of gracious discipline. This dis
cipline has its two sides : the negative side, denying un
godliness and worldly lusts ; the positive side, living
soberly, righteously, and godly. This discipline is to
continue during the present age of the world in prepa
ration for the coming age of the world. The Epiphany
of glory is the blessed hope for which all those are look
ing, who are under the discipline of grace in the age of
salvation. Salvation is thus conceived of as a process of
sanctification.

1 E7V£<j>dvri.
3 The American Revision gives the better reading, which is that of Westcott
and Hoit and the chief critical editions. The A. V. and British Revision cause
the passage to state the divinity of Christ in a manner without precedent in the
New Testament. See Ezra Abbot, Critical Essays, pp. 439 seg.

OF THE PASTORAL EPISTLES 235
The work of the Messiah in this Epiphany was a giv
ing himself for us that he might redeem us. This is the
same thought as the'giving himself a ransom in the first
Epistle to Timothy.1 The object of the giving of him
self, however, was twofold, corresponding with the two
fold work of the training in grace. It was on the nega
tive side to redeem us from every lawlessness, every act
of transgression of Law ; and on the positive side to
cleanse unto himself a people for his own possession.3
The people for his own possession are the people whom
he has redeemed to himself, to be his own choice and
valued possession. These he cleanses, as in the Epistle
to the Ephesians he cleanses his bride, the Church, in
the bath of baptism.3 The cleansing here, however,
seems to be moral, because the purpose of it is that they
may be zealous of good works.4
(b) The latter Epiphany is an Epiphany of glory. That
glory is the glory of the great God, and also the glory
of our Saviour Jesus Christ, a glory which introduces
the age of the world to come. This Epiphany is the same
as the Parousia and the Revelation of the previous epis
tles.6 The Epiphany of salvation is still further unfolded
in the following passage :
But when the kindness of God our Saviour, and his love toward
man, appeared, not by works done in righteousness, which we did
ourselves, but according to his mercy he saved us, through the
washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, which
he poured out upon us richly, through Jesus Christ our Saviour ;
that, being justified by his grace, we might be made heirs ac
cording to the hope of eternal life. (Titus iii. 4-7.)

1 ii. 6. See p. 228.
2 "Kobe TtEpio'vowc — LXX of Ex. xix. 5 ; only here in New Testament, but
equivalent to Jmoc e\c TrepiKoirjaiv, 1 Peter ii. 9 (see p. 52) ; and TEpmoiyaic,
Eph i. 14.
» See p. 208. * cf. 2 Cor. vii. 1. 5 See pp. 85, 90, 107.

236 THE MESSIAH
The Epiphany here is of the kindness and love to man
of God our Saviour. It is an Epiphany of salvation ac
cording to God's mercy. This salvation does not spring
out of works done by us in righteousness. It is not by
the justifying of the righteousness of our works; but a
justification by the grace of God. The salvation is
through Jesus Christ our Saviour. God is our Saviour
and Christ is also our Saviour. The pouring of salva
tion richly upon us is suggested by the pouring of the
Holy Spirit upon us in connection with baptism.1 The
washing of baptism is connected with the work of Christ
here as in the Epistle to the Ephesians.3
The washing is a washing of regeneration and renewal,
both accomplished by the agency of the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit and baptism are connected here just as
in the discourse of Jesus with Nicodemus.3 The two
fold work of the Spirit in baptism is in accordance with
the twofold work of God and the twofold work of Christ
in the previous context. The regeneration is the same
conception as that given in the Gospel of John.' The
renewal is the activity subsequent to regeneration ; it is
the making the character of the man new, the renew
ing of the mind by transformation,6 the renewal unto
knowledge of the new man after the image of God/ the
renewal of the inward man day by day.' This renewal
is the making them heirs of eternal life — of the inherit
ance laid up for them as a hope, to be bestowed upon
them at the second Epiphany.

1 Acts ii. 17 ; x. 45. 3 v. 26. 3 John iii. 5.
4 naAiyyEVEoia is the nominal form of yErvrfiijvaL dvudsv of John iii. 7.
See The Messiah of the Gospels, p. 261.
6 Romans xii. 2. This and our passage are the only ones where the noun
uvamivuoic is used. The verb dvanaivdu is used Col. iii. 10 ; 2 Cor. iv. 16.
* Col. iii. 10. 7 2 Cor. iv. 16.

OF THE PASTORAL EPISTLES 237
THE EPIPHANY OF THE JUDGE.
§ 5 4. There is a day of the Epiphany of the Messiah when
he will judge the living and the dead. He will keep the
trust of the faithful until that day. Then the kingdom
of glory will appear and the faithful will receive the
crown of righteousness. In the last days there will be
grievous times of sin and apostasy.
The second Epistle to Timothy is fuller in its exposi
tion of the doctrine of the Epiphany. It exhorts Tim
othy to
Suffer hardship with the gospel according to the power of
God ; who saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not ac
cording to our works, but according to his own purpose and
grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before times eternal,
but hath now been manifested by the Epiphany of our Saviour
Christ Jesus, who abolished death, and brought life and incor
ruption to light through the gospel. (2 Tim. i. 8-10.)
We have seen the doctrine of the manifestation of
Christ in the flesh, in the first epistle. This manifesta
tion is here conceived of as a manifestation of the grace of
God, just as in the Epistle to Titus. The grace of God
brought salvation, there. God saves us here. This sal
vation began in the gracious purpose of God. It was a
purpose of grace : it was in Christ Jesus: it was before
times eternal, in a series of times reaching back into the
everlasting past. This purpose of grace was given us in
Christ Jesus before times eternal, and God called us with
a holy calling. In the first Epistle to the Corinthians
God's wisdom in the salvation of men was foreordained
before the ages ; ' and in the Epistle to the Romans the
mystery was kept in silence through times eternal.3 In

1 1 Cor. ii. 7. 3 Rom. xvi. 25.

238 THE MESSIAH
the Epistle to the Romans the calling is based on the
foreordination,1 here on the gift of the purpose of grace
in Christ. The salvation of man by grace was therefore
God's purpose in Christ before all times, from everlast
ing. He gave His grace in Christ before all times, from
everlasting. The calling was to a gift already given from
eternity. The gift was made from eternity, but it was
manifested in time.
The manifestation of the grace of God was through
the Epiphany of our Saviour Jesus Christ. It is called
an Epiphany in antithesis with the Epiphany of the
second Advent, as in the Epistle to Titus.2 The first
Epiphany of the Messiah is represented as abolishing
death, and bringing life and immortality to light. The
abolition of death is in I Corinthians 3 attributed to the
second Advent, here to the first Advent. But death
and life are doubtless conceived of in their spiritual as
pects, as in the Christological epistles, where death in
Christ is followed by spiritual life in Christ. The spirit
ual life and immortality are the prelude to the life and
immortality of the body at the resurrection of the Pa
rousia. The writer is assured of the second Epiphany also,
for he says: " I am persuaded that he is able to guard
that which I have committed unto him against that
Day." 4 So he prays for Onesiphorus that " the Lord
grant unto him to find mercy of the Lord in that Day." 6
This is the Day of the Epiphany. He bids Timothy re
member " Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, of the seed
of David";6 that is, the birth of Jesus of the seed of
David and his resurrection from the dead, as in the

» Rom. viii. 29, 30. a See p. 234.
3 xv. 26. The same verb is used, KarapyElv. * i. 12.

OF THE PASTORAL EPISTLES 239
Epistle to the Romans.1 He endures " all things for
the elect's sake, that they also may obtain the salvation
which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory." 3 This is the
salvation in Christ Jesus at the second Epiphany, when
for the first it imparts eternal glory.3
Faithful is the saying: For if we died with him, we shall also
live with him : if we endure, we shall also reign with him : if we
shall deny him, he also will deny us : if we are faithless, he
abideth faithful ; for he cannot deny himself. (2 Tim. ii. 1 1— 13.)
The author here regards the Day of the Epiphany as a
Day of judgment, when the unfaithful will be denied
and the faithful acknowledged.
This doctrine is in the form of one of the discourses
of Jesus to which the epistle alludes,4 and is different
from the conception of the other epistles. But the
thought of dying with him, living with him, and reign
ing with him is familiar to us in the Christological
epistles.6 In the third chapter, the writer predicts the apostasy
to which he had referred in the previous epistle.6 " But
know this, that in the last days grievous times shall
come." ' These times are times of great wickedness.
The epistle heaps up terms to describe it.
For men shall be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful,
haughty, railers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
without natural affection, implacable, slanderers, without self-
control, fierce, no lovers of good, traitors, headstrong, puffed up,
lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God ; holding a form of
godliness, but having denied the power thereof : from these also
turn away. (2 Timothy iii. 2-5.)

> Romans i. 3, 4- See p. 143- 3 ii- *°- ! See pp. 96, 161.
* Matthew x. 32, 33 ; Luke xii. 8, 9. See The Messiah of the Gospels, pp.
197, 198.
5 See pp. 19S. 223- 6 See P- 232- 7 iii. i.

240 THE MESSIAH
This apostasy, therefore, is in the form of Antinomian-
ism. This was an error that sprang up out of Paulinism
itself, and is different from the asceticism of the previous
epistles. The epistle concludes with a similar, but fuller ex
hortation than that given in the first epistle.
I charge thee in the sight of God, and of Christ Jesus, who
shall judge the quick and the dead, and by his Epiphany and his
kingdom ; preach the word ; be instant in season, out of season ;
reprove, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.
For the time will come when they will not endure the sound
doctrine ; but, having itching ears, will heap to themselves
teachers after their own lusts ; and will turn away their ears
from the truth, and turn aside unto fables. But be thou sober in
all things, suffer hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfil thy
ministry. For I am already being offered, and the time of my
departure is come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished
the course, I have kept the faith : henceforth there is laid up for
me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous
judge, shall give to me at that day : and not only to me, but also
to all them that have loved his epiphany. (2 Timothy iv. 1-8.)
The Epiphany is here conceived of as an Epiphany in
connection with the kingdom of Christ. This is the
kingdom of glory, as always in the epistles of Paul. It
is also connected with the judging of the living and the
dead. This is in accordance with the discourse of Paul
at Athens and the Epistle to the Romans.1 In the Day
of the Epiphany the righteous judge will give the crown
of righteousness to all who love his Epiphany. That
crown is laid up in heaven for them until that time.
The epistle finally expressed the confident assurance,
" The Lord will deliver me from every evil work, and
will save me unto his heavenly kingdom." 3

1 See pp. 80, 172. « iv. 18.

OF THE PASTORAL EPISTLES 2il
A salvation is looked for in the future even by Paul,
hich will not be attained until he has entered the
savenly kingdom. This heavenly kingdom is the king-
om which is reserved in heaven, and which will de-
rend from heaven with the Messiah at his epiphany.1

1 The phrase "heavenly kingdom" is only used here. It reminds us of the
kingdom of heaven " of the Gospel of Matthew. See The Messiah of the Gos-
rfs, p. 79. But it had its origin in a different conception from that of Matthew.

CHAPTER VIII.
THE MESSIAH OF THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS.
The Epistle to the Hebrews is ascribed to Paul in
some ancient traditions, but without sufficient historical
support and against the internal evidence of the writing
itself. The epistle has little in common with the great
Pauline epistles. It is nearest akin to the later Paulin
ism of the Epistles of the Imprisonment. But its teach
ings have advanced beyond these. Even the Epistle
to the Colossians does not attain the heights of its
Christology. The antithesis of the two covenants,
while it is on the Pauline foundation, advances far be
yond anything contained in the Pauline epistles in its
apprehension of the fulfilment of the Levitical system in
the person and work of the Messianic priest-king.1 It is
nearer to the Alexandrian type of doctrine and shows
distinct traces of the influence of the Wisdom of Solo
mon and of Philo, and accordingly it is intermediate be
tween Paulinism and the Johannine writings.3
The epistle has been attributed by some to Barnabas,
but what we know of him would lead us to look for a
writer intermediate between Peter and Paul rather than

1 Menegoz, La Thlclogie de L'Epitre aux Hebreux, p. 197, puts it strongly
when he says: " L'Epitre aux Hebreux verra dans le 'nouveau' I'idealisation
de l'ancien, tandis que Paul y verra la destruction de l'ancien. L'auteur de
l'Epitre aux Hebreux est un ivolutionniste ; saint Paul est un revolutionnaire
en prenant ce terme en son sens exclusivement moral et religieux."
3 See Pfleiderer, Urchristenthum, s. 629.
(242)

OF THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS 243
between Paul and John. Many scholars have thought
of Apollos. We know little of this eloquent Alexan
drian of the school of- Paul, but what we know of him
leads on in the direction of his authorship. We have no
evidence in his favor other than that his name is the New
Testament one, which seems most appropriate to the cir
cumstances and line of thought of the epistle. All that
we can say is that the author was a man of the Alex
andrian school, who had been converted to Christianity
and who aims to reconcile Philo with Christianity.1
The epistle is a Messianic epistle. It aims to set forth
the Messiah as the priestly mediator, who has mediated
a new covenant in the place of the old covenant with its
priesthood, institutions, and ceremonies.
THE HEIR OF ALL THINGS.
§ 55- In olden times God spake in various forms
through prophets, at the end of these days through one who
is Son, who is the radiation of the glory of God, and the
express image of His essential being. Through him the
ages zvere made. He carries on all things by the word of
his power. He is the appointed heir of all things. He
made a purification for sins and sat down on the right
hand of God, heir of a more excellent name than the angels.
God, having of old time spoken unto the fathers in the
prophets by divers portions and in divers manners, hath at the
end of these days spoken unto us in one who is Son,2 whom he

- Menegoz, La Thiologie de L'Epitre aux Hebreux, p. 56, well says : "Si
Ton a pu comparer saint Paul a Luther, nous comparerions volontiers I'auteur
de l'Epitre aux Hebreux a Melanchthon." See also his valuable exposition of
the relation of the author of Hebrews to Philo, pp. 197 seq.
3 So Westcott to bring out the meaning of Son without the article, as he says,
The Epistle to the Hebrews, p. 34, " The title Son is with one exception (i. 8)
always anarthrous. The writer, that is, fixes the attention of his readers upon
the nature implied by it." It is a striking characteristic of this epistle that it

244 THE MESSIAH
appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the
ages ; who being the effulgence of his glory, and the very image
of his substance, and upholding all things by the word of his
power, when he had made purification of sins, sat down on the
right hand of the Majesty on high ; having become by so much
better than the angels, as he hath inherited a more excellent
name than they. For unto which of the angels said he at any
time, Thou art my Son,
This day have I begotten thee ? '

And again,

I will be to him a Father,
And he shall be to me a Son ? 2

And when he again bringeth in the first-born into the world
he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him.3
And of the angels he saith,
Who maketh his angels winds,
And his ministers a flame of fire : 4
but of the Son he saith,
Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever ;
And the sceptre of uprightness is the sceptre of thy kingdom.

avoids the use of Father with reference to God. It is found only i. 5, in a cita
tion from the Old Testament with reference to the Son, and in xii. 9, with refer
ence to angels.
1 Psalm ii. 7. The citation agrees with the LXX and also with the Mass. text.
3 2 Sam. vii. 14. The citation agrees with the LXX and also with the Mass.
text. 3 This citation corresponds with the LXX of Deut. xxxii. 43, which is not in
the Mass. text at all. It is very nearly the same as the LXX of Ps. xcvii. 7. The
LXX version of Deut. xxxii. 43 is tempting as a tetrastich, beautiful in its par
allelism. But it is certainly a late addition and did not belong to the original
song. There is nothing in the original text to suggest any such reference to the
Incarnation as the author of the epistle makes It seems, therefore, that he is
not interpreting the passage, but using it as a suitable expression of his thoughts.
* This citation of Ps. civ. 4 differs from the LXX only in the use of tropoc
<fkbya for -xvp <pAiyov. The winds and fire are represented as the messengers
and servants of God. The messengers of God and His angels are expressed by
the same word in Hebrew.

OF THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS 245
Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity;
Therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee
With the oil of gladness above thy fellows.1
And,
Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the
earth,
And the heavens are the works of thy hands :
They shall perish ; but thou continuest :
And they all shall wax old as doth a garment ;
And as a mantle shalt thou roll them up,
As a garment, and they shall be changed :
But thou art the same,
And thy years shall not fail.8
But of which of the angels hath he said at any time,
Sit thou on my right hand,
Till I make thine enemies the footstool of thy feet ? 3
Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to do service for
the sake of them that shall inherit salvation ?
(Hebrews i. 1-14.)
This epistle opens with a contrast between God speak
ing in olden times unto the fathers in the prophets, and
His speaking at " the end of these days " in one who is
Son. This contrast is threefold : (a) Of time — the Mes
sianic revelation is at the end of these days of God's
speaking. The Messiah is accordingly conceived as
having come into the world at the end of the days of the

' The citation is from the LXX of Ps. xiv. 7-8 (6-7), with the omission of (tov)
alcivoc in some texts, and this follows the Massoretic text closely. The use of
6 6e6c ¦= DTPK, for the Messiah does not imply divinity. See Messianic
Prophecy, p. 141 ; and Menegoz, /. c, p. 86.
2 This citation is from Ps. cii. 26-28, LXX differing only in the transposition
of a few words in the first clause for the rhetorical purposes of the citation, and is
a sufficiently accurate rendering of the Mass. text. This is not a Messianic
psalm. The writer uses it because he has in his mind identified the Messiah
with Yahweh of the Old Testament.
3 An accurate citation of Ps. ex. 1.

246

THE MESSIAH

Old Covenant and his ministry as during its closing
days. His death and descent into the abode of the dead
are therefore the actual close of the old dispensation.1
(b) Of persons— the last speaking of God is through
one who is Son, in antithesis to a series of speakings
through many prophets. (c) Of manner — the former
speaking was in divers portions and divers manners ; the
latter speaking, it is suggested, is one in portion and
manner. Upon these contrasts the entire epistle is
built. The epistle distinguishes three states of the Messiah :
the pre-existence, the life in this world, and the enthrone
ment, (i) The pre-existent state is described some
what as in the Epistle to the Colossians. (a) The Mes
siah is the appointed heir of all things, through whom
also he made the ages. This is similar to " all things
have been created through him and unto him," 3 in the
Epistle to the Colossians, only the clauses are intro
verted. The ages are the ages of the world and those
which circumscribe the world. In these ages, all their
contents, " all things," are the Messiah's inheritance.
" Unto him " is the aim of the creation. He is the ap
pointed heir. There is no difference in doctrine be
tween the Epistle to the Colossians and our epistle at
this point.
(b) The Messiah is " the effulgence of His glory, and
the very image of His substance." This is to be com
pared with the phrases of the Epistle to the Colossians,
" the image of the invisible God " and " it was the good
pleasure that in him should all the fulness dwell." 3 The
image of the invisible God is similar to the image of the
substance of God, the form through which the invisible
1 See Riehm, Lehrbegriff, s. 74 seq. s Col. i. 16.
3 Col. i. 15, 19.

OF THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS 247
substance, the essential being of God, manifests itself.
The effulgence or radiation of His glory is parallel to
the expression of His being. The glory is in the sub
stance or essence of God, the effulgence or radiation is
in the form or image that expresses that substance and
reveals it. The fulness dwells in him as its form and
expression. There is a greater richness and firmness of
statement here than in the Epistle to the Colossians ;
but there is no difference in doctrine.
(c) The Messiah is pre-existent as upholding all things
" by the word of his power." This is similar to the phrase
of the Epistle to the Colossians : " In him all things con
sist." l He bears all things which were created for him,
and carries them on to their goal in his inheritance of
glory. All these attributes and activities of the pre-ex
istent Son are attributes and activities of the enthroned
and glorified Son also.3
(2) The life of the Messiah in this world is passed
over, except so far as God speaks in him.
(3) The author refers to the heavenly ministry of the
Son, as the high priest, when he is represented as mak
ing " purification of sins." This can only be by the ap
plication of the blood of his sacrifice to the heavenly
altar. The priestly act of the ascended Messiah is here
prior to his enthronement. After the purification of
sins at the heavenly altar, he " sat down on the right
hand of the Majesty on high." There enthroned he is
higher than the angels. He has inherited a more ex
cellent name, and he is by so much better than they.
This>enthronement corresponds with his exaltation over
the thrones, dominions, principalities, and powers, the
several ranks of angels, of the Epistle to the Colos-

Col. i. 17. 3 See Riehm, Lehrbegriff, s. 278.

248 THE MESSIAH
sians ; ' and of his being highly exalted to the name
above every name, of the Epistle to the Philippians.3
The enthronement above the angels is then repre
sented as in accordance with the predictions of the Old
Testament. These predictions of the enthronement
of the Messianic king set him forth as the Son be
gotten on the day of the installation, as the Son of God,
the righteous ruler and sovereign. The author of the
epistle also sees him to be the Yahweh of the Old Tes
tament. The angels are his ministers, and so they are
ministering spirits to the heirs of his Messianic salva
tion. The salvation is an inheritance which will first be
enjoyed when the Messiah takes possession of his own.
MADE PERFECT THROUGH SUFFERINGS.
§ 56. The Messianic Son of Man was made a little lower
than the angels, partook of flesh and blood, and took hold
of the seed of A braham. He was tempted, perfected by suf
ferings, and tasted death. He brought the devil to nought,
became a faithful and merciful high priest, made propitia
tion for sins, was crowned with glory, and all things are
to become subject to him. He succors the tempted, delivers
from the fear and bondage of death, and brings many
brethren into glory.
For not unto angels did he subject the world to come, whereof
we speak. But one hath somewhere testified, saying,
What is man, that thou art mindful of him ?
Or the son of man, that thou visitest him ?
Thou madest him a little lower than the angels ;
Thou crownedst him with glory and honour,
[And didst set him over the works of thy hands :]
Thou didst put all things in subjection under his feet.3
' Col. i. 16. Phil. h. 9.
3 This is an exact citation of the LXX of Ps. viii. 5-7, except a single line,
which is bracketted in Westcott and Hort's text, and which seems not to have

OF THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS 249
For in that he subjected all things unto him, he left nothing
that is not subject to him. But now we see not yet all things
subjected to him. But we behold him who hath been made a
little lower than the angels, even Jesus, because of the suffering
of death crowned with glory and honour, that by the grace of
God he should taste death for every man. For it became him,
for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in
bringing many sons unto glory, to make the author of their sal
vation perfect through sufferings. For both he that sanctifieth
and they that are sanctified are all of one : for which cause he is
not ashamed to call them brethren, saying,
I will declare thy name unto my brethren,
In the midst of the congregation will I sing thy praise.1
And again, I will put my trust in him.2 And again, Behold, I
and the children which God hath given me.3 Since then the
children are sharers in flesh and blood, he also himself in like
manner partook of the same ; that through death he might bring
to nought him that had the power of death, that is, the devil ;
and might deliver all them who through fear of death were all
their lifetime subject to bondage. For verily not of angels doth
he take hold, but he taketh hold of the seed of Abraham.
Wherefore it behoved him in all things to be made like unto his
brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in
things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of
the people. For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted,
he is able to succour them that are tempted. (Hebrews ii. 5-18.)
been used by the author, doubtless with intention as not needed for the purpose
of the citation. It is a sufficiently accurate rendering of the Massoretic text. It
is true that D'iTPX is not exactly angels, no more is it God ; it comprehends
both angels and God. But it is more suited to the context to think of angels
than God alone.
1 This is a citation from the i^XX of Ps. xxii. 23, differing only in the initial
verb, which is dirayyEAu for dinyriaofiai. Either is a sufficiently accurate render
ing of the Massoretic text.
3 These are citations from the LXX of Is. viii. 17, 18.
3 These are not Messianic. They refer to Isaiah the prophet and his children.
The writer uses the language of Isaiah as appropriate to his purpose and does
not interpret it.

250 THE MESSIAH
The epistle now points to the prediction of Psalm viii.
that all things must be subjected unto the Son of Man.
This ideal had not yet been fulfilled in the Messiah. It
was to be accomplished hereafter in full, as it had already
been accomplished in part. The part that had been ac
complished was the humiliation of the Son of Man. He
was made a little lower than the angels. This took
place when the pre-existent Messiah became man. He
became man that he might inherit the promise to man.
He must become one with his brethren whom he was to
bring to glory. So he partook of human flesh and blood.
This assumption of human flesh and blood as the Son of
Man, reminds us of the Epistle to the Philippians,1
where he took the form of a servant, was made in the
likeness of men, and was found in fashion as a man ; and
of the Epistle to the Romans, where he was made in the
likeness of sinful flesh,3 and of the Epistle to the Gala
tians, where he was " born of woman." 3 This assump
tion of human nature was in order to save men. He did
not take hold of angels to help them, but he took hold
of Abraham's seed to save them. He descends below
the angels to the race of Abraham in his mission of re
demption. But he did not limit himself to them. He
came to suffer and die for all men. The Messiah tasted
death for every one. This is a familiar Pauline doctrine.'1
The assumption of human flesh and blood by the pre-
existent Son was entire and complete. As Westcott well
says: 6 "While the writer insists with the greatest force
upon the transcendental action of Christ, he rests the
foundation of this union upon Christ's earthly experi
ence. Christ 'shared in blood and flesh' (v. 14), and
'was in all things made like to His brethren' (v. 17).
1 ii. 7, 8. See p. 181. " See p. 158. s See p. 139.
4 See pp. 114, 123, 132. 3 Epistle to the Hebrews, p. 59.

OF THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS 251
He took to Himself all that belongs to the perfection of
man's being. He lived according to the conditions of
man's life and died under the circumstances of man's
mortality. So His work extends to the totality of human
powers and existence, and brings all into fellowship with
the divine."
The mode of the incarnation is not considered by this
writer. There is no evidence that he knew of the im
maculate conception and virgin birth of the Gospel of
the Infancy.1 Like the apostle Paul he writes of the
incarnation in a way that seems to imply that his silence
as to the virgin birth involves ignorance of it.3 Mdnegoz
thinks that the author under the influence of the Alexan
drian School of Platonism conceived of Christ's incarna
tion as by natural generation, just like the supposed in
carnation of other pre-existent spirits. This is quite pos
sible, but not evident.3
1 See The Messiah of the Gospels, p. 49. 3 See p. 143.
3 La Theologie de L'Epitre aux Hebreux, pp. go seq. Menegoz also urges,
p. 91, that pre-existence and virgin birth are exclusive one of the other. "D'apres
celle-ci, le Christ n'existait pas avant sa conception ; c'est de l'union du Saint-
Esprit et de la vierge Marie qu'il est ne. D'apres celle-Ia, au contraire, le Christ a
ete appele a l'existence par le Createur avant tous les autres esprits celestes, et
le Saint-Esprit n'avait a- jouer aucun role dans son incarnation. On peut
chercher 4 concilier dogmatiquement ces deux notions ; mais sur le terrain de
l'histoire elles sont inconciliables. Les auteurs du Nouveau Testament qui
enseignent l'une, n'enseignent pas l'autre." The last remark is quite true that
the New Testament writings which teach the pre-existence of our Lord know
nothing of the virgin birth. It is also probable that they would have mentioned
it if they knew of it, because it came wichin the scope of their argument many
times. But there is no such inconsistency between the virgin birth and pre-ex
istence as Menegoz finds. The problem is, how shall a pre-existent being be
come incarnate ? The incarnation may be conceived of either as by natural gen
eration or by theophanic generation Neither of them is inconsistent with pre-
existence. The doctrine of the virgin birth is limited to the Gospel of the Infancy.
It is not sustained on as firm Biblical ground as many other doctrines. But it is
in the Gospel of the Infancy and in the earliest creeds of the Church, and there
is no sufficient reason to doubt that it was a part of the primitive Christology,
even if it was not taught in other passages of the New Testament and was not
the universal belief of primitive Christianity.

252 THE MESSIAH
The Messiah not only suffered death, but he suffered
temptation. This experience of the Messiah we do not
find in the Pauline epistles, but only in the synoptic Gos
pels,1 especially in Luke.3 Moreover, he lived a life' of
suffering. This suffering was partly for himself as the
Messiah and partly for his people. So far as it was for
himself his suffering perfected him. This doctrine is
unknown to Paulinism, and indeed is peculiar to this
epistle. Temptation, suffering, and death were the ex
perience through which the Son of Man must go in order
to attain his own perfection, in order to show that his
obedience was perfect, his self-sacrifice complete, his
character faithful and merciful, in order to win the re
ward of his earthly ministry, in order to reap the fruits
of his labor.3 So far as it was for others, his sufferings
were to save his brethren. The experience of tempta
tion on his part gave him the ability to sympathize with
the tempted, and to succor them when tempted. He
endured sufferings in order to help them to endure suf
fering. He submitted to death in order to overcome
the devil, who had the power of death, and deliver his
people from their fear of death and their life-long bond
age to this King of Terrors. The victory over the devil
by the death of the Messiah is another idea which is not
found in the Pauline epistles. In the Gospels we have
seen the conflict with the devil during his life.* But
here a victory is taught in connection with his death. It
is doubtless a victory over the devil in the abode of the
dead, in the Abaddon of Sheol, when the Messiah came
forth from Abaddon with his rescued ones,5 rose from

1 See The Messiah of the Gospels, p. 166.
3 xxii . 28. See The Messiah of the Gospels, p. 227.
' See Riehm, Lehrbegriff des Hebraerbriefes, 2te. Aufl., s. 343.
* See The Messiah of the Gospels, p. 166. » See p. 202.

OF THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS 253
the dead and ascended to heaven. This victory prob
ably corresponds with that over the principalities and
powers over whom God triumphed in the Messiah, in
connection with his death, according to the Epistle to the
Colossians.1 In the Epistle to the Romans we had a
victory of the Messiah over the Law, Sin, and Death by
his resurrection from the dead.3 Here the victory is
over the Devil.3
The epistle conceives of the enthronement of the Mes
siah as a reward, just as in the Epistle to the Philip
pians.4 It is a " crowning with glory and honor." The
epistle now goes on to speak of the heavenly ministry of
the Messiah in a new way. He is a " merciful and faith
ful high priest." As such a high priest he makes pro
pitiation for sin. This is the heavenly ministry of the
Messiah as a priest at the heavenly altar in the Holy of
Holies, at the Propitiatory, the throne of grace. This
priestly work of the Messiah is not known to the Pauline
epistles, which rather think of him as the victim. He
also by his heavenly ministry mediates and applies re
demption to his people, coming forth from the holy place
as a priest to bestow gracious gifts upon men. He suc
cors the tempted, takes away the fear of death, delivers
from bondage, and brings many brethren into glory.
TOUCHED WITH THE FEELING OF OUR INFIRMITIES.
§ 57- Jesus the apostle and high priest is worthy of
more honor than Moses and Joshua. Moses was faith
ful as a servant : Jesus as son and builder of the house
hold of God. Joshua did not lead into the Sabbatic rest,
but Jesus did. He was tempted like a man, yet without

1 ii. is. See p. 222. 3 See p. 151.
' See Pfleiderer, Urchristenthum, s. 637. ii. 9.

254 THE MESSIAH
sin. He passed through the heavens to the heavenly rest
of the people of God. He is touched with the feeling of
our infirmities and affords free access to the throne of
grace for needed help.
Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling,
consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, even
Jesus ; who was faithful to him that appointed him, as also was
Moses in all his house. For he hath been counted worthy of
more glory than Moses, by so much as he that built the house
hath more honour than the house. For every house is builded
by some one ; but he that built all things is God. And Moses
indeed was faithful in all his house as a servant, for a testimony
of those things which were afterward to be spoken ; but Christ
as a son, over his house ; whose house are we, if we hold fast our
boldness and the glorying of our hope firm unto the end.
(Hebrews iii. 1-6.)
The epistle passes from the exaltation of the Mes
sianic priest over the angels to his exaltation over the
founders of the old covenant religion. Moses was faith
ful in all God's house as servant. Jesus was faithful as
Son. Moses was faithful as a prophetic witness of a
higher revelation yet to come. Jesus was the founder
of the household of God, the organized Christian family.
He is the great high priest. He is also the prophetic
apostle of God.
The faithfulness of Moses leads on to the unfaithful
ness of Israel during the wanderings in the wilderness
and to their entrance into the land of Canaan under the
leadership of Joshua. The unfaithfulness of Israel and
the failure of the unfaithful to enter the land of Canaan
is used as a warning against unfaithfulness of Christians
to the Messiah. The author then attaches the ideal of
the promised land to the Sabbatical rest of God, and
urges that Joshua did not lead the people into that rest.
It was not in the land of Canaan. It was in heaven,

OF THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS 255
where God Himself was resting. He had prepared that
rest on the seventh day of creation and had entered into
it Himself on that day. He had reserved it in heaven
for His people when the time came for them to enter into
the rest of God. This is a similar conception to the
Jerusalem above of the Epistle to the Galatians.1
What Joshua failed to do, that Jesus accomplished.
Having then a great high priest, who hath passed through the
heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.
For we have not a high priest that cannot be touched with the
feeling of our infirmities ; but one that hath been in all points
tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore draw
near with boldness unto the throne of grace, that we may receive
mercy, and may find grace to help us in time of need.
(Hebrews iv. 14-16.)
Jesus, the Son of God, passed through all the far-off
reaches of the heavens, even into the immediate pres
ence of God, the Sabbatic rest of God ; and, as the great
high priest, entered the heavenly holy of holies and came
to the heavenly propitiatory, the throne of grace. He
not only gained access to the Rest of God, the throne of
mercy, for himself, but also for his people. He is their
priestly mediator, and through him they may draw near
to the throne with boldness. In his earthly life he was
tempted in all points as they are. He had a personal
experience of infirmities. He is able therefore to sympa
thize with the suffering and the tempted. His feelings
are touched by their feelings and he responds to their
pleas for help. He underwent all his human experience
without sin. He is therefore a sinless high priest, who,
acceptable to God, abides at the throne of grace in the
land of rest. But as a high priest rich in human experi-
1 See p. 141.

256 THE MESSIAH
ence, he is the mediator of an abundant supply of grace
for every need at every time.
THE HIGH PRIEST AFTER THE ORDER OF MELCHIZEDEK.
§ 58. The high priest after the order of Melchizedek is
more exalted than A aron and A braham. He has a priest
hood of a type to which Abraham did reverence, ft knows
no change of persons as did the Aaronic priesthood, ft has
no infirmities as the Levitical priesthood had. The Mes
siah learned obedience and was made perfect by suffering.
He was holy, guileless, and separate from sinners. He was
made higher than the heavens, entered within the veil of
the holy of holies in heaven, where he ever lives to make
intercession, able to save to the uttermost, the author of
eternal salvation to all who obey him.
For every high priest, being taken from among men, is ap
pointed for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer
both gifts and sacrifices for sins : who can bear gently with the
ignorant and erring, for that he himself also is compassed with
infirmity ; and by reason thereof is bound, as for the people, so
also for himself, to offer for sins. And no man taketh the
honour unto himself, but when he is called of God, even as was
Aaron. So Christ also glorified not himself to be made a high
priest, but he that spake unto him,
Thou art my Son,
This day have I begotten thee : ¦
as he saith also in another place,
Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.3
Who in the days of his flesh, having offered up prayers and
supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able
to save him from death, and having been heard for his godly
fear, though he was a Son, yet learned obedience by the things
which he suffered ; and having been made perfect, he became

1 Psalm ii. 7. 3 Psalm ex.

OF THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS 257
unto all them that obey him the author of eternal salvation ;
named of God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek.
(Hebrews v. i-io.)
The priesthood of the Messiah brings the writer back
to Psalm ex., which had suggested it, and leads him to
bring out the meaning of the Messianic priesthood on
the basis of the history of Abraham and by a compari
son of it with the Levitical priesthood.
The priest for God's people must have certain qualifi
cations ; (a) he must be able to offer sacrifices, (b) he
must be able to sympathize with the ignorant and err
ing, (c) he must have a divine calling. Aaron had such
a call, so did the Messiah according to the Messianic
Psalms cited.1 But the Messiah was called not to be a
priest after the order of Aaron, but a priest-king after
the order of Melchizedek. The Messiah had the sym
pathy that was needed, for he learned obedience by suf
fering unto death. He was made perfect by his suffer
ings. His perfection entitled him to minister as high
priest in the heavenly tabernacle. By his perfection and
his sympathy he became the author of eternal salvation
to all who obey him.
The epistle warns the readers that they be no longer
babes feeding on the first principles, but full-grown men
exercised to discern higher themes. Among the first
principles are the resurrection of the dead and eternal
judgment.3 The resurrection of the dead is doubtless
the ultimate resurrection. The eternal judgment is not
the act of judgment on the Day of judgment, but the
sentence of judgment on that day which is final and so
everlasting.3

1 See Messianic Prophecy, pp. 132, 134.
3 Heb. v. 12 — vi. 2. " npi/ia, the act of judgment is Kpiaic.

25g THE MESSIAH
And we desire that each one of you may shew the same dili
gence unto the fulness of hope even to the End : that ye be not
sluggish, but imitators of them who through faith and patience
inherit the promises. (Hebrews vi. n, 12.)
The End is the end of the age when the promises
would be fulfilled, when the inheritance in them would
be taken possession of.
The high priest after the order of Melchizedek is not
only exalted above Aaron, but he is also exalted above
Abraham. The Messianic promises were made by oath
to Abraham and are therefore immutable.1 They are
laid up for us unto the End, within the veil as a hope,
" which we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both
sure and stedfast and entering into that which is with
in the veil ; whither as a forerunner Jesus entered for
us, having become a high priest for ever after the order
of Melchizedek." 2
This veil is the veil of the holy of holies in heaven ;
the holy of holies of the earthly temple having been
abandoned. Within this veil the Messiah entered at his
ascension as the forerunner of his people, in order to re
main forever high priest after the order of Melchizedek.
The writer now looks to the story of Melchizedek and
Abraham, and brings out the much greater dignity of
the former. Inasmuch as the Levites, the descendants
of Abraham, in Abraham recognized the superiority of
Melchizedek, the Messianic high priest, after the order
of Melchizedek, is higher than them both.3
The very fact that the promise was made in Ps. ex. of
a Messianic priesthood of the line of David after the
order of Melchizedek, shows that perfection was not
reached through the Levitical priesthood. This Mes-
1 vi. 13-18. 3 vi. 19, 20. s vii. 1-10.

OF THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS 259
sianic priesthood would therefore do away with the
lesser Levitical priesthood and the Levitical laws. The
Messiah was to come from Judah and not from Levi.
And so Jesus was born of the tribe of Judah, the Levit
ical line was dissolved and Jesus became the surety of
a better covenant.1
The Messiah did not die as did the Levitical priests,
making continual changes in the persons of the priests ;
but he liveth and abideth forever, and therefore hath a
priesthood that is unchangeable and which never passes
from him. " Wherefore also he is able to save to the
uttermost them that draw near unto God through him,
seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them."3
And thus the author attains the conception of the inter
ceding priesthood of the Messiah at the right hand of
God which is effectual, continuous, and perpetual, secur
ing constant access to God through him and continual
supplies of grace.
For such a high priest became us, holy, guileless, undefiled,
separated from sinners, and made higher than the heavens ; who
needeth not daily, like those high priests, to offer up sacrifices,
first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people : for
this he did once for all, when he offered up himself. For the law
appointeth men high priests, having infirmity; but the word of
the oath, which was after the law, appointeth a Son, perfected
for evermore. (Hebrews vii. 26-28.)
The Levitical priests having infirmity needed to offer
continual sin-offerings for themselves as well as the peo
ple. But the Messiah was holy, guileless, undefiled, and
separated from sinners, so that he had no need to offer a
sin-offering for himself. He offered up himself a sin-
offering for the people. He was perfected for evermore
and made higher than the heavens, and so gained a per-
' vii. 11-22. 3 vii. 25.

260 THE MESSIAH
feet priesthood. The perfection of the sacrifice and the
perfection of the priesthood did away with every other
priesthood so long as they continued. Inasmuch as
they continue forever in the everlasting Messiah, he re
mains forever the only priest and the only sacrifice.
THE MEDIATOR OF THE NEW COVENANT.
§ 59. The Messiah is the -mediator of a new and better
covenant, which has taken the place of the old. He is en
throned at the right hand of God, the minister of the
heavenly tabernacle, reigning until his enemies have been
subdued. He made one sacrifice of himself for sins at his
first manifestation. He will appear a second time for the
judgment of those who reject him and the reward of the
faithful. The day is approaching.
The epistle, in its conception of the high priesthood
of the Messiah, now lays stress upon his mediatorship ;
for the interceding high priest, who also succors the
tempted and gives grace for every time of need, is a
mediator. The mediatorship of the Messiah has already
been taught in the first Epistle to Timothy.1 He who
gave himself a ransom for all as the interposer is the
one mediator for all. Here the high priestly mediator-
ship is more fully disclosed in the contrast of the two
covenants that it involves.
Now in the things which we are saying the chief point is this :
We have such a high priest, who sat down on the right hand of the
throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a minister of the sanctu
ary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, not
man. For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and
sacrifices: wherefore it is necessary that this high priest also
have somewhat to offer. Now if he were on earth, he would not
1 ii- 5. 6-

OF THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS 261
be a priest at all, seeing there are those who offer the gifts ac
cording to the law ; who serve that which is a copy and shadow
of the heavenly things, even as Moses is warned of God when he
is about to make the tabernacle : for, See, saith he, that thou
make all things according to the pattern that was shewed thee
in the mount. But now hath he obtained a ministry the more
excellent, by how much more also he is the mediator of a better
covenant, which hath been enacted upon better promises. For
if that first covenant had been faultless, then would no place
have been sought for a second. For finding fault with them, he
saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord,
That I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and
with the house of Judah ;
Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers
In the day that I took them by the hand to lead them forth out
of the land of Egypt ;
For they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not,
saith the Lord.1
For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel
after those days, saith the Lord ;
I will put my laws into their mind,'2 and on their heart also will I
write them :
And I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people :
And they shall not teach every man his fellow-citizen, and every
man his brother, saying, Know the Lord :
For all shall know me, from the least to the greatest of them.
For I will be merciful3 to their iniquities, and their sins will I
remember no more.4
In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old.

1 The Massoretic text is, "which covenant with me they did break, although I
was lord over them, is the utterance of Yahweh."
3 " Into their mind " of LXX and the epistle is an interpretation of " within
them " of the original text.
3 The LXX and the epistle generalize the specific "pardon" of the original
Hebrew text into "be merciful."
i The passage is Jeremiah xxxi. 31-34. The epistle follows the LXX quite
closely without important variations. The lines of the poetry in the R. V. are
not correctly arranged. I arrange them in accordance with Messianic Prophecy,
P- 253-

2(52 THE MESSIAH
But that which is becoming old and waxeth aged is nigh unto
vanishing away. (Hebrews viii. i— 13.)
In this passage the epistle presents Jesus as the priest-
king enthroned at the right hand of God in heaven.
There enthroned he ministers in the true tabernacle.
The tabernacle erected by Moses was a copy and shadow
of the tabernacle that Moses saw in the mount. The
true tabernacle remained in heaven, whither the Levitical
priests had no access, their ministry being in the earthly
tabernacle.1 But the Messiah having entered into the
heavenly, the original, the true tabernacle, he is the true
mediator of a better covenant. This is in fulfilment of
the prophecies of Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the great prophet
of the exile. The old covenant having accomplished its
preparatory purpose, has vanished away. The author
then goes on to speak of the holy places and the sacred
furniture, and shows that the entry into the holy of
holies once in the year with the blood of the atonement
signified " that the way into the holy place hath not yet
been made manifest, while as the first tabernacle is yet
standing ; which is a figure for the time present." 3
But Christ having come a high priest of the good things to
come, through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not
made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation, nor yet
through the blood of goats and calves, but through his own
blood, entered in once for all into the holy place, having ob
tained eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls,
and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling them that have been defiled,
sanctify unto the cleanness of the flesh: how much more shall
the blood of Christ, who through the eternal spirit offered him
self without blemish unto God, cleanse your conscience from
dead works to serve the living God ? And for this cause he is
the mediator of a new covenant, that a death having taken place
for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the
1 See pp. 247, 255. a ^ 8-

OF THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS 263
first covenant, they that have been called may receive the prom
ise of the eternal inheritance. (Hebrews ix. 1 1-15.)
The Messiah having come, entered into this greater
and more perfect tabernacle, and going into the most
holy place once for all with his own blood obtained
eternal redemption. His blood was infinitely more pre
cious than that of animals or than the water of purifica
tion, both for its efficacy in the holy place and for its
cleansing of men. He accomplishes both the cleansing
of the altars and of men as the mediator of the new
covenant, and secures for all that are called the promise
of the eternal inheritance.
It was through his eternal spirit that the Messiah
offered himself unto God. His body died upon the
cross and was buried in the tomb, but his spirit was
a living and eternal spirit and could not die. He de
scended as an eternal spirit into Hades and on the third
day came forth from Hades, entered into the body in
the tomb, rose in it from the dead, and ascendedin it to
the holy of holies of the divine presence in heaven.1
His eternal spirit enabled the Messiah to act as priest
and offer himself to God. The offering was made when
it was presented at the divine altar in heaven. The death
on the cross was the death of the victim ; but not the
offering of the victim. The offering can only be made
in the sanctuary and at the altar, and these according to
the Epistle to the Hebrews were in heaven and not on
earth. Christ died not in the temple, not on the altar,
but outside of the temple and without the gate of the
Holy city of the earthly Jerusalem, as well as of the
heavenly Jerusalem. He offered himself on the altar

1 Cf., " quickened in spirit," 1 Peter iii. 18, see p. 56 ; " life-giving spirit,;; 1
Cor. xv. 46, see p. 117 ; and " spirit of holiness," Rom. i. 4. See p. 144.

264

THE MESSIAH

when he entered the holy places in heaven and presented
himself at the heavenly altar. He could not act as
priest elsewhere, he could not present the sacrifice else
where. It is an ancient opinion still held by the majority of
scholars that Christ began to act as priest when he offered
himself on the cross. Riehm, Westcott, and others who
hold this view refer to the fact that the sin-offering of
the day of atonement was slain by the high priest, and
they think that Jesus must have acted in his sin-offering
in accordance with the Law. But the Epistle to the He
brews does not limit the offering of the Messiah to the
sin-offering of the day of atonement. It refers to the
daily offerings of the high priest, whether this is error
of ignorance, as Pfleiderer ' and others think, or an error
of inadvertence, summing up in the work of the high
priest unconsciously, the work of the entire priesthood.
The context of our passage also brings into view the
meats and drinks and divers washings of the several
kinds of peace-offerings and ceremonial baptisms,3 and
" the blood of goats and bulls, and the ashes of a heifer
sprinkling them that have been defiled," referring to the
peace-offerings of consecration and purification and the
ceremonial cleansing from contact with the dead,3 and
the sacrifice at the institution of the covenant.4 In these
offerings the priest offered the flesh and blood at the
divine altars or applied the blood to persons and things,
after the victim had been presented and slain by the
offerers. Even in the sacrifice of the day of atonement
the high priest acted as a representative of the people
rather than as priest when he presented the sin-offering
and slaughtered it. The functions of the priests are in
acting as ministers and mediators at the divine altars, not
1 /. c, s. 629. 3 ix. 10. 3 ix. 13. * ix. 19 ; Ex. xxiv.

OF THE EflSTLE TO THE HEBREWS 265
in the preparation of victims. The offering presented by
Christ is not merely the one sin-offering of the day of
atonement on which the priest presents the victim and
slays it, but a comprehensive offering which sums up in
itself all the sacrifices and ceremonial purifications of the
law, in the most of which the functions of the priest do
not begin until the victim has been presented and slain.
It is admitted that the Epistle to the Hebrews lays
great stress upon the heavenly ministry of the great high
priest after the order of Melchizedek, but it is urged by
Riehm and Westcott that prior to the ministry of Jesus
as the high priest after the order of Melchizedek, which
they recognize as beginning in heaven, he acted as an
Aaronic high priest on earth.1 But the Epistle to the
Hebrews knows of no priesthood of Christ of the type of
Aaron. That is a fiction invented by Riehm to cover a
high priestly ministry of Jesus other than that after the
order of Melchizedek, and to give a name to the Mes
siah's supposed earthly ministry as priest. There was
no such priestly ministry either in type or antitype in
the conception of the Epistle to the Hebrews or of any
other writing of the New Testament.
The covenant is not only a covenant ; it is a testa
ment or will.3 The writer plays upon the Greek word
dtad/jxq, after the Alexandrian manner to get a mystic
meaning. The testament is of no value until the death of its
author who thereby gives to his heirs his inheritance.
So the mediator of the new covenant died and gave his
possessions by testament to his people. Here is a con
trast in excellence of the new covenant over the old. The
old covenant was consecrated by the shedding of blood
and the sprinkling of blood. According to the Law al-
1 Riehm, /. c, s. 479 ; Westcott, /. c„ p. 227. 2 Hebrews ix. 16-18.

266 THE MESSIAH
most all things were cleansed with blood, the blood be
ing applied to the things to be cleansed.1 Blood was also
used to secure remission of sin by its application to the
divine altars. But these divine altars in the tabernacle
and the temple were only the copies of the heavenly
things. These heavenly things required better sacrifices.
These better sacrifices are found in the sacrifice of Jesus.
He offered himself at the end of the ages, the consum
mation of the times of the old covenant. He died as a
victim. But as a priest he took his own blood into the
holy place in heaven and appeared before the face
of God once for all to abide forever as the accepted
priest and the satisfactory sacrifice. His blood is the
one effectual sacrifice giving eternal remission in the
heavenly sanctuary. His offering was made once for all
and needs no repetition ; for the offering was of a victim
whose flesh and blood abide forever with eternal efficacy.
But now once at the end of the ages hath he been manifested8
to put away sin by his sacrifice.3 And inasmuch as it is appointed
unto men once to die, and after this coineth judgment ; so Christ
also, having been once offered to bear the sins of many, shall ap-

1 A mistranslation of ix. 22 in the A. V. has given rise to a statement common
in theological writings, that " without the shedding of blood there is no remis
sion of sin." If the epistle taught such a doctrine it would be in conflict with
the history and literature of the Old Testament. The epistle makes two import
ant qualifications which are brought out in the R. V., namely, (a) "accordingto
the Law," and (&) "I may almost say." These qualifications are in accordance
with the facts. According to the Law the writer might almost say this, but not
altogether, for the Law makes provision for a poor man who was unable to offer
an animal. He might present the tenth part of an ephah of fine flour for a sin-
offering and the priest take a handful of it as a memorial and burn it on the
altar as a sin-offering, Lev. v. n-13. Apart from the Law there are very many
cases of remission of sins without the use of the blood of sacrifice, e. g., Ex.
xxxii. 30-32; Num. xvi. 46-48; xxv. 10-J3; cf. Pss. sxxii. i, 2; li. 1-17.
2 7TE(j)avepuTai.
3 So the margin of the R.V., which is better than the R.V. itself, "the sacri
fice of himself."

OF THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS 267
pear a second time, apart from sin, to them that wait for him,
unto salvation. (Hebrews ix. 26-28.)
The author here contrasts the two advents. The first
was a manifestation at the end of the ages of the Old
Covenant ' to put away sin by the sacrifice which he him
self made. The shedding of his blood in death was for
the great sacrifice for sin. But he is to be manifested a
second time for the salvation of those that wait for him.
Then he will appear apart from sin, without coming in
contact with sin in the flesh or making a sacrifice for sin.
He will appear for the salvation of those who wait for
him and for the judgment 3 of those who reject him. In
order to find a basis for this one perfect sacrifice in the
Old Testament, the epistle appeals to Ps. xl.
For the law having a shadow of the good things to come, not
the very image of the things, they can never with the same sac
rifices year by year, which they offer continually, make perfect
them that draw nigh. Else would they not have ceased to be
offered, because the worshippers, having been once cleansed,
would have had no more conscience of sins ? But in those sac
rifices there is a remembrance made of sins year by year. For it is
impossible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away
sins. Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith,
Sacrifice and offering thou wouldst not,3 but a body didst thou
prepare for me ; *
1 See i. z, p. 245.
3 The context shows clearly that the judgment after death is the judgment at
the second manifestation on the Day of judgment, as in the other writings of the
New Testament (see pp. 44, 59, 79, 88). There is nothing in the text or context
to suggest a special judgment immediately after death. There is no such judg
ment anywhere in Holy Scripture. It is a fiction of the older dogmaticians.
3 The arrangement of the lines of the poetry is not correct in the R. V. See
Messianic Prophecy, pp. 328, 329.
« The citation is from the LXX of Ps. xi. 7-9 with all its mistakes. The body
auua may be an early scribal corruption of the LXX for aria. The Vulgate
aures is probably a correction of the old Latin after the Hebrew. It is possible
thac the LXX found QSJ? in tne Hebrew MS. used by them instead of the au
thentic reading D'JTN.

268 THE MESSIAH
In whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hadst no
pleasure : then said I,
Lo, I am come (in the roll of the book it is written of me)
To do thy will, O God.
Saying above, Sacrifices and offerings and whole burnt offer
ings and sacrifices for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleas
ure therein (the which are offered according to the law), then
hath he said, Lo, I am come to do thy will. He taketh away the
first, that he may establish the second. By which will we have
been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ
once for all. And every priest indeed standeth day by day min
istering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, the which
can never take away sins : but he. when he had offered one sacri
fice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God ; from
henceforth expecting till his enemies be made the footstool of
his feet. For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them
that are sanctified. And the Holy Spirit also beareth witness to
us : for after he hath said,
This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days,
saith the Lord ;
I will put my laws on their heart, and upon their mind also will
I write them ;
Then saith he,
And their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.1
Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for
sin. (Hebrews x. 1-18.)
The Law, being only an anticipatory shadow of the
new covenant, could not by its annual and daily sacri
fices make the offerers perfect. These sacrifices were
rather a continual memorial of sins. But the Messiah
makes them perfect by one perfect sacrifice. This sacri
fice is not of animals, but of a perfect man, the Messiah
himself, who is the victim as well as the priest, whose
entire will is consecrated to the service of God in holy

' Citation of Jer. xxxi. 33 seq. after LXX, cf. Heb. viii, 8-12. See p. 261

OF THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS 269
obedience. It is this entire consecration of the will of
the Messiah in submission and obedience to God even
unto death, that has sanctifying and perfecting power.
He offered one sacrifice for sins and sat down forever on
his priestly throne at the right hand of God, making it a
perpetual throne of grace. There he awaits the fulfil
ment of the promise that all his enemies will be subdued
unto him. This passage enlarges the scope of the one
previously considered. There were contrasted two man
ifestations or advents. Here the work between these
advents is emphasized. This is a work of priestly medi
ation and also of royal conquest. The latter is a familiar
idea of the first Epistle to the Corinthians 1 and other
Pauline epistles.2 This conception has not thus far ap
peared in our epistle, which, while recognizing the royalty
of the Messiah, dwells rather on his priesthood. But the
priesthood is not absent here. The priestly work is in
perfecting his people. By his one offering he has per
fected forever them that are sanctified. The offering is
not only one that accomplishes remission of sins at the
heavenly altar, it is also one that accomplishes purifica
tion and sanctification in the persons of men on the earth.
The sanctification is here a process. As Westcott says : a
The sanctified here are " all who from time to time
realize progressively in fact tnat which has been poten
tially obtained for them." The method of participa
tion in this offering is not brought out in our epistle.
But it is implied in the continuous and progressive appli
cation. It implies the covenant meal of Christians — the
body and blood of the perpetual sacrifice presented in
the forms of the Lord's Supper. From his heavenly
throne the Messiah is ever perfecting and sanctifying his
people through his one sacrifice, ever present at the
'Seep. 114. a Seep. 192. ! /. c, p. 315.

270 THE MESSIAH
heavenly altar, and also ever present on the altar-table
of the Church. He is interceding for them at the throne
of God and is granting them succors and supplies of grace
from the throne of mercy. All this is in fulfilment of
the prophecies of Jeremiah and Ezekiel.
Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holy
place by the blood of Jesus, by the way which he dedicated for
us, a new and living way, through the veil, that is to say, his
flesh ; and having a great priest over the house of God ; let us
draw near with a true heart in fulness of faith, having our hearts
sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our body washed with
pure water : let us hold fast the confession of our hope that it
waver not ; for he is faithful that promised : and let us consider
one another to provoke unto love and good works ; not forsak
ing the assembling of ourselves together, as the custom of some
is, but exhorting one another ; and so much the more, as ye see
the day drawing nigh. (Hebrews x. 19-25.)
The new covenant with its mediator and gracious pro
vision, having been established, Christians ought to
make full use of them. A new and living way into the
heavenly holy place has been opened up by the Mes
sianic high priest. It is the way in virtue of the blood
of the Messiah. His life-blood opened the way to the
propitiatory and remaining there keeps the way open.
We all may use that way by virtue of his blood. It is
also a way through the Messiah's flesh. The flesh of
humanity, which he assumed at his incarnation and
which ascended to heaven with him and entered the
holy of holies with him there to abide, takes the place
of the veil of the holy of holies of the Mosaic tabernacle.
Through that flesh as a way we find entrance.
The Messiah being now the only veil and only way,
we should draw near in fulness of faith. The heavenly
ministry of the Messiah has its counterpart in his earthly
ministry. The Messiah has sprinkled his blood upon

OF THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS 271
our consciences and purified our bodies with the pure
water of heaven. The sacramental application of the
cleansing to soul and body is in baptism.1 This sac
rament underlies the apostle's thought in this passage.
Accordingly there is every encouragement to good
deeds, all the more that the day of the Advent is
" drawing nigh." The Epistle to the Hebrews has the
same conception of the nearness of the Advent that we
have found in the other New Testament writers. This
Advent is an advent to judgment which will be of spe
cial dread to those who reject the Messiah.
For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowl
edge of the truth, there remaineth no more a sacrifice for sins,
but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and- a fierceness of
fire which shall devour the adversaries. A man that hath set at
nought Moses' law dieth without compassion on the word of two
or three witnesses : of how much sorer punishment, think ye,
shall he be judged worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son
of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith
he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto
the Spirit of grace ? For we know him that said, Vengeance be-
longeth unto me, I will recompense. And again, The Lord shall
judge his people. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of
the living God. But call to remembrance the former days, in
which, after ye were enlightened, ye endured a great conflict of
sufferings ; partly, being made a gazingstock both by reproaches
and afflictions ; and partly, becoming partakers with them that
were so used. For ye both had compassion on them that were
in bonds, and took joyfully the spoiling of your possessions,
knowing that ye yourselves have a better possession and an
abiding one. Cast not away therefore your boldness, which hath
great recompense of reward. For ye have need of patience, that,
having done the will of God, ye may receive the promise.
For yet a very little while,
He that cometh shall come, and shall not tarry.
i As Menegoz, La Thiologie de I' fipitre aux HSreux, p. 147, says : "Cette
' eau pure ' ne peut designer que le bapteme."

272 TIIE MESSIAH
But my righteous one shall live by faith :
And if he shrink back, my soul hath no pleasure in him.'
But we are not of them that shrink back unto perdition ; but of
them that have faith unto the saving of the soul.
(Hebrews x. 26-39.)
The rejection of the Messiah and the new covenant is
much more worthy of condemnation than the rejection of
Moses and the old covenant. It is a rejection of the Mes
siah, of his one perfect sacrifice, of the only means of re
mission of sins and of sanctification, and of the power and
guidance of the Holy Spirit. It will be a fearful thing
for such rejecters in the approaching Day of judgment.
This judgment is at the Parousia and not at death. On
the other hand there is abundant comfort for the faith
ful. There is great recompense of reward. The Ad
vent will not tarry ; it will be after a very little while.
It will be for the salvation of the faithful. The author
emphasizes the shortness of the time by the use of the
prophecy of Habakkuk. This shows that we have to
think not of chronological nearness, but of prophetic
and relative nearness. What was near to Habakkuk and
yet many centuries distant, might be near to the author
of our epistle and yet centuries off. The prophecy of
Habakkuk contemplates the Advent of Yahweh. The
epistle here as elsewhere sees the Advent of Yahweh in
the second Advent of the Messiah.
THE BETTER COUNTRY.
§ 60. The Messiah is the prince and perfecter of faith.
He endured the shame of the cross, the gainsaying of sin
ners, and strove unto blood in his conflict zvith sin. He
gained his reward on his heavenly throne. There in
• A free citation after LXX of Hab. ii. 3-4; cited also Rom. i. 17 ; Gal. iii. 11.

OF THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS 273
heaven is the better country, the city of God, the better
things, which the ancient martyrs did not enjoy except in
the contemplation of hope, but which they receive together
with Christians.
The author of the epistle now turns to the ancient
worthies, the martyr witnesses of the old covenant, the
heroes of faith in Biblical history, in order to show by a
new antithesis that Christians have already attained the
better things for which the ancients prayed and longed
and labored, but could not attain until the advent of
the Messiah. In the long catalogue of worthies and
their hopes and rewards we have only to consider those
that involve these better things.
The patriarchs were heirs of the same promise wrap
ped up in the covenant with Abraham. Abraham
" looked for the city which hath the foundations, whose
builder and maker is God." ' The heavenly city was in
volved in the promised land of Abraham and was its
realization, although Abraham did not see it in that
form. He expected the land of Canaan. He would re
ceive something better in the holy city of God. This
conception of the holy city, reserved in heaven in the
time of Abraham, is similar to the new Jerusalem above,
of the Epistle to the Galatians, and also to the concep
tion of the pseudepigrapha.2
These all died according to faith, not having received the
promises, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and
having confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the
earth. For they that say such things make it manifest that they
are seeking after a country of their own. And if indeed they
had been mindful of that from which they went out, they would
have had opportunity to return. But now they desire a better,

1 xi, io. 3 See pp. 8, 141.

274

THE MESSIAH

that is, a heavenly : wherefore God is not ashamed of them, to
be called their God : for he hath prepared for them a city.
(Hebrews xi. 13-16.)
The better country was the heavenly city which was
ever involved in the promises of God, and which was al
ready prepared for the patriarchs in heaven.
A long catalogue of worthies now follows. Theirfaith
is all summed up in the clause :
And these all, having had witness borne to them through their
faith, received not the promise, God having provided some bet
ter thing concerning us, that apart from us they should not be
made perfect. (Hebrews xi. 39, 40.)
This something better is the same heavenly city into
which the ancient worthies and Christians are to enter to
gether and be perfected at once. Westcott remarks on
this passage : " The reason of this failure of the fathers
to ' receive the promise,' which men might think strange,
lay in the far-reaching Providence — Foresight — of God.
Itwas His purpose that the final consummation should
be for all together, as indeed it is of all, in Christ ; so
that no one part of the Body can, if we realize the
meaning of the figure, gain its fulfilment independently.
The consummation of all the Saints therefore followed
upon the completion of Christ's work, the accomplish
ment by Him of the destiny of man, though fallen. So
far then God foresaw in the order of His great counsel
in our case (nepl -jpcov) something better than the fathers
experienced : for we have actually seen in part that to
wards which they strained : Matt. xiii. 17 ; 1 Peter i. 12.
The fathers with a true faith looked for a fulfilment of
the promises which was not granted to them. To us the
fulfilment has been granted, without the trial of deferred
hope, if only we regard the essence of things. Christ has
already opened the way to the Divine Presence on which

OF THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS 275
we can enter, and He offers to us now a kingdom which
cannot be shaken (xii. 28). At the same time there is
the thought that God has looked further, even beyond
our age of trial, to the end."
" The perfection (rsMcoatc) of the individual Christian
must in its fullest sense involve the perfection of the
Christian society. The ' perfection ' which Christ has
gained for humanity in His Person (ii. 10 ; v. 9 ; vii. 28 ;
x. 1, 14) must be appropriated by every member of Christ.
In part this end has been reached by the old saints in
some degree, in virtue of Christ's exaltation (c. xii. 23),
but in part it waits for the final triumph of the Saviour,
when all that we sum up in confessing the truth of ' the
resurrection of the body ' is fulfilled." '
The history of the old covenant and its great lesson is
introductory to the history of the new covenant. The
great cloud of martyrs encourages us to look to the
martyr of martyrs, the Messiah himself.
Therefore let us also, seeing we are compassed about with so
great a cloud of witnesses, lay aside every weight, and the sin
which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the
race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the author and
perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him
endured the cross, despising shame, and hath sat down at the
right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews xii, 1, 2.)
The Messiah first gained the prize and is seated on his
heavenly throne after enduring the cross, the shame, the
opposition of sinners, and resistance unto blood in his
conflict with sin. He is the great example for all Chris
tians whom they are to follow in all these respects, pur
suing after the sanctification without which no man shall
see the Lord, the Messiah at his Advent ; that is, be ad
mitted to his presence and favor at that time.

1 Westcott, Epistle to the Hebrews, pp. 3S2, 383.

276 THE MESSIAH
THE IMMOVABLE KINGDOM.
§ 61. The true Zion and Jerusalem are in heaven where
are the Judge, God of all, the general assembly of the
angels, the church of the firstborn, the perfected spirits of
men, and Jesus the mediator and victim. Only this im
movable kingdom will remain in the Day when heaven and
earth will be removed and all things shaken by an earth
quake of judgment.
The epistle now draws its last contrast, and in a sub
lime picture presents the antithesis between Zion and
Sinai and paints the glories of the heavenly city beyond
anything in previous prophecy.
For ye are not come unto a mount that might be touched, and
that burned with fire, and unto blackness, and darkness, and
tempest, and the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words ;
which voice, they that heard intreated that no word more should
be spoken unto them : for they could not endure that which was
enjoined, If even a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned ; '
and so fearful was the appearance, that Moses said, I exceedingly
fear and quake : 2 but ye are come unto mount Zion, and unto the
city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable
hosts of angels in general assembly,3 and to the church of the first
born who are enrolled in heaven, and to God of all, the Judge,
and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus the me
diator of a new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that
speaketh better than Abel. See that ye refuse not him that
speaketh. For if they escaped not, when they refused him
that warned them on earth, much more shall not we escape,
who turn away from him that warmth from heaven : whose
voice then shook the earth : but now he hath promised, saying,

i A reference to the history, Exodus xix. 13.
2 Deut. ix. 19. The LXX is stronger than the original Hebrew and the epistle
expands the fear of Moses still further. The original is simply " I feared."
3 iravriyvpet belongs with the hosts of angels as Westcott in leco, and not
with the church of the firstborn as A. V. and R. V.

OF THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS 277
Yet once more will I make to tremble not the earth only, but also
the heaven.1 And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the remov
ing of those things that are shaken, as of things that have been
made, that those things which are not shaken may remain.
Wherefore, receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us
have grace, whereby we may offer service well-pleasing to God
with reverence and awe : for our God is a consuming fire.
(Hebrews xii. 18-29.)
The author here contrasts the two covenants as they
are grouped about Sinai and Zion, only the Zion is not
the Zion of Palestine, but the Zion in heaven, the
heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God, built by
God, of the previous chapter.2 This is now the place
whither Christians have come, where their Messiah is,
where their country is, where their hopes are. This idea
is found in germ, in the Jerusalem above, of the Epistle
to the Galatians ; 3 and the commonwealth in heaven, of
the Epistle to the Philippians.4 The Zion and Jerusalem
in heaven, as contrasted with Sinai of the lawgiving, show
that the significance of the Jerusalem of Palestine, the
earthly Jerusalem, has entirely passed away from the
mind of the author. The significance of this vision is
not so much in the heavenly city itself as in its inhabit
ants. These are fully described. (1) There are in
numerable hosts of angels in festal assembly. This con
ception of a general assembly of angels in the celestial
city is in accordance with the Epistle to the Colossians,
which makes the Messiah the lord of angels and the
means of reconciling angels to God,6 and also shows his
exaltation above the angels.8
(2) " The Church of the firstborn enrolled in heaven "
are men as distinguished from angels. These are the first-

1 A free use of Hag. ii. 6, after the LXX.
2 See p. 273. 3 See p. 141. < See p. 187.
' See p. 216. * See p. 213.

278 THE MESSIAH
born sons of God and doubtless the martyrs who pre
ceded the martyr of martyrs, and the apostolic martyrs
who followed him, and who had already gone with the
Messiah to heaven when he ascended, or who had sub
sequently been united to him. They are the firstborn
of an innumerable number of sons of God who will follow
them into the heavenly city.1 These are enrolled as citi
zens of the heavenly city. They belong there, they re
side there permanently. They are a church there. This
epistle accordingly sees a church in the heavenly city
composed of all the firstborn children of God. We have
seen in the Epistles of the Imprisonment that Paul, in
his later years, enlarged his conception of the Church
to the glorious Church of the second Advent,2 and to a
Church of the generations of the age of the ages : 3 but
here for the first time comes into view the Church of the
blessed dead in the Middle State in heaven.
(3) The God of all, of angels and of men, is the judge.
The most natural interpretation of this passage is to re
fer it to God the Father. There are some interpreters
who find here an assertion of the deity of Christ. It
seems best, however, to think of the three classes as com
prehensive of angels, men, and God. Angels are in
general assembly — the men are in the church assembly —
God is present as judge. It is true that in the Gospels
and the Epistles the Messiah is ever the judge. God has
committed all judgment to him/ The conception of the
author of this epistle seems to be different. Christ is the
mediator and God is the judge. It should be noticed,
however, that Christ is the judge of the Day of judgment.
Prior to that Day, he is the mediator and God is the

1 Cf. the d-Kapxh. Rev. xiv. 1-5. See also pp. 114 seq.
> Eph. v. 27. See p. 208. s Eph. iii. 21. See p. 200.
4 The Messiah of the Gospels, pp. 221, 273, 311. Also this volume, pp. 44, 80.

OF THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS 279
judge. God is here conceived of as the judge, not as
pronouncing judgment over men and angels, but as the
One to whom men and angels have access, though he is
the judge. Their access to the judge has been gained
through the Mediator who is to be the judge at his sec
ond Advent.1
(4) " The spirits of just men made perfect." This
clause begins a second triad. It does not carry on the
enumeration of classes of the previous triad ; but returns
into it. The Church of the firstborn and the spirits of
just men made perfect are the same. This triad empha
sizes the conception of redemption. These men are
spirits — disembodied men.2 They are just men, having
been approved as just in their lives. They have been
faithful unto death. They have been perfected ; that is,
they have followed the martyr of martyrs in their testi
mony unto death and have been perfected by attaining
their residence in the holy place of the heavenly city.
(5) "Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant." Jesus
the mediator is there as the great high priest after the
order of Melchizedek, through whom the perfected spirits
have gained access into the holy city and through whom
the living may find access also.
(6) " The blood of sprinkling that speaketh better
than Abel " contrasts the blood of Abel whose blood
cried for vengeance upon the murderer, with the blood
of the martyred Jesus whose blood cries for mercy upon
his murderers. The latter, as the blood of the Messiah,
speaketh better, because, as has been shown in the pre
vious chapter, the blood of the Messiah has everlasting
validity for the remission of sins and for the sanctifica
tion of men.
All these blessings the author sees treasured up in
» See Riehm, Lehrbegriff, s. 122. 2 See pp. 56 seq.

280 THE MESSIAH
heaven as the rightful possession of Christians through
their Messiah under the new covenant, and to which
they have access in this life by faith and in the crowning
life by sight. Such statements imply that the centre of
Christianity is in heaven where the Messiah is, and that
the Church in its purity and power is there, the earthly
Church being but a faint shadow of the heavenly, a ves
tibule to the heavenly halls. It also opens the eyes to
see the heavenly ministry of Christians to which they
depart when they leave their ministry in this world.
Such blessings are not to be rejected with impunity.
There is coming a Day of judgment in which heaven
and earth will be shaken and all things will be removed.
This shaking of heaven and earth is doubtless the same
as the combustion of heaven and earth in the second
Epistle of Peter,1 and the change expected by the crea
ture according to the Epistle to the Romans2 and the
fiery test of the first Epistle to the Corinthians.3 Only
things that cannot be shaken will remain. These things
are the kingdom of the Messiah, the kingdom which
here seems to be the same as the Church in heaven.
Only the heavenly city and kingdom and its citizens
will remain unshaken in that great final earthquake of
judgment. THE GREAT SHEPHERD.
§ 62. Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday and to-day and
unto the ages. He suffered and died outside the city as a sin-
offering, but God raised him from the dead and his blood
was taken into the holy place to perpetually cover over sin.
His blood is the blood of the eternal covenant, and so his
flesh and blood became the perpetual meal of his people on
1 See p. 64. a See p. 163. a See p. 108.

OF THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS 281
the altar -table of the Church. He is the great shepherd
of the sheep.
The epistle attains its climax in the passage just con
sidered. It is only necessary to consider a few Messi
anic references in the closing chapter.
" Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and to-day, and
unto the ages." ' This sameness is at the basis of the
three states that are covered by these words. What he
was yesterday, in his pre-existence, his life of suffering
and death for sin, his resurrection and ascension ; what
he is to-day as the mediator and victim ; that he
will be in the future at his second Advent. In all
this infinite variety of states and activities he is yet the
same, that is in his character of grace and love as Saviour,
which manifests itself in these three states.
The meats of the sacrificial meals of Jews and Gentiles
do not afford those who partake of them the satisfac
tion and high privileges afforded by the sacrificial meal
of Christians.
We have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat which
serve the tabernacle. For the bodies of those beasts, whose
blood is brought into the holy place by the high priest as an offer
ing for sin, are burned without the camp. Wherefore Jesus also,
that he might sanctify the people through his own blood, suf
fered without the gate. Let us therefore go forth unto him
without the camp, bearing his reproach. For we have not here
an abiding city, but we seek after the city which is to come.
(Hebrews xiii. 10-14.)
The altar-table of the Church provides the flesh
of Christ as the perpetual sacrificial meal of Christians.
This sacrificial meal was provided by the sacrifice of
a sin-offering. The flesh of the ordinary sin-offering
' xiii. 8.

282 THE MESSIAH
might be eaten by the priests alone. But the flesh of
the great sin-offering of the day of atonement, whose
blood was taken into the holy of holies by the high
priest, could not be eaten by the priests or even by the
high priest, it was burned without the camp. Jesus as
the great sin-offering suffered without the gate of the
city. This sin-offering was not only a sin-offering, but
also a great sacrifice of the new covenant. As a sin-
offering the blood of Jesus was taken by him into the
heavenly holy of holies to remain as the perpetual puri
fication on the propitiatory of the throne of grace. As
the covenant sacrifice his flesh ever abides on the altar-
table of the Church in the form of bread, to provide his
people with the living and transforming food, the nour
ishment of sanctification and of everlasting life. The
blood also is given to them in the form of the cup of
wine, to purify their hearts and consciences, to conse
crate and sanctify them with the energies of new and
holy life.
Christians are also to suffer outside the camp, as did
their Master ; and they seek the abiding city in heaven,
whither they are to follow him in death.
The epistle concludes with a benediction which con
tains important Messianic elements.
Now the God of peace, who brought again from the dead the
great shepherd of the sheep with the blood of the eternal cove
nant, even our Lord Jesus, make you perfect in every good thing
to do his will, working in us that which is well-pleasing in his
sight, through Jesus Christ ; to whom be the glory unto the ages
of the ages. Amen. (Hebrews xiii. 20, 21.)
Jesus is the great shepherd of the sheep. His people
constitute his flock.1 He died for the flock. But God

See The Messiah of the Gospels, pp. 225, 284, 314.

OF THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS 283
brought him from the dead and raised him up to his
royal throne to continue his work as shepherd in a liv
ing and eternal ministry. He rose from the dead with
the blood of an eternal covenant. His blood became
the blood of the new covenant in place of the blood of
the old covenant.1 ' This covenant was a new covenant
and also an eternal covenant. It involves a work of
perfecting the flock. This work is carried on through
the Shepherd by God Himself until His holy will and
entire good pleasure are altogether accomplished.

1 Ex. xxiv. See The Messiah of the Gospels, pp. 120, 332.

CHAPTER IX.
THE MESSIAH OF THE APOCALYPSE OF JOHN.
The Apocalypse of John has been from the earliest
times the most doubtful writing in the New Testament.
Pious bishops, theologians, and reformers have either de
nied its canonicity or have expressed grave doubts wheth
er it ought to be included in the canon of Holy Scripture.
It is also the most difficult writing in the New Testa
ment. Numberless works have been written upon it,
chiefly commentaries or expositions of its visions in the
light of Christian history. Some have endeavored to
trace in them the consecutive history of Christianity ;
others a series of events leading on to the destruction
of heathen Rome and a glorious period of Christianity
thereafter. Others have followed Augustine in his
theory of recapitulation, and have seen in the visions
several variations of the same essential theme. After
all, the general opinion among scholars has been that
the key of the Apocalypse has not yet been found.
The many modern attempts of scholars of the highest
rank to solve the problems of the Apocalypse on the
basis of these several theories having failed, critics, in
recent years, have been led to question the integrity of
the Apocalypse, and to seek a solution of its mysteries by
resolving it into a number of original documents which
were eventually combined in their present form by an
editor. The first to undertake this task was Daniel
(284)

OF THE APOCALYPSE OF JOHN 285
Volter in 1882.1 His effort was crude and ill-considered
and did not gain much support. Weizsacker stated his
documentary theory of the Apocalypse in 1886,2 and
distributed the material at different dates from 64 A.D.
until the close of the century. In the same year Eber-
hard Vischer, a student of Adolf Harnack, proposed the
theory that the Apocalypse is essentially a Jewish Apoca
lypse which was translated, edited, and enlarged by a
Christian author.3 Vischer made the analysis with con
siderable skill, and succeeded in gaining the consent of
Harnack, Schiirer, Dillmann, and many other of the best
critics of Europe to his theory. He pointed out a num
ber of very important facts which had been overlooked by
former writers, which put the question of the composi
tion and arrangement of the Apocalypse in an entirely
new light. I gave his theory a very careful review in
1 8S7,4 and applied to it the principles of the Higher
Criticism with the result that I could not accept it.
The evidences he presented seemed to me insufficient,
and many objections to his analysis seemed insuperable.
Volter, spurred by the success of Vischer, continued his
studies, at first in a polemic against the theory of
Vischer,0 and finally in a systematic work which is a
monument of industry, critical acumen, and learning."
Independently of Vischer, and in the same year,
Weyland, in Holland, published an analysis of the
Apocalypse ; ' and later elaborated it in a learned work."

1 Die Entstehung der Apokalypse, -As. Aufl., 1885.
2 Das apostolische Zeitalter, 2te Aufl., 1892.
3 Die Offenbarung Jahannes eine jiidische Apokalypse, 1886.
4 See Presbyterian Review, Jan. , 1888.
6 Die Offenbarung Johannes keine ursprungliche jiidische Apokalypse, 1886.
6 Das Problem der Apckalybse, 1893.
7 Compila.'ie-en Omwerkings-Hypothesen toegepast op de Apokalypse van
Johannes, Theologische Studien, 1S86, pp. 454-470.
a Omwerkings-en Comj ilalie-llypothesen, 1888.

286

THE MESSIAH

Weyland found two Jewish apocalypses : the one of the
time of Nero, consisting essentially of the Visions of the
Seals, Trumpets, and Bowls ; the other of the time of
Titus, consisting essentially of the War with the Beasts ;
which were taken up by a Christian author in the time
of Trajan into his Apocalypse of the seven Epistles.
Pfleiderer,1 Sabatier,2 and Schon,3 adopted the document
ary hypothesis in various forms. In 1889 a fresh con
tribution of great value was made by Spitta ; ' and he
was soon followed by Erbes," in another original inves
tigation and analysis. The documentary theory has
also been adopted by Holtzmann," Julicher,7 Kriiger,8
and others — indeed, the great majority of recent writers
upon the Apocalypse. The most elaborate work upon the
Apocalypse has been done by the German scholar Spitta
and the Dutch scholar Volter. Spitta finds in the Vision
of the Trumpets and other related material, a Jewish
Apocalypse of the time of Pompey (J1) ; in the Vision of
the Bowls and its kindred matter, another Jewish Apoca
lypse of the time of Caligula (J2) ; a Christian Apoca
lypse written by John Mark in the year 60 A.D., con
sisting in the main of the Visions of the Epistles and the
Seals (U) ; and a final redactor at the close of the first
century or the beginning of the second century. His
scheme, therefore, is essentially based on the division of
the three Sevens, the Trumpets, Bowls, and Seals.
The analysis of Volter is still more elaborate. He

1 Das Urchristentum, 1887.
= Les origines litteraires et la composition de V Apocalypse de St. Jean,
1887. > L'Origine de V Apocalypse de St. Jean, 1887.
* Die Offenbarung des Johannes untersucht , 1889.
» Die Offenbarung Johannes kritisch untersucht, 1891.
0 Hand-Commentar, iv., s. 260 seq.
i Einleitung in das Neue Testament, 1894, s. 181.
8 Geschichte des altchristlichen Literatur, 1894, s. 22.

OF THE APOCALYPSE OF JOHN 287
seeks to show that the original Apocalypse, consisting
chiefly of the two Sevens, the Seals, and the Trumpets,
was written in Hebrew in the land of Palestine about the
year A.D. 62. This was enlarged by additions written in
the years A.D. 68 and 70, beginning with the Vision, x.
1-10, and including the description of the harlot city and
its destruction, xvii.-xix. 4. In the reign of Titus a new
edition was issued with new material, which came from the
hand of Cerinthus, beginning with the Vision of Mother
Israel and the Dragon, xii. 1-10, and embracing the ad
vent of the Messiah and the passages grouped about the
Millennium, xix. 1 i-xxi. 8. In the reign of Domitian
another edition was issued with numerous additions,
including especially the war with the Beasts, xii. 12-
xiii., xiv. 9-12, the Vision of the Bowls, xv.-xvi., and
the new Jerusalem, xxi. 9-xxii. 3. These were written
in Greek. Another enlarged edition was issued in the
time of Trajan, which consisted chiefly of editorial addi
tions. The last edition in its present form dates from
the time of Hadrian, about 130 a.d., and includes the
seven Epistles and final editorial notes.
The critics differ in their combinations of the material
which they analyze, and in their theories as to date,
authorship, and circumstances of composition ; but they
agree quite closely in the places where they find edi
torial seams and interpolations. This situation is una
voidable at the present stage of the analysis. Every
critic must either acquiesce in the views of some other
critic, or by comparing their views form a compromise
theory, or else make an analysis of his own. The entire
problem can be solved only by the co-working of many
critics and their careful testing, verification, or con
demnation of the tentative theories of their colleagues
and predecessors.

288

THE MESSIAH

Volter and Spitta agree (i) in making the Vision of
the seven Epistles the essential part of the last of the
original documents; (2) in finding the beginning of a
second original document in chapter x. ; (3) in making
the Vision of the Trumpets the backbone of another
Apocalypse than the two just mentioned. Spitta divides
the other material of the Apocalypse among these three
originals, but Volter makes a more elaborate analysis.
Accordingly they differ in that : (1) Spitta attaches the
Vision of the Seals to the Vision of the Epistles, whereas
Volter attaches the Vision of the Seals to the Vision of
the Trumpets ; (2) Spitta attaches the War with the
Dragon and the Beasts to the Vision of the Trumpets
(J1), whereas Volter begins his third Apocalypse with
the Vision of the Dragon, xii. I-IO, and his fourth with
the Vision of the Beasts, xii. 12— xiii.; (3) Spitta attaches
the Vision of the Bowls to his second Jewish Apoca
lypse (J2), whereas Volter attaches it to the Vision of
the Beasts. There are many minor agreements and
disagreements between these two chief critics of the
Apocalypse. But the most essential features have been
mentioned. These agreements and disagreements, espe
cially when compared with the criticisms of other scholars,
lead us to suspect that the criticism has not gone far
enough to solve the problem.
In the final revision of my study of the Mesrianic idea
of the Apocalypse, I was obliged to re-examine the text
of the Apocalypse in view of the documentary hypoth
esis and to consider the literary facts which have been
brought to light by so many recent critics. I found
myself gradually yielding to the evidence for the docu
mentary hypothesis, and at last I was obliged to adopt
it. I could not rest content with the analysis as given
by any of the critics above mentioned, because of evi-

OF THE APOCALYPSE OF JOHN 289
dent faults in their analyses. I was obliged to apply
the principles and methods which I have been accus
tomed to apply in the Higher Criticism of the Old
Testament and of the Gospels, and to make a fresh
study of the phenomena for myself. I do not see my
way through all the mazes of this intricate question ;
but I have used the researches of my predecessors with
caution and criticism and at the same time with grateful
recognition, in order if possible to make some little
improvement upon them. I cannot flatter myself that
I have succeeded in all respects, but it seems to me that
I have a contribution to make towards the solution of
the problem.
I was withheld from accepting the documentary theory
of the Apocalypse by the unity which I have always
found in the book. In adopting the documentary
hypothesis, I hold it in entire consistency with that
unity. The unity is the work of the final editor. His
work reminds me of that of the great prophet of the
exile, who according to the theory which I proposed
some years ago 1 made a prophecy of remarkable sym
metry on the numerical scheme of division of three
times three parts with refrains, out of three different
groups of material, two of which had symmetry and
refrains of their own. So the final editor of the Apoca
lypse uses a number of apocalypses in whole or in part,
each having its own original literary organism, and com
bines them in a series of seven Visions with seven scenes
in each Vision, the whole introduced by a prologue and
concluded by an epilogue. Again, just as the great
prophet of the exile distributes his earlier prophecy,
in the trimeter movement of Hebrew poetry, and min-

1 See Messianic Prophecy, pp. 338 seq.

290 THE MESSIAH
gles its various parts with the various parts of his later
prophecy, in the pentameter movement, and appends
thereto other earlier and later prophecies, just so the
author of the Apocalypse of John has transposed parts
of the different original apocalypses, has pushed the
beginning of some of them into the midst of others of
them, and so rearranged the whole material as best to
suit the symmetry he was aiming to produce.
It is impracticable in a volume like this, which has to
do with the Messianic idea of the Apocalypse rather
than with its literary forms, to go deeply into the sub
ject of its analysis and composition. I can only state
the results which I have reached and some of the reasons
therefor. Four of the Visions 1 of the Apocalypse are marked off
from the other three by distinct groups of sevens, seven
epistles, seven seals, seven trumpets, and seven bowls.
The book in its present form has seven Visions of seven
scenes. How is it that an author who made so much of
this holy number in four Visions, did not use it in the
three other Visions, if he was the author of them all?
This suggests a documentary difference in these two
sets of Visions. The suggestion is reinforced by the
fact that the first of the Visions without the groups of
seven distinct objects begins in chapter xii. with the
scene of the birth of the Messiah from mother Israel.
This seems to go back to a much earlier time than the
first scene of the Epistles, which begins with a Chris
tophany of the enthroned Messiah ; or than the earlier
scenes of the Seals, which present the theophany of the
throne of God and the ascension of the Messiah : or

i In all my work upon the Apocalypse I shall use Vision for one or more of
the seven Visions of the Apocalypse in its present form. I shall use apocalypse
for the original documents which underlie the present Apocalypse.

OF THE APOCALYPSE OF JOHN 291
than the first scene of the Trumpets, which begins with
the offering of incense with the prayers of the martyrs.
Furthermore the theme of the set of Visions, the War
with the Dragon and the Beasts, which begins with this
twelfth chapter, is essentially different from that of the
previous Visions.
Limiting ourselves to the first three Visions, we find
that the Vision of the seven Epistles has an introductory
Christophany and a series of seven epistles, and thus
seems to be complete in itself. It lacks only its con
clusion if it originally was an independent document.1
The Vision of the seven Seals has an introductory
Theophany and a Christophany and six seals. Between
the sixth Seal and the seventh are two scenes (chapter
vi'i.) which are not introduced by the opening of seals
and are usually regarded as episodes. The opening of
the seventh seal is seen, but no event transpires.
Thus two questions arise. Are the two episodes
original to the Vision of the Seals, or have they been
appended thereto by a later editor ? What has become
of the scene that originally followed the opening of
the seventh seal ? Has it been omitted in the final
edition of the Apocalypse, or has it been displaced and
may it be found elsewhere ? The Vision of the Seven
Trumpet's begins rather abruptly 2 with a scene of angels
in the temple, viii. 2-6 ; but there is no Theophany and
no Christophany to introduce it. The Six Trumpets
follow in regular order, viii. 7-ix. After the sixth
trumpet two scenes appear in x.-xi. 13, which are not
announced by trumpets, then the seventh trumpet fol
lows with its scene, xi. 14-19. The question accord
ingly arises whether these two scenes between the sixth

1 This we may find in xxi. 5*, -ja ; xxii. 16-17. See p. 459.

292

THE MESSIAH

and seventh trumpets were original to the Vision, or
whether they have been appended from another source
by an editor. A further question springs out of the
others, whether these three visions all belong to one
Apocalypse, or whether they are three separate apoca
lypses, or whether we may combine any two of them.
The first question to be considered is with regard to
the episodes. If we take the Visions of the Epistles and
the Bowls as guides, these episodes had no place in the
original Visions of the Seals and the Trumpets, for those
Visions have no episodes.1 Furthermore, the number
seven as given in seven seals and seven trumpets would
seem to imply that with the seventh seal and the seventh
trumpet the Visions essentially attained their end, and
that nothing would remain to their completeness but
concluding scenes in general proportion to the opening
scenes. The insertion of the two episodes forces the
grouping of the four seals and the four trumpets into
one scene each, in order to conform to the symmetry
of the seven scenes in each Vision. This looks as if
there was a different scheme in the original of these
Visions from that followed in the present scheme of
our Apocalypse. An examination of these episodes
strengthens this supposition.
In chapter x. there is a Christophany, with a little
book and a commission to a prophet. This was doubt
less originally the beginning of a Vision, just as the
Visions of the Epistles and the Seals begin with Chris-
tophanies. It cannot be in its original place between
1 The situation in the Apocalypse in its present form is that two of the Visions
of the sevens have episodes, two of them not. We shall see later on (see pp. 415, 420)
that in all probability the Seals and the Trumpets were earlier than the Bowls
and the Kpistles, and that the Bowls presuppose the Seals and the Trumpets,
and were modelled after them. How is it then that the episodes were omitted
from the latei Vision if they were in the earlier Visions ?

OF THE APOCALYPSE OF JOHN 293
the sixth and the seventh trumpet. It seems to have
been woven into a scene which belonged to the Vision
of the Trumpets ; namely, a scene of an angel with a
proclamation and a series of seven thunders which are
not developed. If these two different elements are
separated the meaning of both becomes more evident.1
The second of these episodes, chapter xi.1-13, is seen to
be the natural continuation of the Christophany in chap
ter x., and to have no original connection with the
Vision of the Trumpets.
The two episodes of chapter vii. are more difficult.
There is a lack of harmony between the two. The
scene of the four angels of the winds and the angel
sealing the 144,000 of the tribes of Israel, is entirely
different from anything whatever in the Vision of the
Seals. There is a Jewish particularism in it which is in
striking contrast with the universality both of the pre
vious context of the Seals and with the following con
text of the second episode of the Seals. These four
angels of the winds never do what they are restrained
from doing for a season. Their time for action never
comes, so far as this apocalypse is concerned. It is
evident, therefore, that this scene did not originally be
long to this Vision, but was originally connected with
another Vision.2
There is another scene of the 144,000 in chapter xiv.
1-5. This scene is entirely harmonious to the Vision of
the Seals, and also to the second episode of the Seals in
vii. 9-17. It seems to me that this scene has been
pushed out of its original place, and that the scene of vii.
1-8 has been substituted for it.3 But even after this
1 See p. 310. 2 See p. 372.
a A reason for the transfer may possibly be found in the fact that the editor
might naturally think that the sealing of 144,000 Israelites ought to precede the
144,000 assembled about the Lamb, who are apparently from all nations.

294: THE MESSIAH
transfer has been made, and xiv. 1-5 and vii. 9-17 are
seen to fit into each other, it is altogether probable that
they are not in their original position in the Vision of
the Seals.1
The next question which arises is, what has become
of the original scene of the seventh seal. Spitta finds it
in the previous context, and thinks that the statement
as to the seventh seal originally preceded vii. 9-17. If
that were so, there would be little difficulty in regarding
xiv. 1-5 as also a part of the scene of the seventh
trumpet. But this solution is too easy. It does not
give us what we are led to expect at the opening of the
seventh seal. It is much more probable that we shall
find the missing scene later on in the book, for the
reason that the final author of the Apocalypse saw that
the time had not come at the opening of the seventh
seal 2 in his scheme of the Apocalypse for the final scene
to be given.
The question now confronts us, as to the relation of
these three Visions in their original form. Volter com
bines the second and third, and regards the first as later
and originally independent. Spitta combines the first
and second, and regards them as later than the third.
It seems to me that they were originally three inde
pendent Visions ; but that they were edited and issued
together, before they were incorporated in the present
apocalypse. The Vision of the seven Epistles has an independent
title i. 9. The other two Visions have no titles pre
served. But the salutation i. 4-6 includes the Vision of
the Seals with the Vision of the Epistles. It is probable
that the Vision of the Trumpets was preceded by i. 7-8,
1 See p. 411. 1 See p. 409.

OF THE APOCALYPSE OF JOHN 295
and that this preface of the trumpets was united with i.
4-6, when the three sevens were edited in one writing.
It is probable that at the time of the issue of this edition
of the Apocalypse, the section xiv. 1-5, and other sec
tions now included in the material of the second part of
the Apocalypse, were appended before the conclusion of
the Visions of the Epistles, xxii. 16-1 7, and the Trumpets,
xxii. 10-15, which are welded together in the Epilogue,1
and the Greeting xxii. 21 of the Vision of the Seals.
A critical study of the second part of the Apocalypse
makes it plain that this is also composite. Interposed
between the fourth and sixth Visions is a fifth Vision,
xv.-xvi., which resembles the first three Visions in that
it gives a series of seven bowls. This Vision has an in
troductory scene of the victors singing the song of Moses.
The sea here reminds us of the sea before the throne in
the Vision of the Seals, and is doubtless conceived as the
same place.2 The seven angels with the bowls pour out
their plagues in regular order without interruption. This
Vision thus seems complete in itself, like the Vision of the
Epistles ; and has not the episodes of the Visions of the
Seals and the Trumpets. We are, however, confronted
with two very remarkable supplements to this Vision.
The one, of them is the vision of the harlot city, chapter
xvii., the other the vision of the holy Jerusalem, xxi. 9
seq., both of which were seen in the ecstatic state under
similar circumstances, the prophet being shown the cities
by one of the seven angels with the seven bowls. It
seems to be evident that these two scenes, the one the
antithesis of the other, the only two seen under these
circumstances with the direction of one of the angels with
the bowls, originally belonged together and that they
1 See p. 388. ! iv. 6.

296 THE MESSIAH
have been separated by a later editor who wished to
bring together all the scenes relating to Babylon in one
place, and those relating to the new Jerusalem in another
place. There are reasons for supposing that they have
both been combined with editorial material from other
sources, however difficult it may be to separate them
from that material.
Two questions now arise: i. Did this Vision of the
Bowls originally stand by itself, was it an original part
of the Visions of the second part of the Apocalypse, or
was it edited with the three Visions of the first part of
the Apocalypse? 2. Were the scenes of the cities an
original part of the Vision of the Bowls, or a later ad
dition to it? The latter question should be considered
first. There does not appear in the Vision of the Bowls
any preparation for the vision of these two cities. The
Vision reaches its natural end with the seventh bowl.
And yet it is not reasonable to suppose that the redactor
would have inserted the prefatory reference to the angel
of the bowl even in xvii. i, still less in xxi.9, unless these
scenes originally belonged to that apocalypse. It seems,
therefore, that the Vision of the Bowls had appended to
it these two visions of the cities while it existed apart
as an independent document.
The Vision of the Bowls in its present position has
undoubted connection with the Vision of the Beasts
which precedes it. But the references to the Vision of
the Beasts may all be explained as editorial notes to
adapt it to its present position. It is not so easy to ex
plain the references to the Visions of the Seals and of the
Trumpets ; for there was no reason for an editor to make
them while this Vision was in its present position. They
seem to imply a previous connection with the Visions of
the Seals and Trumpets. There can be no doubt that

OF THE APOCALYPSE OF JOHN 297
the seven bowls run along in remarkable parallelism with
the seven trumpets. This raises the question whether
one of them was written with the other vision in view ;
and if so, which of the two was earlier, or whether both
of these Visions may not depend upon a lost original.
The latter is the view strongly advocated by Spitta.1
In that the Vision of the Bowls opens with a scene of
the victors upon the sea of glass, the question arises where
is the corresponding scene at the beginning of the Vision
of the Trumpets? It is probable that Spitta is cor
rect in finding it in vii. 1-8, which has been thrust into
the Vision of the Seals before the seventh seal. The
conclusion of the Vision of the Bowls is probably to be
found in xxii. 6-9.
The fourth Vision gives a series of scenes of the war
of the Messiah with the dragon and the beasts. This
extends, with few editorial interpolations, through chap
ters xii. and xiii. Chapter xiv. is one of the seams of
the Apocalypse and is difficult of analysis, as all critics
recognize. It has been shown that xiv. 1-5 belonged
originally to the Vision of the Seals. This leaves us
with a series of three angels in xiv. 6-13. The angel
of verse 8 is nothing more than an extract from xviii.
1-2,2 which begins the full description of the destruction
of Babylon. If, however, the Vision of the Bowls, xv-
xvii., is regarded as an originally independent Vision,
xviii. would immediately follow xiv. It is probable, as
we shall see, that xiv. 14-20 is also out of place. If
we suppose that the Vision of the Bowls at one time im
mediately followed the Vision of the Trumpets and that
the Visions of the Dragon and the Beasts has been in
serted, thc.i we are not surprised to find that xiv. 14-20

/. c, s. 170 seq. ' See p. 329.

298

THE MESSIAH

originally belonged to the Vision of the Trumpets. It
is altogether probable, therefore, that originally xviii.
closely followed xiii. and preceded the section xiv. 8-13,
that verse 8 is a relict of its original place, and that this
group of verses has been adapted by these editorial
changes to the situation involved.
The section xiv. 14-20 is the only passage in the
Apocalypse to which i. 7 directly points. It does not
present any internal evidence of connection with the war
with the beasts. It is a judgment scene of a different
character. It is probable, therefore, that it is the con
tinuation of the scene of the seventh trumpet, xi. 14,
i$a, 19. We shall also find that the angel of xiv. 6-7 be
longs to the same Vision, and was originally immediately
before xiv. 14.
Chapter xix. is another seam in which various elements
are combined. Verses 1-10 bring in again the Lamb and
the elders and the heavenly song, and show a remark
able connection with the apocalypse of the Seals.
There is also a still more remarkable connection be
tween this section and the apocalypse of the Bowls,
which forces to the conclusion that it is the transition
scene between the judgment upon the harlot city and
the advent of the bridal city. The resemblances to the
apocalypse of the Seals are so many, and so essential
to the scene that they cannot be regarded as editorial in
terpolations. They give important evidence in addition
to other evidences which pervade this apocalypse, that
the author of the apocalypse of the Bowls wrote it with
the apocalypse of the Seals in view.
Chapter xix. 11-21 continues the Vision of the War
with the Beasts and brings it to an appropriate end in the
victory of the Messiah and the casting of the beast into
the lake of fire.

OF THE APOCALYPSE OF JOHN 299
Chapter xx. is usually regarded as the continuation of
chapter xix. ; but it goes back to the dragon who last
appeared in chapter xii., and who apparently had no part
in the subsequent chapters.1 This apocalypse then con
tinues through chapter xx. Chapter xxi. is also com
posite, as we have already seen. After we have taken out
xxi. 9-15 which goes with the Vision of the Bowls,
there is still a variety of material. The measurement of
the city, xxi. 15, would be the antithesis to the measure
ment of the temple, xi. 1. It might be supposed that
these two pieces originally belonged together. But xxi.
18-21 is a description of the bridal city of the apocalypse
of the Dragon, xxi. 2, and in xxi. 16-17 the two descrip
tions are entwined in a seam ; xxi. 9-15 is a continua
tion of the bridal announced in xix. 8, between which
and the conclusion, xix. 9-10, it originally belonged.
We have already seen that a separate apocalypse be
gan with x. \b-2, 8-1 1, and continued through xi. 1-13.
Was this an independent apocalypse, or has it a continu
ation in our present apocalypse? If I am right in the
conjecture that xx. originally followed xii. 17, then we
would find the continuation of xi. 1-13 in the War with
the Beasts, xii. 18— xiii. ; the series of angels, xiv. 8=
xviii.; xiv. 9-13; the Advent, xix. 11-21; and this
apocalypse is singularly complete.
The question now arises as to xxii. 1-5, whether it
continues the description of the new Jerusalem of the
apocalypse of the Bowls, or the apocalypse of the
Dragon. This is not easy to decide. Internal evidence
favors the opinion that it continues the description of
them both, and we are obliged to analyze the seam into
its two constituent parts.2

1 The statements, xiii. -t, 4 ; xvi. 13, are evidently editorial. See pp. 320, 421.
' See p. 365.

300 THE MESSIAH
The descriptions of the holy city having been removed
and assigned to their place in the several original apoca
lypses, there remains nothing but the several conclusions
of the original apocalypses which have been welded to
gether in xxi. 3-8 ; xxii. 6-2 1.1 The conclusion of the
apocalypse of the Dragon is probably to be found in xxi.
3~5«. The remainder is composite: xxi. $b,ya; xxii. 16-
1 7, seem to belong to the apocalypse of the Epistles ; and
xxi. 6, "jb-% ; xxii. 10-15 to the apocalypse of the
Trumpets ; xxii. 6-9 to the apocalypse of the Bowls ;
xxii. 21 tothe apocalypse of the Seals; and xxii. 18-20
to the final redactor.
It is noteworthy that the interpreting angel does not
appear in the Vision of the Epistles to the seven
churches, or in the greeting, i. 4-6 ; but in the Vision of
the Seals one of the elders interprets, and in the Vision
of the Bowls one of the angels with the bowls. This
latter circumstance corresponds with the statement in
the Prologue, i. 1-3, in the section xix. 9-10, and in the
Epilogue, xxii. 6-9.
The final author, who used the material above de
scribed and arranged it in its present symmetrical form
of seven Visions with seven scenes each, is responsible
for a considerable amount of editorial work, especially
in the many seams and explanatory statements which
constantly appear in the book. The editors of the other
editions also contributed explanatory remarks and seams.
If the view taken of the Apocalypse is correct in gen
eral, however faulty it may be in details, the Apocalypse,
' The analysis here is exceedingly difficult. The hand of the editor is evident
throughout. Even where the analysis has been made with some confidence, the
part assigned to an original apocalypse is not altogether in its original form. It
has been modified and adapted to its present situation. It is necessary for the
completeness of our study to make the effort to analyze ; and yet the result is
not as satisfactory as we could wish and may easily be criticised.

OF THE APOCALYPSE OF JOHN 30}
as we now have it, is a collection of apocalypses of differ
ent dates issued in several successive editions. This will
in a measure reconcile the marked evidences of an early
date in several places in the Apocalypse with the tradi
tion in the early church as to its later date in the time
of Domitian, and also some marked evidences of a still
later date. In the main these apocalypses come from
an early date prior to the destruction of Jerusalem.
Spitta dates two of his original apocalypses too early
because of his theory that they are Jewish. Volter
dates his original apocalypses too late. But both agree
that the Apocalypse in its present form cannot be
earlier than the close of the first Christian century.
It seems also to be evident from the later studies of
the book that several of these apocalypses were written
in Hebrew, the language of the pseudepigraphical apoca
lypses, the holy language of prophecy ; and for the most
part at least in the parallelisms and measures of Hebrew
poetry. It is doubtful whether any of the original docu
ments were written in Greek. That which shows the
least evidence of a Hebrew original is the apocalypse of
the Epistles. The greater portion of the citations in
the Apocalypse are nearer to the Massoretic text than
to the LXX, and it is quite possible that those which
seem to agree with the LXX have come from the
Aramaic Targum used in the worship of the synagogue,
and so familiar to every Palestinian, rather than from
the LXX itself.
The traditional author of the Apocalypse is the apostle
John. The original apocalypses of the Epistles, the
Seals, and the Bowls claim in either prologue or epi
logue to be from a prophet John speaking in the first
person to the churches. The introduction to the Apoca
lypse in its present form, probably from the last editor,

302

THE MESSIAH

ascribes the Apocalypse as a whole to the same John,
but speaks of him in the third person. This John is
spoken of as a prophet and not as an apostle. This
does not favor apostolic authorship. However, it was
more important that the author of the Apocalypse
should be called a prophet than that he should be
called an apostle, because of the prophetic contents of
the book. So far as the book is concerned the author,
if he were an apostle, would sink his apostolic in his
prophetic character. At the same time, the candid
scholar will admit that so far as the Apocalypse itself
is concerned it gives no direct evidence of apostolic
origin. On the other hand, it is noteworthy that the
Apocalypse describes a number of Christophanies and
Theophanies. All the Christophanies and Theophanies
of the New Testament, with the exception of that to
Stephen,1 were granted to apostles ; to James, Peter,
and John in the Gospels,2 to Peter and Paul in the book
of Acts and the Epistles,3 and to others only in the com
pany of apostles.4 The Christophanies of the Apoca
lypse transcend any of those reported elsewhere in the
New Testament, and two of them give commissions to
the prophet. What other John than the apostle could
have received them ? Moreover, if the tradition is cor
rect that John the apostle spent the latter part of
his life in the province of Asia, we seem compelled to
suppose either that the John of these apocalypses was
the apostle or some one must have used his name as a
pseudonym ; for no other John could have gained such
a prominence as to have been thought of in his presence
as so addressing the churches of Asia as is done in this
1 Acts vii. 55-56. See p. 69.
a See The Messiah oj the Gospels, p. 100. « See pp. 38, 70, 103.
1 The Messiah of the Gospels, p. 252.

OF THE APOCALYPSE OF JOHN goS
Apocalypse without leaving more distinct traces in his
tory than appear in the so-called presbyter John.
It seems to me therefore that we must think of the
apostle John as the author of the apocalypse of the
Epistles to the seven churches and of the apocalypses
of the Seals and the Bowls, and all matter related
thereto. Whether he is the author of other parts of
the book is more doubtful. It is improbable that he
was the author of the earlier Visions of the Beasts and
the Dragon, or that the final edition came from his
hands. It matters little who was the final editor. The
book is no more inspired or canonical if the apostle
wrote it than if John Mark wrote it, or the so-called
presbyter John, or any other John, or any other person.
The prophets of the apostolic age were no less inspired
and authoritative in their utterances than the apostles,
and the most of these, like their brethren in the Old
Testament, have not left their names to history. The
Church has recognized the Apocalypse as a holy book
of God because of its holy contents, and in her judgment
of it the Church has made no error.
It has been a difficult question to decide whether
to discuss the Apocalypse in its present form, or
treat of the several original documents each by itself.
There are advantages in each method, as I have seen by
trying them both. But I finally decided upon the
latter method as best suited to show the different
Messianic conceptions in these several apocalypses and
to trace the development of the Messianic idea.1 I shall
be obliged to consider the final Prologue and Epilogue
in this chapter. The earlier prologues and epilogues
will be considered in connection with the apocalypses to

1 Those who cannot follow me in my analysis can hardly fail to see that the
Messianic idea of the Apocalypse comes out more distinctly in my method.

304 THE MESSIAH
which they seem originally to have belonged. There
are different and distinct conceptions of the Messiah in
the several apocalypses. The earliest of the apocalypses
seems to me to be the apocalypse of the Beasts which
presents the conception of the Messiah of Psalm ex., and
which seems to have been composed in the reign of Calig
ula. The second of the apocalypses was the apocalypse
of the Dragon, which cannot be much later in time. It
presents the Messiah of Psalm ii. These apocalypses
were possibly combined before they were incorporated
with the apocalypses of the Sevens. But I cannot see
any decided evidence of it.
The earliest of the apocalypses of the Sevens seems
to be that of the Trumpets, whose Messiah is the Son
of Man on the clouds of the apocalypses of Daniel and
of Enoch. I do not see any clear evidence of date. The
next of these was the apocalypse of the Seals. The
Messiah of this Vision is the Lion of Judah, and the
Lamb who purchased men by his blood. The apoca
lypse of the Bowls presupposes both the apocalypse of
the Trumpets and the apocalypse of the Seals, and
must be somewhat later. Its Messiah is the Lamb, but
especially as the husband of the holy city, his bride. In
its original form it seems to date from the reign of
Galba. But an editorial note implies the reign of Ves
pasian, and still another the reign of Domitian.1
The apocalypse of the Epistles seems to have been
the last of the series. There is no clear evidence of
date. It cannot be earlier than Nero. It may be as
late as Domitian. The four apocalypses of the Sevens
were probably combined before the other two were
united with them. The final editing must have been
1 See p. 427.

OF THE APOCALYPSE OF JOHN

305

near the close of the first century or early in the second
century. The following table presents the view of the original
apocalypses and of their several editions upon which the
discussion of the Messianic idea of the Apocalypse will
be based. The editorial notes do not appear in the
table. They will appear in the detailed study of the
text: Table of the Original Documents of the Apocalypse.

IV. Edition.

III. Edition.
II. Edition.
I. Edition.
I 1
1.
o.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Epistles.
Seals.
Trumpets
Bowls.
Beasts.
Dragon.
Redactor.
i. 9
i. 4-6
i. 7-8
i. 1-3
i. 10-iii.
IV. -VI.
viii. 1
vii. 1-8
viii. 2-ix.
x. la
x. 3-7
x. lb-3
x. 8-11
p0
xi. 15b-18
xi. 14-15a
xi. 19
xi. 1-13
xii. 18
xiii.
xii. 1-17
sa
xiv. 1-5
xiv. 6-7
xiv. 14-20
xiv. 8-13
m
vii. 9-17
xv.-xvn.
xvui.
xix. 1-8
xix. 11-21
XX.xxi. 1-2
O
P
xxi. 9-15
xxi. 16a, c
xxi. 16b, 17
xxi 22-27
xxi. 18-21
o
a
xxii. 1-2
xxii. 3-5
xxi. 5b, 7a
xxi. 6, 7b-8
(xix. 9-10)
xxi. 3-5a
xxii. 16-17
xxii. 21
xxii. 10-15
xxii. 6-9
xxii. 18 20
306

THE MESSIAH

THE TIME IS AT HAND.

§ 63. Jesus the Messiah gives an apocalypse by an angel
to the prophet John of things which must shortly come to
pass. The time is at hand. The^ Lord Jesus will come
quickly. THE PROLOGUE.1
The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to shew
unto his servants, the things which must shortly come to pass:
and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John ;
who bare witness of the word of God, and of the testimony of
Jesus Christ, of all things that he saw.
Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of the
prophecy, and keep the things which are written therein: for the
time is at hand. (Rev. i. 1-3.)
The general title, verses 1-3, describes the book as an
apocalypse given by the Messiah to a servant or prophet
named John. It was given through an angel.2 Its con
tents should be considered from the point of view of the
apocalyptic literature of the Bible and the Pseudepi-
grapha. Its theme is " the things which must shortly
come to pass," 3 " for the time is at hand." 4 In these
expressions we recognize the familiar words of Jesus and

1 Vischer ascribes the Prologue to the Christian author. Volter divides it
among three authors ; verses 4-6 is assigned to his earliest author, verses 7-8 to
his fifth author, verses 1-3 to his sixth or last author. He finds several interpola
tions also. Spitta divides it among two authors ; verses 4-6 coming from his
Christian author, and verses 1-3, 7-8 from the redactor.
* An interpreting angel appears in the book. But most of the visions are seen
by the prophet without such interpretation. This statement seems to imply a
different conception of the mode of the apocalypse from that which prevails in
the body of the book. This angel appears in xvii. 1, 7, 15 ; xxi. 9 ; xxii. 1 ; in
the visions of the harlot city and the new Jerusalem, supplementary to the
Vision of the bowls; in xix. 10, xxii. 6, 8, in the epilogue of the bowls; and xxii.
16 seems to be an epilogue in antithesis to i. 1 . It is possible, therefore, that this
interpreting angel is characteristic of the Vision of the bowls only.
" iv Taxei, i. 1, comp. xxii. 6. * Eyyir, i. 3, comp. xxii. 10b.

OF THE APOCALYPSE OF JOHN 307
his apostles. The author has the same point of view
as the Christian writers who have gone before him. The
Advent is impending, and his theme is the things of that
Day and those connected closely with it : the End and
not the history prior to the End.
The purpose of the book, as set forth in the Prologue,
is to unfold more fully and clearly the apocalypse of
Jesus, to make known what could not be known before
the death, resurrection, and ascension of the Messiah.
The Apocalypse of Jesus is the key to the Apocalypse of
John and a guide to the interpretation of its mysteries.
The Apocalypse of John is the last apocalypse of Jesus ;
and that is equally true whether it comes from the
apostle John or an unknown John, whether it was com
posed ¦ by one author or is a compilation of several
apocalypses. The Epilogue by the final editor is as follows :
THE EPILOGUE.
I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy
of this book, If any man shall add unto them, God shall add unto
him the plagues which are written in this book : and if any man
shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God
shall take away his part from the tree of life, and out of the holy
city, which are written in this book.
He which testifieth these things saith, Yea : I come quickly.
Amen : come, Lord Jesus. (Rev. xxii. 18-20.)
In this Epilogue ' the prophet gives his testimony of
warning against any addition to, or subtraction from the
1 The Epilogue xxii. 6-21 resembles the Prologue in its composite character.
Vischer recognizes the Epilogue as from the Christian author ; Volter as from
the third author, except several interpolations which he thinks were inserted by
the last author. Spitta regards verses 3^-7 as from the redactor, and verses 8-21
with the exceptions of interpolations and editorial changes as from the Christian
author of i. 4-7,

308 THE MESSIAH
words of his prophecy. He warns that any such action
will deprive of a share in the tree of life and the holy
city of the seventh Vision, and will incur the plagues of
the fifth Vision. He then again uses the words of
Jesus, "Yea, I come quickly," and gives his petition that
the Messiah may indeed come quickly.

CHAPTER X.
THE MESSIAH OF THE APOCALYPSE OF THE BEASTS.
The Apocalypse of the Beasts seems to have been
composed during the reign of Caligula. Its Messiah is
the Messiah of Psalm ex. It begins with a Chris
tophany or Theophany, probably the former, and a
commission to the prophet to prophesy bitter things
to the nations. This Christophany is interwoven with a
scene of the Apocalypse of the Trumpets. Spitta de
serves the credit of discovering the composite character
of chapter x.1 Critics had long recognized the two sub
lime scenes between the sixth and seventh trumpets,
x.-xi. 13, as episodes. In any case it would be necessary
to treat them by themselves. THE TWO MARTYRS.
§ 64. The Messiah appears in Christophany and com
missions ihe prophet to predict bitter things. The outer
court of the temple and the holy city will be trodden under
foot of the nations for twelve hundred and sixty days ;
but the temple itself will not fall into their hands. It is
measured and conserved by God. Two martyrs testify

1 Spitta finds in this scene traces of two distinct Visions, the one verses 2^-7, a
continuation of chapter ix. of his first Jewish author ; the other verses ib-2a, 8-
n, apart from interpolations and changes, the introduction to the Vision of his
second Jewish author. Volter regards the whole chapter as the introduction
to his second author whose apocalypse is resumed in chapter xvii. ii-xix. 4.
(309)

310 THE MESSIAH
forty-two months in the great city. The beast makes war
with them and slays them, and they lie unburied for two
days and a half. They then rise from the dead and
ascend into heaven on a cloud. A portion of the city is
destroyed by an earthquake , but the remainder turns in re
pentance unto God. SCENE I.
(And I saw) one arrayed ' with a cloud ; and the rainbow upon
his head,
And his face as the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire ;
And he had in his hand a little book open :
And he set his right foot upon the sea, and his left upon the
earth.5
And a voice 3 from heaven heard I speaking with me,
And saying, Go, take the little book which is open
In the hand of the one 4 standing upon the sea and upon the
earth.
And I went 4 and said unto him that he should give me the little
book.
And he saith unto me, Take it, and eat it up ;
And it shall make thy belly bitter, but in thy mouth it shall be
sweet as honey.
And I took the little book out of (his) hand,4 and ate it up ;
And it was in my mouth sweet as honey ;
And when I had eaten it, my belly was made bitter.
And they say unto me, Thou must prophesy again
Over many peoples and nations and tongues and kings.
(Rev. x. lb, 2, 8-1 1.)
A Christophany is seen. So glorious is it that many
interpreters, who have not thought of separating the

1 The combination of the two visions caused the insertion of the strong angel
of the other vision in the text. See p. 3S2.
J The other vision follows in 3-7. See p. 382.
8 The redactor makes the seam by inserting the article, the relative, and the
particle "again."
« The redactor inserts " the angel " in these three places.

OF THE APOCALYPSE OF THE BEASTS 31 1
angel from the text, have yet thought of the Messiah.1
The Messiah is arrayed in a cloud, the rainbow encircles
his head, his face shines like the sun, his feet are like
pillars of fire. He takes his stand with one foot on the
sea and the other on the earth, and has a little open
book in his hand. This reminds us of the advent of
Yahweh in theophany in the Apocalypse of Zechariah."
The little book with its prophecy the prophet eats as
did the ancient prophet Ezekiel,3 and he has the same
experience. He has a sad and bitter message which he
is to prophesy over many nations.
This commissioning of the prophet reminds us of the
commission in the Vision of the Epistles to the seven
churches, as the little book is used in the Old Testa
ment in connection with the commission of the prophets.
Does this commission indicate a different prophet from
the one commissioned in the Vision of the Epistles?
Or is this another and a parallel representation of his
prophetic commission ?4 SCENE II.
And there was given me a reed like unto a rod :
And one said, Rise, and measure the temple of God,
And the altar, and them that worship therein.
And the court which is without the temple leave without,
And measure it not ; for it hath been given unto the nations :
And the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two
months.
And I will give unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy

i So Russell, Parousia, p. 417. 2 Comp. Zech. xiv. 4.
3 Ezekiel ii. 9-iii. 3.
1 In either case it does not seem appropriate in its present place in the Apoca
lypse, except so far as it is made by the final editor into an interlude and a fifth
scene of his Vision. The writer is commissioned as a prophet to the nations of
the world. This seems inappropriate just before the seventh trumpet. It implies
a long continued prophetic ministry for which there is no room in the subse
quent scenes of the Vision of the Trumpets.

312 THE MESSIAH
A thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sack
cloth.
These are the two olive trees and the two lamp-stands,
Standing before the Lord of the earth.'
And (if any man desireth to hurt them),5
Fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their ene
mies :
And if any man shall desire to hurt them, in this manner must
he be killed.
These have the authority to shut the heaven,
That it rain not during the days of their prophecy :
And they have authority over the waters to turn them into blood,
And to smite the earth with every plague, as often as they shall
desire.
And when they shall have finished their testimony,
The beast (that cometh up out of the abyss) 3 shall make war
with them, and overcome them, and kill them.
And their dead bodies lie in the street of the great city,
(which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also their
Lord was crucified).3
And from among the peoples and tribes and tongues and nations
They look upon their dead bodies three days and a half,
And suffer not their dead bodies to be laid in a tomb.
And they that dwell on the earth rejoice over them, and make
merry ;
And they shall send gifts one to another ;
Because these two prophets tormented them that dwell on the
earth.
And the breath of life from God entered into them,
And after three days and a half they stood upon their feet;4
And great fear fell upon them which beheld them.
And they heard a great voice from heaven
Saying unto them, Come up hither.
And they went up into heaven in the cloud ;

1 There is a free use of the original of Zee. iv. 14 : " These are the two sons
of oil that stand by the Lord of the whole earth." But this verse is an explana
tion of its context, which describes the olive trees and lamp-stands.
' There seems to be dittography here.
3 The bracketted clauses are editors' explanations. See p. 425.
4 The translator has combined the two Hebrew lines into one sentence.

OF THE APOCALYPSE OF THE BEASTS 313
And their enemies beheld them.
And in that hour there was a great earthquake,
And the tenth part of the city fell in the earthquake ; '
And there were killed men of name,'2 seven thousand :
And the rest were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of
heaven. (Rev. xi. i— 13.)
Another earthly scene is now described. This is doubt
less a continuation of the apocalypse introduced by the
Christophany of the previous chapter. This scene is
based upon the vision of Ezekiel's measurement of the
temple s and the words of the apocalypse of Jesus.4 The
temple of God, the altar, and the worshippers are meas
ured. This leads most interpreters to think of the temple
in Jerusalem. This does not suit the context of the Vision
of the Trumpets, for the opening scene of the Vision of
the Trumpets represents the golden altar as before the
throne of God in heaven,6 and the conclusion presents
the temple of God and the ark of the covenant as in
heaven.' It is indeed the usage of the Apocalypse to
speak of the heavenly temple. In this it resembles the
Epistle to the Hebrews.7 So the temple of Ezekiel's
vision is not the temple of Palestine, but the holy tem
ple of the latter days.8 These temples are measured be
cause they are regarded as complete and secure." That
1 The translator has changed the order of words. " In the earthquake" goes
with this clause and not with the following.
2 The Greek text is bv6fia-a dvBpairav. This is a clumsy phrase, not justi
fied by Acts i. 15 ; Rev. iii. 4. It is probable that the original read niDtf* 'tMN,
men of name, men of fame. Comp. 1 Chron. v. 24, also Num. xvi. 2. This is
certainly well suited to the context.
3 Ezekiel xl. seq. See Messianic Prophecy, pp. 284 seq.
* The Messiah of the Gospels, p. 148. "viii. 3-3.
" xi. 19. ' See p. 276.
8 See Messianic Prophecy, pp. 479, 480. If, however, this scene comes from a
different author we might suppose, with Spitta, that the temple here is the
temple of Jerusalem, and that the author of the Apocalypse adapted it to his
purpose and interpreted it as the heavenly temple.
" See Rev. xxi. 15-17, where the heavenly Jerusalem is measured.

314 THE MESSIAH
which is not secure and incomplete is not measured.
So " the court " is cast out of account in the measure
ment, for the reason that it is given up to the nations who
will tread the holy city under foot forty-two months.
The holy city and the court of the temple are viewed as
upon earth and as given up to the Gentiles. This is
similar to the version of the apocalypse of Jesus as given
in Luke. The forty-two months correspond with the
times of the Gentiles. The forty-two months are three
years and a half, or half a Sabbath year which corre
sponds with the broken week of Daniel ' and the short
ened time of Jesus.2 This dominion of the nations
over the court of the temple and the holy city is only
incidental to the scene of the witnesses.
There are two martyrs. They are described in terms
that comprehend several predictions, (a) They are the
two olive-trees and lamp-stand of Zechariah's vision.3
These living trees and self-feeding lamp-stands with oil
and light represent the priestly and royal offices of the
Messiah. These priestly and royal offices may be con
ceived of as in the priestly kingdom of the martyr church,*
or as embodied in two individual martyrs, (b) The
witnesses are also described after the model of Moses
and Elijah. Like Moses, they have power over the
waters and the earth to smite them with plagues,6 and,
like Elijah, they have power to shut the heaven against
rain.6 These witnesses are represented as prophesying '
1 See Messianic Prophecy, p. 426.
2 See the Messiah of the Gospels, p. 149.
3 Zech. iv. 3, n-14. See Messianic Prophecy, p. 445.
1 So in the Prologue, Rev. i. 6, and in the Vision of the Seals, v. 10, the re
deemed are a kingdom of priests.
» Ex. vii.-x. • 1 Kings xvii.-xviii.
' The verb npotptiTEVEiv is found in the Apocalypse only in the apocalypse of
the Beasts x. 11, xi. 3 ; the noun Tvpoipr/Tsia only in this section xi. 6, the Pro
logue i. 3, the Epilogue xxii. 7, 10, 18, 19, and in xix. 10, a redactor's note.

OF THE APOCALYPSE OF THE BEASTS 315
twelve hundred and sixty days,1 which is the same as the
forty-two months of the times of the Gentiles. These
martyrs then represent the martyr Church of the time
of affliction of the apocalypses of Jesus, Peter, and Paul
and of the seven Epistles.2 Such a martyr, Antipas, is
mentioned in one of these epistles.3 Are we to think
of two historic persons here ? This is tempting. Some
think of Peter and Paul suffering martyrdom in Rome.
Russell 4 argues for James and Peter suffering martyrdom
in Jerusalem. We might rather think of James and
Stephen. But these do not satisfy the conditions of the
representation. How could a Christian think of any
other risen Elijah than John the Baptist, whom the
Lord himself had named as such?6 How could any
other be thought of as the second Moses than the Mes
siah himself ? How could the royal and priestly offices
of the Messiah be distributed, the one to one apostle,
the other to another, in view of the Messiah's reserva
tion of royalty and priesthood to himself in his heavenly
ministry, and of his giving a universal royal priesthood
to his people without any royal or priestly mediators
other than himself?
The testimony of these martyrs continues during the
whole time of the supremacy of the Gentiles over the
holy city. It does not precede the capture of the city
by the Romans, but follows it in the times of the Gen
tiles.6

' These times are confined to this passage and to the war of the Beasts xiii. 5,
with the exception of xii. 6, which may be an interpolation. But the three
times and a half of xii. 14 is evidently its equivalent. This shows a common
characteristic of the war of the Beasts with the witnessing of the martyrs, and
with other evidences, favors the opinion that the Christophany of chapter x. was
the original beginning of this part of the Apocalypse.
'' See pp. 62, 92. Also Messiah of the Gospels, p. 149.
3 See p. 450. 4 Parousia, p. 434. 6 See Messiah of the Gospels, p. 178.
6 The Messiah of the Gospels, p. 151.

316 THE MESSIAH
The interpretation of this vision also depends upon
our view of the great city where the witnesses suffered
martyrdom. This city bears the names of " Sodom and
Egypt," and it is the place where " their Lord was cruci
fied." ' The last expression together with that of the
holy city points to Jerusalem. Egypt and Sodom there
fore would be names given to the holy city to indicate
that it had become in the eyes of God no longer holy,
but as wicked and ripe for destruction as Sodom and
Egypt when they were visited with judgments. But
these epithets are applied to the city when it is in
exactly the same situation as when it was called
"holy city." The epithets are therefore in contradic
tion, and, if the latter is not an interpolation, the cities
must be different. They cannot both be Jerusalem.
Why then should either city be Jerusalem? If these
martyrs testify in Jerusalem after its capture by the
Gentiles, the writer must have contemplated a very
different state of things from that which appears in
history.2 We have such a heaping up of features that
are not altogether harmonious that we are led to suspect
that the holy city is not Jerusalem ; but the city of the

1 It is commonly agreed by recent critics that the clause, "where their Lord
was crucified," is an interpolation. It is an interpretation which is more con
fusing than helpful. Vischer thinks that the reference to Sodom and Egypt also
comes from a later writer, but Volter denies this. Spitta agrees with Vischer.
In this case, the one interpretation is overlaid by a second, neither of them orig
inal, and they would represent different editions of the Apocalypse.
2 This leads Spitta to think of the capture of the holy city by Pompey, and to
regard this section as a part of his Jewish Apocalypse of that period. Barth
(Die Enstehungszeit der Offenbarung Johannis, in Neue Jahrbucheri. Deutsche
Theologie, 1894, s. 472) endeavors to avoid the difficulty by translating " For it
was given unto the nations to tread the holy city under foot." Thus there is
no reservation from the nations. This translation is possible, but it does not
commend itself. Barth (I.e., s. 474) then interprets the measurement of the
temple as a symbol of the conversion of Israel in accordance with Rom. xi.
11 seq.

OF THE APOCALYPSE OF THE BEASTS 31f
saints, the city of the Church,1 and that the great city
which combines the wickedness of Egypt and Sodom is
Rome,2 which makes war on the Church, whose royal
priesthood is represented by the two martyrs. This is
confirmed by the statements as to their martyrdom and
resurrection, (a) The beast makes war upon them and
kills them.3 War and conquest do not suit the concep
tion of two martyr prophets. The beast from the abyss
reminds us of the locust devourers from the abyss of the
apocalypse of the Trumpets.4 The abyss is the same
place as the Hebrew Abaddon, the Greek Apoleia, and
the beast is the Roman emperor who in a subsequent
Vision is represented as rising from the abyss after he
had died. This is probably another explanatory state
ment from the Redactor who combined this apocalypse
with that of the Bowls, (b) The martyrs are slain as
the Messiah was slain. But the Messiah was buried for
three days. The dead bodies of the two martyrs lie
unburied and exposed to humiliation and shame for
three days and a half, or half a week, (c) After these
days they rise from the dead in view of the city and
ascend into heaven in the cloud. They rise and ascend

1 Compare the " camp of the saints" and "the beloved city" of Rev. xx. 9,
which can hardly refer to the Jerusalem of Palestine ; but seems to refer to the
body of saints conceived as a camp and a city.
2 So Rome is called "Babylon the great, the mother of the harlots and of
the abominations of the earth." Rev. xvii. 5.
3 This beast seems to presuppose the beast of xvii. 8, whether anticipatory by
the same author, as Weiss, /. c. s. 186, who thinks it is intentionally mentioned
to raise anticipations which were to be gratified later ; or a subsequent reference
by a later author who used that passage and whose prophecy has been inserted
by the redactor in a section prior to that which contains his original, as
Volter, /. c, s. IT9. It seems to me, however, that, while the beast is original,
an explanatory statement has been inserted by the editor, to show that this
beast is the same as the beast of the subsequent vision. Spitta, /. c, s. no, ex
tends the work of the redactor to the beast himself and all that is said about him.
* Rev. ix. 1-11.

318 THE MESSIAH
as the Messiah had risen and ascended, (d) The result
of their ascension is a judgment upon one-tenth of the
city. Seven thousand men of fame are destroyed and
there is a conversion of the rest of the people.1 As the
ascension of the Messiah resulted in the conversion of
multitudes, so the ascension of the martyrs has the same
result. It is possible that the prophet has in view the
story of Pentecost, and that he foresees a greater Pente
cost after the period of martyrdom has come to an end.
These features of witness-bearing, death, and resurrec
tion are attached to individuals from the conditions of
the vision, but really the martyrs represent the martyr
church as sharing the royal priesthood of the Messiah,
and, as endowed with the gifts of prophecy and miracle
working, like the great prophets of the Old Covenant.
The martyr church carries on the work of the martyr
Messiah and passes through the same experience of
preaching, rejection, suffering, death, resurrection, ascen
sion, and triumph. The conditions of the problem re
quire that the individuals should in their order prophesy
twelve hundred and sixty days, lie dead three days and
a half, and then ascend in triumph ; but really this is the
continual experience of multitudes of martyrs during all
this period until the number of martyrs has been com
pleted in accordance with the promise of the fifth seal,2
the entire time of tribulation has passed, and they have
all attained the resurrection to the throne that we see
represented in the episode of the sixth seal.3 The con
version of the city as the result of their ascension is in
some respects the most striking feature of this Vision.

1 This conception of repentance is based on the story of Nineveh (Jonah iii.
5-10), and seems therefore to point to Rome and the nations rather than to
Jerusalem. 2Rev.vi. 9-n. 3 Rev. vii. 9-17.

OF THE APOCALYPSE OF THE BEASTS 31 9
It reminds us of the wholesale conversion of the Jews
after the fulness of the Gentiles has come in.1 From
all this it is clear that in the present context and scope
of the prophecy the city cannot be limited to the city
of Jerusalem, but expands to the Christian Church which
was trodden down by the Gentiles, and that not only in
Palestine, but throughout the world. But nations are
also regarded as the inhabitants of the city, and there
seems to be world-wide rejoicing over the martyrs. The
conversion is a conversion of nations on a large scale.
We have accordingly to think that the resurrection of
the martyrs, bringing about the conversion of the world,
represents the passing over of the martyr age of the
Church into the age of the supremacy of the Church in
the world.9 THE WAR OF THE BEASTS.
§ 65. A wild beast, the Roman empire claiming universal
dominion and worship, -makes war with the saints for
forty-two months and blasphemes God and holy things. He
had a deadly wound that was healed. His nuw.ber is the
number of intense deception. This wild beast is aided by
another wild beast, a false prophet, who incites men to wor
ship the beast and his image and persecutes the faithful.
The conflict with the beasts in its present context
follows the conflict with the dragon, in two scenes. But
we have seen that the material between xi. 13 and xii. 18,
belongs to other Visions, and that xii. 18 originally fol
lowed xi. 13. SCENE III.
And I stood 3 upon the sand of the sea,
And saw a beast coming up out of the sea,
1 Rom. xi See p. 170.
2 This conception is thus similar to that of Rev. xx. 4-6.
3 Tischendorf, Holtzmann, et al. read ioTa(h/v, but Westcott and Hort, Weiss,
et al. ioTde-rj referring to the beast ; external evidence slightly favors the lat-

320 THE MESSIAH
Having ten horns and seven heads,
And on his horns ten diadems,
And upon his heads the names of blasphemy.
And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard,
And his feet were as the feet of a bear,
And his mouth as the mouth of a lion :
(And the dragon gave him his power, and his throne, and great
authority.) *
And one of his heads as it were smitten unto death ;
And his death-stroke was healed :
And the whole earth wondered after the beast ;
(And they worshipped the dragon because he gave his authority
unto the beast :) l
And they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the
beast ?
And who is able to war with him ?
And there was given to him a mouth speaking great things
and blasphemies ;
And there was given to him authority to continue forty and two
months.
And he opened his mouth for blasphemies against God,
To blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, even them that dwell
in the heaven.
And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to
overcome them :
And there was given to him authority over every tribe and
people and tongue and nation.
And all that dwell on the earth shall worship him,
(Whose name hath not been written in the book of life of the
Lamb that hath been slain from the foundation of the
world.2

ter, but consistency with the context is strongly in favor of the former. Why
should the dragon stand on the sea-shore just before vanishing from the scene ?
This phrase reminds us of xi. i, where the prophet measures the temple, and is
another indication that the two passages were in the same original document.
1 It is probable that these two bracketted lines are interpolations. There is no
other reference to the worship of the devil in the Apocalypse. The editor, by
these explanatory lines, connects the beast with the dragon of the previous scenes.
2 Volter, /. c, s. 196, regards the bracketted verse 8 as an interpolation. There
is little doubt of it as respecting the second and third lines.

OF THE APOCALYPSE OF THE BEASTS 321
If any man hath an ear, let him hear.1
If any man is for captivity, into captivity he goeth :
If any man shall kill with the sword, with the sword must he be
killed.
Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.)2 (Rev. xii. 18— xiii. io.)
A wild beast is described coming up out of the sea,
having ten horns with ten diadems and seven heads with
names of blasphemy. He is a composite creature like
the enemies of the Vision of the Trumpets. His body is
a leopard's, his feet a bear's, his mouth a lion's. He is con
structed after the model of the beasts of Daniel's vision,
and seems to combine three of them.3 This wild beast
is enthroned with great authority. The ten diadems
represent his authority as complete over ten subordinate
kings or kingdoms. His heads are seven, the holy num
ber; because they claim idolatrous worship, they are
blasphemous heads. One of these heads has a death
wound. This is mentioned here, but not explained.4
This beast is evidently the Roman Empire. He has
world-wide power over all nations. He blasphemes God,
the tabernacle of God, and those who dwell in heaven,
angels and saints, and persecutes the saints on earth.
All worship him. The Redactor excepts the faithful who

1 This reminds us of the exhortations in the Epistles to the seven churches, see
Rev. ii. 7, n, 17, etc., and is doubtless from the final author.
2 It is quite possible that 8-10 is an interpolation of the last editor, for it is such
an explanatory statement as would not appear in a vision unless with an inter
preting angel who is absent here, {nro/xovi/ is used in the Vision of the Epistles,
i. 9 ; ii. 2, 3, 19 ; iii. 10 ; elsewhere only here and xiv. 12. -nlaTig is used in the
Vision of the Epistles, ii. 13, 19, elsewhere only here and xiv. 12. Doubtless xiii.
10 and xiv. 12 are from the redactor, who combined the apocalypse of the Beasts
with the apocalypses of the Sevens.
3 See Daniel vii. 4-6.
4 It will be explained in a later vision, and it may be an interpolation. The
wounded head seems to be in antithesis to the slain Lamb of the Vision of the
Seals. See Spitta, /. c, o. 138.

322 THE MESSIAH
have to exercise fidelity and patience in the great perse
cutions they have to endure, in captivity and death.
The forty-two months of this war of the beast corre
spond with the treading under foot of the holy city by
the nations, and doubtless these are parallel representa
tions of the same events. The saints correspond with
the holy city of the previous scene, — the beast here, with
the beast there. The time is the same.1
SCENE IV.2
And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth ;
And he had two horns like unto a lamb, and he spake as a
dragon.
And he exerciseth all the authority of the first beast in his
sight.
And he maketh the earth and them that dwell therein to worship
the first beast, (whose death-stroke was healed).3
And he doeth great signs, in the sight of men,4
That he should even make fire to come down out of heaven
upon the earth.
And he deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by reason of
the signs

1 This view of the Roman empire as a servant of the devil, which probably
comes from the redactor, is very different from Paul's views in Rom. xiii. 1-6,
and implies a change in the attitude of Rome towards Christianity. The period
of toleration has passed. Nero introduced a period of persecution which, not
withstanding occasional intermissions, continued with varying bitterness and
intensity until the reign of Trajan. The antithesis between the name of the
beast and the name of the Lamb in the next scene, which also probably comes
from the redactor, seems to imply the Flavian period. See Ramsay, The Church
in the Roman Empire, pp. 226 seq.
2 Volter, /. c, s. 197, ascribes this scene to the same author as the previous
scene, with the exception of the bracketted clauses of verses 17 and 18, which
he regards as later interpolations.
3 It is possible that these bracketted clauses are later additions to identify this
beast with the beast of the apocalypse of the Bowls. Spitta would ascribe the
latter to the redactor, but thinks that the death-stroke originally referred to a
deadly disease of Caligula.
4 The translator has changed the order of the clause " in the sight of men,"
and so destroyed the parallelism and the measure of the lines.

OF THE APOCALYPSE OF THE BEASTS 323
Which it was given him to do in the sight of the beast ;
Saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make
an image to the beast,
(Who hath the stroke of the sword, and lived).1
And it was given unto him to give breath to the image of the
beast,
That the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that
they should be killed,
As many as should not worship the image of the beast.
And he causeth all, the small and the great,
And the rich and the poor, and the free and the bond, .
That there be given them a mark on their right hand, or upon
their forehead ;
And that no man should be able to buy or to sell,
Save he that hath the mark, even the name of the beast
(Or the number of his name. Here is the wisdom. He that
hath understanding, let him count the number of the beast ; for
it is a number of a man : and his number is six hundred and
sixty six.) 2 (Rev. xiii. 11-18.)
The previous wild beast came up out of the sea. A
second wild beast comes up out of the land. He seems,
therefore, to be a provincial beast, and probably of the
land of Palestine. He is in appearance like a lamb, but
in speech a dragon. He works great miracles, he brings
fire from heaven as did Elijah, he causes an image of
idolatry to live and to speak the command to slay all
who would not worship it. He brands every one with
the mark of the beast. Most interpreters think of the
coins stamped with the images of the Roman emperors,
ascribing to Caesar divine attributes and using terms of
worship, so that no one could handle them without ap
pearing to be guilty of idolatry. But it is quite prob
able that the original reference was to the images of

1 See note (3) preceding page.
2 Spitta, /. c, s. 141, ascribes to the redactor verses 170-180, that is the clause
beginning with " or the number of his name," and closing with " number of a.
man." It seems to me, however, that 18* is also a part of the redactor's note.

324 THE MESSIAH
Caligula, which he ordered to be set up in the temples
for worship. His edict that his image should be set up
in the Holy of Holies in Jerusalem excited the Jewish
world against him as a second Antiochus. The edict
was not enforced, owing to the delay of the provincial
governor and the intercession of King Agrippa. But
these images were set up in the other temples of the
land and in the synagogues, and the Jews were required
to worship them.1 The beast from the land is a false
prophet, a false Messiah,2 an anti-Lamb, a counterpart
to the two prophet martyrs.3 It is quite possible that
Simon Magus is the original of the picture of this false
prophet.* The number of the beast which seems to
come from the final author and to be an interpretation
of the original, has been variously explained by gheme-
tria, as applying to specific Roman emperors such as
Caligula and Nero,5 but it seems to me that it is a sym
bolic number ; 666 is a straining after the holy number
7, and falling short of it in every particular, marking the
beast therefore and his subjects as deceivers. He is a
parody of the Lamb, and is so interpreted in the last
edition of the Apocalypse. This false prophet appears
as a minister of the beast, the Roman empire, and es
pecially as interpreted by the later hand, as the minister
to the head that had revived from the dead. This risen

1 See Mommsen, Provinces of the Roman Empire, ii., p. 211 ; and Schiirer,
Gesch. des Jiidischen Volkes, i. , s. 421 seq.
2 It is an elaboration of the wolves in sheep's clothing of the discourse of
Jesus, Matthew vii. 15, and of the false prophets of his apocalypse, Mark xiii.
22. See The Messiah of the Gospels, pp. 246-248.
3 The branding with the mark of the wild beast has an antithesis in the seal
ing of the martyrs, vii. 1-8.
4 See Spitta, /. c, s. 381 seq.
' IDp P"0 = 5°+:1°°+°+5°+ 100+60+200 = 666 ; or Taioc naloap = 3+1+
10+70+200+20+1+10+200+1+100=616, according to an ancient reading of the
text. See Spitta, /. c, s. 392.

OF THE APOCALYPSE OF THE BEASTS 325
head of the empire is a counterpart to the risen martyrs
of the previous scene. THE FALL OF ROME.
§66. Angels proclaim divine judgments upon Babylon
and upon the worshippers of the beast. The people of God
are warned to depart from Rome. The city falls and is
rewarded for all her sins. The worshippers of the beast
drink the wine of the wrath of God. Blessed are the dead
who die in the Lord. scene v.
After these things I saw an (other) angel
Coming down out of heaven, having great authority ;
And the earth was lightened with his glory.
And he cried with a mighty voice, saying,
Fallen, fallen, is Babylon the great,
And is become a habitation of demons, and a hold of every
unclean spirit,
And a hold of every unclean and hateful bird.
For by the wine of the wrath of her fornication all the nations
are fallen ;
And the kings of the earth committed fornication with her,
And the merchants of the earth waxed rich by the power of her
wantonness. (Rev. xviii. 1-3.)
The scene discloses an angel with great authority and
glory, like the angel of a previous Vision.1 They both
proclaim the judgment. The proclamation of this angel
is the fall of Babylon in terms which remind us of other
visions.2 They are similar also to representations of
Old Testament prophecy relating to Babylon.3

1 The " another" probably refers back to the Angels of the Bowls, and was
inserted by the editor when this apocalypse was combined with that. Comp.
x. ±.
2 xiv. 8, and xvi. 19.
3 Is. xiii. 21, 22 ; comp. Jer. 1. 39, li. 37 ; Zeph. ii. 15.

326 THE MESSIAH
And I heard another voice from heaven, saying,
Come forth, my people, out of her,
That ye have no fellowship with her sins,
And that ye receive not of her plagues :
For her sins have reached even unto heaven,
And God hath remembered her iniquities.
Render unto her even as she rendered,
And double unto her the double according to her works :
In the cup which she mingled, mingle unto her double.
How much soever she glorified herself, and waxed wanton,
So much give her of torment and mourning :
For she saith in her heart, I sit a queen,
And am no widow, and shall in no wise see mourning.
Therefore in one day shall her plagues come,
Death, and mourning, and famine ; and she shall be utterly
burned with fire ;
For strong is the Lord God which judged her.
And the kings of the earth shall weep,
And they who committed fornication and lived wantonly with
her shall wail over her,1
When they look upon the smoke of her burning,
Standing afar off for the fear of her torment,
Saying, Woe, woe, the great city,
Babylon, the strong city ! for in one hour is thy judgment come.
And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn over her,
For no man buyeth their merchandise any more ;
Merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stone,
And pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet ;
And all thyine wood, and every vessel of ivory,
And every vessel made of most precious wood
And of brass, and iron, and marble ;
And cinnamon, and spice, and incense, and ointment, and frank
incense,
And wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat,
And cattle, and sheep ; and merchandise of horses and chariots,
And slaves ; and souls of men.2

1 The Greek translator has combined the verbs, and so destroyed the parallel
ism here as elsewhere.
2 Weiss, /. c, s. 210, regards verse 14 as transposed from its original place,
in the midst of verse 23, where we shall place it

OF THE APOCALYPSE OF THE BEASTS 327
The merchants of these things, who were made rich by her,
Shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and mourn
ing;
Saying, Woe, woe, the great city.
She that was arrayed in fine linen and purple and scarlet,
And decked with gold and precious stone and pearl !
For in one hour so great riches is made desolate.
And every shipmaster, and every one that saileth any whither,
and mariners,
And as many as gain their living by sea, stood afar off,
And cried out as they looked upon the smoke of her burning,
Saying, What city is like the great city ?
And they cast dust on their heads,
And cried, weeping and mourning,
Saying, Woe, woe, the great city,
Wherein were made rich all that had their ships in the sea by
reason of her costliness !
For in one hour is she made desolate.
Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye saints, (and ye apostles),1
and ye prophets ;
For God hath judged your judgment on her.
(Rev. xviii. 4-13, 15-20.)
This part of the scene is introduced by a voice from
heaven, as in other visions.3 As Jesus warned his dis
ciples to go out of Jerusalem prior to the judgment
upon her,3 so now he warns his people to go forth from
Rome. The prophecy against Rome is based upon the
prediction of the destruction of Tyre in Ezekiel.4 She
is destroyed not only as the harlot city who had seduced
the nations to idolatry, but as the persecuting city, and
saints and prophets rejoice over her ruin.
And a strong angel took up a stone,
And cast as it were a great millstone into the sea,
1 Volter and Spitta regard this as an interpolation. The apostles are certainly
not mentioned in the parallel, xviii. 24. The critics are probably correct.
2 x. 4, 8 ; xiv. 13. Weiss thinks it is the voice of Christ. See pp. 310, 330.
* Matthew xxiv. 16 seq. See The Messiah of the Gospels, p. 150.
4 Ezekiel xxvii.

328 THE MESSIAH
Saying, Thus with a mighty fall shall Babylon be cast down,
The great city shall be found no more at all.1
And the voice of harpers and minstrels and flute-players and
trumpeters shall be heard no more at all in thee ;
And no craftsman, of whatsoever craft, shall be found any more
at all in thee ;
And the voice of a millstone shall be heard no more at all in
thee ;
And the light of a lamp shall shine no more at all in thee ;
And the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard
no more at all in thee ¦.
(And the fruits which thy soul lusted after are gone from thee,
And all things that were dainty and sumptuous are perished
from thee,
And men shall find them no more at all).2
For thy merchants were the princes of the earth ;
For with thy sorcery were all the nations deceived.
And in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints,
And of all that have been slain upon the earth.3
(Rev. xviii. 21-23, 14, 24)
This part of the scene of the destruction of Rome is
represented by the symbol of the falling of a great mill
stone into the sea. The climax of her guilt is, accord
ing to the Redactor, that the blood of all the prophets
and saints was found in her. We are reminded of the
words of Jesus with regard to the guilt of Jerusalem, and
are tempted to think of Jerusalem. But the context re
fers definitely to Rome, and therefore we can only regard
Rome as the heir of the persecuting spirit of Jerusalem.

1 The Greek translator has changed the first four lines of the poetry of the
Hebrew original into prose, by giving the parallel expression immediately after
that to which it was parallel, and inserting a conjunction before the last verb.
By changing back to the original the parallelism appears as in our rendering.
2 We have transposed these three lines of ver. 14 to this place, where they
seem originally to have belonged .
3 Spitta, /. t., s. iqi, regards the two lines of verse 24 as from the Redactor.
But I see no good "reason for it. See ver. 20.

OF THE APOCALfPSE OF THE BEASTS 329

SCENE VI.1
[And another, (a second) angel, followed, saying,
Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great,2
Who hath made all the nations to drink of the wine of the wrath
of her fornication.]
And another angel, (a third,) followed (them,) saying with a
great voice,
If any man worshippeth the beast and his image,
And receiveth a mark on his forehead, or upon his hand,
He also shall drink of the' wine of the wrath of God,
Which is prepared unmixed in the cup of his anger;
And he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the pres
ence of the holy angels,
(And in the presence of the Lamb): 3 and the smoke of their tor
ment goeth up unto ages of ages ;
And they have no rest day and night, they that worship the
beast and his image,
[And whoso receiveth the mark of his name.
Here is the patience of the saints,
They that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of
Jesus.] 4

' Volter, /. c, s. 236, regards this section as composite ; verse 8 he ascribes with
the previous context to his earliest author : verses 9-12 to the same writer as the
author of chapter xiii.; and verse 13 to his last author.
2 Spitta, /. c, s. 149, urges that this second angel heralding the fall of Babylon
is an interpolation. The same words are in xviii. 2 seq. where they are only a
small part of a great scene. They may be regarded as proleptic, but there
seems to be no good reason for such an appearance of this angel here. It should
also be noticed that if the previous angel was "another angel" and a second,
this angel could not be the second, but must be the third. But the next angel
is the third, and would therefore seem to exclude this one or else the previous
one. The angel of the gospel belongs to the apocalypse of the Trumpets (see
p. 384), and followed the previous scene in the first edition of the Apocalypse.
It is probable that this verse is a relict of an earlier attachment of xviii. to this
place, and that "the second" and "third" come from the harmonizing of the
redactor. " This bracketted clause is doubtless an interpolation of the editor of the last
edition of the Apocalypse.
* The lines in brackets are rightly regarded by Spitta, /. c, s. 150, as from the
redactor. They can hardly be words of the angel.

330 THE MESSIAH,
And I heard a voice from heaven ' saying, Write,
Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord a from henceforth :
[Yea, saith the Spirit,3 that they may rest from their labours;
For their works follow with them.] (Rev. xiv. 8-13.)
The third angel warns against the worship of the
beast, and shows the doom of his worshippers. This
doom in the judgment is (1) to drink the wine of the
wrath of God ; 4 (2) to be tormented with fire and brim
stone, the smoke of their burning ascending forever ; '
(3) and to have no rest day or night.* Instead of a
fourth angel, a voice speaks from heaven, declaring the
rewards of those who die a martyr's death in the Lord.
The redactor explains that they receive their rest and
the reward of their patience and their works.
These four proclamations heralding the judgment are
followed by the judgment itself.
THE CONQUEROR ON A WHITE HORSE.
§ 6y. The Messiah comes on a white horse, king of
kings and lord of lords, followed by armies of saints to the
battle zvith the beast. The beast and his prophet are cast
alive into the lake of fire. Their army lying dead upon
the battlefield are devoured by birds of prey.

1 The voice from heaven seems strange in the context of these successive
angels. But the voice speaking from heaven is found elsewhere, x. 8 ; xi. 12 ;
xviii. 4, and is therefore especially characteristic of this apocalypse of the war of
the beasts.
2 A phrase of Paul which is not found elsewhere in the Apocalypse.
« rb nvEV/ia AiyEi is characteristic of the Vision of the Epistles, ii. 7, ii, 17,
29 ; iii. 6, 13, 22. Elsewhere it is only found here in the Apocalypse, to m>Evu.a
Kal ii vvfitbri Xkyavaiv, xxii. 17, is probably from the original conclusion of
the Epistles. The prophet is iv ttvev/ioti in the Vision of the EpisUes, i. 10 ;
of the Seals, iv. 2 ; and of the Bowls, xvii. 3, xxi. 10. The seven spirits are men
tioned, i. 4, iii. i, iv. 5, v. 6 ; and the spirit of prophecy, xix. 10. This statement
is therefore from the last editor.
* Ps. lxxv. 9 ; Is. Ii. 22. « Is. xxxiv. 9, 10.
8 Antithesis to the trisagion of the cherubim, iv. 8.

OF THE APOCALYPSE OF THE BEASTS 33}
The editor has inserted the greater part of the apoca
lypse of the Bowls and parts of the apocalypses of the
Seals and Trumpets between the parts of the apoca
lypse of the Beasts. Originally xix. 1 1 followed directly
after xiv. 13. scene vii.1
And I saw the heaven opened ; and behold, a white horse,
And he that sat thereon, called Faithful and True ;
And in righteousness he doth judge and make war.
And his eyes are a flame of fire,
And upon his head are many diadems ;
And he hath a name written, which no one knoweth but he him
self.
And he is arrayed in a garment sprinkled with blood :
(And his name is called The Word of God).2
And the armies which are in heaven followed him upon white
horses,
Clothed in fine linen, white and pure.
And out of his mouth proceedeth a sharp sword.
That with it he should smite the nations :
And he shall rule them with a rod of iron :
And he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness
Of the wrath of God, the Almighty.
And he hath on his garment and on his thigh a name written,
King of kings, and Lord of lords. (Rev. xix. n-16.)
The seventh scene is an Advent-scene. The Messiah
comes riding on a white horse, leading armies of saints

' Spitta regards xix. n-i6as the continuation of xvi. 13-20 and as belonging
to his apocalypse of the time of Caligula. But he finds it full of interpolations.
It is ascribed by Volter to his third author. Weiss and most others think that
the sixth Vision begins here.
2 This line is regarded by Volter, /. c, a. 528, Spitta, and most recent critics as
an interpolation. It seems to be against the previous verse which represents
that no one knew the name but the Messiah himself. It is supposed that a later
author supplied it from the Prologue of the Gospel of John. Weiss, however,
thinks that the name was known only to the Messiah and to those to whom he
would reveal it. He now reveals it through his servant the prophet.

332 TUE MESSIAH
on white horses to the holy war.1 The heavenly cavalry
here are over against the demon cavalry of another
Vision." The Messiah is Faithful and True. His name
is King of kings and Lord of lords. The only name
that is striking is " the Word of God." There is noth
ing in the context to unfold its significance unless we
think of the sharp sword of his mouth. In the Chris
tophany at the beginning of the Vision of the Epistles,3
there is a similar conception which reminds us of the
use of Word in the Epistle to the Hebrews.4 It seems,
however, to be a later interpolation. His eyes are like
a flame of fire." The many diadems on his head are
appropriate to his name King of kings, and in antithesis
with the ten subordinate kings of the beast. The mys
terious name known only to himself is not revealed.
His garments are besprinkled with the blood of his
enemies, as were Yahweh's at His advent in the second
Isaiah.6 He comes with his saints who are priestly
warriors,7 and accordingly he engages in a holy war
against his enemies, whom he is to smite and rule with
a rod of iron. The warlike scene changes for a moment
after the method of Joel and the winepress of the wrath
of God appears ° trodden by the Messiah himseif.
And I saw an angel standing in the sun ;
And he cried with a loud voice,
Saying to all the birds that fly in mid heaven,
Come and be gathered together unto the great supper of God ;
That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains.
And the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses and of
them that sit thereon,

1 Comp. the Messiah on the cloud, xiv. 14-16.
2 ix. 16 seq. 3 i. 16. See p. 442. * Heb. iv. 12.
¦ Comp. i. 14. • Is. Ixiii. 1-3. See Messianic Prophecy, p. 313.
' Ps. ex. 2. 8 See the parallel scene xiv. 2a

OF THE APOCALYPSE OF THE BEASTS 333
And the flesh of all men, both free and bond, and small and
great.
And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their
armies,
Gathered together to make war against him that sat upon the
horse, and against his army.
And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet
(that wrought the signs in his sight, wherewith he deceived
them that had received the mark of the beast, and them
that worshipped his image : they twain were) 1 cast alive
Into the lake of fire that burneth with brimstone :
And the rest were killed with the sword of him that sat upon
the horse,
Even the sword that came forth out of his mouth :
And all the birds were filled with their flesh. (Rev. xix. 17-21.)
The last scene discloses the opposing army and their
destruction. The birds of prey are summoned to feed
upon their carcasses, as in Ezekiel.2 The armies of the
enemy are under the leadership of the beast. These
same armies appear also in other Visions.3 The beast is
conceived by the last editor as the risen Nero.4 The
result of this holy war between the Messiah and the
demon army is that the beast and false prophet are cast
alive into the lake of fire and brimstone, and the rest
of the army is slain by the sword of the Messiah and
their carcasses devoured by birds of prey.

1 Volter, /. c, s. 330, rightly regards this as an interpolation, in order to bring
into the judgment scene the enemies of the previous vision.
2 Ezek. xxxix. 4.
8 See ix., and especially xvi. 12-16, under the sixth plague.
4 See also xiii. and xvii. See pp. 321, 428. •

CHAPTER XI.
THE MESSIAH OF THE APOCALYPSE OF THE DRAGON.
THE Apocalypse of the Dragon embraces chapters
xii. 1-17; xx.; xxi. 1-2, 16a, c, 18-21 ; xxii. 3-5; xxi.
3-5^, and is singularly compact and symmetrical. The
theme is the war between the Messiah and the Dragon.
The Messiah of this Apocalypse is the Messiah of the
second Psalm, as the Messiah of the Apocalypse of the
Beasts is the Messiah of Psalm ex.
THE MESSIAH CAUGHT UP TO HEAVEN.
§ 68. Jesus the Messiah was born of Mother Israel,
persecuted by Satan and caught up to heaven to his throne.
Satan, the dragon, with his train of one-third of the angels,
was cast down from heaven to the earth after a conflict
with Michael and the holy angels. He then persecutes the
Mother Israel and her seed for three times and a half.
She is protected in the wilderness by God.
This apocalypse like the previous one of the Beasts
has no distinct series of sevens, such as we find in the
other apocalypses of the seven Epistles, the seven Seals,
the seven Trumpets, and the seven Bowls.
The apocalypse has no Christophany to the prophet to
introduce it as have the apocalypses of the Beasts and the
Epistles. But it presents the Vision of a Christophany
in which the Messiah is born of Mother Israel, from
heaven. It therefore goes backward of the time of the
(334)

OF THE APOCALYPSE OF THE DUAGON 335
author if he be a Christian. This is regarded as so singu
lar and improbable that many critics think that the author
must have been a Jew who looked for the birth of the
Messiah from heaven in accordance with the Apocalypses
of Daniel and Enoch. Others try to avoid the reference
to the birth of Christ by thinking of the whole scene as
a heavenly experience. But the Messiah is evidently
the Messiah of the second Psalm, and in accord with
that Messianic conception his birth is his inauguration
on his throne.1 SCENE I.2
And a great sign was seen in heaven ;
A woman arrayed with the sun, and the moon under her feet.
And upon her head a crown of twelve stars ;
And she was with child : and she crieth out, travailing in birth,
and in pain to be delivered.
And there was seen another sign in heaven ;
And behold, a great red dragon,
Having seven heads and ten horns,
And upon his heads seven diadems.
And his tail draweth the third part of the stars of heaven,
(And did cast them to the earth :) 3
And the dragon standeth before the woman who is about to be
delivered,
That when she is delivered, he may devour her child.
And she was delivered of a son, a man child,
Who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron :
And her child was caught up unto God, and unto his throne.
(And the woman fled into the wilderness,
Where she hath a place prepared of God,
That there they may nourish her a thousand two hundred and
three score days.) 4 (Rev. xii. 1-6.)
1 See Messianic Prophecy, pp. 134 seq.
2 Volter ascribes verses 1-10, 12, to his third writer. Spitta ascribes xii. 1-18 to
his Jewish Apocalypse of the time of Caligula.
3 This broken line is difficult to understand in this connection before the over
throw of the dragon by the angels in the next scene. It is probably an explana
tory interpolation.
4 Spitta, /. c., s. 132, thinks that beginning with "and unto his throne" the

336 THE MESSIAH
The woman seen in heaven is not an ordinary woman,
but a symbolical one. She is arrayed with the sun,
treads upon the moon, and is crowned with twelve stars.
She reflects the majesty and glory of heaven with which
she is adorned. She is seen in heaven because heaven
is her place, as it is the place of the temple and of the
holy city, and of the saints in the Apocalypse. She is
subsequently persecuted on earth. This implies that
she has a heavenly life and an earthly life. The woman
is about to bear a child. When the child is born, he
proves to be the Messiah, for he is " a man child who is to
rule all the nations with a rod of iron," the Messiah of the
second Psalm.1 This woman is not the virgin Mary as
some Roman Catholics have supposed, but mother Zion,
or mother Israel,2 the people of God from whom the
Messiah issues, and accordingly embracing the Israel of
the saints, departed as well as living.
An enemy of the woman is waiting to devour the
Messiah. This is a great red dragon with seven heads
crowned with diadems, and having ten horns. He has
a third part of the stars or angels in his train. The
seven crowned heads are to be compared with the seven
horns of the Lamb of the Vision of the Seals. He is an
impostor appearing with the holy number. His ten
horns indicate the completeness of his power. He is
described by the redactor as the old serpent the devil,
the great deceiver.

rest of this scene is from the redactor, who interpreted the scene as including the
birth of the Messiah in Bethlehem and his ascension to the heavenly throne.
The reference to the woman seems premature.
¦ Ps. ii. 9. This is as Volter, /. c, s. 150, recognizes the surest point in the in
terpretation of the passage.
2 Comp. Is. lxvi. 7-9 ; Micah iv. 9-10 ; Hos. ii. See Messianic Prophecv, pp.
172, 218. There may also be involved a Messianic interpretation of Genesis iii.
14-16, as Volter supposes, /. <"., s. 150. See Messianic Prophecy, p. 74.

OF THE APOCALYPSE OF THE DRAGON 337
The mother Israel and her child the Messiah escape
from him. The child is caught up to God and unto
his throne. This is his inauguration on his birthday, of
Psalm ii. The woman flees into the wilderness, where
she is nourished for 1,260 days. This first scene of the
Vision goes back to the birth of the Messiah, and then
leaps at once to his ascension in accordance with the
Psalm on which it is based. The birth of the Messiah
and the enthronement are given. His earthly life, death,
and resurrection are passed over. These are episodes
in the life of the Messiah, who is born from heaven and
who is caught up to a heavenly reign. His victory over
the devil is not mentioned, but only his deliverance from
the devil by God. These omissions are certainly very
striking, and yet seem to have been necessary from the
conditions of the Vision, which is introductory to the
struggle with the dragon that follows.
The Vision of the Seals sees the Messiah on his en
trance into heaven after his ascension ; ' this Vision goes
back to the birth as introductory to the ascension itself.
The 1,260 days in which the mother is nurtured in the
wilderness is the same time as the forty-two months of
the supremacy of the nations and the 1,260 days of the
ministry of the two witnesses of the Apocalypse of the
Beasts. This is then a parallel representation to that
of the two martyrs. The mother here stands for the
Israel of God, as the king and the priest stood for faith
ful Israel there. This introductory scene is unfolded in
those that follow. SCENE II.
And there was war in heaven :
Michael and his angels going forth to war with the dragon ;
And the dragon warred and his angels ;

338 THE MESSIAH
And they prevailed not, neither was their place found any more
in heaven.
And the great dragon was cast down, (the old serpent, he that is
called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole
world ; he was cast down) ' to the earth,
And his angels were cast down with him.
And I heard a great voice in heaven, saying,
Now is come the salvation, and the power,
And the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Messiah :
For the accuser of our brethren is cast down,
Who accuseth them before our God day and night.
(And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb,
And because of the word of their testimony ;
And they loved not their life even unto death).2
Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and ye that dwell in them.
Woe for the earth and for the sea : because the devil is gone
down unto you,
Having great wrath, knowing that he hath but a short time.
(Rev. xii. 7-12.)
The second scene is a conflict in heaven. On the one
side Michael 3 and the holy angels, on the other the
dragon and the evil angels. This battle results in the
defeat of the devil and his banishment from heaven to
the earth." The conflict is connected with the ascension
of the Messiah ; for the ascension of the Messiah and
flight of the woman of the previous scene is followed
by 1,260 days of the retirement of the woman ; and the

1 It is probable that the bracketted material was not in the original composi
tion, but is an additional explanation of the Redactor. See Spitta, /. 1., ». 133
2 Verse 11 is regarded as an interpolation by the great majority of recent wri
ters. See Volter, /. c, s. 146 ; Spitta, /. c, ». 130. It seems to anticipate the
final victory of the martyrs, which does not come until a subsequent scene. It
is true the martyrs overcame the devil in their death, through the blood of the
Lamb, which cleansed them from all the sins which the devil charged against
them, and by their testimony to the Messiah in their death ; but this does not
seem to be the thought of the prophet here.
3 See Daniel x. 13, 21 ; xii. ; and Jude 9.
* So Jesus sees him falling from heaven, Luke x. 18. See Tlie Messiah of
the Gospels, p. 242.

OF THE APOCALYPSE OF THE DEAGON 339
casting of the devil to the earth is followed by " a short
time " of his wrath, which in the subsequent scenes is
measured by forty-two months and 1,260 days. These
three great events then are in close connection, (1) the
ascension of the Messiah, (2) the defeat of the devil,
and (3) the flight of the mother.
The victory over the devil is accomplished not by the
Messiah himself, but by an army of angels. The devil
had still access to heaven prior to his overthrow.1 This
victory brings the salvation, and the power and the king
dom of God and the authority of the Messiah into mani
festation. The banishment of the devil from heaven
and the installation of the Messiah in his dominion is a
pledge of the ultimate accomplishment of redemption
and of the glory of the kingdom of God.
The Messiah of this Vision is evidently the Messiah
of the second Psalm. It is in accord with the use of
that Psalm by Peter ! and Paul,3 that he should be con
ceived of as ascending to his throne in heaven in order
to the inauguration of his kingdom. It is also note
worthy that the term, the Messiah, is used, doubtless
because of the reference to that Psalm.4
SCENE III.
And when the dragon saw that he was cast down to the earth,
He persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child.
And to the woman were given the two wings of the great eagle,
That she might fly into the wilderness unto her place,
Where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time,
from the face of the serpent.

1 See Job i. 6-12 ; ii. 1-6 ; Zech. iii. i, 2 ; Enoch xl. 7.
2 See p. 25. ' See P- 76.
4 d xPwt6( ls used ln the APocalyPse only *"• IO < xx- 4' 6' whlch 1 regard
as belonging to this Apocalypse of the Dragon, 6 xpwtoc amoi', xi. 15, but this
is probably an interpolation, '\7ja0vc Xptord; is used, i. 1, 2, 5, in the Pro
logue, and xxii. 21 in the Epilogue.

340 THE MESSIAH
And the serpent cast out of his mouth after the woman, water
as a river,
That he might cause her to be carried away by the stream.
And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her
mouth,
And swallowed up the river which the dragon cast out of his
mouth.
And the dragon waxed wroth with the woman.
And went away to make war with the rest of her seed,
Which keep the commandments of God (and hold the testimony
of Jesus.)1 (Rev. xii. 13-17.)
The defeat of Satan in heaven is now followed by a
conflict on earth during the three and a half times, the
short time of the previous scene.
The woman is given two wings with which to fly into
the wilderness. This flight of the woman is thought by
some to be the flight of Christians from Jerusalem to
Persea, advised in the apocalypse of Jesus.2 The perse
cution of the devil is represented in the form of a river,
a rushing stream, but it is swallowed up by the land.
The stream is thought by many to be the rushing tide
of armies to the conquest of the holy land. But they
are absorbed in the land itself and do not attain unto
the refuge of Christians. Failing to overcome the
mother Israel, the devil goes to make war with the rest
of her seed, that is the dispersed Christians in different

1 Spitta, /.<,., s. 131, regards the bracketted clause as the work of the re
dactor. This phrase fiaprvpia 'Iqoov is elsewhere in the Prologue of the
apocalypse of the Epistles, i. 9, the second part of the Apocalypse, xix. 10a, 10b ;
xx. 4 ; -KiaTLV 'It/oov, xiv. 12 ; fiapTvpuv 'lijaov, xvii. 6, all of them in doubtful
passages; jiapTvpia 'Ir/aov XpiaTov, i. 2, and 'Ii/aov XptaTov, 6 fidprvc, i. sin
the Prologue. Of these xiv. 12 ; xix. 10b, are certainly editorial additions, xvii.
6 probably, xix. 102 seems to belong to the apocalypse of the Bowls, and xx. 4 of
the apocalypse of the Dragon stands or falls with xii. 17. It is doubtful whether
these were original or came from the final editor.
2 The Messiah of the Gospels, p. 150.

OF THE APOCALYPSE OF THE DRAGON 341
parts of the world.1 In the meanwhile the woman re
mains in refuge 3^ times, which is the equivalent of the
1,260 days of the first scene.
The scene xx. 1 seq. is attached by most interpreters
to the Advent of the Messiah in xix. 11 seq. But, as
we have seen, that Advent is the conclusion of the
apocalypse of the Beasts. The scene of the imprison
ment of the Dragon carries on the scenes of conflict
with the Dragon in chapter xii. The Dragon disappears
with the close of chapter xii., and first reappears in
chapter xx.2 The intervening material belongs to other
apocalypses. In the final editing of the Apocalypse,
chapter xx. was made the beginning of the seventh
Vision. THE MILLENNIUM.
§ 69. Satan is seized by an angel, chained and shut up
with seals in the abyss for a thousand years. The mar
tyrs rise from the dead, sit on thrones, aud reign with the
Messiah a thousand years. The thousand years cojistitute
the complete period of the kingdom of the Messiah in the
world. At the close of the millennium Satan is let loose
and leads Gog and Magog with an innumerable host
against the beloved city of the saints. He is destroyed by
fire from heaven.
We shall consider the three scenes relating to the
Millennium by themselves. These are so important in
the history of interpretation that it is first necessary to
clear the way by a study of that history and by showing
the connection of the passage with the structure of the
book.

1 Weiss, /. c, s. 193, thinks these are heathen Christians, but it may be that
the author is thinking of the diaspora of the Jews.
2 The dragon in xiii. 2, 4 ; xvi. 13 is from the redactor. See p. 320.

342

THE MESSIAH

The Millennium is the period of a thousand years pre
dicted in Rev. xx. 1-10. With it have been associated
in the course of time three different conceptions : (i) The
state of blessedness and glory of Old Testament Proph
ecy ; (2) the conversion of the Jews and Gentiles, and
the triumphs of the Gospel of New Testament Prophecy ;
(3) the apocalyptic measurements of time of Rabbinical
theology, and the Jewish Apocalypses of the four cen
turies in the midst of which Jesus lived. This com
bination of heterogeneous material has wrought con
fusion in the doctrine of the Millennium and brought
about great differences of opinion. We shall first elim
inate these conceptions in their inverse order and then
give our interpretation of the Millennium itself.
(1) The Pseudepigraphical Apocalypses of Jewish
literature were influenced by the Persian Eschatology.
The Persians divided the age of the world into twelve
millenniums, or four periods of three millenniums each,
the first given to the creation ; the second the golden
age; the third the struggle with evil until Zoroaster;
the fourth the period of redemption, in the first millen
nium of which the prophet Hushedar appears, in the
second the prophet Hushedarmah, and in the last
Sosiosh, the great redeemer, for universal resurrection
and judgment.1 The book of Enoch2 represents the
duration of the world as ten weeks, seven belonging to
the past, three to the future, the eighth week of right
eousness, the ninth of righteous judgment, the tenth
the judgment for eternity, followed by many weeks
without number of blessedness. The Apocalypse of
Baruch 3 represents the period from the creation to the

1 See The Messiah of the Gospels, p. 16.
2 xci. 12-17. See The Messiah of tlie Gospels, p. 15.
3 liii.-lxvii. See p. 10.

OF THE APOCALYPSE OF THE DRAGON 343
End of the world as a series of twelve floods, eleven of
which are passed. The fourth book of the Sibylline
Oracles1 makes ten generations from the flood until
the judgment. The Apocalypse of Ezra2 divides the
age of the world into twelve parts, of which ten and
one-half are passed. Rabbi Akiba, the leader of the
Pharisees of the second century, A.D., taught the Sabbath
Millennium of the reign of the Messiah, followed by the
universal resurrection.3 The Babylonian Talmud * gives
a number of views as to the duration of the world :
"The age will last 6,000 years, and in 1,000 it will be
destroyed ; for it has been said : ' And the Lord alone
shall be exalted in that day.' " Another says : " In
2,000 years it will lie waste ; for it has been said : ' He
will revive us after two days, and on the third day he
will raise us up and we will live in his sight.' " Another
says : " Of the 6,000 years of the world 2,000 have
passed in emptiness, 2,000 of the Law and 2,000 the
days of the Messiah." Another says : " The age will
last not less than 85 jubilees, and in the last jubilee the
son of David will come." These various measurements
by 12, 10, and 7 have the same principle at the bottom,
to divide the age of the world into complete periods by
holy numbers. The number 7, the sabbatical number,
would naturally be the favorite for the Jews. This
method of counting first appears among Christians in
the epistle of Barnabas ° by an unknown Alexandrian
Christian, of the second century, who teaches that in
six days = 6,000 years — all things will be formed ; the
Son of God will come again and judge the world and
rest on the seventh day ; the eighth day will be the

1 See p. 14. " xiv. 11, 12. See p. 12. 3 See p. 18.
* Synhed., 97a. 5 xv.

344

THE MESSIAH

beginning of a new world. He cites the Apocalypses of
Enoch and Ezra. The Sabbatical Millennium was more
definitely attached to the Millennium of the Apoca
lypse of John by Lactantius in a pre-millenarian sense,
and also by Methodius of Tyre, and Victorinus with
out definite pre millenarianism. Cyprian and Jerome
believed in the millennial Sabbath of the world, but
were opposed to pre-millenarianism. The Sabbath Mil
lennium has been associated with the Millennium
of John by Joseph Mede, and many since his day; but
there is no proper connection between them. There is
no biblical warrant for a Sabbath Millennium. There
is no such system of counting the age of the world in
the Apocalypses of Daniel and of John. Daniel gives
70 sacred weeks, from the decree of Cyrus to the Advent,
which are divided into 69+1. The last week is reduced
to times, months, and days, and given as half a week=3^
times=42 months— 1,260 days, and then there is an
advance into the latter half of the week by 30 and then
by 45 days, till the time of blessedness. Interpreters
have endeavored in various ways to make out the exact
interval in years until the first advent of Christ, but
without agreement or satisfactory results. The num
bers are really symbolical of a sacred complete time, the
last part of which is composed of a broken week of
suffering speedily followed by blessedness.
So in the Apocalypse of John in the Visions of the
Dragon and the Beasts we have 3^ times=42 months=
1,260 days, as representing the times of persecution ; and
the Millennium as the period of triumph of the King
dom of Christ. But the Millennium is not the closing
one of a series. It stands by itself. These numbers are
so related to one another that the persecution imme
diately precedes the triumph of the martyrs. There

OF THE APOCALYPSE OF THE DRAGON 345
must be a common principle of interpretation. They
are both either real or symbolical.
If real they may be interpreted as exact in both
cases, when there would be 3J years of persecution,
followed by 1,000 years of triumph. It is so impos
sible to make this interpretation conform to the his
tory of the Church that it has not been attempted.
Th'e year-day theory, as usually applied to the 1,260
days, would make the Millennium 360,000 years, which
involves such an extravagance of time as to find few
advocates. A common interpretation, which takes the
Millennium as exact, and the 1,260 days on the year-
day theory, is so inconsistent that it should be aban
doned by every exegete. We can only interpret these
numbers in accordance with the symbolism of num
bers in which the 3^- times=42 months= 1,260 days
constitute a broken week, a shortened time, shortened
by divine interposition for the elect, in accordance with
Matthew xxiv. 22; and the 1,000 years as the cube of
ten, the most perfect number, the most complete period
of the kingdom of the Messiah.
(2) The state of blessedness and glory of the Old
Testament prophets is always associated either with the
Advent of the Messiah or the Advent of Yahweh.
Hence the association of this conception with the
Millennium involves the premillenial Advent of the
Messiah. This association was introduced into the
Christian Church by Papias, in the sub-apostolic age,
influenced by the Apocalypse of Baruch, which he cites
as giving the words of Christ himself.1 It was adopted
apparently by Justin among the Apologists, by Irenaeus
and Tertullian, Lactantius and possibly Victorinus of

1 See p. 9, also Briggs, Origin and History of Premillenarianism in the Lu-
tJieran Review, April, 1879.

346 THE MESSIAH
Pettau, in the Ante-Nicene Church. Its association
with Jewish Ebionitism was fatal to its general adoption
in the first century, and its association with Montanism
destroyed it in the- second century. It was opposed by
Claudius Apollinaris (170-180), who arrayed a provincial
synod against it in Asia Minor ; by Victor (192) and
Caius (220), of Rome ; by Origen and Dionysius the
Great, in Egypt. It was overcome before the Council
of Nice, and found no expression in symbol or liturgy.
In the Post-Nicene Church it did not exist for twelve
centuries save in Apollinaris, Severus (for a time) and
the Syrian, Bar Sudalli. Jerome and Epiphanius, Au
gustine and others sharply opposed it. It was revived
at the Reformation in a gross form among the Ana
baptists and opposed by all the Reformers, especially
Melancthon, Urbanus Rhegius, and Bullinger. It was
revived in a moderate form in England by Joseph Mede
(1627), who was followed by John Goodwin, Jeremiah
Burroughs, Nathaniel Holmes, and others, and in a gross
form by John Archer and Robert Manton (1642); W.
Aspinwall (1653); John Rogers (1654), and the Fifth
Monarchy men. The Westminster divines stoutly op
posed it, especially Tuckney, Baillie, Gillespie, Ruther
ford, Younge, and Caryll. It is inconsistent with sev
eral passages of the Westminster Confession * and Larger
Catechism.2 The Provincial Assembly of London,
organized by the Westminster divines as the model for
all England in 1653, declared it to be among the " many
corruptions which crept into the Church in the very in
fancy of it." 3
It was revived in Germany by J. W. Peterson in 1693,

'e.g., xxxiii. 3 ; xxv. 2. 2 Question 86.
2 See Briggs' Whither, pp. 200 seq.

OF THE APOCALYPSE OF THE DRAGON 347
and again by Edward Irving in England.1 It found
many advocates in the eighteenth and nineteenth cen
turies in Europe and America, among whom we may
mention Bengel, Auberlen, Elliot, Henry Alford, R. C.
Shimeall, J. A. Seiss, Chas. Maitland, William Miller,
E. R. Craven, S. H. Kellogg. But there are insuperable
exegetical objections to this association of the state of
blessedness and glory at the second Advent with the
Millennium. There is no reference in the chapter
either directly or indirectly to any Old Testament pas
sages, by which a bridge may be formed to introduce
these conceptions into it ; and it is opposed by the fact
that there is but one clear reference to the Prophecy of
the Old Testament in the entire passage — namely, to
the conflict with Gog and Magog2 which follows the
Millennium and is based on Ezekiel,3 where it is fol
lowed by the state of blessedness and glory. And in
deed this is the constant representation of Prophecy,
that the state of blessedness and glory follows a divine
judgment and is connected with the reign of the Mes
siah in glory at his Advent, so that the state of blessed
ness and glory of Prophecy is covered by the descrip
tions of Rev. xxi. and xxii., and not by those of Rev.
xx. This is confirmed by the remarkable combination
in these very chapters, xxi. and xxii, of references to a
state of blessedness and glory, and especially of those of
Isaiah and Ezekiel, and indeed in the very same language
and with the same coloring. The Millennium is thus a
distinct conception from the state of blessedness and
glory that follows the second Advent.
(3) The conversion of the nations and the Jews and
a more glorious condition of the Church before the

1 In his translation of Lacunza's Coming of the Messiah in Glory.
2 Vers. 8, 9. 3 xxxviii., xxxix.

348 THE MESSIAH
Advent predicted in New Testament Prophecy, has been
improperly associated with the Millennium. The Abbot
Joachim (1200) taught that there were seven periods of
the Church, and that there was to be a glorious time of
the conversion of the Jews in accordance with the
Epistle to the Romans ' before the Advent. He was
followed by Urbertinus de Cassalis, John Clemens,2 and
other Roman Catholic writers. Francis Lambert, of
Avignon, one of the reformers, attached the idea to the
Millennium.3 Many others adopted the view, among
whom we may mention Coelius Secundus Curio,4 Martin
Borrhaus,6 John Ferus," Carolus Gallus,' J. Piscator," in
connection with an emphasis upon the resurrection of
the martyrs to reign with Christ in heaven, Alsted,' who
taught a corporeal resurrection of the saints, and their
reign on earth, without, however, a personal advent of
Christ. Thos. Brightman was the first to teach it in
England.13 He made two millenniums, the one the
blessed state of the Church beginning 1300 and running
on to 2300, to be followed by a still more blessed state
in connection with the calling of the Jews. Henry
Finch n laid stress upon that one feature of the future
blessedness. Hakewell12 more definitely attached the
idea to the future Millennium. The idea of a more
glorious future of the Church of Christ was adopted by
many of the members of the Westminster Assembly of
1 Romans xi. See p. 170.
2 The reputed author of Onus Ecclesiae, 1531 .
3 In his Commentary on the Apocalypse, 1528.
1 De Amplitudine Beati Regni Dei, 1554.
« Com. on Apocalypse, 1561. • Com. on Genesis, 1564.
7 Clavis Prophetica, 1592. « Com. on the New Testament.
9 De Mille Annis, 1621. =0 A Revelation of the Revelation, 1615.
u Calling of the Jews, 1621.
12 Apologie; or, Declaration of tlie Power and Providence of God in the
Government of the World, 1627.

OF THE APOCALYPSE OF THE DRAGON 349
divines, such as Anthony Tuckney, Stephen Marshall,
Herbert Palmer, William Younge, Geo. Gillespie, and it
found expression in the Westminster Symbols so far as
the conversion of the Jews is concerned ; yet they care
fully avoided attaching the idea to the doctrine of the
Millennium.1 Indeed the idea of a future Millennium
before the Advent is ruled out by the Westminster
Symbols no less than is Premillenarianism, both of them
against the orthodox Reformed faith.
The Savoy Confession, in the article on the Church,
gave still more decided reference to the hope of a more
glorious condition of the Church in the future. It was
definitely attached to the Millennium by the Cambridge
Platonists, as Henry More,2 Kidder,3 and others, such
as Robert Fleming.4 Spener, the Father of Pietism, in
1693, b takes the same position which thus became the
doctrine of the Pietists. Vitringa ' in Holland, and
Daniel Whitby' in England combined to give it wider
currency, so that through the influence of Pietism and
Methodism, as well as of the newer Platonism and
Arminianism, it became in the eighteenth century the
most popular and common view of the Millennium, and
so continues until the present day. But there are no
exegetical reasons for the association with the Millen
nium of this idea of the conversion of the Jews and the
future glories of the Church in the conversion of the
nations. There is nothing of this in the text or context
of Rev. xx. The conversion of the nations has been the

1 As we see from Anthony Tuckney's Prcelectiones and the Symbols them
selves. 2 Mysteries of Godliness, 1660. s Demonstration of the Messias, 1699.
4 Fulfilling of the Scriptures, 1681.
* Assertion of the Ho fie of Better Times.
6 Com. on the Apocalypse, 1705 ; 2d ed., 1719.
7 Com. on the New Testament, 1703.

350 THE MESSIAH
wish of the Church from the beginning, and will remain
the prayer of the Church until the End. This wish will
undoubtedly assume greater and greater proportions
until the predictions as to the conversion of the world
and the final conversion of the Jews are fulfilled ; but
there is no reason for postponing the beginning of the
Millennium until these are accomplished, especially in
view of the fact that then, according to the Apocalypse
of Jesus,1 the second Advent is to take place. The stress
laid upon the hope of better times, by Puritans, Pietists,
and Methodists is highly important, and has had blessed
results ; but it has nothing to do with the Millennium.
Any doctrine of the Millennium stands or falls with the
proper interpretation of the passage Rev. xx. 1-10; for
this is the only portion of Holy Scripture in which there
is any reference to such a period of a thousand years.
SCENE IV.
And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven,
Having the key of the abyss and a great chain upon his hand.
And he laid hold on the dragon, (the old serpent, which is the
Devil and Satan),2 and bound him for a thousand years,
And cast him into the abyss, and shut //, and sealed // over
him,
That he should deceive the nations no more,
Until the thousand years should be finished :
After this he must be loosed for a little time.3 (Rev. xx. 1-3.)
The principal object brought into view is " the dragon,"
and he is explained by the final author as " the old ser
pent," " the Devil and Satan." This is the dragon of
the fourth Vision,4 where the same predicates occur:
" The great dragon, the old serpent, he that is called
1 Matthew xxiv. 14. See Messiah of the Gospels, p. 144.
2 The clauses in brackets are probably an editorial explanation.
8 Comp. xii. 12. « Rev. xii. 9.

OF THE APOCALYPSE OF THE DRAGON 351
the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world."
" A great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns,
and upon his heads seven diadems." 1 These predicates
are a heaping up of terms to describe the Devil as he is
variously presented in the Scriptures.2
And an angel of God descended out of heaven with
the key of the abyss and a great chain upon his hand,
and he laid hold of the dragon and bound him for a
thousand years and cast him into the abyss, and shut it
and sealed it over him.3
The purpose of the imprisonment of the dragon is
that he may no more lead the nations astray, that his
headship of the world power, in its organized conflict
with the Kingdom of God, may cease. It does not in
volve the banishment of evil spirits from the world, or
exclude indirect and mediate Satanic influence in the
affairs of mankind ; but it implies that his personal and
peculiar presence and agency, in the use of supernatural
energies and forces of deception and persecution, are
brought to an end.
There are several passages in which a conflict with
Satan is referred to : (a) There is a personal conflict of
the Messiah with Satan, not only in the temptation in
the wilderness, but at the several stages of the career of
1 Rev. xii. 3. He is also mentioned by the redactor again in Rev. xvi. 13 as
the dragon.
2 He is the serpent who tempted Eve, and who is to be trodden under foot by
the woman's seed (Gen. iii. 15; 2 Cor. xi. 3); the devil andsatan who tempted
Jesus (Matt. iv. 1-11); the adversary, tempter, and ensnarer of Christ's people
(Matt. xiii. 39 ; Eph. iv. 27 ; vi. 11 ; t Tim. iii. 7) ; the prince of the demons
and of this world and of the authority of the air (Matt. xii. 24 ; John xvi. 11 ;
Eph. ii. 2).
3 So in Rev. ix. 1, a star unlocked the abyss out of which come the swarms of
locusts. The abyss is mentioned in Rev. ix. 1, 2, as pit of the abyss, with a king
over it called Abaddon or Apollyon (ix. 11). It is the place whence the wild beast
came (xi. 7 ; xvii. 8) ; where the demons desire Christ not to send them (Luke
viii. 31) ; where the fallen angels are chained for judgment (2 Peter ii. 4 ; Jude 6) .

352

THE MESSIAH

Jesus ; and in his authority over the demons that pos
sessed the demoniacs ; in the struggle of Satan for the
possession of Peter and Judas ; ' in the betrayal ; in the
last trials of Jesus with his enemies ; and in the expe
riences of the Redeemer in Hades. The result is that
Satan is stripped of his mastery over death,2 so that
henceforth it is the Messiah who has the keys of Death
and Hades.3 (6) In the previous scene of the apoca
lypse of the Dragon,4 there is described a struggle be
tween Michael and his angels and the dragon and his
angels. The result is that the Devil is cast out of
heaven to the earth, and he descends to the earth with
great wrath, knowing that he hath a short time. He
then persecutes the woman, mother Israel, who flees
from him into the wilderness, and is nourished by God
for 3^ times= 1,260 days. This conflict and victory in
Heaven is connected with the " man child, who is to
rule all the nations with a rod of iron," who " was
caught up unto God and unto his throne." This is a
representation of the ascension of the Messiah to his
throne. In accordance with this, Jesus saw in prophetic
vision his own victory in connection with the victory of
the disciples over the demoniacs, and said : " I beheld
Satan fallen as lightning from Heaven." 5 Again " he
says : " Now is the judgment of this world : now shall
the prince of this world be cast out. And I, if I be
lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto myself."
Here the judgment of Satan is connected with the ex
altation of Christ. The descent of the Devil and his
angels to the earth for a short time is associated with
the ascent of Christ and his rescued ones,7 and may not

1 Luke xxii. 31 ; John xiii. 27. 2 Heb. ii. 14.
3 Rev. i. 18. * Rev. xii. 7-12.
» Luke x. 18. ° John xii. 31, 32. ' Eph. iv. 8-10.

OF THE APOCALYPSE OF THE DRAGON 353
unnaturally be brought into connection with Pentecost.
The descent of the Holy Spirit with supernatural ener
gies of good was to meet and overcome the descent of the
Devil with supernatural energies of evil-; and the conflict
was to be waged for the short time that precedes the
Millennium. This, then, is followed by the capture of the dragon
described in Rev. xx. 1-3, and his imprisonment for a
thousand years in the abyss. The short time preceding
the Millennium is 3^ times= 1,260 days=42 months.
Dan. xii. 11, 12, and Matth. xxiv. 22, guide us to inter
pret this as " days shortened for the sake of the elect,"
half of a week, a brief period of persecution of the saints
and triumph of Satan. This short time is then the martyr
age of the Church, marked externally by the two great
events, the destruction of Jerusalem and the overthrow
of heathen Rome as a power of persecution ; character
ized internally by demoniacal possessions and lying won
ders of all kinds on the one side, and on the other by the
gift of tongues, prophecy, and miracle-working, the super
natural influences on both sides gradually disappearing
from the stage of history.
The confining of Satan in the abyss would then cor
respond with the cessation of supernatural evil forces in
the world. The evil forces having been withdrawn, the
supernatural powers for good would be no longer neces
sary, and the Church would be left to itself to overcome
the ordinary evil of the world by the ordinary operations
of the Holy Spirit through the established means of
grace. The Millennium would then be the period of
the Kingdom of Christ in its domination of the world.
As it was introduced by a brief period of conflict, it will
close with a brief conflict which introduces the period
of glory.

3g4 TBE MESSIAH
SCENE V.1
And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment2 was
given unto them :
And / saw the persons 3 of them that had been beheaded for the
testimony of Jesus, and for the word of God,4
(And such as worshipped not the beast, neither his image,
And received not the mark upon their forehead and upon their
hand ;) 6
And they lived, and reigned with the Messiah a thousand years.
The rest of the dead lived not until the thousand years should
be finished.
(This is the first resurrection.
Blessed and holy is be that hath part in the first resurrection :
Over these the second death hath no power;
But they shall be priests of God and of the Messiah,
And shall reign with him a thousand years.) 6 (Rev. xx. 4-6.)
The prophet sees " the persons of them that had been
beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of
God." These are explained by the final author as
" such as worshipped not the beast, neither his image,
and received not the mark upon their forehead and upon
their hand." " They lived and reigned with the Messiah
a thousand years." These persons are represented by
1 This scene is ascribed by Spitta, /. c, s. 208, after Weyland, entirely to the
redactor. 2 Kpiaa elsewhere xvii. 1, in the apocalypse of the Bowls ; xviii. 20, in the
apocalypse of the Beasts.
3 ijwxv does not mean the soul as distinct from the body, but persons, as
often in the New Testament in the use of fvxi, and in the Old Testament
in the use of {J>3J. The persons themselves are in the vision of the prophet
and not the mode of their existence, whether in the body, or apart from the
body. 4 This phrase is found in similar terms in i. 9 ; vi. 9 ; comp. did tov Uyov
Tijc unprvpiac avruv, xii. n. See p 340.
4 This bracketted clause is an explanatory interpolation, as Volter rightly
holds. It identifies these with the martyrs of the fourth Vision.
" This is probably a comment by the redactor. It is an additional statement
and not anything seen in the Vision.

OF THE APOCALYPSE OF THE DRAGON 355
the Redactor as the martyrs of the brief period that
precedes the Millennium, the 42 months = 1,260 days =
3|- times of the fourth Vision,1 where they are described
in the same terms as in our passage. They are also the
same as the martyrs of the apocalypse of the Seals,2
which have corresponding predicates. These are said to
live and reign. They are priest kings as the martyrs of
the apocalypse of the Beasts. It is said of them :
" This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he
that hath part in the first resurrection : over these the
second death hath no power ; but they shall be priests of
God and of the Messiah, and shall reign with him a thou
sand years." It is very clear that these persons are the
martyrs of the 3^ times ; and they are described as
having a resurrection and enthronement after their per
secution and death. What, then, is the nature of this
resurrection ? There are several resurrections described
in the Scriptures, and these have their advocates in con
nection with our passage.
(a) Premillenarians insist upon a bodily resurrection.
But there is nothing in text or context to suggest such
a thing. The martyrs are represented as enthroned and
as with the Messiah ; so that if the thrones are upon
earth, and these martyrs are on earth, the Messiah is
also on earth in a second Advent. But there is no
reference to the earth or the body in the passage.
Rather, the term " with the Messiah " lifts our thoughts
to heaven where is the throne of the Messiah. The
contrast implies the same. Satan is cast out of the
earth into the abyss ; naturally the martyrs rise to
the contrasted place, Heaven. This is confirmed by
all the parallel passages. In the apocalypse of the

1 Rev. xiii. , in the apocalypse of the Beasts. See p. 322. 2 Rev. vi. 9.

356 THE MESSIAH
Seals ' the martyrs are at the heavenly altar. The
witnesses of the apocalypse of the Beasts 2 ascend into
heaven in the cloud. The 144,000 of the apocalypse
of the Seals 3 are upon Mount Zion with the Lamb.
Thus the place of the risen martyrs is at the foot of
the altar on Mount Zion, in Heaven, where is the golden
altar and temple of God.4
(b) It is regarded as a symbolical resurrection by those
who hold to the association of the more glorious state
of the Church with the Millennium. It is then con
ceived like the resurrection of Israel as a nation, in
Ezekiel ; B of Elias in John the Baptist ; 6 in the repre
sentation of the final restoration of Israel to life from
the dead,7 and in the resurrection of the wild beast from
the abyss.8 But the resurrection is here in order to
enthronement with Christ, which is more than such an
association with Christ as is implied in the churchly life
of a converted world, or portion of the world, whether
of the Jews or the Gentiles or both.
(c) It is explained by most of those ancient and
modern interpreters who reject the views of the Mil
lennium which we have excluded, as a spiritual resur
rection. But that takes place at regeneration and con
version. It must precede martyrdom, and cannot follow
martyrdom as this resurrection does. It is not a resur
rection and ascension to heavenly places by mystical
union with Christ," but a real resurrection and enthrone
ment over against the dethronement and imprisonment
of Satan. The two are in antithesis. The dragon is
cast into the abyss, the martyrs are raised to heaven.
The dragon is imprisoned, the martyrs are enthroned.
1 Rev. vi. 9. 2 Rev. xi. 12. s Rev. xiv. 1.
4 Rev. xi. 19. " Ezek. xxxvii. • Matth. xi. 14.
7 Rom. xi. 13. 8 Rev. xvii. 8. > Comp. Eph, ii. 6.

OF THE APOCALYPSE OF THE DRAGON 357
The dragon persecutes for a short time and is imprisoned
for a millennium. The martyrs have suffered for a short
time ; they reign for a millennium.
(d) This resurrection is to be explained as a resur
rection from Hades to Heaven.1 Those, who have suf
fered in this world and have been slain, ascend to their
thrones in heaven. This is true of each individual in
turn. It is true of the whole class. The prophet in
this vision sees the whole body of martyrs enthroned ; as
in the apocalypse of the Seals2 he sees the 144,000, the
complete number (12x12,000) on Mt. Zion, the heavenly
Zion, the firstfruits of the redeemed.
The Millennium is here preceded by the short martyr
age, as in the previous Vision by the age of the suprem
acy of the dragon. The time is not definite, time.
There is none such in biblical prophecy. The time is
relative ; the numbers are symbolical here as elsewhere
in prophecy. The Millennium begins with the close of
the period, not with any definite event or year of time,
but in general with the supremacy of the Church or
Kingdom of Christ over the Roman Empire or world
power. The Millennium corresponds in general with
the duration of the Church as the triumphing institution
of the world in the last complete period of human his
tory. As it was introduced by a brief period of mar
tyrdom, so it will close with a brief period of final strug
gle with the released Satan, when supernatural forces
for evil and good unite with human forces and join the
final issue.
The prevailing view of the Millennium in the history

1 Comp. for the conception of the resurrection to heaven as gained by the
ascension of Christ, Matth. xxvii. 52, 53; Eph. iv. 8; 1 Peter iii. 19; iv. 6;
Heb. xi. 13 ; John v. 23.
2 Rev. xiv. i.

358 THE MESSIAH
of Exegesis and of Christian theology has identified it
in various ways with the period of the Christian Church.
The common mistake has been in regarding the Millen
nium as an exact thousand years. The Mediaeval Church
and the Reformers dated its origin with the time of
Christ, either from his birth, his ascension, or the de
struction of Jerusalem. John Fox is said to be the first
who dated it from Constantine. He was followed by
Lord Napier, Patrick Forbes, Hugh Broughton, and
most interpreters since.
Ephraem the Syrian and Urbanus Rhegius regarded
the Millennium as a symbolic period, and identified it
with the everlasting glory of the saints. It is more prop
erly a symbolic period of the triumphing Church from
the close of the martyr age until the final conflict at the
End of the Age.
During this Millennium the Church more and more
overcomes the world. The hope of better and more
glorious times constantly inspires it. The final conver
sion of all nations and the ultimate conversion of the
Jews bound its horizon of promise. These having been
accomplished, the Millennium comes to an end with the
release of Satan for a brief period to bring on the final
conflict which is determined by the second Advent of
Christ to judgment. After this last judgment the state
of blessedness and glory of Old Testament prophecy
ensues on a new earth with new heavens.
SCENE VI.
And when the thousand years are finished,
Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,
And shall come forth to deceive the nations which are in the
four corners of the earth,
Gog and Magog, to gather them together to the war :
The number of whom is as the sand of the sea.

OF THE APOCALYPSE OF THE DRAGON 359
And they went up over the breadth of the earth,
And compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved
city :
And fire came down out of heaven, and devoured them.
And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire
and brimstone.
(Where are also the beast and the false prophet ; '
And they shall be tormented day and night unto the ages of the
ages.) (Rev. xx. 7-10.)
This scene does not begin until the thousand years
have come to an end, and the devil has been released
from the prison of Abaddon. The devil leads the ene
mies in this battle. The prophet sees an innumerable
multitude from the extremities of the earth following
him for the final struggle against the saints. He has in
mind the battle with Gog, as described by the prophet
Ezekiel,2 and the all nations of the prophets Joel 3 and
Zechariah.4 He represents the heathen nations as
massed against the saints under diabolical leadership.
The devil has been released from prison, to do that
which he could not do during the millennium, and to
bring on the final conflict. The place of the conflict is
" the camp of the saints." The saints are conceived of
as a holy army.6 They are also a holy city beloved of

1 This is an interpolation connecting this Vision and its judgment with the
previous Vision and its judgment of the beast.
2 Ezekiel xxxviii.-xxxix. The difference in the representation from that of
Ezekiel is in the diabolical leadership, in the use of Magog as a name of a per
son instead of a place, and in the substitution of a general reference to nations in
the four corners of the earth for the specific Persia, Ethiopia, Lybia, Gomer,
Togarmah, Meshech, and Tubal.
8 Joel iv.
* Zechariah xiv. See Messianic Prophecy, p. 468.
6 So they are a priestly army under the Messianic priest king, Psalm ex.
They are an army of heroes who do battle under Yahweh in the valley of Jehosh-
aphat, Joel iv. In the sixth Vision the army of the Messiah is composed of
white cavalry, Rev. xix. 14.

360 THE MESSIAH
God.1 No definite historic or geographical place is here
referred to. This battle scene is a parallel one to the
battle of Armagedon in the apocalypse of the Bowls,2
and the final battle of the holy war of the apocalypse
of the Beasts.3 The army was destroyed by fire from
heaven as was Magog in Ezekiel.4 But the devil is
cast into the lake of fire, just as in the apocalypse of
the Beasts, the beast had been cast therein. So in the
apocalypse of Daniel,5 the river of fire flows forth from
the throne of the Judge. The fire from heaven sweeps
away the devil in a fiery stream into the lake of fire and
brimstone, which it for the first time constitutes as the
ultimate doom. THE GREAT WHITE THRONE.
§ 70. The Messiah comes on a great white throne before
which heaven and earth and all things flee away. The
dead, small and great, from all parts stand before the
throne and are judged by the records of the book of life.
The condemned are cast into the lake of fire.
SCENE VII.
And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat upon it,
From whose face the earth and the heaven fled away ;
And there was found no place for them.
And I saw the dead, the great and the small,
Standing before the throne ; and the books were opened :
And another book was opened, which is the book of life :
And the dead were judged out of the things which were written
in the books, (according to their works).
And the Sea gave up the dead which were in it ;
And Death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them :

1 So the war of the nations is against Jerusalem in Zech. xiv. ; and the holy
city trampled under foot by the nations in Rev. xi. 2, seems to be the city of the
saints. See p. 317.
2 Rev. xvi. 13 seq. See p. 421. s Rev. xix. 19-21. See p. 333.
4 Ezekiel xxxix. 6. » Daniel vii, 10.

OF THE APOCALYPSE OF THE DRAGON 3g^
And they were judged every man according to their works.
And Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire.
This is the second death, the lake of fire.
And if any was not found written in the book of life,
He was cast into the lake of fire. (Rev. xx. 11-15.)
This is an Advent-scene. The person whose advent is
described, is enthroned on a great white throne. In the
parallel Advent-scenes he is described in the apocalypse
of the Trumpets as enthroned on a white cloud,1 and in
the apocalypse of the Beasts as seated on a white
horse,2 and in the prologue of the Trumpets it is pro
claimed, " Behold he cometh with the clouds." 3 So in
the apocalypse of Jesus, the Son of man comes on the
clouds of heaven, and in his royal judgment scene is
enthroned upon his throne of glory.4
These are all different representations of the same
event. Our passage is more in accord with the royal
judgment of Matthew. The Messiah is so glorious,
majestic, and awe-inspiring that the heaven and the
earth flee from his presence. So in the judgment-scene
of the apocalypse of the Bowls " every island fled away
and the mountains were not found," B and in the oath of
the angel heralding the advent, of the apocalypse of the
Trumpets," there shall be time no longer." °
The Advent is for judgment of the dead, and they
are assembled before the throne from the sea and from
the abode of the dead in Hades. Death is in parallel
ism with Hades, and seems to be used here in a local
sense. It is possible that it stands for Apoleia, the
prison of Hades. It is noteworthy that only the dead
appear before the throne for judgment ; the living are

1 Rev. xiv. 14. 2 Rev. xix. 11. 3 Rev. i. 7.
4 Matth. xxiv. 30 ; xxv. 31. See The Messiah of the Gospels, pp. 154, 226.
6 Rev. xvi. 20. 6 Rev. x. 6.

362 THE MESSIAH
not mentioned. The reason for this is that the living
have already been judged in the final battle of the pre
vious scene. The living saints constituted the beloved
city, and were delivered from the living wicked ones by
divine interposition. The living wicked were all in the
army of the devil and were destroyed by the fire from
heaven. The question arises whether all of the dead delivered up
by Death and Hades and the Sea were cast into the lake
of fire. If we regard Death and Hades as standing for
the inhabitants of the places prior to their resurrection
we are forced to that opinion. If, however, we regard
these names as personifications for the places, then we
may suppose that they are cast into the lake of fire with
the devil and the beasts, in order to show that they
cease to exist and that these places of the intermediate
abode of the dead prior to the Day of judgment are
done away with forever at the judgment. There seems
to be an implication that some of those from Death and
Hades were found written in the book of life, in the
antithesis to the supplication, " If any was not found
written in the book of life." If this be a fair inference,
then it appears that not all of the redeemed prior to the
judgment have gone to be with the Messiah and the
martyrs in heaven ; but that some of the dead who are
in the discipline of redemption remain in Hades and
possibly also in Apoleia until the day of doom. There
is room for much speculation here ; but no sound basis
for dogmatic statement.1
Two sets of books are mentioned — the one set is com
posed of a number of books. These books are the
books of record of deeds by which the condemned are

• See pp. 56, 130.

OF THE APOCALYPSE OF THE DRAGON 353
judged. The other set is a single book, being simply a
register of the names of those appointed to life. Those
whose names are registered in the book of life are ad
mitted to final salvation. Those who are not registered
therein are condemned by the record of their evil deeds
and are cast into the lake of fire. This is called the
second death. From the first death there was a resur
rection to judgment with an opportunity of salvation ;
from the second death in the lake of fire no resurrection
or further judgment is proposed.
ALL THINGS BECOME NEW.
§ 71. New heavens and a new earth take the place of
the old. The new Jerusalem descends from heaven as a
bride adorned for her husband, fts foundations are tzvelve
precious stones, its zvalls are diamond, its gates are tzvelve
pearls. The city itself is pure gold, ft is a cube like the
Holy of Holies. God's throne is therein. He dwells with
men. His servants see His face, live in His light, and reign
forever. All evil is abolished. All things become new.
SCENE VIII.
And I saw a new heaven and a new earth : '
For the first heaven and the first earth are passed away ;
And the sea is no more. (Rev. xxi. 1.)
The new heaven and new earth take the place of the
old heaven and earth, which have fled from the face of
the Messiah. The conception is doubtless based upon
the prediction of the new heavens and earth in the sec
ond Isaiah.2 And it is similar to the new heavens and

1 This scene is regarded by Spitta, /. c, s. 212-214, as composite. He ascribes
to his Jewish Apocalypse of the time of Caligula only verses 1, sa, 6a, the other
verses and parts of verses to the redactor. The lack of harmony has been caused
by the removal of the description of the new Jerusalem to compact it with the
description in the apocalypse of the Bowls.
2 Isaiah lxv. 17.

364 THE MESSIAH
earth of the second Epistle of Peter,1 which spring out of
the great conflagration. The statement that there will be
no more sea, indicates in one particular how differently
the new earth is conceived of from the old, and it is in
keeping with the reference to the sea as the abode of
some of the dead in the previous scene.2
And the holy city, new Jerusalem,3 I saw
Coming down out of heaven from God,
Made ready as a bride adorned for her husband.4 (Rev. xxi. 2.)
And the city lieth foursquare,5
And the length thereof is as great as the breadth :
The length and the breadth and the height thereof are equal.
And the building of the wall thereof was jasper :
And the city was pure gold, like unto pure glass.
The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with all
manner of precious stones.
The first foundation was jasper ; the second, sapphire ;
The third, chalcedony ; the fourth, emerald ;
The fifth, sardonyx ; the sixth, sardius ;
The seventh, chrysolite ; the eighth, beryl ;
The ninth, topaz ; the tenth, chrysoprase ;
The eleventh, jacinth ; the twelfth, amethyst.
And the twelve gates were twelve pearls ;
Each one of the several gates was of one pearl :
And the street of the city was pure gold, transparent as glass.
(Rev. xxi. 1 6a, c, 18-21.)
1 2 Peter iii. 13. See p. 64.
2 The new Jerusalem descending from heaven is also a conception of the sec
ond Isaiah in the passage referred to, Isaiah lxv. 17, 18. She is described as the
bride, as in the second Isaiah she is the bride of God, Is. lxii. 4, 5. See Messi
anic Prophecy, pp. 400, 483.
s The new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven, is mentioned also in the
apocalypse of the Epistles, iii. 12, but without the epithet "holy city " In the
parallel passage of the apocalypse of the Bowls it is "the holy city Jerusalem."
4 The parallel passage, xxi. 9, of the apocalypse of the Bowls, has " the bride,
the wife of the Lamb ."
5 The reasons for the analysis of this piece are given in connection with the
larger piece of the apocalypse of the Bowls. See p. 432.

OF THE APOCALYPSE OF THE DRAGON 355
This scene describes the city which was seen descend
ing from heaven as a bride made ready and adorned for
her husband. It was a cube like the Holy of Holies of
the tabernacle, of equal length, breadth, and height.
The wall was of diamonds resting upon twelve suc
cessive foundations of twelve different precious stones.
The gates were great pearls. The general appearance
of the city therefore was of twelve layers of precious
stones surmounted by diamond walls enclosing a city of
gold.And there shall be no more anything accursed :
And the throne of God (and of the Lamb) ¦ shall be therein : »
And his servants shall do him service ;
And they shall see his face ;
And his name shall be on their foreheads.
And there shall be night no more :
And they need no light of lamp, neither light of sun ;
For the Lord God shall give them light :
And they shall reign unto the ages of the ages. '(Rev. xxii. 3-5.)
In the third line of this scene it was said " and the
sea is no more." This section of the same scene begins
with a similar word, " there shall be no more anything
accursed." Later on, " there shall be night no more."
In the following section of this scene other similar state
ments will appear. This city whose adornments have
been described has the throne of God in it, and about
that throne His servants assemble to do Him service.

1 Spitta and Volter are correct in thinking the reference to the Lamb an inter
polation ; the singular pronoun in the subsequent context refers to God alone.
2 Spitta, I. c, s. 220, thinks that the remaining lines are an interpolation of
the redactor. They are not harmonious to the previous context. The lack of
harmony is quite evident when one compares xxii . 5 with xxi. 23. These are dif
ferent representations of the same thing. The reason of this lack of harmony is
that the passage we are now considering originally belonged in another context
than xxii. 1, 2, and came immediately after xxi. 21 and immediately before xxi. 3.

366 THE MESSIAH
His name is on their foreheads, to show that they be-
long to Him. They live in His presence, and are
privileged to continually behold His face. He is their
light, they live in His light. He is their king, but He is
King of kings, and they are His kings reigning under
His superior rule.
And I heard a great voice out of the throne ' saying,
Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men,
And he shall dwell with them,'2 and they shall be his peoples,
And God himself shall be with them, and be their God :
And he shall wipe away every tear from their eyes ; 3
And death shall be no more ; 4
Neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain, anymore :
The first things are passed away.
And he that sitteth on the throne said,5 Behold, I make all
things new. (Rev. xxi. 3 -5a.)
The abode of God with His people is conceived of
after the manner of Ezekiel." The abolition of death
and sorrow is in accordance with an ancient apocalypse

1 The voice from the throne is elsewhere, xix. 5, xvi. 17, which have been
ascribed to the apocalypse of the Bowls.
2 The parallel passage in the Vision of the Seals, vii. 15, is axnvuaEi iif
abrovs for onr/vaoei jiet' aiiTuv here. This may be a different translation of
3 The parallel passage, vii. 17, has i^aAelipet Trav Sdupvov in tuv odSaA/iuv
avruv. Here there is a slight variation in reading d~b tuv bySaApuv
ai-Tav, which is also probably a different translation of the same original
DnTjJo nycnrhs nno, which is based on ?•osia i>j?D nyon nnD of is.
xxv. 8. The LXX reads d<pEl\e -irav ddupvov d-rrd — arroc Tvpoauwov.
' This mode of expression is the same as in xxi. 1, which seems to imply the
same document. It is a free rendering of Is. xxv. 8.
5 This phrase might refer to the enthroned God of the Vision of the Seals, vii.
10, or the enthroned of xxii. 1; it seems to me that it is the latter, elirevis
only here in Apocalypse, Etwdru, xxii. 17; elwiv jiot, vii. 14; xvii. 7; xxi. 6;
xxii. 6.
' Ezekiel xxxiv. 30, 31 ; xxxvii. 21-28. See Messianic Prophecy, p. 278.

OF THE APOCALYPSE OF THE DRAGON 357
contained in the book of Isaiah.1 The close of the
apocalypse of the Dragon is brief and sublime. The
theophanic person says : " Behold, I make all things
new." This comprehends and concludes all that can be
said or done.

1 Is. xxv. 8. See Messianic Prophecy, pp. 306 seg.

CHAPTER XII.
THE MESSIAH OF THE APOCALYPSE OF THE TRUMPETS.
The Apocalypse of the Trumpets is the third in the
order of the apocalypses of the Sevens in their present
arrangement. But it is probable that it is older than
any of the others. It contains a considerable amount
of material, which is assigned by several critics to one or
more Jewish writers. The Messiah of this apocalypse
is the Son of man on the clouds, of the apocalypses of
Daniel and Enoch, and of the Apocalypse of Jesus.1
This apocalypse is for the most part contained in chap
ters viii. 2-ix. But its Prologue is probably to be found
in i. 7, 8, and its concluding scenes in pieces which by
the successive editors have been transferred to contexts
which seemed more appropriate in the scheme of our
present Apocalypse. We find them in x. \a, 3-7 ; xi. 14,
\$a, 19 ; xiv. 6, 7, 14-20. The epilogue is to be found
probably in xxi. 6, pb, 8; xxii. 10-15.
The Vision of the Trumpets begins like the first
and the second Visions of the Apocalypse with a
heavenly scene. There is, however, no Christophany as
in the previous Visions, and therefore the question
arises whether the original introduction has been lost or
is to be found elsewhere, or whether this Vision had no
introductory Christophany. A comparison of this apoc
alypse with the apocalypse of the Bowls makes it prob-

1 See The Messiah of t lie Gospels, pp. 23, 154.
(368)

OF THE APOCALYPSE OF THE TRUMPETS 369
able that it was introduced by a scene of martyrs. This
we may find in vii. 1-8, which was pushed forward into
the Vision of the Seals and displaced the other scene
of the i44,ooo.1
In the second scene, viii. 2 seq., seven angels are seen
standing before God. These seven angels do not appear
in the previous Vision, nor do the elders and cherubim
of the previous Vision appear in this Vision. The angel
with the golden censer seems to take the place of the
elders with their bowls of incense. The angel and the
elders minister alike as priests in the heavenly temple.
The seven angels appear at once with the definite article
as well-known angels. Similar conceptions are found in
the apocryphal and pseudepigraphical literature.3 Spitta,3
on account of the incongruity of the two visions, holds
that they belong to different authors, and that this
vision belongs to his first Jewish author. I agree with
him that they were originally independent visions.
But it is not evident that they belonged to different
authors, still less that the author of this vision was not
a Christian. HE COMETH WITH THE CLOUDS.
§ 72. The Messiah cometh with the clouds ; all will see
him and mourn over him. This coming is guaranteed by
the holy names of God.
The Prologue of the Apocalypse of the Trumpets is
probably to be found in i. 7-8, which was added to the
prologue of the apocalypse of the Seals when these
two apocalypses were compacted as the first edition of
the Apocalypse.
Behold, he cometh with the clouds ;
And every eye shall see him, and they which pierced him ;
1 See p. 293. ' See Tobit xii. 15. » /. c, s. 88 seg.

370 THE MESSIAH
And all the tribes of the earth shall mourn over him.
Even so, Amen.
I am the Alpha and the Omega,1
Saith the Lord, the God, which is and which was and which is
to come, the Almighty.2 (Rev. i. 7-8.)
In the prologue of this apocalypse (ver. 7) the second
Advent is graphically pointed out. The Advent is to
be " with the clouds," in accordance with the words of
the angel at the ascension,3 the prediction of Daniel,4
and the prediction of Jesus himself.5 Then " every eye
will see him," 6 and especially " they which pierced him."
This reminds us of the prediction of Jesus before the
Sanhedrin.7 The prediction that " all the tribes of the

1 This representation is based on Isaiah xliv. 6 ; comp. Rev. xxi. 6 ; xxii. 13,
where are the same attributes. The first and the last letters of the Greek alpha
bet seem to stand for "the First and the Last" of the Hebrew text. In xxi. 6;
xxii. 13, ij dpxv K-aX to teXoc is added. In xxii. 13 is added 6 irpuToc nal 6
iaxo-Toq. The limited usage of these phrases in the Apocalypse raises the
question whether they may not be characteristic of one or more documents.
Apart from the use of "the First ana ine Last "in the apocalypse of the
Epistles, i. 17, ii. 8, the other examples are all in prologues and epilogues —
for xxi. 6 must also be regarded as part of an original epilogue (see
p. 387). The question then arises whether they came from the redactor or from
an original apocalypse. Inasmuch as there is a divine speaker in every case,
they must come from an apocalypse. The probability is that such a special
usage would come from the same apocalypse. If the first is from the apoca
lypse of the Trumpets, the probability is that the others belong there likewise.
2 6 -KavToapdrup is the common rendering in the LXX for J11X3V ('HPN).
And so the entire phrase is a heaping up of divine names. The sentence in the
original was probably p-inx 'JXl PE'XT iJN
.niKax mrp DTfpxn 'nx idx
This is the only example of this entire sentence. But the combination Kvpioc it
oeoc 6 iravToiipdrup = rnX3X DTPNn ^"IN is used iv. 8; xi. 17 (The Seals);
xv. 3; xvi. 7 (The Bowls); and xix. 6 and xxi. 22, which I have ascribed to
the apocalypse of the Bowls. This phrase therefore belongs to the first group
of Visions, the apocalypses of the Sevens.
s Acts i. it. 4 Dan. vii. 13.
» See The Messiah of the Gospels, pp. 152 seg. « Cf. Is. xl. 5.
7 See The Messiah of the Gospels, p. 126.

OF THE APOCALYPSE OF THE TRUMPETS 371
earth shall mourn over him " is a reiteration of the pre
diction of Jesus in his great apocalypse.1 The advent is
therefore an advent for universal judgment, in which
those guilty of the Messiah's death will be especially
punished. The reference to death by piercing is in
accord with the prediction by Zechariah.2 This verse
gives a theme which is based on the apocalypse of
Jesus and recurs in this apocalypse.3 It is emphasized
by an assertion by God himself, giving his own divine
names and attributes as guarantees of the certainty of
the Advent.4 ABADDON AND HIS ARMY OF DEMONS.
§ 73. An angel seals one hundred and forty-four thou
sand children of Israel. The prayers of the saints ascend
in the flames of the altar and are made effectual by
heavenly incense. Seven angels sound the trumpet blasts
of judgment. These bring down hail, fire, and blood
upon the earth, a burning mountain falling into the sea,
a burning star falling into the rivers, a darkening of the
lights of heaven, all culminating in an army of locusts

• Matthew xxiv. 30. 2 Zee. xii. 10.
2 The precise mode of the advent as on the clouds appears only in xiv. 14, and
not in the earlier Visions.
4 Spitta, /. c, s. 24, thinks that the Messiah himself is here speaking and
asserting his deity as the Yahweh of the Old Testament. But he thinks the
clause came from the final author. It seems to me improbable that the editor
would so represent the Messiah as speaking. If it belong to any of the original
apocalypses it can only be interpreted of God, which indeed is the most natural
interpretation and the one adopted by most interpreters. However, there can
be no doubt that the apocalypse of the Epistles identifies the Messiah with Yah
weh in the use of " the First and the Last " with reference to him. In the final
arrangement of the material in the Prologue and the Epilogue, it seems that the
editor interpreted these terms as referring to the Messiah himself. At all events,
in these present combinations, one cannot be sure whether they refer to God or
to Christ.

372 THE MESSIAH
from the abyss headed by Abaddon, and a demon army of
two hundred million horsemen from the Euphrates. These
k>rment men, but do not bring them to repentance.
The first scene of this Apocalypse is the sealing of
the 144,000 of the tribes of Israel.
scene 1.
After this I saw four angels
Standing at the four corners of the earth,
Holding the four winds of the earth,
That no wind should blow on the earth, or on the sea, or upon
any tree.1
And I saw another angel ascend from the sunrising,
Having the seal of the Living God :2
And he cried with a great voice to the four angels,
To whom it was given to hurt 3 the earth and the sea, saying,
Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees,
Till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.4
And I heard the number of them that were sealed,
A hundred and forty and four thousand,
Sealed out of every tribe of the children of Israel.5
Of the tribe of Judah were sealed twelve thousand :

1 divdpov is used in the Apocalypse only here, vii. 1, 3; and viii. 7 ; ix. 4. which
seem to presuppose our passage.
2 The Living God is only used here in the Apocalypse. It is an expression of
the Old Testament. The phrase J<jp cic tovc aluvac is, however, used in the
apocalypses of the Seals and Bowls as well as in this apocalypse of the Tr umpsts.
See iv. 9, 10 ; *. 6 ; xv. 7. It is also used, i. 18, of the Son of man.
3 See ix. 4, 10, 19, which seem to be presupposed.
4£7ri tuv /ietuttuv (avriiv) is used elsewhere, ix. 4, in the apocalypse of the
Trumpets; xiv. 1, which I have ascribed to the apocalypse of the Seals;
xxii. 4, which I have ascribed to the apocalypse of Uie Dragon 'see p. 365).
iwl to jikru-Kov is used in the apocalypse of the Beasts, xiii. 16 ; the apoca
lypse of the Dragon, xx. 4, which seems to come from the redactor ; in the
apocalypse of the Bowls, xvii. 5 ; etti tov /uetuxov in the apocalypse of the
Beasts, xiv. 9, a change of case which Weiss ascribes to a rhetorical variation.
6 <bv?ir/ viuv '\apai]k is used only here and in the apocalypse of the
Bowls, xxi. 12.

OF THE APOCALYPSE OF THE TRUMPETS 373
Of the tribe of Reuben ' twelve thousand :
Of the tribe of Gad twelve thousand :
Of the tribe of Asher twelve thousand :
Of the tribe of Naphtali twelve thousand :
Of the tribe of Manasseh twelve thousand :
Of the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand:
Of the tribe of Levi twelve thousand :
Of the tribe of Issachar twelve thousand :
Of the tribe of Zebulun twelve thousand :
Of the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand :
Of the tribe of Benjamin were sealed twelve thousand. (Rev. vii. 1-8.)
This scene of the angels sealing the faithful is in
antithesis to the branding of the worshippers of the
beast with the name of the beast. It is also in accord
ance with the conception of the gathering of the elect
by the angel in the Apocalypse of Jesus.3 The destroy
ing angels with the winds of judgment are restrained by
another angel until the servants of God have been
sealed. These are numbered and found to be twelve
thousand from every tribe. The number is a complete
number, a thousand, the number of entire perfection,
multiplied by twelve times twelve, the number of Israel,
— that is, entire Israel is sealed. The Israel here is Israel
after the spirit and not Israel after the flesh. It does
not include the Gentiles, however. The sealed are the
elect of Israel.'

1 It is probable that in the original apocalypse each line contained the verb
"were sealed." The lines ate incomplete without it.
2 See The Messiah of the Gospels, p. 154.
9 The absence of other nations here is striking in view of the previous con
text, in which this passage is found in the Vision of the Seals. It is regarded by
some as an evidence that the previous scene of judgment is limited to the land of
Israel. But kings, princes, and the other classes mentioned point to a larger
company than the Jews who warred against the Romans. There were no kings
or princes in the revolt. It is regarded by Vischer, Volter, and others as an
evidence that the conception of the original apocalypse has been enlarged upon

374 THE MESSIAH
SCENE II.
And I saw the seven angels which stand before God ;
And there were given unto them seven trumpets.
And another angel came, having a golden censer,1
And he stood over the altar, and there was given unto him
much incense,
That he should add it unto the prayers of all the saints,
Upon the golden altar which was before the throne.
And the smoke of the incense out of the angel's hand,1
Went up before God with the prayers of the saints.
And the angel taketh the censer ;
And he filled it with the fire of the altar, and cast it
upon the earth :
And there followed thunders, and voices, and lightnings, and an
earthquake.
And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets,
Prepared themselves to sound. (Rev. viii. 2-6.)
This is a brief scene. Before the throne of God in
the holy place of the temple is seen the golden altar of
incense upon which a continual fire is burning.3 In it
are burning the prayers of all the saints. Something is
needed to make them effectual. An angel with the
golden censer adds much incense to the altar for this
purpose. This conception of the prayers rising up be
fore God with incense in the flames of the altar is quite
different from that of the martyrs themselves praying at
the altar in the apocalypse of the Seals.3 The burning
by a later prophet in the subsequent context. But by transposing the scenes of
the 144,000 as I have done, the inconsistency is removed. The language of the
scene is decidedly in favor of its connection with the apocalypse of the Trum
pets. See p. 372.
' The Greek translator destroyed the original parallelism, and transformed
pcetry into prose by using the common order of words in the sentence. I ven
ture to restore them to the poetic order.
2 Weiss, /. c, s. 17S, and Spitta, /. t., s. 89, urge that the altar is in the temple
at Jerusalem.
» See p. 40.5.

OF THE APOCALYPSE OF THE TRUMPETS 375
prayers and incense from the altar are then cast upon
the earth in order to show that the prayers of the saints
have prevailed,1 and that the longed-for redemption is
about to be accomplished. This Vision begins subse
quently to the scene of the fifth seal. The waiting time
of the martyrs is nearing its end. The seven angels,
seen standing before the throne, are to sound the
trumpet notes of judgment and redemption. They were
not visible in the apocalypse of the Seals. There was
no place for them there. They seem to take the place
of the four living ones of that apocalypse.3 These
seven angels and their trumpet blasts are arranged in
the present Apocalypse in groups similar to those
of the seven seals : a group of four convulsions of
nature, and a group of three woes, the second of which
expands into three scenes,3 so that we have here again
seven scenes, (1) the introductory one of the heavenly
altar ; (2) the convulsions of the four trumpets ; (3) the
army of locusts of the fifth trumpet ; (4) the army
of cavalry of the sixth trumpet ; (5) the scene of the
great angel ; (6) the scene of the two witnesses ; (7) the
scene in heaven of the seventh trumpet. But we have
already seen that part of (5) and all of (6) belong to the
apocalypse of the Beasts ; and that (7) combines ma
terial from the apocalypses of the Seals and Trumpets,
and that we must seek the conclusion of the apocalypse
of the Trumpets later on in the present Apocalypse.
Therefore, the scenes of the original apocalypse will be
quite different. We shall, however, retain the grouping
of the four trumpets in the second scene. We have
already considered the introductory scene in heaven.
1 Comp. Ezekiel x. 2. 2 See Weiss, I. c , s. 178.
2 This expansion is due to the insertion of two visions which were originally
independent— just as in the previous vision. They were adapted to their place
in the seven scenes of this Vision by the author of the book in its present form.

376 THE MESSIAH
SCENE III.
(i) And the first sounded,
And there followed hail and fire, mingled with blood,
And they were cast upon the earth :
And the third part of the earth was burnt up,
And the third part of the trees was burnt up,
And all green grass was burnt up.
(2) And the second angel sounded,
And as it were a great mountain burning with fire
Was cast into the sea :
And the third part of the sea became blood ;
And there died the third part of the creatures which were in
the sea, even they that had life ; '
And the third part of the ships was destroyed.
(3) And the third angel sounded,
And there fell from heaven a great star, burning as a torch.
And it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the
fountains of the waters ;
And the name of the star is called Wormwood :
And the third part of the waters became wormwood ;
And many men died of the waters, because they were made
bitter.
(4) 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 ;
That the third part of them should be darkened,
And the day should not shine for the third part of it,
And the night in like manner. (Rev. viii. 7-12.)
The four trumpets may be compared with the four
seals. There is a similar grouping. But there a war
between the Parthians and Romans is described, here
convulsions of nature. The convulsions of nature re
semble those of the sixth seal. They are theophanic
signs of judgment. Hail and fire mingled with blood

1 It is probable that the original of this line read DU iTTI l"S3 iTE."^!;' 110111
See Ezekiel xlvii.

OF THE APOCALYPSE OF THE TRUMPETS 377
destroy one-third of the land or earth. The hail and
fire are common features of theophany,1 but blood de
scending from heaven is new, although it is similar to
the contamination of the heavens with blood in an
ancient apocalypse.3 The burning mountain cast into
the sea,3 that is, volcanic eruption and earthquake de
stroying a third of the sea, is similar to the conception
of Mount Sinai on fire.4 The fiery torch-like star Worm
wood is new to apocalyptic signs.5 It is a development
of the falling stars of the other apocalypses. It destroys
one-third of the rivers. The smiting and darkening of
the sun, moon, and stars is a familiar sign of the apoca
lypses. The only new feature is the numerical one-third
which characterizes the apocalypse of the Trumpets.6
The result of these trumpets is that virtually one- third
of nature is destroyed. The point of view of this Vision
seems to be that of the sixth seal, and that of the signs
of the End given in the Apocalypse of Jesus.'
Interlude.
And I saw an eagle flying in mid heaven,
And I heard (one) saying with a great voice,
Woe, Woe, Woe, for them that dwell on the earth,
By reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels,
who are yet to sound. (Rev. viii. 13.)
This interlude prepares the way for the woes of the
three following trumpets :
SCENE IV.
And the fifth angel sounded,
And I saw a star from heaven fallen unto the earth :
And there was given to him the key of the pit of the abyss.

1 Ezek. xxxviii. 22 ; Is. xxviii. 2. 2 Is. xxxiv. 3, 4.
2 Comp. Jer. Ii. 25 ; Enoch xviii. 13 ; xxi. 3. " Ex. xix.
6 Comp., however, the use of wormwood in Jer. ix. 15 ; xxiii. 15.
« gee p. 380. ' See The Messiah of the Gospels, p. ^52,

378

THE MESSIAH

And he opened the pit of the abyss ;
And there went up a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a
great furnace ;
And the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke
of the pit.
And out of the smoke came forth locusts upon the earth ;
And power was given them, as the scorpions of the earth have
power.
And it was said unto them that they should not hurt the grass
of the earth,
Neither any green thing, neither any tree, but only men,
Who have not the seal of God on their foreheads.1
And it was given them that they should not kill them,
But that they should be tormented five months :
And their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when it
striketh a man.
And in those days men shall seek death, and shall in no wise
find it ;
And they shall desire to die, and death fleeth from them.
And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared
for war ;
And upon their heads as it were crowns like unto gold,
And their faces were as men's faces.
And they had hair as the hair of women,
And their teeth were as the teeth of lions.
And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron ;
And the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots,
Of many horses rushing to war.
And they have tails like unto scorpions, and stings ;
And in their tails is their power to hurt men five months.
They have over them as king the angel of the abyss, Abad
don.2
 (Rev. ix. i— n.)
> This would limit the affliction to the land of Israel. Spitta uses this clause
as an argument to show that the sealing and this vision belong together, and
both to an original Jewish author.
2 The Greek text reads, " His name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in the Greek
he hath the name Apollyon." It is evident that this is a paraphrase explaining
the original name, jmN = diruAEta, the prison of the middle state. See
pp. 56, 61, 91.

OF THE APOCALYPSE OF THE TRUMPETS 379
The fifth trumpet summons a wondrous scene. A
star falls from heaven, unlocks the pit of the abyss
where Apollyon, or Abaddon, the devil, and his host
of demons have been imprisoned.1 This star is doubt
less an angel.3 The demons come forth like a vast army
of locusts. They are an elaboration of the locust army
of the apocalypse of Joel.3 They are composite crea
tures, horses in form, with heads of men crowned with
golden crowns, their hair long like women's, their teeth
like lions', their tails like scorpions. This army of
demons overruns the earth and torments men for five
months. The five months, less than half of twelve, con
stitute a broken year, a shortened year. This cannot
have any reference to the Jewish war, although there
seems to have been an unusual display of demoniacal
possessions and diabolism at that time. It is rather an
outburst of demons immediately before the End.
Interlude.
The first Woe is past :
Behold, there come yet two Woes hereafter.4 (Rev. ix. 12.)
This exclamation enhances the expectation of the
two woes of the sixth and seventh trumpets which are
to follow. SCENE V.
And the sixth angel sounded,
And I heard a voice from the horns of the golden altar (which is
before God,) 5
Saying (to the sixth angel, which had the trumpet,) 6 loose the
four angels '
1 Comp. Enoch lxxxvi. 1 ; also Rev. xx. 1 seq. , where the devil was sealed in
the prison of the abyss. See p. 350.
2 Comp. xx. 1. a Joeli.-ii.
1 Spitta, /. c, s. 95, thinks that these two lines are an interpolation.
5 The bracketted clause makes the line too long. It is probably an explanatory
addition. • Spitta, /. c. , s. 102, regards the bracketted clause as an interpolation.
7 Spitta, /. c, s. 96-102, urges that the original reading was roc dytAac rdc

380 THE MESSIAH
Which are bound at the great river Euphrates.
And (the four angels) were loosed, (which had been prepared for
the hour and day and month and year,) ¦ that they should
kill the third part of men.
And the number of the armies of the horsemen was twice ten
thousand times ten thousand :
I heard the number of them.
And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on
them,
Having breastplates as of fire and of hyacinth and of brimstone:
And the heads of the horses are as the headsof lions ;
And out of their mouths proceedeth fire and smoke and brim
stone.
By these three plagues was the third part of men killed,
By the fire and the smoke and the brimstone, which proceeded
out of their mouths.
For the power of the horses is in their mouth, and in their tails :
For their tails are like unto serpents, and have heads;
And with thein they do hurt.
And the rest of mankind, which were not killed with these
plagues,
Repented not of the works of their hands,
That they should not worship the demons, and the idols,
Those of gold, and of silver, and of brass, and of stone, and of
wood ;
Which can neither see nor hear, nor walk :
And they repented not of their murders, nor of their sorceries,
Nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.2
 (Rev. ix. 13-21.)
dsSEp-ivac, and opposes the view of Iselin that the original reading was
D'SPD, which was so read by the author of a late Syriac apocalypse of
Ezra, and which was read as DOXTO by the Christian editor of our apoca
lypse. But there is no real difficulty in thinking of four evil angel-princes of the
nations, as kept in bondage until their time of action had come. It is similar to
the imprisonment of the devil in xx. 1-3 and his release. The difficulty is that
they are put in no relation to the army of horsemen of the subsequent context
and they are given nothing to do.
• Spitta thinks these are the four angels of the times, as we have in vii. 1 four
angels of the winds, and that they, have been transposed from their original
place at the beginning of chapter x. This view has much in its favor.
2 The four classes of sinners : idolaters, murderers, sorcerers, and fornicators,

OF THE APOCALYPSE OF THE TRUMPETS 381
The sixth trumpet brings the second woe. As the
text now reads, four angels are loosed, who had been
prepared for this very time. They were imprisoned on
the banks of the River Euphrates. These angels are
evil angels, for they were bound on the Euphrates as
the demons of the previous scene were in prison in the
abyss of Abaddon. They lead an enormous army of
cavalry from the region of the Euphrates. The text as
emended by Sprtta would read : Loose the herds which
are bound. And those herds of horsemen were loosed
to kill the third part of men. The description of this
army is based upon that of the Scythian hordes of the
predictions of the Old Testament1 and the Parthian
cavalry of the times of the New Testament. The horses
are composite creatures as were the locusts of the pre
vious vision. Their bodies were horses', their heads
were lions', and their mouths like dragons breathed
forth fire and brimstone. Their tails were serpents
with venomous heads. Their riders were armed with
breastplates of fire and brimstone. This is a demon
army like that of the locusts. They kill one-third of
men as the locust army tormented them. There is
nothing in this vision that points towards the Jewish
war. The fact that Parthian cavalry took part in it as
the allies of Rome does not justify us in thinking that
this contingent of the Roman army corresponds with
the description of this demon army.3 The representa-
appear also xxi. 8 ; xxii. 15. Here thieves are added ; xxii. 15, dogs and liars ;
xxi. 8, fearful, unbelieving, abominable, and liars. We have already had rea
son to believe that the context of these passages belongs to the apocalypse of
the Trumpets.
1 See Ezekiel xxxviii.-xxxix.
2 Holtzmann, /. c. , 298, suggests that the composition and character of this
demon cavalry is based on the representation of the giants who warred against
the gods in the sublime statues of Pergamum, now in the Museum of Berlin.
This is altogether probable, and it points to an author familiar with the cities of

382

THE MESSIAH

tions of this vision are rather of torments of the Gen
tile idolaters. The reference to the Euphrates seems
to make the region of this vision the Eastern part of the
Roman Empire. THE SON OF MAN ON THE CLOUDS.
§ 74. Seven thunders utter voices the meaning of which
is sealed. An angel proclaims that time will be no longer.
The everlasting gospel is proclaimed to all nations, and
they are warned of the coming of the hour of judgment.
The Son of man comes on a white cloud and reaps the
harvest of the earth, and with attending angels treads the
winepress of God, and a great stream of blood flows forth.
The predicted things have come to pass. God gives the
thirsty of the water of life and makes them his sons.
Each man will be rewarded according to his works. The
time is at hand. That the Messiah will come quickly is
guaranteed by him zvho is the Alpha and the Omega, the
First and the Last. SCENE VI.
And I saw another strong1 angel coming down out of heaven,5
And he cried with a great voice, as a lion roareth :
And when he cried, the seven thunders uttered their voices.
And when the seven thunders uttered their voices, I was about
to write :
And I heard a voice from heaven saying,
Seal up the things which the seven thunders uttered, and write
them not.

Asia. This would favor the identity of the author of this vision with the author
of the seven Epistles.
1 Spitta thinks that this angel who is represented as another points back to the
four angels of time, which originally were in the immediately preceding context
before they were transposed to ix. 13. This seems to me quite probable.
2 The Christophany described in verse 1 begins with -nepipEpAnfilvov, and
extends through verse 2, and is resumed in verses S-n. It must be separated
from our Vision. See p. 309.

OF THE APOCALYPSE OF THE TRUMPETS 383
And the angel ' lifted up his right hand to heaven,
And sware by him that liveth unto the ages of the ages,
Who created the heaven and the things that are therein,
And the earth and the things that are therein, and the sea and
the things that are therein,
That there shall be time no longer :
But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel,
When he is about to sound, then is finished the mystery of God,
According to the good tidings which he declared to his servants
the prophets. (Rev. x. \a, 3-7.)
A strong angel appears on the scene. His voice is
like the roar of a lion. He makes a last proclamation.
This is summed up by an oath, " that there shall be
time no longer." The prediction of the prophets, the
finishing of the mystery of God will be accomplished
with the seventh trumpet. This seems to be an inter
lude like that before each of the other woes. But the
subsequent statements make it evident that it is treated
by the redactor at least as a distinct scene. In addi
tion to the angel's oath there are voices of the seven
thunders. The seven thunders give a secret message to
the prophet which he is not to reveal. They seem to
be the germ of another group of sevens which the
prophet for some reason does not unfold. The sealing
of the words of the seven thunders seems to be in antith
esis to the opening of the seals of the book in the
Vision of the Seals. Interlude.
The second Woe is past :
Behold, the third Woe cometh quickly.
SCENE VII.
And the seventh angel sounded ; a
1 The clause, " which I saw standing upon the sea and upon the earth " is an
editorial seam to identify the angel with the Christophanic person.
2 Spitta, /. t., s. 583-586, divided xi. 14-19 among the two Jewish apocalypses,
xi. 14-153, 19 belonging to the first, 15^-18 to the second. In the main he is
correct in his analysis.

384 THE MESSIAH
And there was opened the temple of God that is in heaven ;
And there was seen in his temple the ark of his covenant ;
And there followed lightnings, and voices, and thunders, and an
earthquake, and great hail.1 (Rev. xi. 14, 15a, 19.)
The seventh trumpet was originally closely connected
with the fifth and sixth, each giving one of the three
woes. The third woe is now due. But instead of giv
ing it, the seer, as in the case of the seventh seal, turns
away from the earthly scene of the woe to the heavenly
scene of blessedness. This is to be compared with the
parallel representation of the heavenly scene of the
sixth seal. Neither of them belonged originally to the
Vision. They have been inserted from other sources.
It would seem that the editor has inserted in his brief
scene of the opening of the temple and the issuing forth
of an earthquake and hail of judgment, a heavenly
scene which reminds us of the Vision of the Seals, and
was probably originally a part of that Vision.
And I saw another " angel flying in mid heaven,
Having an eternal gospel to proclaim unto them that dwell on
the earth,
And unto every nation and tribe and tongue and people ;
And he saith with a great voice, Fear God ;
And give him glory ; for the hour of his judgment s is come :

1 Holtzmann, Weiss, et al. make verse 19 the beginning of the third Vision,
but give no satisfactory explanation of the thunders, lightnings, and hail as in
troducing the scene of the birth of the Messiah. Most critics find it to be the
concluding statement of the previous Vision. The phrase, " lightnings, and
voices, and thunders," is found elsewhere in the apocalypses of the Seals iv. 5,
of the Bowls xvi. 18, and in a varying order in the apocalypse of the Trum
pets, viii. 5. The usage is in favor of making this a relict of the scene of the
seventh trumpet.
2 The " another" angel has no predecessor in xiv. 1-5, or anywhere in the
fourth Vision, but he may be found in the strong angel of the previous scene.
a Comp. " hour to reap," xiv. 15 ; and also iii. 3, io, of the Vision of the
Epistles.

OF THE APOCALYPSE OF THE TRUMPETS 385
And worship him that made the heaven and the earth and sea
and fountains of waters.1 (Rev. xiv. 6, 7.)
The angel of the thunders is followed by the angel of
the gospel. A gospel age intervenes before the Day of
judgment, although it seems to the prophet to be a
very short age. The gospel is preached to all nations,
and yet they are warned that the hour of God's judg
ment has come.
And I saw, and behold, a white cloud ; "
And on the cloud I saw one sitting like unto (the) Son of man,3
Having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp
sickle.
And another angel 4 came out from the temple,
Crying with a great voice to him that sat on the cloud,
Send forth thy sickle, and reap :
For the hour 5 to reap is come ;
For the harvest of the earth is over-ripe.
And he that sat on the cloud cast his sickle upon the earth ;
And the earth was reaped.

1 This phrase nr/yaX (tov) vSdruv is elsewhere only found in vii. 17, viii. 10,
xvi. 4, nriyij (tov) iidaroc, xxi. 6, and John iv. 14. It is the usage of the apoc
alypses of the Seals, Trumpets, and the Bowls. This adds a third evidence that
xxi. 6 and its context belongs to the apocalypse of the Trumpets.
2 Volter, /. 1.., s. 235, regards this section as from the earliest writer. So also
Spitta, who attributes it to his Jewish apocalypse in the time of Pompey, imme
diately following xi. 1-18.
3 Comp. i. 13, where alone elsewhere in the Apocalypse " Son of man " is
found. 4 "Another" here seems to imply the interpretation that " the one like unto
the Son of man " was an angel. Spitta, /. c, s. 155, thinks that it comes from
the redactor, who really gave this interpretation to the older Vision, which he did
not understand. It is quite possible that the original Hebrew read "]N?D "IPIN
and not inK "]X?D, and that we should render " another, an angel." It seems
strange that an angel should give the signal for the Son of man to reap. It is
explained, as Spitta suggests, by the call to reap in Joel iv. 13, where Yahweh
does the reaping.
s This use of hour reminds us of xiv. 7. Doubtless both passages are from
the same original document.

386 THE MESSIAH
And another angel ¦ came out from the temple which is in heaven,
He also having a sharp sickle.
And another angel came out from the altar,
He that hath power over fire ;2
And he called with a great voice to him that had the sharp sickle,
Saying, Send forth thy sharp sickle,
And gather the clusters of the vine of the earth ;
For her grapes are fully ripe.
And the angel cast his sickle into the earth,
And gathered the vintage of the earth,
And cast it into the winepress, (the great winepress, of the wrath
of God).3
And the winepress was trodden without the city,4
And there came out blood from the winepress, even unto the
bridles of the horses,
As far as a thousand and six hundred furlongs. (Rev. xiv. 14-20.)
We have both an advent scene and a scene of judg
ment. In the advent scene the Son of man, crowned

1 Spitta, /. c, s. 156, thinks this angel with the sickle to be an interpolation
which has arisen from a misunderstanding of the casting of the sickle upon the
earth. This angel seems to do what has already been done by the Son of man.
But in Joel iv. 13 there is a double harvest of grain and grapes, a reaping of
grain and treading of the winepress.
2 Comp. the angel of the altar of viii. 3-5.
3 6v/i6g is used of the dragon, xii. 12, in the apocalypse of the Dragon ; 8v/ioe
tov Beov, xv. 1, 7, xvi. 1; olvoc tov dv/iov -ijc bpyijc, xvi. 19, in the apocalypse
of the Bowls ; olvoc tov Bvfiov T-rjc -xopveiac in xiv. 8, xviii. 3; olvoc tov dvuoi
tov 6eov, xiv. 10 ; Arrvbc tov olvov tov dv/iov Tijc bpyijc tov 8eov, xix. 15, in the
apocalypse of the Beasts, and A?pibc tov dv/iov tov Oeov, xiv. ig. All of these
phrases are characteristic of the second part of the Apocalypse, and have no
place in the three Visions of the first part. It is clear, however, that xix. 15 is a
parallel scene to xiv. 19, and that they cannot be parts of the same Vision. It
is probable, therefore, that xiv. 19 either belongs with the Bowls or is an ex
planatory statement of the last editor, and refers to xix. 15.
4 What city is this ? There is no city in the immediate context. The city,
Babylon, is mentioned in the distant context, but certainly the city here is not
Rome. The city is probably the holy city of the apocalyptic scenes of the Old
Testament. What place then has this scene in the context ? It certainly did
not originally belong to the Vision of the War of the Beasts. It goes with the
Jewish conception of the apocalypse of the Trumpets.

OF THE APOCALYPSE OF THE TRUMPETS 387
with a golden crown and enthroned on a cloud, comes
with the sickle of judgment in his hand. The Son of
man is the judge.1 This is the advent on the cloud of
the Prologue.3 The judgment is a reaping of a harvest.
It is noteworthy that we have a reaping by the Messiah
himself and another reaping by an angel. It may be
that the reaping of the Messiah was conceived by the
redactor as of the harvest of the righteous, for nothing
is said'of the results of this reaping. The reaping by the
angel is a gathering of the clusters of grapes of the great
vine of the earth. These are cast into the winepress
and trodden without the city, and the blood is a flood
reaching to the horses' bridles and 1,600 furlongs in
length.3 The winepress is based on the prophecies of
Joel4 and Isaiah.6
And he said unto me, They are come to pass.6
I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.'
I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain " of the water
of life freely.
And I will be his God, and he shall be my son.9
(But for the fearful, and unbelieving, and abominable, and mur
derers, and fornicators,
And sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars,10

1 See Matthew xiii. 39-41 ; The Messiah of the Gospels, p. 209. See also
i. 7.2 The Son of man appears here, as in the Christophany introducing the seven
epistles. 2 This is nearly 200 English miles. * Joel iv. 13 » Is. lxiii. 1-6.
6 yiyovav reminds us of yiyovsv xvi. 17 in the apocalypse of the Bowls,
which in many things is modelled after the apocalypse of the Trumpets.
' This phrase is characteristic of the apocalypse of the Trumpets. See p. 370.
e This phrase is characteristic of the apocalypse of the Trumpets. See p. 385.
8 " My son," as applied by God to men, is only here in the Apocalypse. It is
based on the Fatherhood of God in the Logia of Matthew. See The Messiah of
the Gospels, p. 274. It agrees with other features of this apocalypse which are in
accord with Matthew.
10 The reference to these classes of sinners is characteristic of the apocalypse of
the Trumpets. See p. 380.

388 THE MESSIAH
Their part shall be in the lake that burneth with fire and brim
stone ;
Which is the second death).1 (Rev. xxi. 6, 7<M5.)
The words, " They are come to pass," are quite appro
priate after the advent scene of the treading the wine
press. The solemn assertion of the divine names is in
accordance with the Prologue and the Epilogue.3 The
promise of sonship to be enjoyed in the future at
the Advent reminds us of the adoption of sons at the
Advent, of the Epistle to the Romans 3 as well as of the
Logia of Matthew.
And he saith unto me, Seal not * up the words of the prophecy
of this book ;
For the time is at hand.
He that is unrighteous, let him do unrighteousness still :
And he that is filthy, let him be made filthy still :
And he that is righteous, let him do righteousness still :
And he that is holy, let him be made holy still.5
Behold, I come quickly ; and my reward is with me,
To render to each man according as his work is.
I am the Alpha and the Omega,
The first and the last, the beginning and the end.
[Blessed are they that wash their robes,6
That they may have the right to the tree of life,
And may enter in by the gates into the city.
Without are the dogs, and the sorcerers, and the fornicators, and
the murderers,
And the idolaters, and every one that loveth and maketh a
lie.]' (Rev. xxii. 10-15.)
1 The last clause is probably an editorial addition, possibly the whole brack
etted clause.
2 Rev. i. 8 ; xxii. 13. > See pp. 161 seq.
4 Weiss, /. c, s. 224, suggests that this is in antithesis to x. 4.
» This use of In in four parallel lines reminds us of a similar use in xviii. 21,
22, 22, 22, 23, 23.
• So R. V., Westcott and Hort, et al. The A. V., Tischendorf, and many
ancient authorities read "do his commandments." Comp. vii. 14.
' The same classes essentially as those in xxi. 8. ' ' Dogs " is added here

OF THE APOCALYPSE OF THE TRUMPETS 389
The second section of the Epilogue, verses 10-15, m
its forbidding the sealing of the book, reminds us of its
antithesis, the sealing of the words of the seven thunders
in an earlier scene of this apocalypse. Words of the
enthroned Messiah follow which remind us of the third
section of the Prologue which we have regarded" as the
prologue of this apocalypse. The Advent there was
with the clouds for judgment. Here it is not on the
clouds, but it is specifically a judgment. The Messiah
will render to each one his wages according to his works.
We are reminded of the royal judgment of the Gospel
of Matthew and of the Parable of the Talents.1 Inter
preters are divided in opinion whether the Messiah or
God speaks the words, " I am the Alpha and the Omega."
It seems necessary to regard the Messiah himself as
saying, " Behold I come quickly," in the previous con
text, and it is the Messiah who speaks in the subsequent
context of our present apocalypse. It is abrupt for God
to speak here without introduction. There is just such
an abrupt word connected with the advent of the
Messiah in the Prologue, as we have seen.3 In the
Epistles to the seven churches3 the Messiah applies to
himself one of these phrases. The three phrases are
simply three variations of the First and the Last, used
of Yahweh in the great prophet of the exile.4 There is
no sufficient reason, therefore, why the final author of
the Apocalypse should not put them all in the mouth of
the Messiah here. If this be so, he represents the Mes
siah as the Yahweh of the Old Testament.5 The Apoca-

which probably corresponds with the "abominable" there. The "fearful and
unbelieving" of xxi. 8 are omitted here. It is probable that these bracketted
lines all come from the redactor.
1 The Messiah of the Gospels, pp. 224-226.
2 Rev. i. 8. s Rev. i. 17. 4 Is. xlviii. 12.
6 So in i. 14 he is represented as the Ancient of Days of Daniel.

390 THE MESSIAH
lypse rises above the Epistle to the Hebrews in the
conception of the divinity of the Messiah. The Messiah
was pre-existent before all things and he will survive all
things. He is Yahweh. But in the context of the orig
inal apocalypse of the Trumpets the situation is some
what different. As I understand it, this apocalypse
originally closed with this emphatic statement of God
Himself as a guarantee of the speedy Advent of the
Messiah. The beatitude is probably given by the final editor.
There are two classes. The one class is admitted into
the holy city. These have washed their robes. This
refers back to a previous passage,1 where it is said,
" they washed their robes, and made them white in the
blood of the Lamb." The blood of Christ is thus
regarded as sanctifying the persons of his people and
making them white and holy.3 The blood is applied to
them and not to the divine altars. They enter in through
the gates into the city and have access to the tree of
life. But without the city are the wicked. These are
described as dogs, sorcerers, fornicators, murderers, idol
aters, and liars.

» Rev. vii. 14. The editor knew of the apocalypse of the Seals.
2 See 1 John i. 7.

CHAPTER XIII.
THE MESSIAH OF THE APOCALYPSE OF THE SEALS.
The Apocalypse of the Seals originally stood by
itself. It presents a richer and probably a later Mes
sianic conception than those found in the apocalypses
already studied. The Lion of Judah victorious over all
enemies is combined with the root of David, the heir to
the throne of David, and above all with the Lamb who
by his death and resurrection purchased men, and made
them a royal priesthood unto God. Whatever doubt
there may be whether the apocalypses thus far discussed
were originally Jewish or Christian, the apocalypse of
the Seals cannot be regarded as from an originally Jew
ish author without eliminating from it all references to
the Lamb. The Lamb is however the most character
istic feature of this apocalypse, and from it in the later
edition of the Apocalypse the feature of the Lamb trans
forms portions of the other apocalypses which originally
knew nothing of the Lamb and his redemptive work.
The prologue of the apocalypse is without doubt to
be found in i. 4-6, although that prologue, in its present
form, seems to have included the apocalypse of the
Epistles also. The body of this apocalypse is com
pacted together in chapters iv.-vi. The scene of the
seventh seal and the concluding scenes which balance
the opening scenes are to be sought later on in the book
in the places where the editors have removed them
(391)

392 THE MESSIAH
according to their different schemes of arranging the
apocalypses. These are vii. 9-17; viii. 1; xi. 15/7-18;
xiv. 1-5. At first glance it seems as if we had found
too much material for the closing scenes of the
apocalypse of the Seals. But on further reflection it
appears that it is characteristic of this apocalypse of
the Seals that it has several scenes in chapters iv.-v.
before the opening of the Seals begins. We ought to
anticipate therefore a proportionate number of closing
scenes. Owing to the fact that these closing scenes have
been scattered in different parts of the present Apoca
lypse by the editors of the several editions of the Apoca
lypse, it is difficult to arrange them in their regular
order and harmony. We are guided, however, by sev
eral very distinct and characteristic features of this
apocalypse, which is really the nucleus of the whole
book. HE WHO LOVETH US.
§ 75- Jesus Christ is the faithful witness, the first
born of the dead, the ruler of kings, he zvho loveth us and
loosed us from our. sins by his blood and made us a king
dom of priests.
The prologue is exceedingly rich in Messianic material,
and in its few sentences shows us at once that we have
to do with an apocalypse of an entirely different char
acter from those thus far considered.
John to the (seven) ] churches which are in Asia :
Grace to you and peace, from him which is and which was and
which is to come ; 2
And from the seven Spirits that are before his throne ;

1 It is probable that the reference to the seven churches was inserted when the
apocalypse of the Seals was joined to the apocalypse of the Epistles.
2 This seems to be a paraphrase of the divine name Yahweh, which was prob
ably Used in the original,

OF THE APOCALYPSE OF THE SEALS 393
And from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness,
The first-born of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the
earth.
Unto him that loveth us, and loosed us from our sins by his
blood ;
And he made us a kingdom of priests ' unto his God and Father ;
To him be the glory and the dominion unto the ages of the ages.
Amen. (Rev. i. 4-6.)
This second title of the Apocalypse, verses 4-6, en
closed within the first and doubtless by the author of
the apocalypse of the Seals, is a salutation from the
author himself speaking in the first person to the
churches after the manner of the epistles of Paul. It
seems to be in the pentameter movement of Hebrew
poetry. The Messiah is described {a) as the faithful
witness,2 referring to his testimony before Pilate and the
Sanhedrin, and probably also to his martyrdom ; (b) as
"the first-born of the dead," referring to his resurrec
tion, as the firstfruits of the harvest of the dead ;3 (c) as
" ruler of the kings of the earth," referring to his en
thronement at the right hand of God as the Lord.4 All
of these attributes are suited to the Lion of Judah and
the Lamb ascending to his throne, of the apocalypse of
the Seals.
The death of the Messiah is referred to in the dox-
ology, " Him that loveth us and loosed us from our
sins by his blood." His blood was shed in death. His
death was a redemptive death. The redemption was a

1 (laciAeiav lepelc is a bad translation of D'jrD rotao kingdom of priests,
of Ex. xix. 6. See Simcox, Writers of the New Testament, p. 84.
2 Comp. Hebrews xii. t, 2. 3 Comp. 1 Cor. xv. 20 ; Col. i. 18.
• Comp. Ps. lxxxix. 28. It is evident that the author used the Hebrew text
and not the LXX. This is the only example of the use of apxuv for the
Messiah. In the Gospel it is often used for the devil, Matth. ix. 34 ; xii. 24, etc.
Spitta's reason, /. c, s. 582, for regarding this as an editorial addition is not satis
factory.

394

THE MESSIAH

loving act of the Messiah himself.1 His blood looses as
a ransom price. This is the same conception as in the
words of Jesus.2 There is no reference here to any kind
of ceremonial sacrifice.
The heavenly reign is also mentioned in its effect,
" he made us a kingdom of priests unto his God
and Father." This priestly kingdom of Christians is
the same conception that we have seen in the first
Epistle of Peter and it is based on the call of Israel at
Horeb.3 THE ADORATION OF THE LAMB.
§ 76. The Messiah ascends to heaven and appears before
the throne of God as the victorious Lion of Judah, the
Root of David, the Lamb who was slain and who pur
chased men by his blood and made them a kingdom of
priests. He is recognized by God as the only one worthy
to open the sealed book and receives universal adoration.
The -martyrs plead before the altar for the hastening of
their redemption. Their afflictions zvill endure for a little
while until their number has been completed. The signs
revealed by the seals are war, bloodshed, famine, death, and
convulsions of nature, heralding the great day of the
wrath of God, from whose face men of all classes hide in
terror.
The Vision of the Lamb and the seven seals embraces
chapters iv.-viii. I.4 We have here, as in the Vision of

1 Comp. Ephesians v. 23. 2 The Messiah of the Gospels, p. 107.
2 See 1 Peter ii. 5, 9 ; Exodus xix. 6.
4 This section, with the exception of v. 9-14 ; vii. 9-17, and => minor addition
in v. 6, is ascribed by Vischer to an original Jewish apocalypse. Volter assigns
the section to the original Christian apocalypse, except iv. 5* ; v. 60, 9*, 11-14 ;
vi. i6£ ; vii. 9-17, which he attributes to his fifth author, and iv. ia ; v. 84, 10b,
which he regards as interpolations from different hands. Spitta ascribes this
Vision, except vii. 1-8 and other minor interpolations, to his Christian author,
and makes it a part of the same original document as the Vision of the Epistles.

OF THE APOCALYPSE OF THE SEALS 395
the Epistles, first a manifestation of the glorified Messiah
and then a series of seven seals. The seven scenes of
the final edition of the Apocalypse do not entirely cor
respond with the original arrangement of seven seals.
We shall consider this apocalypse in its several parts,
first the introductory scenes and the six seals, and after
wards endeavor to find the scene of the seventh seal and
the concluding scenes. SCENE I.
(After these things) l I saw, and behold, a door opened in
heaven, and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a
trumpet speaking with me, saying, Come up hither, and I will
shew thee the things which must come to pass. After these
things 2 straightway I was in the Spirit :
And behold, there was a throne set in heaven, and one sitting
upon the throne ;
And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper stone and a
sardius :
And there was a rainbow round about the throne, like an
emerald to look upon.
And round about the throne were four and twenty thrones :
And upon the thrones / saw four and twenty elders
Sitting, arrayed in white garments ;
And on their heads crowns of gold.
And out of the throne proceed lightnings and voices and
thunders.
And there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne,
(Which are the seven Spirits of God) ; 3
And (before the throne4), as it were a glassy sea like unto
crystal ;
1 This bracketted clause is regarded by Volter as an interpolation. I agree
with him that " after these things " was inserted when this Vision was appended
to the Vision of the Seven Epistles. Spitta contends that it was original in
accordance with his view that these two Visions originally belonged together.
2 usra Tax-Ta goes with following context as the Margin of R. V. Spitta re
gards these and the following words as an interpolation.
2 It is agreed by the critics generally that this is an editorial explanation.
4 Spitta thinks that these bracketted words are an interpolation. It is probable
that it is a more precise statement by the editor.

396 THE MESSIAH
And in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne.
Four living ones full of eyes before and behind.
And the first living one was like a lion,
And the second living one like a calf,
And the third living one had a face as of a man,
And the fourth living one was like a flying eagle.
And the four living ones, having each one of them six wings,
Are full of eyes round about and within.
And they have no rest day and night,
Saying, Holy, holy, holy,
The Lord God, the Almighty, which was and which is and which
is to come.1
And when the living ones shall give glory to him that sitteth on
the throne,
And honor and thanks to him that liveth unto the ages of the
ages,2
The (four and twenty) 3 elders shall fall down before him that sit
teth on the throne,
And shall worship him that liveth unto the ages of the ages,
And shall cast their crowns before the throne, saying,
Worthy art thou, our Lord and our God,
To receive the glory and the honor and the power :
For thou didst create all things,
And because of thy will they were, and were created. (Rev. iv.)
The first scene of this Vision is a theophany. It was
seen by the prophet in the ecstatic state under the in
fluence of the divine Spirit, as was the Vision of the
Seven Epistles. This Theophany is based upon the

i This is essentially the same as i. 8, except that 6 TravroKparup is transposed.
Seep. 370.
2 It seems to me that the Greek translator has combined the direct objects :
glory, honor, and thanks, before the indirect objects. I take the liberty of re
arranging so as to bring out the parallelism of the original of these two lines,
and to show the parallelism of the next couplet referring to the worship of the
elders with this couplet of the living ones.
8 It is probable that the number of the elders is an editorial addition. Why
should the number of elders be given any more than the number of the living
ones f These numbers make the line too long.

OF THE APOCALYPSE OF THE SEALS 397
theophany of the seraphim in Isaiah,1 only, that theophany
was in the earthly temple at Jerusalem, and this is in
the heavenly temple. At the same time there is min
gled with it elements from the cherubic theophany of
Ezekiel,2 and of an advent scene in an apocalypse in
the book of Isaiah.3 The throne of the Holy of Holies
in heaven was enveloped in a rainbow like an emerald,
and from the throne issued lightnings, voices, and thun
ders, and in front of the throne was a glassy crystal sea.
As in all theophanies, so here light and fire and voices
are present as expressions of the glory of God. God
Himself is seen sitting on the throne in an appearance
of jasper stone and sardius, probably our diamond and
carnelian. This reminds us of the theophany at Horeb,4
where the God of Israel was seen on a platform of bright
sapphire, and of the sapphire firmament and the amber-
colored form upon it in the apocalypse of Ezekiel.6 In
a circle round the throne of God were twenty-four
thrones, on which were seated twenty-four elders clad
in white garments and with golden crowns. These are
represented as worshipping God, prostrating themselves
and casting their crowns before Him. These twenty-
four elders are representatives and chiefs of the heavenly
congregation. According to many interpreters they are
twenty-four, as double the twelve apostles and fhe twelve
patriarchal ancestors of the tribes of Israel, or as equal
in number to the chiefs of both dispensations. Others
more correctly think of the twenty-four chiefs of the
classes of priests, and that these elders are ministering
as priests before the throne of the heavenly temple."
The living ones are combinations of the seraphim of
Isaiah and the cherubim of Ezekiel. They ceaselessly

1 Is. vi. 2 Ezekiel i.-iii. 3 Is. xxiv.-xxvii.
4 Ex. xxiv. 10. » Ezek. i. 26, 27. « So Holtzmann, Spitta, et al.

398 THE MESSIAH
utter a trisagion, and give the signal for the prostration
of the elders. They are nearer to the throne than the
elders. They are in the midst of it, constituting a part
of it as in the visions of Isaiah and Ezekiel. The seven
fiery lamps before the throne resemble the fiery appear
ances of the theophany of Ezekiel.1 These are said to
represent the seven spirits of God,2 the sevenfold com
plete and holy manifestations of the divine Spirit.3
SCENE II.
And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book,
Written within and on the back, close sealed with seven seals.
And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a great voice.
Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof?
And no one in the heaven, or on the earth, or under the earth,
Was able 4 to open the book, or to look thereon.
And I wept much, because no one was found
Worthy to open the book, or to look thereon :
And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not :
Behold, the Lion that is of the tribe of Judah hath overcome,
The root of David,5 is about to open the book and the seven
seals thereof.
And I saw in the midst of the throne and of the four living ones,
And in the midst of the elders, a Lamb standing, as though it
had been slain,
Having seven horns, and seven eyes,
(Which are the seven Spirits of God, sent forth into all the earth.)6

i Ezekiel i. 4, 13. a Cf. Is. xi. *.
2 The reason for the appearance of the lamps is because of the basis for the
representation in the theophany of Ezekiel. There is no sufficient reason, there
fore, to think with Volter that it is an interpolation. It is probable, however,
that their explanation is an interpolation.
• It is probable that in the original Hebrew text the auxiliary verb was closely
attached to its infinitive, and that it has been displaced in the Greek translation.
The lines, however, are transposed in the translation.
5 The root of David seems to belong to the second line, and to be the subject
of the infinitive.
0 This line is probably an editorial explanation. See Spitta, /. c. , ». 67.

OF THE APOCALYPSE OF THE SEALS 399
And he came, and he taketh it out of the right hand of him that
sat on the throne.
And when he had taken the book, there fell down before the
Lamb [
The four living ones, and the four and twenty elders,
Having each one a harp, and golden bowls full of incense,
(Which are the prayers of the saints).2
And they sing a new song, saying,
Worthy art thou to take the book, and to open the seals thereof ;
For thou wast slain, and didst purchase unto God with thy blood
Out of every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation,3
And madest them unto our God a kingdom of priests ;
And they will reign upon the earth.4
And I saw, and I heard a voice of many angels 6
Round about the throne and the living ones and the elders ;
And the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand ;
And thousands of thousands were saying with a great voice,
Worthy is the Lamb that hath been slain to receive the power,
and riches,
And wisdom, and might, and honor, and glory, and blessing.
And every created thing which is in the heaven,
And on the earth, and under the earth, and on the sea,
And all things that are in them, heard I saying,
Unto him that sitteth on the throne, and unto the Lamb,

1 Spitta, /. c, s 67, regards " fell down before the Lamb " as an interpolation.
I cannot agree with him. But in the parallelism of the Hebrew sentence this
clause should precede the subjects, and therefore appear in the previous line.
2 This line is probably an interpolation, as Volter and Spitta agree.
2 I see no sufficient reason for regarding the words " and tongue, and people,
and nation," as an interpolation. They seem to be necessary to make the line
complete and symmetrical. Volter's reasons are purely theoretical, to get rid
of the universalism of the passage and to reduce the vision to a Jewish Christian
type of conception.
4 Spitta, I. c.,s. 68, regards this line as an interpolation, but without sufficient
reason. I doubt the originality of ml between kingdom and priests. See i. 6.
There is no reference to priestly activity in the context as there is to royal activity.
I think the original here also was D'OrO r"DPDD- See p. 393.
6 The section beginning with this line and extending through the chapter,
regarded as from a later author by Volter, certainly looks beyond the horizon of
this scene ; and yet it is only a natural evolution of the previous context, and is
a further unfolding of its main theme, the adoration of the Lamb.

400

THE MESSIAH

The blessing, and the honor, and the glory, and the dominion,
unto the ages of the ages.
And the four living ones said, Amen.
And the elders fell down and worshipped. (Revelation v.)
In the right hand of God is a sealed roll.1 A procla
mation is made by an angel, calling upon the one who
is worthy, to take the roll and unseal it. No one re
sponds to the proclamation — no one on earth, no one in
heaven, no one in the abode of the dead. No angel or
man is sufficiently worthy to take this book. To the
seer it seems as if the roll would not be unsealed. But
an Elder reassures him. All heaven has not assembled
in vain. The roll is in the hands of God for a purpose.
A worthy one is expected.
Suddenly a new person appears. He is heralded by
one of the Elders as the Lion of the tribe of Judah, and
the Root of David, thus the Messiah of prophecy.2 He
has overcome and thereby proved himself worthy. He
has gained a victory which is unique and peculiar to him
alone of all beings ; and so he is the only being in
heaven or on earth or in the abode of the dead who is
worthy.3 The Messiah appears in heaven just after the
accomplishment of his victory. He has ascended from
his earthly ministry to heaven. The hosts of heaven
are assembled to greet him on his arrival. The Messiah
advances into the space enclosed by the thrones of the
24 elders. He steps forward to the throne of God to
take the roll from the hand of God.
As he advances his appearance is described. He is a
Lamb. This is very striking in view of his announce-

1 Comp. Ezekiel ii. 9, 10 ; Is. xxix. n. 2 See Gen. xlix. 9 ; Is. xi 10.
a Comp. the promises to him that overcometh in the seven epistles. The
Messiah is such a victor as he desireth his servants to be. See p. 457.

OF THE APOCALYPSE OF THE SEALS 401
ment as a Lion.1 He combines in himself several differ
ent Messianic representations. He is the Lion of Judah
as the victor. He is the Lamb of God as the victim.3
Accordingly he is described as one who has been slain.
He bears the marks of the sufferings and death he has
undergone. As in the Gospel of John, the Messiah
pointed the doubting Thomas to the prints of the nails
and the spear ; ° so the seer, in this apocalypse, sees the
wounds of the Lamb, and all heaven beholds the victor's
scars with awe and wonder. The Lamb has seven horns.4
Seven is the holy number throughout the book. The
holy lamb could not be destitute of this symbol of the
holy completeness of his self-sacrifice. The Lamb of
God goes up to the throne and holding forth his hand
receives from the hand of God the sealed roll. This
transcendent act of giving and receiving, involving the
divine recognition of the Messiah as the alone worthy,
wins the plaudits of all heaven. Harps are played,
golden bowls of incense are swung, and a new hymn of
praise is sung by cherubim and elders.6 The song of
praise briefly sums up the redemptive v/ork of the
Lamb. He was slain ; he shed his blood to redeem

1 Accordingly it is urged by Vischer, /. <.., s. 58, that the original reading was
i")K or 1THK1 and that the later Greek translator has confounded the He
brew word with the like sounding dpviov. But Volter, /. c.,s. 81, rightly says
that in this case he would not have left the Lion of Judah in verse 5. There is
indeed no more incongruity between lamb and lion than there is between lion
and root. The author is adding to the two Messianic symbols of Gen. xlix. 9
and Is. xi. ic a third from Is. liii. 7. dpviov is a diminutive and is peculiar
to the Apocalypse and John xxi. 15 ; elsewhere in the New Testament djivdc is
used. 2 Comp. John i. 36. See The Messiah of the Gospels, p. 69.
• John xx. 25-27.
4 We may compare the white yore-ox with great horns in the apocalypse of
Enoch. See The Messiah of the Gospels, p. 14, and Volter, /. c, a. 90.
6 Comp. the new song of Is. xiii. 10 ; Ps. xxxiii. 3 ; xl. 4. See Messianic
Prophecy, p. 344.

402 THE MESSIAH
men. His redemption was a purchase.1 It is the same
essential idea as in the Messiah's own words, when he said
that he came to give himself a ransom.2 There is no
reference to any kind of ritual sacrifice. It is rather the
interposition described by the great prophet of the
exile.3 Those whom the Lamb purchased were men of
every tribe and tongue, and people and nation ; that is,
men of all races and nations, far beyond the range of
Israel, from among all mankind.4 The second or more
positive side of the work of the Lamb was the making
them a kingdom of priests. This is the royal priesthood
of the first epistle of Peter5 and of the covenant at
Horeb;" and it has already appeared in the prologue.'
The royal priesthood involves the exercise of it on
earth/ Thus far only the elders and the cherubim appear
about the throne of God, with the seer and the herald
angel before them. Now a greater company comes on

1 dyopd&iv is used in the same sense, i Cor. vi. 20 ; vii. 23 (see p. 100);
2 Peter ii. 1 ; elsewhere only here and xiv. 3, 4, which latter passage also belongs
to the apocalypse of the Seals.
2 See The Messiah of the Gospels, p. no. s Is. liii.
4 Volter, although he regards this as a Christian apocalypse, yet thinks that
it expresses the faith of Jewish Christians, and therefore that the original
apocalypse only contained tribes, and that the other terms implying a wider
outlook are from another hand. Thus he brings the passage into better accord
with vii. 4 seq. But these other terms are necessary to complete the line and
make it harmonious. The original conception was not Jewish Christian, but
universal Christian. We have seen that vii. 4 seq. cannot give the law to this
passage. See p. 373.
s See p. 52. « Ex. xix. 5, 6.
7 i. 6. See p. 333, where it is also connected with loosing from sins by his
blood. 8 I see no reason to follow Volter and Spitta, who regard "and they will
reign upon the earth " as an interpolation. Holtzmann prefers the reading
"will reign," because the reign first begins in xx. 4, and Weiss gives it as the
correct reading in his edition of the Apocalypse. The reading of R V., "they
reign," should be rejected.

OF THE APOCALYPSE OF THE SEALS 403
the scene, surrounding the throne of God, the cherubim
and the elders on every side. These are more than an
hundred millions of angels.1 They strike up the second
strophe of the hymn, Worthy the Lamb. And then a
still larger company appears, including every created
thing in heaven, on the earth, under the earth, and on
the sea, and they join in the third strophe of the hymn,
singing in universal harmony. The cherubim conclude
the chorus with a solemn Amen ; and the elders pros
trate themselves in worship.2 SCENE III.
1. And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals,
And I heard one of the four living ones saying as with a voice
of thunder, Come.
And I saw, and behold, a white horse, and he that sat thereon
had a bow ;
And there was given unto him a crown : and he came forth
conquering, and to conquer.
2. And when he opened the second seal,
I heard the second living one saying, Come.
And another horse came forth, a red horse : and to him that
sat thereon it was given
To take peace from the earth, and that they should slay one
another •
And there was given unto him a great sword.

1 Comp. Dan. vii. 10 ; Enoch xiv. 22 ; xl. 1.
2 It is urged by Volter that this wider outlook is a later addition to the original
apocalypse, which thought only of the cherubim and elders, the purchase of
Israel, and the making it into a priestly kingdom. It is quite true that the
author's vision of this universal adoration of the Lamb seems to be premature
and not to be in its proper place before the opening of the seals. The scene
is the entrance of the Messiah into heaven at his Ascension rather than the
universal adoration, which could hardly take place until after the heavenly min
istry had been completed and the judgment of the second Advent had passed.
But it is really in the style of this apocalypse, and of other apocalypses also, that
the vision should extend to the great final events, and it was quite natural that
the opening choral should suggest the choral of the angels and the final choral
of universal nature.

404 THE MESSIAH
3. And when he opened the third seal,
I heard the third living one saying, Come.
And I saw, and behold, a black horse ; and he that sat thereon
had a balance in his hand.
And I heard as it were a voice in the midst of the four living
ones saying,
A measure of wheat for a shilling, and three measures of barley
for a shilling ;
And the oil and the wine hurt thou not.
4. And when he opened the fourth seal,
I heard the voice of the fourth living one saying, Come.
And I saw, and behold, a pale horse : and he that sat upon
him ;
His name was Death, and Hades followed with him.
And there was given unto them authority over the fourth
part of the earth,
To kill with sword, and with famine, and with pestilence, pnd
by the wild beasts of the earth. (Rev. vi. 1-8.)
The seven seals cover seven different representations
of the times of the End or Advent. The Messiah, in
the apocalypse of the Epistles, speaks to his churches
messages of warning and promise. Here he unseals the
decrees of the book of God and lets the redemption and
judgment be seen in symbolic forms. There are seven
seals, but these are arranged by the last editor in three
groups: (1) 1-4; (2) 5 ; (3) 6-7." The first group com
prehends the first four seals. These present four horse
men. The first, on a white horse, with bow and crown,
is a great archer and conqueror ;3 the second, on a red

1 Spitta, /. c, s. 296, thinks that the number four is characteristic of his Chris
tian author as distinguished from the number three which is characteristic of his
first Jewish author. See p. 377.
2 This grouping seems to belong to the present arrangement of the Vision and
not to its original form.
« Volter, Holtzmann, and others think of the Parthian king Vologases who de
feated the Roman army in a.d. 62. The bow suggests Parthian warriors as the
sword in the hands of the next horseman suggests the Roman legions. A white
horse is the symbol of victory.

OF THE APOCALYPSE OF THE SEALS 405
horse, with a great sword, is a great warrior, he sheds
blood in war ; the third, on a black horse, with a balance,
is a great besieger, by famine he destroys ; the fourth, on
a pale horse, is Death ; Hades is in his train, and he uses
all the resources of the previous three — sword, famine,
pestilence, and wild beasts — to kill one-fourth of the land
or earth. It is tempting to think of the Jewish war and
the siege of Jerusalem. Some think of successive stages
of the Jewish war. The basis for this would be the pre
diction of Jesus, in his greater apocalypse, of the de
struction of Jerusalem and the temple by armies after a
siege. If the reference is to Jerusalem the author appar
ently does not think of its total destruction, and this
piece must be assigned to a time prior to the capture of
the city by the Romans.1 We can hardly regard these
seals as chronologically successive ; they ratherare advanc
ing representations of the same thing — the calamities
about to come upon the East in the war between the
Parthians and Rome.2 SCENE IV.
And when he opened the fifth seal,
I saw underneath the altar the persons 3 of them that had been
slain
For the word of God, and for the testimony which they held :
And they cried with a great voice, saying, How long,
O Master, the holy and true, dost thou not judge.
And avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth ?
And there was given them to each one a white robe ;
And it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little
time,

1 Comp. Mark xiii. 2 seq. See The Messiah of the Gospels, p. 136. Volter, /. c,
s. 94, assigns his original apocalypse to 62-64 A. D.
2 See Mommsen, Provinces of the Roman Empire, chap. ix.
3 fvxv here, as often elsewhere in the New Testament, means person rather
than the soul separate from the body. See also Revelation xx. 4. Comp. the
usage of CSJ in the Old Testament upon which this use of furf/ is based.

406 THE MESSIAH
Until their fellow-servants also should have fulfilled their course,
And their brethren, who should be killed even as they were.
(Rev. vi. 9-1 1.)
The fifth seal opens a scene of an entirely different
character. The martyrs are seen bowing at the heavenly
altar and pleading for vengeance on their murderers and
the cessation of the affliction.1 They receive their white
robes and are exhorted to be patient for a little time,
until the number of the martyrs has been completed.2
This is doubtless based on the words of Jesus, that the
time of affliction was shortened for the sake of the elect.3
They are rewarded with white robes in heaven, to which
they have been raised from the dead. But the affliction
is still to continue for a little time on earth. This scene
is not subsequent to the events described in the four
seals, but during that time. The martyrs are seen in a
large company, from the necessities of the vision. But
we are to think of the ascension of the martyrs after
their martyrdom, not in a body but in succession, as one
after another meets martyrdom, each with the same plea,
receiving the same reward, and exhorted to wait until
the number was completed. This ascension of the mar
tyrs is in accordance with the promise of Jesus in his
last discourse.4
As we are not to suppose, on the one hand, that the

> Comp. Enoch ix. 1-3, io, xxii. 5-7, xlvii. 1, and the apocalypse of Ezraiv. 35.
Spitta, /. e., s. 297, thinks that the altar is the altar of burnt-offering in the tem
ple at Jerusalem, and that the souls of martyrs are conceived as in the blood
lying beneath it and that they are therefore Jewish martyrs.
2 Holtzmann, /. c., 292, thinks of the Christians who suffered martyrdom at the
burning of Rome, A.D. 64. If the reference of the previous context is to the Jew
ish war it is better to think of the martyrdom of James and the Christians of
Jerusalem. If, however, the reference is to the calamities of the Eastern section
of the empire, the Christian martyrs of that region are in the prophet's mind.
3 Mark xiii. 20. See The Messiah of the Gospels, p. 149.
' John xiv. 1-3. See The Messiah of t lie Gospels, p. 290.

OF THE APOCALYPSE OF THE SEALS 40?
scene of the martyrs in heaven, the third heavenly scene,
was successive to that of the horses, so we are not to sup
pose, on the other hand, that the suffering of the martyrs
came to an end with the war of the horsemen here, any
more than in the apocalypse of Jesus.
SCENE V.
And I saw when he opened the sixth seal,
And there was a great earthquake ;
And the sun became black as sackcloth of hair,
And the whole moon became as blood ;
And the stars of the heaven fell unto the earth,
As a fig tree casteth her unripe figs, when she is shaken of a
great wind.
And the heaven was removed as a scroll when it is rolled up ;
And every mountain and island were moved out of their places.
And the kings of the earth, and the princes, and the chief
captains,
And the rich, and the strong, and every bondman and freeman,
Hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains ;
And they say to the mountains and to the rocks, Fall on us,
And hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne,
(and from the wrath of the Lamb) : '
For the great day of his wrath is come ; and who is able to
stand? (Rev. vi. 12-17.)
The opening of this seal reveals several theophanic
signs of judgment. They are essentially the same as
those given in the apocalypses of the Old Testament
and of Jesus with reference to the Day of judgment;
earthquake, darkening of the sun, the blood color of the
moon, falling of the stars, heaven rolled together as a
scroll, mountains and islands removed. All classes and

' Vischer, Spitta, and Volter, /. c, s. 56, think that this clause is an interpo
lation. It certainly is not necessary to the context. It makes a long line, and
the pronoun avTov of the best texts seems to exclude it. It also seems inap
propriate to speak of the wrath of the Lamb before the wrath of God is men
tioned. It seems to me to have been added in the final editing of the book.

408 THE MESSIAH
conditions of men in their terror seek refuge in the caves
and beneath the rocks, hiding from the face of God and
the wrath of the Lamb. This hiding reminds us of the
hiding of our first parents in Eden ' and of the predic
tion of Isaiah.2 The face of the enthroned God implies
a theophany. The theophany of the second Advent is
heralded by these signs, but it has not yet come. The
great Day of the wrath of God is the Day of judgment,
the End. THE TIME OF THE KINGDOM.
§ pp. The kingdom of the Lord is to take the place of
the kingdom of the world. The time is come to reward
His servants and to destroy the destroyers.
SCENE VI.
And when he opened the seventh seal,
There followed a silence in heaven about the space of half an
hour.3 (Rev. viii. I.)
The seventh seal is opened and there is a silence in
heaven. The scene of this seal belongs to the earth
and Gehenna. The apostle does not see it. He could
not look upon it after the vision of the joys of the re
deemed. This is the conception involved in the present
arrangement of the Visions ; but in the original apoc
alypse the judgment scene involved in vi. 17 immedi
ately followed. We find it pushed further on in con
nection with the scene of the seventh trumpet, xi. \z>b-
18, where it was placed when the apocalypses of the
Seals and Trumpets were combined.

' Gen. iii. 8. a Is. ii. io, Tg, 21.
3 Spitta, /. c, s. 91 seq., thinks that the redactor has transposed this verse, and
that originally it stood immediately before vii. 9 ; and introduced the song of the
redeemed. This is possible, but not probable.

OF THE APOCALYPSE OF THE SEALS 409
And there followed great voices in heaven,
And they said, The kingdom of the world is become the kingdom
of our Lord, (and of his Christ :) '
And he shall reign unto the ages of the ages.
And the four and twenty elders, which (sit) before God (on their
thrones),
Fell upon their faces, and worshipped God, saying,2
We give thee thanks, O Lord God, the Almighty, which art and
which wast ; a
Because thou hast taken thy great power, and didst reign.
And the nations were wroth, and thy wrath came,4
And the time (of the dead to be judged, and) 5 to give the re
ward 6 to thy servants, the prophets,
And to the saints,1 and to them that fear thy name,6 the small
and the great ; 9
And to destroy them that destroy the earth.
 (Rev. xi. 15,5-18.)
' There can be little doubt that this clause referring to Christ is an interpola
tion. Christ is not included in the singular verb which follows. Christ is used
alone apart from these pasages only xii. 10, xx. 4, 6. It seems therefore to be
characteristic of the apocalypse of the Dragon only. The reign of God is men
tioned elsewhere in the Apocalypse only xix. 6, which is also in a seam.
2 Spitta supposes that it is the redactor who brings in the elders here as par
ticipating in this song, as in those of the Vision of the Seals, and that they are
interpolated in later visions also. But this section originally belonged to the
seventh seal, and the bracketted clause is probably an editorial explanation be
cause of the separation of the elders from their original context.
2 This group of divine names is characteristic of the apocalypses of the Seals
and the Bowls. See p. 370.
lbpyi) is used elsewhere only in the apocalypse of the Seals, vi. 16, 17, and
in the combination 6vp.bc rye bpyijc, xvi. 19, xix. 15, and nornpiov rijc bpyijc,
xiv. 10.
6 Volter and Spitta ascribe this clause to the redactor, who had in view the
judgment of the dead in xx. 12. This is doubtless a correct explanation.
s piadbc only here and xxii. 12 in the Epilogue assigned to the apocalypse
of the Trumpets.
' The phrase, prophets and saints, is found in the Apocalypse elsewhere only
xviii. 24; saints and prophets appear in the apocalypse of the Bowls, xvi. 6, and
in xviii. 20.
8 The use of ipofieZaOat in this sense is found elsewhere in apocalypses of
the Trumpets, xiv. 7; Bowls, xv. 4; and in a seam, xix. 5.
• The phrase, small and great, elsewhere is in a seam, xix. 5, and in the apoc
alypses of the Beasts, xiii. 16, xix. 18, and of the dragon, xx. 12.

410 THE MESSIAH
The kingdom of the world has now become the king
dom of the Lord, whose reign will endure forever. There
is great joy in heaven, for the time of consummation has
come. It is a time of reign, of wrath, of the reward of
the prophets and saints, of the destruction of the de
stroyers. The concluding scenes of the apocalypse of the Seals
now follow. The first is the scene of the Lamb sur
rounded by the 144,000 on Mt. Zion, xiv. 1-5 ; the sec
ond the scene of the innumerable company of the white-
robed, vii. 9-17. THE WHITE-ROBED VICTORS.
§ 78. The Lamb is seen standing on Mt. Zion with a
hundred and forty and four thousand martyrs whom he
has purchased out of the earth. They have kept themselves
faithful and unspotted, and are the firstfruits. And then
the harvest of the Redeemed appear, an innumerable multi
tude gathered about the throne of God, arrayed in white
robes and with palms in their hands, singing songs of vic
tory. They have come out of great tribulation. They will
serve God continuously in His temple and enjoy everlasting
life and felicity. All sorrow, injury, privation, and death
have passed away.
There are two scenes in which the 144,000 martyrs
appear in the Apocalypse, namely: vii. 1-8 and xiv. 1-5.
These seem to have been misplaced and transposed by
some early copyist. They are each incongruous in their
present place, and are entirely harmonious to their vis
ions if we transpose them.1

" The sealing of the martyrs on earth by the angel is not in accord with the
context of the apocalypse of the Seals, whose scenes are heavenly scenes ; and it
is in accord with the apocalypses of the Trumpets and the Beasts, whose scenes are
earthly. It may be conceived as in antithesis with the branding with the name of

OF THE APOCALYPSE OF THE SEALS 414
SCENE VII.
And I saw, and behold, the Lamb standing on the mount Zion, ]
And with him an hundred and forty and four thousand,
Having his name, and the name of his Father, written on their
foreheads.
And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters,
And as the voice of a great thunder was the voice which I heard,2

the "beast in the previous context of the apocalypse of the Beasts or as connected
with the sealing of the words of the Thunders and not sealing the words of the
prophecy of the book in the apocalypse of the Trumpets, but has no manner of
relation to the apocalypse of the Seals. The activity of the angel in sealing is
in accordance with the use of angels in the apocalypse of the Trumpets. This
angel of sealing then becomes the first of a series of angels, and explains the other
angels and groups of four angels and seven angels which characterize the apoca
lypse of the Trumpets. The apocalypse of the Seals knows only of angels in
heaven. In accordance with this we note the presence of the cherubim and the
elders in xiv. 1-5, and the new song. These do not appear in the apocalypses
of the Beasts or of the Trumpets, but are constant features of the apocalypse of the
Seals. The Lamb appears in xiv. 1-5, just as we would expect him to appear
from the previous scenes of that apocalypse, also in the apocalypse of the
Bowls (see pp. 417, 429); but nowhere in any certain passage in the other apoca
lypses where other conceptions of the Messiah are found. So the Lamb is
absent from vii. 1-8. The firstfruits of xiv. 4 seem to demand the innumerable
multitude of vii. 9 seq. , but we have no harvest of the redeemed in the apoca
lypse of the Beasts. These martyrs of xiv. 3 have been purchased from the
earth, which implies the purchase by the blood of the Lamb of v. 9, but has
no antecedent in the apocalypse of the Beasts. These are the only two pas
sages of the Apocalypse where dyopd^eiv is used in this sense (see p. 402). The
song of xiv. 3 carries on the song of the previous scenes of the apocalypse of the
Seals, and prepares for the final song of the next scene. There are no songs in
the apocalypse of the Beasts. It is a vision of war. God is the Father of the
¦Messiah in xiv. 1, elsewhere in the Apocalypse only i. 6 ; ii. 27 ; iii. 5, 21, and not
at all in the apocalypses we have previously considered. Spitta, /. c, s. 86,
makes vii. 1-8 the first scene of his first Jewish apocalypse, and prefixes it to the
third Vision of the Trumpets. He regards xiv. 1-5 as from the same author
(/. c, s. 145, 186), but removes a large part of it as interpolations by the redactor.
This shows that he has not found its place. Further evidences of the place of vii.
1-8 are found in the study of its words and phrases. See p. 372.
1 Volter, /. c, s. 234, regards 1a, 2-3, 6-7, as from his first author, but verses
lb, 4-5 as from his fifth author. Spitta, /. c, a. 144, holds that this section is
from his first Jewish author, but that ib-^a is from the redactor, and that there
have been several editorial changes in the remaining verses.
2 This line seems to have been misunderstood by the Greek translator. He in
serts Kal before rj (jiuv-h, and thus makes it an independent clause.

412 THE MESSIAH
As of harpers harping with their harps :
And they sing as it were a new song before the throne,
And before the four living ones and the elders :
And no man could learn the song
Save the hundred and forty and four thousand,
Even they that had been purchased out of the earth.
These are they who were not defiled with women ; for they are
virgins.
These are they who follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth.
These were purchased from among men, to be the firstfruits unto
God and unto the Lamb.
And in their mouth was found no lie : they are without blemish.
(Rev. xiv. 1-5.)
This scene is laid on the heavenly Zion. The Lamb
is standing there and about him one hundred and forty
and four thousand other victors. The prayers of the
fifth seal have been answered. The number of the
martyrs is now complete, They are no longer sup
pliants at the altar. They are victors standing on
Mount Zion with the victorious Lamb. His blood
has purchased them and they have been faithful to
him. They, are the firstfruits. The great harvest of
redemption will soon follow. They are virgins, for they
have kept themselves from idolatry. They are faith
ful. No lie and no blemish can be found in them.
They sing the new song of redemption to the accom
paniment of the heavenly harpers, and worship with
the elders and the cherubim.
scene vm.
After these things I saw, and behold, a great multitude, which no
man could number,1
Out of every nation, and of all tribes and peoples and tongues,
Standing before the throne and before the Lamb,
' Spitta, /. i.., s. 103, thinks this clause, " which no man could number," is an
interpolation in antithesis to the previous context.

OF THE APOCALYPSE OF THE SEALS 413
Arrayed in white robes, and palms in their hands ;
And they cry with a great voice, saying,
The salvation belongs unto our God who sitteth on the throne,
and unto the Lamb.
And all the angels were standing round about the throne,
And about the elders and the four living ones ;
And they fell before the throne on their faces,
And worshipped God, saying, Amen :
The blessing, and the glory, and the wisdom, and the thanks
giving,
And the honor, and the power, and the might, be unto our God
unto the ages of the ages.
And one of the elders answered, saying unto me,
These that are arrayed in the white robes, who are they, and
whence came they ?
And I say unto him, My lord, thou knowest. And he said
to me,
These are they who come out of the great tribulation,
And they washed their robes, and made them white in the blood
of the Lamb.
Therefore are they before the throne of God ;
And they serve him day and night in his temple:
And he that sitteth on the throne shall spread his tabernacle
over them.1
They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more ;
Neither shall the sun strike upon them, nor any heat .
For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall be their
shepherd,
And shall guide them unto fountains of waters of life:
And God shall wipe away every tear from their eyes.1
(Rev. vii. 9-17.)
This is the counterpart of the second heavenly scene
of this apocalypse. There we saw the Messiah wor
shipped at the beginning of his heavenly ministry;
here at the completion of his heavenly ministry after
the second Advent. There he was worshipped by angels
1 See p. 3C6.

414 THE MESSIAH
and all creatures. Here he is worshipped by the re
deemed. The redeemed constitute a vast and innumer
able multitude from all nations. They stand before the
throne and the Lamb, in white robes, with palms in their
hands ; and enveloped by angels they unite in the uni
versal worship.
This innumerable company of the white-robed are
explained to the prophet by one of the elders as : Those
who have been washed in the blood of the Lamb. The
blood of the Lamb has been applied to them. This
implies the consecrating and purifying blood of the
covenant sacrifice.1 They have come out of the great
tribulation.2 They now receive their rewards. These
are based upon the predictions of the Old Testament.
There are no more hunger or thirst,3 no more sunstroke
or heat,4 no more tears.6 These evils of earth will dis
appear forever. And they will have the Lamb for
their shepherd ;6 the fountain of the water of life will be
their portion ; they will serve God as priests in His
temple. These rewards are different from those of the
seven Epistles, but they are given to the same persons,
the victorious saints and martyrs.
The apocalypse of the Seals probably ended originally
with the Greeting: The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all.1
(Rev. xxii. 21.)*
1 See pp. 49, ioo ; also The Messiah oj the Gospels, p. 120.
2 Comp. Mark xiii. 19. See The Messiah of the Gospels, p. 149. 8?~tibtc is
elsewhere in the Apocalypse only in the Vision of the Epistles, i. 9 ; ii. 9, 10, 22.
3 Is. xlix. 10. ' Is. iv. 6.
6 Is. xxv. 8. » P;. xxiii. 1-3 ; John x.
' So Weiss, Holtzmann, et at. R. V. reads " with the saints."
8 This is an appropriate conclusion to the apocalypse which began with
i. 4-6. See p. 393.

CHAPTER XIV.
THE MESSIAH OF THE APOCALYPSE OF THE BOWLS.
THE Apocalypse of the Bowls stands out by itself
with more distinctness than any other of the original
apocalypses. It is compacted in chapters xv.-xvii. The
only additional scenes are xix. i-io ; xxi. 9-15, 16b, 17,
22-27 i xxii. 1,2; and its conclusion follows, xxii. 6-9.
And yet the apocalypse of the Bowls is less original
than any other of the apocalypses. It runs along in
parallelism with the apocalypse of the Trumpets, except
for its appendices referring to the opposing cities, and
is either dependent upon the apocalypse of the Trum
pets or upon a common source, and is some considerable
time later. It also shows marked dependence on the
apocalypse of the Seals. It seems to have been ap
pended to the apocalypses of the Seals and Trumpets in
a second edition of the Apocalypse, and subsequently to
have been placed in the midst of the apocalypses of the
Beasts and the Dragon, and adapted to its present con
text. This apocalypse derives its Messianic idea of the
Lamb of God from the apocalypse of the Seals, and
gives it a new development in the bridal of the Lamb.
The Lamb of the apocalypse of the Seals is a victorious
Lamb who has gained the victory as the Lion of Judah,
although he has been slain as a Lamb, and who in heaven
becomes the shepherd of those whom he has purchased
(415)

446 THE MESSIAH
by his blood. The Lamb of the apocalypse of the Bowls
is never spoken of as the victim. He is rather associated
with the victorious bridegroom of Psalm xiv., and his
bride is the new Jerusalem, the bride of Yahweh of the
great prophet of the exile. This apocalypse is in the
main an antithesis between the harlot city Rome and
the bridal city Jerusalem.
THE SONG OF THE VICTORS.
§ 79. The angels of the bowls pour out sores on the wor
shippers of the beast, cause the sea and rivers to change
into blood, scorch the earth by the heavenly lights, and
cause darkness to come about the throne of the beast. Three
unclean spirits lead the nations to the battle of Har-Ma-
gedon. The victorious martyrs rejoice on the glassy sea
singing the song of Moses. The judgment is a great earth
quake, and Babylon drinks the cup of the wrath of God.
The islands and mountains flee away and great hail de
scends from heaven.
The seven plagues x are based upon the plagues of
Egypt, and, hence, are fitly introduced by a heavenly
scene, based on the scene of the triumphant song of
Miriam and Moses after the destruction of the Egyp
tians in the Red Sea. There are two introductory scenes.
SCENE I.
(And I saw another sign 2 in heaven, great and marvellous,
seven angels having seven plagues, which are the last, for in
them is finished the wrath of God.)
1 Vischer regards chapters xv., xvi., except xv. 30 and xvi. 15, as belonging to
the original Jewish Apocalypse. Volter represents them as carrying on the
apocalyptic writer of xii. 12-17 ; xiii. ; xiv. 9-12, except xv. 3* and xvi. 15, which
he regards as interpolations.
2 Comp. xii. 1, where the first sign is referred to. This verse seems to be an
editorial seam, connecting the vision with the previous one, or else presupposes
the other vision as an earlier one. Spitta refers it to the redactor. The men
tion of the angels with the plagues seems premature.

OF THE APOCALYPSE OF THE BOWLS 417
And I saw as it were a glassy sea mingled with fire ;
And them that come off victorious (from the beast and from
his image, and from the number of his name),1
Standing by the glassy sea, having harps of God.
And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, (and the
song of the Lamb),2 saying,
Great and marvellous are thy works, O Lord God, the Almighty ;
Righteous and true are thy ways, thou King of the nations.
Who shall not fear, O Lord, and glorify thy name ?
For thou only art holy ; 3
For all the nations shall come and worship before thee ;
For thy righteous acts * have been made manifest. (Rev. xv. 1-4.)
The introductory scene is laid in heaven. But it is
at a later date than the introductory scene of any of the
other apocalypses. It presupposes the ascension of the
martyrs, so that the victors here correspond with the
two martyrs of chapter xi.s and the 144,000 of the other
apocalypses.6 These victors are represented as standing
on the shore of a glassy sea of fire.' This is the atmos
phere, which beneath them is transparent as glass, save
that the fires of the divine wrath are coloring it. They
are looking down on the perils they have escaped and
are singing the song of Moses. Their enemies have been
drowned in the sea of fire as the Egyptians were drowned

1 I think Volter is correct in regarding the clause " the number of " as an inter
polation. The redactor refers to xiii. 18. And I also think with Spitta, that the
whole reference to the beast and his image is an interpolation, inserted when this
arJocalypse was placed in the midst of the apocalypse of the Beasts.
2 This clause is regarded by most critics as an interpolation. As Volter shows,
/. c, s. 256, there is no song of the Lamb here, as there is in v. 11-14 ; and the
tov dp viov -is gen. object., whereas Muvaiug is gen. subject. Furthermore, it
makes the line of the poetry too long.
3 baiog, only here and xvi. 5, applied to God for the usual djioc, and so char
acteristic of this apocalypse.
« dinaiufiara, elsewhere in Apocalypse only xix. 8. See p. 430.
"See p. 312. ' « See pp. 372, 411.
' This seems to imply a knowledge of the apocalypse of the Seals. See p. 397,

418 THE MESSIAH
in the Red Sea. As Miriam and Moses sang their ode
of victory over the Egyptians, so the victorious martyrs
sing the song of Moses over their persecutors.
SCENE II.
And after these things I saw, and the temple of the taber
nacle of the testimony in heaven was opened : and there came
out (from the temple) ' the seven angels that had the seven
plagues, arrayed with precious stones, pure and bright, and girt
about their breasts with golden girdles.
And one of the four living ones gave unto the seven angels
seven golden bowls full of the wrath of God, who liveth unto
the ages of the ages."
And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God,
and from his power; and none was able to enter into the tem
ple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels should be finished.
And [ heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven
angels, go ye, and pour out the seven bowls of the wrath of God
into the earth. (Rev. xv. 5-8 ; xvi. 1.)
In a second introductory scene the temple is opened
and seven angels come forth in procession and receive
seven bowls containing seven plagues from the cherubim.
This scene is to be compared with that of the angel
with the censer in the apocalypse of the Trumpets.'
The bowls are sacrificial bowls, and they contain the wrath
of God, as expressed in the fires of the heavenly altar.
SCENE III.
And the first went, and poured out his bowl into the earth ;
And there came a noisome and grievous sore upon the men
1 Not in the text of B.
2 The reference to the four cherubim implies the apocalypse of the Seven Seals.
Volter thmks that the author of this piece knew of the older Vision of the Seals
and built upon it. Spitta thinks that the entire verse is an interpolation. It repre
sents that the bowls were given to the angels by one of the cherubim, when in
the previous verse they come forth with the seven plagues. The inconsistency
can only be removed by regarding one of the statements as an interpolation. It
is more probable that the first statement is such. The Poetry of the original has
been destroyed by other additions and transpositions.
3 viii. 5.

OF THE APOCALYPSE OF THE BOWLS 419
(Who had the mark of the beast, and who worshipped his
image).1
And the second poured out his bowl into the sea ;
And there came blood as of a dead man ;
And every living thing died, even the things that were in the
sea.
And the third poured out his bowl into the rivers
And into the fountains of the waters ; and there came blood.
And I heard the angel of the waters saying,
Righteous art thou, which art and which wast, thou Holy One,
because thou didst thus judge :
For they poured out the blood of saints and prophets,
And blood hast thou given them to drink : they are worthy.
And I heard the altar saying, Yea, O Lord,
God, the Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.
And the fourth poured out his bowl upon the sun ;
And it was given unto it to scorch men with fire.
And men were scorched with great heat :
And they blasphemed the name of God
Who hath the authority over these plagues ;
And they repented not to give him glory. (Rev. xvi. 2-9.)
The first four plagues constitute the third scene, just
as did the first four seals and the first four trumpets.
The first plague poured out on the land resembles the
first trumpet which brought hail and fire mingled with
blood on the land.2 This plague, however, produces
sores upon the worshippers of the beast, like the sores
of the plagues in Egypt.3 The plague therefore is a
part of that victory over which the risen martyrs re
joice. The second plague resembles the second trumpet
when a burning mountain was cast into the sea, chang
ing it into blood." So here the sea becomes as the blood

1 This implies a knowledge of xiii. 15-17 by the author. He must therefore
have been the same or a later author, or this must be an interpolation, as Spitta,
/. c, s. 163, thinks.
2 See p. 376. 3 Ex. ix. 9, 10. « See p. 376.

420

THE MESSIAH

of a dead man. This is like the plague of Egypt that
changes the water of the Nile into blood.1
The third plague resembles the third trumpet, where
the burning star Wormwood makes the waters bitter.2
Here the waters of the rivers become blood. This is a
giving of the enemies who shed the blood of saints,
blood to drink, and it is proclaimed by the angel of the
rivers as righteous recompense.
The fourth plague resembles the fourth trumpet,
where the heavenly lights were smitten and darkened.3
Here the sun is made to scorch men with great heat,
which seems to reverse the darkening.
SCENE IV.
And the fifth poured out his bowl upon the throne of the beast ,
And his kingdom was darkened ; »
And they gnawed their tongues for pain,
And they blasphemed the God of heaven 5
Because of their pains and because of their sores ;
And they repented not of their works. (Rev. xvi. 10, u.)
The fifth plague stands by itself, and has nothing to
correspond with it in the Trumpets. It is based upon
the plague of darkness sent upon the land of Egypt.'

1 Ex. vii. 17-21. 2 See p. 376. 2 See p. 376.
1 The reference to the throne and kingdom of the beast is striking. It is more
in accord with other Visions than this. Spitta, /. c, s. 171 seq., thinks the redactor
has confounded Abaddon, the angel of the abyss of the apocalypse of the Trum
pets, with the beast of the apocalypse of the Beasts, and that he has made the
text refer to the Roman beast. He urges that elsewhere the bowls are poured
upon the place where the plague originates. He thinks that the reference in the
original apocalypse was to the throne of Abaddon, and that the agony of men
was due not simply to the darkness but to the pain caused by the swarm of de
mons from the abyss.
0 The God of heaven is only found in the Apocalypse here and in the apoca
lypse of the Beasts xi. 13.
" Ex. x. 22.

OF THE APOCALYPSE OF THE BOWLS 421
It is a significant feature of these plagues, especially the
fifth, that they do not result in the repentance of the
worshippers of the beast, but in their blaspheming God
and holy things, and thus there is a contrast with the
repentance in connection with the great earthquake of
the apocalypse of the Beasts,1 and a remarkable simi
larity with the apocalypse of the Trumpets."
SCENE v.
And the sixth poured out his bowl upon the great river,
The Euphrates ; and the water thereof was dried up,
That the way might be made ready for the kings that come from
the sun rising.
And I saw three unclean spirits, as it were frogs,
(Coming out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of
the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet) :3
For they are spirits of demons, working signs ;
That go forth unto the kings of the whole world, to gather them
together
Unto the war of the great day of God, the Almighty.
(Behold, I come as a thief.
Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments,
Lest he walk naked, and they see his shame).4
And they gathered them together unto the place which is called
(in Hebrew) 5 Har-Magedon.6 (Rev. xvi. J2-16).
The sixth plague resembles the sixth trumpet.7 In
both, the Euphrates is the source of the invading army.
1 xi. 13. 2 ix. 21.
3 The Greek translator has disarranged the two lines of Hebrew poetry by
transposing the object to the end of the sentence, or else the reference to the
three beasts is an interpolation to connect it with the previous vision.
* Volter, Vischer, and Spitta regard this verse as an interpolation. It inter
rupts the development of the scene. It is in accord with the warnings of the
seven Epistles.
E Vischer is correct in regarding this as an explanatory word of the Greek
translator. It could not have been in the Hebrew original.
e Spitta, /. c, s. 163, regards verses 13-16 as an interpolation from his other
Jewish apocalypse. He transposes these verses and places them immediately
after xiv. 11 and immediately before xvi, i7*-2o.
' ix. 13-21.

422 THE MESSIAH
There it is an army of demon cavalry loosed for the pur
pose. Here the river is dried up to prepare a way for
the kings of the East.1 The dragon, the devil ; the beast,
the Roman empire, and the false prophet of the previous
vision appear again on the scene, no longer in Palestine,
or Rome and the West, but now in the East. This is in
congruous, and is probably a redactor's connection of the
three unclean spirits with the three beasts. They send
forth unclean spirits to gather the kings of the world to
the war of the great day of God. The place of the battle
is called Har-Magedon. The representation is based on a
combination of the battle scene of Sisera,2 the battle-
judgment of Joel,3 with the place mentioned in Hosea,4
and some of the features of Ezekiel.6 It is the last great
battle of the judgment of the world."
SCENE vi.
And the seventh poured out his bowl upon the air;
And there came forth a great voice (out of the temple,) 7 from the
throne, saying,
It is done : * and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunders ;
And there was a great earthquake, such as was not
Since there were men upon the earth, so great an earthquake, so
mighty.
And the great city was divided into three parts,
And the cities of the nations fell :
And Babylon the great 9 was remembered in the sight of God,
To give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.

' Comp. Is. xi. 15, 16. a Judges v. 19, 20.
3 Joe1 iv- « Hos. i. 5, 11.
8 Ezekiel xxxviii. 8, 21 ; xxxix. 2, 4, 17. « gee p ,,-g
1 Spitta regards verses 17^-20 as parts of the other Jewish apocalypse. But he
thinks that the clause " out of the temple " is an interpolation.
« The only other passage in the Apocalypse where this phrase is used is xxi. 6.
See p. 387.
» The two lines referring to Babylon are reearded by Spitta, /. c, s. 167, as an
interpolation.

OF THE APOCALYPSE OF THE BOWLS 423
And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found.
And great hail,1 every stone about the weight of a talent, cometh
down out of heaven upon men :
And men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail ;
For the plague thereof is exceeding great. (Rev. xvi. 17-21.)
The seventh plague brings the consummation of the
judgment of Babylon. Here from the heavenly temple
appear lightnings and voices and thunders, and on the
earth a mighty earthquake, the greatest the world would
ever have ; and a great hail, in which every stone weighs
a talent. These instruments of judgment are the same
as those of the seventh trumpet.2 But here we see their
effect. The great city falls and drinks the fierceness of
the wrath of God, as the worshippers of the Beast in the
previous Vision.3 This plague calls forth the blasphemy
of men, as had the fourth and fifth. In connection with
this judgment of Babylon and the cities of the nations,
the islands and mountains flee away."
DESTRUCTION OF THE HARLOT CITY.
§ 80. A scarlet-colored beast, with seven heads and ten
horns, destroys the harlot city with fire and sword. This
city bears the name Babylon, is a very great city of idola
try, drunk with the blood of saints, and is doubtless Rome.
The people of God are warned to go forth from her se as
not to partake of her judgments.
The sixth Vision of the Apocalypse in its present
form begins with chapter xvii. This Vision resembles
the fourth Vision in that it gives no distinct group of

1 Spitta regards ver. 21 as the continuation of 17a, the plague of the seventh
bowl. 2 xi. 19. See p. 384. 3 xiv. 10. See p. 330.
* Comp. the sixth Seal, vi. 14. See p. 407.

424 THE MESSIAH
sevens, and yet seven scenes may be distinguished as in
the fourth Vision. But the scene of chap. xvii. was a
supplementary part of the apocalypse of the Bowls and
as such gives a seventh scene in that apocalypse.1
SCENE VII.
And there came one of the seven angels that had the seven
bowls,2 and spake with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee
the judgment of the great harlot that sitteth upon many waters;
with whom the kings of the earth committed fornication, and
they that dwell in the earth were made drunken with the wine
of her fornication. And he carried me away in the Spirit into a
wilderness :
And I saw a woman sitting upon a scarlet-colored beast,
Full of names of blasphemy,
Having seven heads and ten horns.
And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet,
And decked with gold and precious stone and pearls.
Having in her hand a golden cup
Full of abominations, even the unclean things of her fornication,
And upon her forehead a name written, Mystery,
Babylon the great, the mother of the harlots and of the abom
inations of the earth.
And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints,
(and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus).3

' Volter, /. c, s. 302, 348 seq., ascribes xvii.-xix. 4 to his second author in the
reign of Galba ; xix. 5-10 to his earliest author ; and xix. 11-xxi. 8 to Cerinthus.
Vischer, Pfieiderer, and others regard xvii.-xix. 4 as Jewish Christian, apart
from interpolations ; xix. 11 seq. they attach to xx.-xxi. Spitta regards xvii.
1-6 ; xviii. 1-23 ; xix. 1-3, 5-8 ; xxi. 9- xxii. 3 as from his Jewish apocalypse of
the time of Pompey, and xix. 11-21 ; xx. 1-3, 8-15 ; xxi. 1-5, 6, as from his
Jewish apocalypse of the time of Caligula xix. gb-10; xxii. 8, 10-13, >6-i8a,
20-21, as from his Christian apocalypse ; the remainder of the material being the
work of the redactor. This Vision begins with an interpreting angel after the
mode of revelation indicated in the first section of the Prologue.
2 Volter, /. c, s. 302, regards this as a seam uniting the two visions, but an
interpreting angel appears here, and he seems to be needed in the subsequent
context. 3 This is regarded by Vischer, Volter, Spitta, and Pfieiderer as an interpola
tion. Volter, /. c, s. 290, thinks it tefers to the two martyrs of xi., which the

OF THE APOCALYPSE OF THE BOWLS 425
And when I saw her, I wondered with a great wonder.
And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou wonder?
I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that
carrieth her,
Which hath the seven heads and the ten horns.
The beast that thou sawest was, and is not ;
And is about to come up out of the abyss, and to go into
Apoleia.1
And they that dwell on the earth shall wonder.
( They whose name hath not been written in the book of life from
the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast, how
that he was, and is not, and shall come. Here is the mind which
hath wisdom.) 2
The seven heads are seven mountains,
On which the woman sitteth :
(And they are seven kings ; the five are fallen, the one is, the
other is not yet come ; and when he cometh, he must continue
a little while. And the beast that was, and is not, is himself also
an eighth, and is of the seven ; and he goeth into Apoleia.) 3
And the ten horns that thou sawest are ten kings,
Which have received no kingdom as yet ;
But they receive authority as kings, with the beast, for one hour.
These have one mind,
And they give their power and authority unto the beast.
(These shall war against the Lamb, and the Lamb shall over
come them, for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings ; and
they also shall overcome that are with him, called and chosen and
faithful).4

interpreter thought should be included in the guilt of the beast. Weiss, /. c,
s. 207, thinks it is original and that it refers to the apostles who suffered martyr
dom under Nero.
1 elc dnuAEiav is local and is the prison of the middle state. See pp. 91, 93.
2 This bracketted clause is an editorial note.
3 Harnack in his Nachwort to Vischer's pamphlet separated xvii. 11 from xvii.
9, 10, and ascribes the latter to the Jewish author, who knows of but seven
emperors, and who must have written in the year 68, just before the destruction
of Jerusalem. The former he ascribes to the Christian author who knew of
eight emperors, and was obliged therefore to add this verse in explanation. He
must have written in the reign of Domitian. So Pfleiderer, who also regards
ver. 106 as an interpolation, and Holtzmann.
' This is regarded by Vischer and Pfleiderer as an interpolation.

426 THE MESSIAH
And (he saith unto me,)1 the waters which thou sawest, where
the harlot sitteth.
Are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.
And the ten horns which thou sawest, and the beast,
These shall hate the harlot, and shall make her desolate a. d
naked,
And shall eat her flesh, and shall burn her utterly with fire.2
(For God did put in their hearts to do his mind, and to come to
one mind, and to give their kingdom unto the beast, until the
words of God should be accomplished.)3
And the woman whom thou sawest is the great city,
Which reigneth over the kings of the earth. (Rev. xvii.)
The prophet is thrown into the ecstatic state,4 and in
that state is transported into the wilderness,5 where he
beholds the vision. The first scene is a harlot city.
She may be compared with mother Israel of the apoca
lypse of the Dragon.6 She is the harlot city as the seat
and centre of idolatry. She is named Mystery, and
bears that name on her face, a name to be understood
only by the initiated. She is Rome, seated on the seven
hills, which are represented by the seven heads of the
beast that carries her. She sitteth by many waters as
the mistress of many nations.' She is the great city
that reigneth over the kings of the earth. The beast
that supports her is a wild beast, a Roman emperor who

1 This is an editor's note due to the previous interpolation.
2 This is regarded by Volter, /. c, s. 292, as an interpolation on the ground
that it represents that the beast will make war with the harlot, whereas verses
13-14 represent that he makes war with the Lamb. We can remove the incon
sistency only by regarding one of them as an interpolation. The context favors
Vischer rather than Volter.
3 Spitta, /. c, s. 180-190, regards verses 7-18 as an interpolation of the re
dactor. It is a passing over from the descriptive style of the Vision into the
interpretation of the writer. The interpreting angel can hardly be an interpola
tion, but it is quite probable that his words have been interpolated by later
explanations of the editor in the bracketted clauses.
4 Comp. i. 10 ; iv. z. ' Comp. Ezek. xi.
• xii. 1, 6. ' Comp. Jer. Ii. 13.

OF THE APOCALYPSE OF THE BOWLS 427
has reigned and gone down into Apoleia, from whence
he will return.1 The ten crowned horns are ten kings
or ten rulers of provinces who are subordinate to the
Roman emperor.2 The ten is the complete number, and
it is not necessary to look for arithmetical exactness.
They advance in rebellion against Rome under the
emperor from Abaddon. The seven heads of the beast
are described by a later editor, probably the one who
combined the three apocalypses of the Sevens, as a
series of seven emperors. Five have fallen — Augustus,
Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, Nero. One reigns. Some
think of one of the rivals, Galba, Otho, Vitellius ; others
of Vespasian, the three really being regarded as usurpers.
The seventh is not yet come, but when he comes he will
reign for a little while. The seventh completes the
number of seven heads. It is probable therefore that
Harnack is correct in thinking that a later editor inter
prets by inserting the reference to the eighth as the
beast of the scene, and so finds the beast in Domitian.3
We would thus have three different interpretations of
the seven heads, the original referring to the seven hills
of Rome, written soon after the death of Nero ; the
editor of the second edition in the time of Vespasian
referring the seventh to a risen Nero ; the editor of the
third edition thinking of the eighth emperor as Domitian.
He is described as one who " was and is not and is
about to come up out of the abyss," " was, and is not
and shall come," " that was, and is not, is himself also an
eighth and is of the seven." He is an eighth, and, yet
being one of the five who have reigned, he does not
destroy the symbolism of the seven heads. He is one
of them who revives." If Nero is the fifth, it seems that

1 Comp. xiii. 1-8. 2 Volter, Holtzmann, et al.
8 Nachwort to Vischer, /. c, s. 135. * See Volter, 1. <.., s. 297.

428 THE MESSIAH
the prophet is looking for a risen Nero. There is no
other of the five emperors for whose return he would be
likely to look. There was a widespread opinion after
the death of Nero that he had not died, but had gone to
the Parthians and would return. The author sees him
dead and in the abyss of Abaddon. But he is to ascend
out of Abaddon to torment the city of Rome and de
stroy it. That he burns it with fire is in accordance with
the martyrdom of Christians in the great fire of Rome
which Nero kindled.1 It is not necessary to think that
the prophet expected Nero himself, but he looked for
one having his spirit and who would be his demoniacal
counterpart. Nor need we suppose that the eighth Roman emperor
was to be this beast. The eighth is beyond the number
seven. The prophetic editor rightly looks for a com
pletion of the number of emperors in the number seven
in the statement of his predecessor. But looking at the
matter at a later date, an editor sees that after the com
pletion of the series of seven, when the time has come
for the empire to cease, one of the old emperors would
rise from the dead and be the leader of the forces which
would destroy it. Nero was just the one to fill the
imagination as the one likely to do it, and it was also
quite natural that Domitian should be conceived as his
counterpart. The risen emperor is the same as the
beast whose death-stroke was healed, of the apocalypse
of the Beasts2 in the conception of the editor, whatever
may have been the opinion of the author of the original
apocalypse.

1 Volter, /. c, s. 299. a xiii. 3. See p. 321.

OF THE APOCALYPSE OF THE BOWLS 439
THE BRIDE OF THE LAMB.
§ 81. A great multitude in heaven sing Hallelujahs be
cause of the execution of the divine judgment upon the
harlot city and of the beginning of the heavenly reign.
The marriage of the Lamb is announced and the saints
array themselves for the feast. The holy city Jerusalem
descends from heaven like a great diamond reflecting the
glory of God. Her walls are great and high ; her twelve
gates, guarded by angels, bear the names of the twelve
tribes ; her twelve foundations bear the names of the
twelve apostles. She is twelve thousand furlongs in size,
and her walls are one hundred and forty-four cubits high.
A river of life flows from the throne of God through her
streets. The tree of life with twelve monthly fruits is
on its banks. God is her temple and sun. The Lamb is
her lamp. SCENE vm.
After these things I heard as it were a great voice,
A1 great multitude in heaven, saying, Hallelujah ;2
The salvation,3 and the glory, and the power, belong to our
God :
For true and righteous 4 are his judgments ;
For he hath judged the great harlot,
Which did corrupt the earth with her fornication,
And he hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand.
1 The Greek translator makes multitude a genitive. The original pip might
be taken as a construct, and interpreted in that way. But it mars the parallel
ism, which is retained by interpreting pip as absolute, and so interpreting the
)lDn as accusative. bxAoc -koXvc is only found here and vii. 9 ; xix. 6.
2 Hallelujah is found in the Apocalypse only in this chapter xix. s, 3, 4, 6.
* auT-qpia elsewhere in the Apocalypse only vii. 10 ; xii. 10.
4 d'A-efiival Kal dUatai only here and xvi. 7, but dlicaiai ndi aAqdtvai xv. 3, both
in the apocalypse of the Bowls. The great harlot is the one whose judgment
was to be seen in xvii. 1. These lines show that this piece belongs to that
apocalypse, unless we can take them as editorial seams. But if they are re
moved, the reason for the Hallelujah is taken away also.

430

THE MESSIAH

And a second time they say, Hallelujah.1
[And her smoke goeth up unto the ages of the ages.]2
And the four and twenty elders and the four living ones fell
down
And worshipped God that sitteth on the throne,
Saying, Amen ; Hallelujah.3
And a voice came forth from the throne, saying,4
Give praise to our God, all ye his servants,
Ye that fear him,6 the small and the great.
And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude,
And as the voice of many waters,
And as the voice of mighty thunders, saying. Hallelujah :
For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigneth.
Let us rejoice and be exceeding glad, and let us give the glory
unto him :
For the marriage of the Lamb is come,6 and his wife hath made
herself ready.
And it was given unto her that she should array herself in fine
linen, bright and pure :
For the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.7 (Rev. xix. 1-8.)
This scene " is a heavenly one, the rejoicing of all the

i Spitta, /. c, s. 191, regards this and the previous line as interpolations, but
without sufficient reason.
2 This line is an editorial reference to xiv. 11.
3 The reference to the elders and the living ones is regarded as an interpola
tion to make these songs correspond with those of the Vision of the Seals (see
Spitta, /. c, s. 192), or this may be an additional evidence that they belongto the
apocalypse of the Bowls, and that that apocalypse is based on the apocalypse
of the Seals as well as that of the Trumpets.
4 The voice from the throne is found elsewhere in the Apocalypse, xvi. 17, xxi 3;
but from the temple, xvi. 1 ; the altar, ix. 13 ; out of heaven, x. 4, 8 ; xi. 12 ;
xiv. 2, 13 ; xviii. 4 ; in heaven, xii. 10. It presupposes the throne of the apoca
lypse of the Seals.
s See p. 409 for usage in passages from Seals, Trumpets, and Bowls.
" Spitta, /. c, s. 193, holds that " the marriage of the Lamb has come " is an
interpolation. ' Spitta, /. c, s. 193, regards this line and the two that follow as interpo
lations, ducaiupara is only found here and xv. 4, and tends to prove that this
line is original to the apocalypse of the Bowls.
" Volter makes xix. 1-4 the conclusion of the section xvii.-xix. 4, and ascribes

OF THE APOCALYPSE OF THE BOWLS 43}
redeemed. They rejoice because the judgments of God
have been executed upon the harlot city, and sing Hal
lelujahs. They rejoice because the long expected reign
has begun, and again sing Hallelujahs. A new symbol
is introduced, the marriage of the Lamb.1 This is in
accordance with the Epistle to the Ephesians,2 which
represents the Messiah as purifying his bride. The
preparation here is the fine white linen, bright and pure,
the righteous acts with which the saints array themselves
for the marriage feast.3
The announcement of the marriage feast of the Lamb is
now followed by a description of the bride of the Lamb,
the new Jerusalem. This has been pushed on to chap
ter xxi., where the other reference to the holy city is
found. We have seen that we must separate xxi. 16a,
c, 18-21, from the previous description of the city in xxi.
9-15.' But the piece thus removed lacks its beginning.
This I find in xxi. 2. These verses were removed from
their original place in order that the description of the
new Jerusalem, xxi. 16a, c, 18-21, might be closely fitted
to that of xxi. 9-15, 1 6b, 17. The verse xxi. 2 was left with
xxi. I partly as a relict of the original place of the whole
scene, which method has several parallels in the editorial
work of the Apocalypse, and partly that the two descrip
tions of the descent of the city from heaven might not
be in too close proximity. In its present place the state
ment " as a bride adorned for her husband," xxi. 2, is

xix. 5-10 to his first author. I agree with Spitta that 9^-10 is to be separated
from its context. But the intervening matter is to be found in the description of
the new Jerusalem, xxi. 9 seg. Therefore it is not necessary to ascribe xix.
1-9S, gfl-ro, to different apocalypses. See p. 436.
1 xv. 2-4, and xiv. 1-5. 2 Eph. v. 25-32.
2 Comp. the Parable of the marriage feast, Matthew xxii. 1-14.
* See p. 299.

432 THE MESSIAH
unexplained. The adornment of the bride is described
in xxi. 1 8-2 1.1 scene ix.
(And there came one of the seven angels who had the seven
bowls, laden with the seven last plagues) ; and he spake with
me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, (the wife of
the Lamb).2 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a moun
tain great and high,
And shewed me the holy city Jerusalem,
Coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God :
Her light was like unto a stone most precious, as it were a jasper
stone, clear as crystal :
Having a wall great and high ; having twelve gates,
And at the gates twelve angels ; and names written thereon,
Which, are the names oi the twelve tribes of the children of Israel :
On the east were three gates ; and on the north three gates ;
And on the south three gates ; and on the west three gates.

1 Additional reasons for the transfer of the scene, xxi. 9-15, 16b, 17, to its original
place, are (1) that it is introduced by the words of one of the angels with the seven
bowls. These angels are characteristic of the apocalypse of the Bowls, but they
have no place in the other apocalypses. (2, This scene refers to the twelve apostles
and the twelve tribes, in a way which is in accord with the reference to the song of
Moses in the first sceneof this apocalypse. (3) Furthermore, this scene seemsnot
suited to the subsequent context of the Vision in which it is placed. The gates with
names of the twelve tribes written thereon, guarded by angels, are sufficiently
designated, and are not harmonious with the statement that the twelve gates were
twelve pearls, verse 21. The twelve foundations inscribed with the names of the
apostles are not altogether harmonious with the twelve foundations of twelve
different kinds of precious stone of verses 19, 20. The wall great and high
does not correspond with the statement of verse 16, that the length and breadth
and height of the city were equal, or, in other words, a cube like the holy of
holies of the tabernacle. The diamond city, clear as crystal, with great and high
walls, is somewhat different from the city of pure gold like unto pure glass, where
the measurements would make the city shine like a golden city 1,400 miles high,
¦with but a slender rim of diamonds and precious stones upwards of two hundred
feet high. This Vision seems to have been welded with the other. The scene
of the apocalypse of the Bowls seems to be xxi. 9-15, 16*, 17, 22-27 ; xxii. 1-2.
See p. 365.
2 Spitta, /. c, a. 218, regards the bracketted words as interpolations. But the
reference to the angels shows its connection with the apocalypse of the Bowls ;
the reference to the Lamb seems to be original.

OF THE APOCALYPSE OF THE BOWLS 433
And the wall of the city had twelve foundations,
And on them twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.1
(Rev. xxi. 9-14.)
The new Jerusalem is in antithesis with the Baby
lon of the previous vision. She is the bride of the
Lamb. She is the holy city of the saints. She is
seen descending out of heaven from God enveloped
in the light of the glory of God. That light is like
the flashing of a great diamond. Her walls are of great
height. Her twelve gates are guarded by holy angels.
They bear the names of the twelve tribes of Israel, each
tribe having its own gate. The wall has twelve founda
tions. These are inscribed with the names of the twelve
apostles of the Lamb.2 This representation seems to
leave no room for the Gentiles and for the apostle to the
Gentiles. But the point of view is Jewish Christian.
The author's imagination accordingly follows the lead of
the hymn of the glory of Jerusalem in the great prophet
of the exile.3
And he that spake with me had for a measure a golden reed
To measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof.
And he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand fur
longs :
And he measured the wall thereof, a hundred and forty and four
cubits,
According to the measure of a man, that is, of an angel.
And I saw no temple therein : *
For the Lord God the Almighty,4 (and the Lamb) are 5 the temple
thereof.

1 Spitta, /. c, s. 219, regards this line as an interpolation. But the reference
to the apostles harmonizes with the previous reference to the tribes of Israel.
The mention of the Lamb is characteristic of this document. Spitta does not
distinguish two visions of the new Jerusalem here.
2 It is a similar conception to the living temple of the Epistle to the Ephesians,
ii. 20-22, where the foundations are apostles and prophets.
3 Is. Ix. 4 See p. 370.
6 " The Lamb " here seems to be an interpolation.

434

THE MESSIAH

And the city hath no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to
shine upon it :
For the glory of God ' did lighten it, and the Lamb, the lamp
thereof.
And the nations shall walk amidst the light thereof :
And the kings of the earth do bring their glory into it.
And the gates thereof shall in no wise be shut by day ;
For there- shall be no night there.
And they shall bring the glory and the honour of the nations
into it :
And there shall in no wise enter into it anything unclean,
Or he that doeth an abomination and a lie :
But only they which are written in the Lamb's book of life.5
(Rev. xxi. 15, 16b, 17, 22-27.)
The angel who measures seems to be the same as the
angel of the Bowls. The measurements of the city
therefore belong to that apocalypse. They are welded
into the beginning of the description of the city of the
apocalypse of the Dragon. This welding together makes
the height of the city as well as the length and breadth
twelve thousand furlongs, or nearly fourteen hundred
miles, with walls one hundred and forty-four cubits, that
is upwards of two hundred feet in height. The num
bers twelve and twelve times twelve 3 are in accordance
with the use of the number twelve for the gates and the
foundation. The separation of this measurement from
the apocalypse of the Dragon makes the city fourteen
hundred miles in length with walls two hundred feet
high, which is a more harmonious conception. A city
of such a size is grand beyond estimation or description.
This enormous city had no temple. God Himself was
its temple. It was filled with His presence.
1 66^a tov 6eov is characteristic of the apocalypse of the Bowls, xv. 8 ; xxi.
"1 23-
2 The last line is regarded by Spitta as an interpolation. But it is suited to
the context of the apocalypse of the Bowls.
3 Comp. the 144,000 vii. 1-8 ; xiv. 1-5. See pp. 372, 411.

OF THE APOCALYPSE OF THE BOWLS 435
The city had no sun or moon, the light of the glory
of God took the place of the sun, and the Lamb was the
lamp of it instead of the moon.
Into the twelve gates no one can enter except those
whose names are inscribed in the Lamb's book of life.
Excluded are all the unclean and the false. This apoca
lypse evidently has in mind the city of Jeremiah and of
the great prophet of the exile.1
And he shewed me a river of water of life, bright as crystal,
Proceeding out of the throne of God (and of the Lamb),2 in the
midst of the street thereof.
And on this side of the river and on that was a tree of life,
Bearing twelve fruits, yielding its fruit every month :
And the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
(Rev. xxii. 1-2.)
This scene is based on the river of life and the tree of
life of the prophecy of Ezekiel.3 This river of life flows
from the throne of God through the streets of the city.
The tree of life is on its banks with healing fruit.
The scene of the bridal city originally followed xix. 8.
The removal of this scene to its present context brought
the conclusion of the apocalypse in immediate connection
with xix. 8. The conclusion of the apocalypse of the
Bowls, however, seems to be xxii. 6-9. When we com
pare this with xix. 9, 10, the similarity is unmistakable.
It seems probable, therefore, that xix. 9, 10, is a relict of
the conclusion of the Bowls left there by the editor when
he removed the scene of the bridal city and the conclu-

1 Jer. iii. 17 ; xxxi. 38-40 ; Is. liv. 11-17. See Messianic Prophecy, pp. 242,
254, 389-
2 Spitta, /. «.-., s. 219, represents that the reference to the throne of God and
the Lamb is an interpolation. Volter takes the same view. The reference to the
Lamb makes the line too long and seems to be without force. That is, doubt
less, an editorial addition. But the reference to the throne of God suits the
length of the line.
3 xlvii. 1-12. See Messianic Prophecy, p. 290.

436

THE MESSIAH

sion of the apocalypse of the Bowls to its present place.
I shall therefore put them side by side,as variations of
the same original conclusion. EPILOGUE I.
And he saith unto me, Write,
Blessed are they which are bidden to the marriage supper of the
Lamb.
And he saith unto me, These are true words of God.
And I fell down before his feet to worship him.
And he saith unto me, See thou do it not :
I am a fellow-servant with thee
And with thy brethren that hold the testimony of Jesus :
Worship God : (for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of
prophecy).1 (Rev. xix. 9, 10.)
The angel pronounces those blessed who are bidden
to the marriage supper of the Lamb in the new Jerusa
lem. The prophet would worship him as divine. But
he renounces worship and commands him to worship
God alone. 11.
And he said unto me, These words are faithful and true : ' and
the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent his angel
to shew unto his servants the things which must shortly come
to pass.
And behold, I come quickly.
Blessed is he that keepeth the words of the prophecy of this
book. And I John am he that heard and saw these things.
And when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship before the
feet of the angel which shewed me these things. And he saith
unto me, See thou do it not : I am a fellow-servant with thee,

1 Volter, /. i., s. 311, regards this as an interpolation by the final author. It is
quite probable.
2 These words are identical with those of xxi. 5*, and similar to those of xix.
9. We have explained xix. 9 as a variation of this passage. It is possible that
xxi. 5* may also be a rehct of the same in the edition of the Apocalypse which
preceded the insertion of the apocalypse of the Dragon.

OF THE APOCALYPSE OF THE BOWLS 437
and with thy brethren the prophets, and with them which keep
the words of this book : worship God. (Rev. xxii. 6-9.)
The epilogue, verses 6-9, begins with words which re
mind us of the first section of the prologue, i. 1-3. The
interpreting angel instructs the prophet in the things
which must shortly come to pass,1 only the mediation of
the Messiah between the angel and God does not appear.
This section is interrupted by a word of the Messiah
(ver. 7a), " Behold I come quickly," 2 which is rather
abrupt, and which seems to be without preparation.3
The Beatitude which follows may be interpreted as a
word of Jesus, or of the angel, or of the author himself.
It is rather, as elsewhere in this apocalypse of the Bowls,
a heavenly voice, unless it may be regarded as editorial.4
There is similar uncertainty as to the phrase, " keepeth
the words of the prophecy of this book." 6

1 iv t&xei. See p. 306. * raxv.
3 Volter regards it as an interpolation.
4 pandpmc is used in the Apocalypse in the Prologue i. 3 ; the Epilogue xxii.
7, 14 ; in the apocalypse of the Bowls xvi. 15 ; xix. 9 ; in a seam in the border
of the apocalypses of the Beasts and the Trumpets xiv. 13 ; in a redactor's note
xx. 6. It seems that these may all belong to the apocalypse of the Bowls except i. 3;
xiv. 13 ; xx. 6 ; xxii. 14. If it were not for xiv. 13 ; xvi. 15 ; xix. 9, we might take
them all as redactors' notes ; but these are uttered by voices in the midst of the
apocalypses, and seem to be original, fiandpioc is characteristic of the words
of Jesus in the Gospels. It is used in 1 Peter iii. 14 ; iv. 14, as reminiscences of
the words of Jesus, and in James i. 12, 25, in original sentences. It is a Jewish
Christian term in its use. It is not used by John apart from words of Jesus,
and in these only John xiii. 17 ; xx. 29. It seems, therefore, to be characteristic
of the apocalypse of the Bowls, and to have been used by the final editor also.
5 T-qpclv is used in the apocalypse of the Epistles ii. 26 ; iii. 3, 8, 10s, sab, in
various combinations. It is used in the prologue of the final editor i. 3, with
to ycypauuiva ; in xvi. 15 with rd l/idria in connection with a word of the
Messiah in the apocalypse of the Bowls. It is used with tovc loyovc only in
this epilogue xxii. 7, 9, with rdc ivroUc in xii. 17 ; xiv. 12, which seem to be
editorial notes, rripslv Tag ivioXdc is used in Matthew xix. 17, elsewhere it is
characteristic of the first Epistle of John ii. 3, 4; iii. 22, 24 ; v. (2), 3 ; and the Gospel
of John xiv. 15, 21 ; xv. 10. T?ipElv tovc Tibyove is used in John xiv. 24 and

CHAPTER XV.
THE MESSIAH OF THE APOCALYPSE OF THE EPISTLES.
The Apocalypse of the Seven Epistles stands entirely
by itself in the Apocalypse. It has its own introduction,
i. 9, and its opening scene of Christophany i. io seq.,
and then the seven epistles to the seven churches follow
in regular order through chapters ii. and iii. The con
clusion is missing. We find it in all probability welded
with other conclusions in xxi. 5^, 7a ; xxii. 16, 17. This
apocalypse is evidently the last of the series. The
Messiah of this apocalypse is the Messiah of glory, and
he identifies himself with Yahweh, the First and the
Last, of the great prophet of the exile. The date of
this apocalypse is difficult to determine. But it may
be fixed within certain limits. Its Christology is later
than that of the Epistle to the Hebrews, and much later
than that of any of the other original apocalypses that
we have studied ; it cannot therefore be earlier than the
Flavian period.
There is one clue to the date which is of some import
ance. The Church of Laodicea is represented as rich
and lukewarm. This city was visited by a disastrous
earthquake in 61 A.D. The church could not have
become rich until a considerable time thereafter. This

rbv Anyov John viii. 51, 52, 55 ; xiv. 23 ; xv. 20 ; xvii. 6; 1 John ii. 5. It is pos
sible that these Johannine expressions all come from the redactor ; but it seems
to me more probable that they are characteristic of the apocalypse of the Bowls
as well. (438)

OF THE APOCALYPSE OF THE EPISTLES

439

Apocalypse must have been written prior to the earth
quake as Spitta,1 or some years after the earthquake as
Volter.2 The reasons against a date earlier than 61 are
so strong that we must think of the apocalypse as com
posed not earlier than the seventies, and probably as
late as the reign of Domitian, which on the whole would
best suit the fierceness of the persecution which some
of the churches were called to endure.
THE SON OF MAN IS YAHWEH.
§ 82. The Son of man appears in Christophany to John
and commissions him to the churches with a prophetic
message that they exercise patience in the tribulation of
the kingdom. The Son of man is the Ancient of Days,
Yahweh, the everlasting God. He is the Lord of the
angels and the King of the churches. He died, descended
into Hades, and ascended into heaven, victor over death
and having the master key of Hades.
The first group of sevens in the Apocalypse, the
Seven Epistles, is introduced by an historical statement
and a Christophany, and a greeting of its own which seem
to show that it was originally an independent apoca
lypse. In the historical statement John represents
himself as in communion with his readers, the servants
of the Messiah, " your brother and partaker with you in
the tribulation and kingdom and patience which are in
Jesus."3 These three terms are those of Jesus in his
discourses." John and his associates are in the midst of

' I.e., a. 502. 2 I.e., S. 403.
3 i. 9. Volter regards the clause, " I, John, your brother and partaker with
you in the tribulation," as belonging to the original apocalypse ; the rest of the
verse as going with the following context to a later author. It is rather the
original and special title of this apocalypse.
4 See The Messiah of the Gospels, pp. 144, 148.

440 THE MESSIAH
the circumstances predicted by Jesus in his apocalypse.
They are in that affliction and they have to exercise
patience. But they are also in the kingdom, that is the
kingdom of grace of the discourses of Jesus and of the
Jewish Christian theology. The kingdom of Paulinism
has ever been a kingdom of glory ; J but the kingdom of
this apocalypse is like that of the Gospels, a kingdom
of grace before it becomes a kingdom of glory. The
writer also states, " I was in the Spirit on the Lord's
day." He was in the ecstatic state of prophecy under
the influence of that divine Spirit which Jesus had
promised his disciples. With these advantages of posi
tion, being in the Messiah's kingdom, having the divine
Spirit, suffering the affliction, and exercising the patience,
all which Jesus had promised and predicted, the writer
was able to receive and convey to others an apocalypse
of Jesus.
This Vision was seen in a Christophany. We have
already studied the Christophany at Joppa upon which
the Petrine theology is built,2 and the Christophany to
Paul upon which Paulinism is built.3 We have now to
consider the Christophany at Patmos,4 the last and the
highest of the series.

1 See pp. 78, 91, 106, 211. 2 See p. 39. • See p. 71.
4 No interpreting angel appears in this vision. The prophet is rather in the
ecstatic state under the influence of the divine Spirit. It would therefore go
with the second section of the Prologue (vers. 4-6) rather than with the first
(vers. 1-3). But the epistles are addressed to the angels, and the prophet
reports what the Messiah said to them. From this point of view it is in partial
harmony with the first section. The prophet is " in the spirit" elsewhere in the
book only in iv. -j., the introduction to the apocalypse of the Seals, and in the
supplement to the apocalypse of the Bowls, where the interpreting angel also ap
pears, xvii. 3 ; xxi. 10. But it has its own introduction. It was probably therefore
originally an independent Vision, and was apart from any of the statements in
the Prologue. In the present organism of the Apocalypse, however, it is the
first Vision of the seven.

OF THE APOCALYPSE OF THE EPISTLES 441
I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day,1 and I heard behind me
a great voice, as of a trumpet saying, What thou seest, write in
a book, and send it to the seven churches ; unto Ephesus, and
unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamum, and unto Thyatira, and unto
Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea.
And I turned to see the voice which spake with me.
And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands ; '2
And in the midst of the lampstands one like unto the Son of
man,3
Clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about at the
breasts with a golden girdle.
And his head and his hair were white as white wool, as snow ;
And his eyes were as a flame of fire ;
And his feet like unto burnished brass, as if it had been refined
in a furnace ;
And his voice as the voice of many waters.
And he had in his right hand seven stars :
And out of his mouth proceeded a sharp two-edged sword :
And his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength.
And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as one dead.
And he laid his right hand upon me, saying, Fear not ;
I am the First and the Last, and the Living one ;
And I became dead,4 and behold, I am alive unto the ages of the
ages,5
And I have the keys of Death and of Hades.
Write therefore the things which thou sawest, and the things

1 This section is regarded by Vischer as belonging to the later Christian
apocalypse. Volter, /. c. , s. 439, ascribes it to his last author, who wrote in the
reign of Hadrian. It is introductory to the Epistles to the seven churches,
chaps, ii.-iii. Spitta regards it as from his Christian author.
2 The translation candlesticks of A. V. and R. V. is erroneous. Candles were
not used in those times, but lamps. It is lampstand as in margin of R. V.
3 The article is omitted because Son of man has become definite in usage, or
because the original followed the E>JX "123 of Dan. vii. 13. The indefinite
article of the R. V. leads away from the specific Messianic usage of the apoc
alypses of Daniel, Enoch, and Jesus. Comp. Rev. xiv. 14, where alone else
where in the Apocalypse the term is found.
4 So margin of R. V., which is to be preferred to the R. V. itself.
t So margin of R. V., which is more graphic, bringing out the conception in
the original of many ages in each of which are many ages.

442 THE MESSIAH
which are, and the things which shall come to pass here
after ;
(The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right
hand, and the seven golden lampstands. The seven stars are the
angels of the seven churches : and the seven lampstands are
seven churches).1 (Rev. i. 10-20.)'2
This scene is a revelation of the glorified Son of Man,
the Messiah. It combines features from the transfigura
tion, and from the theophanies to the ancient prophets,
with new ones.3 The Messiah appears as the Son of
Man of the apocalypses of Daniel,4 of Enoch, and of
Jesus,1- clad with a tunic and a golden girdle. The light
of the glory that envelopes him and shines forth from
him makes his head as white as wool, and his hair as
snow, his eyes as flaming fire, his face like the noontide
sun, his feet like the brass of a furnace.6 He is also the
Ancient of Days of Daniel, combining the God and the
man of that vision of judgment. He speaks to the
prophet, and his voice is like the voice of many waters ;
that is, like the roar of a torrent, a cataract, or the
breakers of the sea.7 In his right hand are seven stars.
The seven stars, shining in his hand, are like the rays of
light from the hand of Yahweh, in the hymn of Habak
kuk." Out of his mouth flashes a sharp two-edged
sword. The breath of his speech flames like the blade
of a sword. All in this Christophany is light and glory.

1 Volter, /. c, s. 424, thinks that verse 20 is an explanatory addition and a
later interpolation. Spitta, /. c., s. 32, agrees with him. It is loosely attached.
It is probable that it did not belong to the original vision.
2 This piece and indeed the entire vision, except the introductory words, was
in the Pentameter movement of Hebrew or Aramaic poetry, which for the most
part discloses its parallelism and rhythm through the veil of the Greek trans
lation. 3 The Messiah of the Gospels, p. 100. * Messianic Prophecy, p. 420.
« The Messiah of the Gospels, pp. 25, 154. 6 Ezekiel i. 26, 27.
' Ezekiel i. 24. e Habakkuk iii. 4.

OF THE APOCALYPSE OF THE EPISTLES 443
The stars in the hand represent the angels of light who
go forth from his hand as ministering spirits to do his
bidding.1 The fiery sword of his word represents the
invincible might of his utterances. The Messiah is here
revealed as reigning and commanding. The seven lamp-
stands, in the midst of which he is seen standing, repre
sent the seven churches of Asia. The lampstand, with
its seven lighted lamps, was the sacred symbol of the
light of the divine presence in the ancient tabernacle.
There were ten of them in the temple of Solomon. It
shows a considerable advance beyond the Old Testament
religion that this symbol is used no longer for the light
of the divine presence in the holy place of the temple
but for the light shining from the seven churches. There
are seven here instead of one or ten, in accordance with
the symbolic use of seven in the Apocalypse. The
Messiah is revealed as reigning over these local churches.
As in the other Christophanies, so here there is a com
mission to the apostle.2
But before considering this commission it will be
necessary to examine the words of the Messiah respect
ing himself. He says, " I am the First and the Last."
This attribute applied by the Messiah to himself is based
on the phrase of the great prophet of the exile, and
implies the divinity of the Messiah as the Yahweh of
the Old Testament.3 "The Living one" is the sum
of the meaning of Yahweh and of the phrase, " which
is and which was and which is to come." 4 The clause,
" I became dead, and behold, I am alive unto the
ages of the ages," 5 identifies the ever Living one with
the crucified Messiah and with the reigning Messiah.

1 Comp. Hebrews i. and Revelation i. 1.
2 See The Messiah of the Gospels, pp. 229, 307. Also this vol., pp. 38, 7°-
3 Is. xliv. 6. See pp. 370, 3S9. See p. 392. 6 Rev. i. 18.

444 THa MESSIAH
The clause, " I have the keys of Death and of Hades,"
implies his suffering of death, his descent into Hades,
and his victory over them both, as in the Epistle to
the Hebrews.1 The prophet advances to the concep
tion that the Messiah is the sovereign of Death and
Hades, having the power of the keys, to open and shut
the gates of Death and Hades, and so to shut up whom
he will in them, and to deliver whom he will from them ;
implying, therefore, the authority of judgment over the
dead, to give them resurrection, or to shut them up in
Hades as in a prison. This power to open the gates of
Hades is in keeping with the resurrection from Hades
of some of the righteous prior to the universal resurrec
tion,2 and of the occasional release of evil spirits.3
This Christophany sets forth the Messiah as the king
of the churches, the lord of the angels of heaven, the
victorious sovereign of the realm of the dead, the ever
living God, as well as the Son of Man. It has as its aim
to commission the prophet to the seven churches of Asia,
with a warning and exhortation, in view of the afflictions
which they were suffering, and of the speedy Advent of
the Messiah which they were expecting.
THE MESSIAH'S AWARDS TO THE VICTORS.
§ 83. The Messiah was the First, the beginning of the
creation of God. He became a faithful witness and died.
He liveth forever as the Lord of men and angels, and he
is the Last. He is ever present in his churches with the
key of David, knows all their works and accurately dis
criminates all their circumstances and characteristics.
The saints should exercise patience, fortitude, faith, and
loving ministry during the times of affliction, and do good
1 See p. 252. See p. 203 s See p. 379.

OF THE APOCALYPSE OF THE EPISTLES 445
works. The churches of Asia were exposed to the persecu
tions of the synagogue of Satan and to seductions to idola
try. These try their fidelity and enable them to win the
prizes of victory. The Messiah comes in special presence to
dzvell with those who repent and open their hearts to him,
and to discipline and to destroy the impenitent. He will
soon come in second Advent to award the prizes of victory.
These are the crown of life, the tree of life, the hidden
manna, the white stone, the morning star, power over the
nations, white raiment, recognition before the Father, to
become pillars in the heavenly temple, and enthronement
with the Messiah.
The seven Epistles are symmetrical in form.
I. THE ADDRESS.
" To the angel of the church in  write!'
This is repeated seven times with seven different cities
in the seven epistles. It is significant that three of the
earlier churches of Asia mentioned in the New Testa
ment are omitted, namely: Troas,1 Colossae,2 Hierapolis.3
The list of churches, therefore, is not exhaustive. It is
limited to seven because of the selection of this symboli
cal number for the purposes of the prediction The
angels seem to be the guardian angels of the churches —
those angels of light which are in the hand of the Mes
siah, and go forth from him as his messengers to the
churches, to whom, therefore,, he issues his warnings.4
The prophet is to send the letters to the churches,

1 2 Cor. ii. 12 ; Acts xx. 5, 6. 2 Col. i. *. 3 Col. iv. 13.
4 It is objected by Volter, /. c, s. 401, that the prophet issues these letters to
the angels as representatives of the churches, and that therefore they must be the
monarchical bishops of the middle of the second Christian century. But the let
ters are sent to the churches through the guardian angels. The Messiah speaks
to the angels, but that is in the realm of the vision. They were invisible to the
churches and visible only to the prophet.

446 THE MESSIAH
that they may know that this is the word of the Mes
siah to them through their guardian angels. The seven
churches are contemporary churches. The seven epis
tles are therefore contemporary warnings of seven rep
resentative churches. They were not designed to pre
dict seven successive stages of the Church, but seven
varieties of reward to seven contemporary churches.
II. THE LORD OF THE CHURCHES.
Each of the epistles gives a description of the Messiah
in the words of the Messiah himself, who thus authenti
cates his letters to the churches, each beginning with :
" These things saith "
(i) He that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand,
He that walketh in the midst of the seven golden lampstands.
(2) The first and the last, which became dead, and lived.
(3) He that hath the sharp two-edged sword.
(4) The Son of God, who hath his eyes like a flame of fire,
And his feet are like unto burnished brass.
(5) He that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars.
(6) He that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of
David,
He that openeth, and none shall shut, and that shutteth,
and none openeth.
(7) The Amen, the faithful and true witness,
The beginning of the creation of God.
(Rev. ii. 1, 8, 12, 18; iii. 1, 7, 14.)
In these statements there is but a single reference to the
death of the Messiah. He says that he is one " which be
came dead." His pre-existence is stated in the attribute
" the First," already considered ; and also in the clause
" beginning of the creation of God," which reminds us of
" the first-born of all creation " of the Epistle to the
Colossians.1 The enthroned Messiah is presented not
' Col. i. 15.

OF THE APOCALYPSE OF THE EPISTLES 447
so much in his heavenly glory as in his earthly dominion.
This is conceived as a real but spiritual presence in ac
cordance with the last discourse of Jesus in the Gospel
of John.1 He walks in the midst of the churches. He
has been the faithful and true witness in the testimony
of his life. He has put the seal, the Amen to the prom
ises of God. He is holy and true in all his government.
His authority extends over all things. He holds in his
hand the angels and the seven spirits of God. The
angels and the divine Spirit in his sevenfold activity are
sent forth by him to the churches. He has the sharp
two-edged sword of justice. He has the key of David,
and exercises the authority of the son of David over the
kingdom of God. He is the Son of God of the Chris
tophany, and Yahweh, the First and the Last, of ancient
prophecy. III. THE MESSIAH KNOWS HIS CHURCHES.
The Messiah is present in the midst of his churches,
and he knows all about them. He knows their works,
whether good or bad, and what is the exact measure of
their merit or demerit. He knows their toil, their
hardships, their poverty, their difficulties ; and he
sympathizes with them in all. He knows whether
they are rich or poor, whether they are proud or
humble, whether they are faithful or lukewarm. He
knows whether they have fortitude and patience in the
endurance of the afflictions through which they are pass
ing. There is something special in the circumstances of
each of the seven churches and in their attitude under
these circumstances. The Messiah's knowledge is spe
cific, it is accurate, and it is complete and entire.

1 See The Messiah of the Gospels, p. 293.

448 THE MESSIAH
The epistles set forth the varied conditions of the
seven churches. These sections are introduced by the
words " I know." (i). Ephesus.
I know thy works, and thy toil and patience,
And that thou canst not bear evil men,
And didst try them which call themselves apostles, and they are
not
And thou didst find them false ; and thou hast patience,
And didst bear for my name's sake, and hast not grown weary.
But I have this against thee, that thou didst leave thy first love.
Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent,
And do the first works ; or else I come to thee,
And will move thy lampstand out of its place, except thou repent.
But this thou hast, that thou hatest the works of the Nicolaitans,
which I also hate. (Rev. ii. 2-6.)
The church of Ephesus, the great mother church of
Asia, had been troubled with false apostles.1 Evil men
claiming the rank and authority of apostles had been at
work in this church. They had been tried by the church
and found false and rejected. We are reminded of the
conflicts in the churches of Corinth and Galatia, due to
those who claimed authority from Jesus and from Peter
to oppose the teachings of Paul.
There seems to have arisen a sect of Nicolaitans in
Ephesus. These stood apart by themselves, and were
rightly held in detestation by the Ephesians.2 The
Messiah recognizes that the Ephesians have remained

1 See 1 Cor. i. 12 seq. ; Gal. i. 7 seq. There is no sufficient reason with Volter,
/. e., s. 407, et al., to think of Paul and his disciples as these false aposUes, for
the church of Ephesus was a Pauline church ; its first love was fidelity to Paulin
ism. It was this fidelity which enabled them to discern and reject the false
apostles. It was quite natural that the conflict at Corinth and Galatia should
be renewed at Ephesus. Indeed, Paul predicted it on his departure from Asia.
Acts xx. 29, 30. Comp. 2 Tim. i. 15.
-' We reserve a consideration of this sect for the present. See p 452.

OF THE APOCALYPSE OF THE EPISTLES 449
faithful to him in the main ; but he blames them that they
are not as faithful as they once were. Their early love
to him and their first works were so much higher than
their present that they have fallen, and are in peril of
falling away altogether. He calls them to repentance,
with a warning of an advent in judgment. This advent
for the judgment of the particular church must be dis
tinguished from the spiritual presence of the Messiah in
his churches on the one hand, and his Advent for uni
versal judgment at the End of the Age on the other.
It is an advent for the purpose of conducting discipline
during the growth of his church in the age between the
advents. (2). Smyrna.
I know thy tribulation, and thy poverty — but thou art rich, —
And the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews,
And they are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.
Fear not the things which thou art about to suffer :
Behold, the devil is about to 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 the crown of
life. (Rev. ii. 9, 10.)
The church of Smyrna is troubled by false Jews, who
are probably Jews after the flesh, not Jews after the
spirit, and therefore not Jewish Christians. Their syna
gogue is not a synagogue of God but a synagogue of
Satan, for it has a Satanic spirit of hostility towards the
church of Smyrna. The hostility expresses itself in
blasphemy, doubtless of the holy name of Jesus the
Messiah. The Satanic hostility has gone so far that
the devil is about to cast some Christians into prison
and to expose them to the peril of death. The Jews
were able to excite the people of Smyrna and the
Roman authorities against the Christians to do these
things, as they had so often done during the ministry of

450

THE MESSIAH

Paul in other places.1 The Messiah has no warning for
faithful Smyrna, but rather an exhortation to be faith
ful unto death, when the Messiah himself will bestow
the crown of life. The persecution will endure a very
short time, only ten days, that is, a complete but short
time. The promise reminds us of the promised advent
to the apostles in the hour of death, in the Gospel of
John.2 (3). Pergamum.
I know where thou dwellest, where Satan's throne is :
And thou holdest fast my name, and didst not deny my faith,
Even in the days of Antipas my witness, my faithful one,
Who was killed among you, where Satan dwelleth.
But I have a few things against thee,
Because thou hast there some that hold the teaching of Balaam.
Who taught Balak to cast a stumblingblock before the children
of Israel,
To eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit fornication.
So hast thou also some that hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans
in like manner.
Repent therefore ; or else I come to thee quickly,
And I will make war against them with the sword of my mouth.
(Rev. ii. 13-16.)
The church at Pergamum was exposed to peculiar
trials. The throne of Satan was in that city. The
throne of Satan was probably the great altar on the
acropolis. It was a great seat of idolatry. It seems prob
able that Antipas suffered martyrdom through a riot of
the people against the Christians 3 very much as in sim
ilar cases described in the book of Acts.* There was

1 Acts xiii. 50-52 ; xiv. 2-6, 19-20 ; xvii. 5-9 ; xviii. 12-17. There is no need
of thinking of an official Roman persecution under Nero or Domitian, still less
of the martyrdom of Polycarp. See Volter, /. c. s., 404.
2 See The Messiah of the Gospels, p. 291. 3 Volter, /. c, a. 405.
* Acts xvi. 11-40 ; xix. 21-41. See Ramsay, The Church in the Roman Em
pire, p. 200.

OF THE APOCALYPSE OF THE EPISTLES 451
constant danger of such a conflict with the idolaters
whose livelihood as well as religious customs were
wrapped up in the honor of this great centre of idolatry.
But other perils threatened the church at Pergamum
with still graver evils. The sect of Nicolaitans had
gained adherents from among the Christians themselves.
They were not excluded from the Christian body as
they were at Ephesus. Moreover there were others in
the Christian church at Pergamum who held to the
teachings of Balaam. The name Balaam does not indi
cate a sect ; but a set of principles. These principles
are called the teaching of Balaam because they resemble
the practices of Balaam, the ancient prophet who en
deavored to seduce and destroy Israel.1 So these teach
ings sedHce Christians to idolatry. These principles
were that it was lawful to eat of the sacrificial meals of
the idols with their Greek friends and neighbors and
to indulge in the fornication of the festivals of
idolatry. This sharing with the Greeks in the feasts
of their great altars would be a stumbling-block to
other Christians, and would in itself seduce to idolatry.
It is urged by some critics that this implies a strict ad
herence by the author to the decree of the council at
Jerusalem 2 and is in violation of the principles of Paul.3
But surely Paul would have taken the same position as
the writer of this epistle. It is true he asserted liberty
to eat of the flesh offered to idols, provided it was not a
stumbling-block to the weaker brethren, and provided it
was eaten ignorantly through the purchase of the meat
in the market-place. But Paul insisted as strongly as
the writer of this epistle against the eating of the sacri
ficial meals of the idols,4 and no one is more polemic
1 Numbers xxii. -xxv. ; xxxi. 16. 2 Acts xv. 20, 21.
3 So Volter, /. «.., 5. 407. ' See 1 Cor. x. 19-22.

452 THE MESSIAH
than he against fornication. It seems that a lax prac
tice had sprung up in the church of Pergamum and that
the liberty from the Law which Paul preached had be
come Antinomian, and that a loose' way of living, partly
Christian and partly Greek, had arisen, possibly as a re
action after the martyrdom of Antipas.
How now were the Nicolaitans related to the teach
ings of Balaam ? Schiirer 1 holds that Nicholas is only
another name of Balaam,2 and that Nicolaitans are
nothing more than those who follow the teachings of
Balaam. But there seems to be a distinction between
the teachings of Balaam and the Nicolaitans here, just
as in the letter to the Ephesians only the Nicolaitans
are mentioned, and in the letter to Thyatira only Jeze
bel is mentioned. It seems better, therefore, to think
of the Nicolaitans as an early sect whose characteristic
principles are unknown.3 The church of Pergamum
was therefore in grave peril from within and from with
out. The Messiah exhorts them to an immediate re
pentance else he will come quickly with the sword of
punishment to visit upon them for their sin. This is a
special disciplinary advent as in the case of the church
of Ephesus. (4). Thyatira.
I know thy works, and thy love and thy faith and thy ministry,
And thy patience and thy works, the last more than the first.
But I have against thee, that thou sufferest the woman Jezebel,
Which calleth herself a prophetess, and teacheth ;
And seduceth my servants to commit fornication, and to eat
things sacrificed to idols.

1 Die Prophetin Isabel, in Theol. Abhandlungen, Weizsacker gewidmet, s. 44.
2 vmo-Aaoc = QJTJ^Q.
3 It is evident that the statements about the Nicolaitans in the early fathers
are all speculative elaborations which may be traced back to their only fountain
in these two letters of the apocalypse. See Volter, /. c, ». 420 seq.

OF THE APOCALYPSE OF THE EPISTLES 453
And I gave her time that she should repent ;
And she willeth not to repent of her fornication.
Behold, I do cast her into a bed,
And them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation,
Except they repent of her works.
Her children also I will kill with death ;
And all the churches shall know
That I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts :
And I will give unto each one of you according to your works.
But to you I say, to the rest that are in Thyatira,
As many as have not this teaching,
Which know not the deep things of Satan, as they say;
I cast upon you none other burden.
Howbeit that which ye have, hold fast till I come. (Rev. ii. 19-25.)
The church of Thyatira is commended by the Messiah.
There is a heaping up of terms to indicate his great
appreciation of her fidelity, love, faith, ministry, patience,
and works. But this commendation is in order to an
extended and discriminating estimate of the trials which
beset that church, of the perils to which it was exposed,
and of the relative merit and demerit of its members.
The great peril to which this church was exposed came
from a prophetess named Jezebel. She seduced them
to partake of the sacrificial meals of the idols and to
commit fornication at the festivals. She is parallel with
Balaam in the church of Pergamum. They both do the
same work of seducing Christians to idolatry. The
teachings of Balaam did not justify us in thinking of
a person named Balaam or of a sect of Balaamites.
The reference to Jezebel seems, however, to be personal.
Schiirer has recently shown, by a learned use of monu
mental evidence, that there was an ancient Chaldean
sibyl at Thyatira, and that the author of our epistles
probably refers to a prophetess of this sibyl, or the sibyl

454

THE MESSIAH

nerself.1 The detailed personal statements seem to refer
to an individual prophetess. Time has been assigned
her for repentance. Her punishment is impending.
The Messiah will come to visit her guilt upon her.
Her punishment will be a warning to all the churches.
The church of Thyatira is urged to hold fast until this
advent. (5). Sardis.
I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and
thou art dead.
Be thou watchful, and stablish the things that remain, which
were ready to die :
For I have found no works of thine fulfilled before my God.
Remember therefore how thou hast received and didst hear ; and
keep, and repent.
If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come as a thief,
And thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.
But thou hast a few names in Sardis which did not defile their
garments :
And they shall walk with me in white ; for they are worthy.
(Rev. iii. l<5-4.)
The church at Sardis is reproved for a lifeless religion.
There seem to have been no special trials, whether
external or internal, and yet the church in general is
worthy only of censure for the neglect of good works
and of apostolic teaching. It is warned that the Messiah
will come as a thief in an uncertain hour of the night
to punish it. There are, however, a few faithful ones
in Sardis who are undefiled and worthy, who will be
rewarded by the Messiah. (6). Philadelphia.
I know thy works, that thou hast a little power,
And thou didst keep my word, and didst not deny my name.
1 See the discussion on Die Prophetin Isabel in Thyatira in the collection of
Theol. Abhaudlungen, Weizsacker Gewidmet, s. 39 seg.

OF THE APOCALYPSE OF THE EPISTLES 455
Behold, I have set before thee a door opened, which none can
shut,
Behold, I give 01 the synagogue of Satan,
Of them which say they are Jews, and they are not, but do lie ;
Behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet,
And they shall know that I have loved thee.
Because thou didst keep the word of my patience,
I also will keep thee from the hour of trial,
Which is to come upon the whole world,
To try them that dwell upon the earth.
I come quickly : hold fast that which thou hast,
That no one take away thy crown. (Rev. iii. 8-11.)
The church of Philadelphia, like the church of Smyrna,
is troubled by the synagogue of Satan ; that is, by a
hostile synagogue of Jews. These will be so greatly
humiliated that they will become worshippers at the
feet of the church. The church of Philadelphia is as
highly commended as the church of Sardis has been
censured. It is urged, however, to be patient in the
hour of trial which is coming upon the whole world, and
to be encouraged by the thought of the speedy Advent
of the Messiah with the crown in his hand.
(7). Laodicea.
I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot :
I would thou wert cold or hoi.
So because thou art lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold,
I will spew thee out of my mouth,
Because thou sayest, I am rich, and have gotten riches, and have
need of nothing;
And knowest not that thou art the wretched one
And the miserable and poor and blind and naked :
I counsel thee to buy of me gold refined by fire, that thou
mayest become rich ;
And white garments, that thou mayest clothe thyself,
And that the shame of thy nakedness be not made manifest ;
And eyesalve to anoint thine eyes, that thou mayest see.

456

THE MESSIAH

As many as I love, I reprove and chasten :
Be zealous therefore, and repent.
Behold, I stand at the door and knock :
li any man hear my voice and open the door,
I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
(Rev. iii. 15-20.)
The church of Laodicea is censured for its lukewarm-
ness. No special trials are mentioned in connection
with this church, and yet it needs reproof and chastise
ment above all others. It is warned to repent, to seek
true riches, the white garments of holiness and the eye-
salve of spiritual discernment. The Messiah is knocking
at the door, and he will enter and dwell with them and
commune with them in the intimacy of love, if only
they v/ill hear his voice and open the door to him.
The external forces against which the churches of
Asia had to contend were partly Jewish and partly
heathen ; in the former case active persecution, in the
latter case seduction to idolatry. These circumstances
are not sufficiently definite to indicate the date. They
might seem to indicate an early stage of experience in
the churches before the destruction of Jerusalem ; and
not a period when the Jews and the heathen were in
bitter warfare, were it not for the fact that the same
situation essentially continues into the midst of the
second century. The lukewarmness of Laodicea, the
deadness of Sardis, the falling from the first love of
Ephesus, would not require a long time after the death
of the apostolic founder. They might suggest a period
intermediate between the close of the apostolic activity
of Paul and the beginning of the apostolic activity of
John, but they might also suggest a much later period.
The epistles emphasize the advent of the Messiah to

OF THE APOCALYPSE OF THE EPISTLES 457
discipline his churches, to punish the guilty, to reward
the meritorious, and to overthrow their enemies. This
is to be distinguished from his constant presence with
them on the one hand, and on the other hand his special
coming to the faithful at death, and to the world at the
second Advent. It is at the second Advent that the
awards are given to him that overcometh.
IV. TO HIM THAT OVERCOMETH.
Each one of the Epistles closes with a reward to the
victors and a refrain of exhortation.
He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the
churches. (1) To him that overcometh, will I give to eat of the tree of life,
Which is in the Paradise of God.
(2) He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.
(3) To him that overcometh, to him will I give of the hidden
manna,
And I will give him a white stone,
And upon the stone a new name written,
Which no one knoweth but he that receiveth it.
(4) And he that overcometh, and he that keepeth my works unto
the end,
To him will I give authority over the nations :
And he shall rule them with a rod of iron ;
As the vessels of the potter are they broken to shivers ;
As I also have received of my Father :
And I will give him the morning star.
(5) He that overcometh shall thus be arrayed in white garments ;
And I will in no wise blot his name out of the book of life,
And I will confess his name before my Father, and before
his angels.
(6) He that overcometh, I will make him a pillar in the temple of
my God,
And he shall go out thence no more :
And I will write upon him the name of my God,
And the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem,

458 THE MESSIAH
Which cometh down out of heaven from my God, and mins
own new name.
(7) He that overcometh, I will give to him to sit down with me in
my throne,
As I also overcame, and sat down with my Father in his
throne. (Rev. ii. 7, 11, 17, 26-28; iii. 5, 12, 21.)
These awards are brief and enigmatic, but they are
based upon Old Testament institutions and predictions.
The first promise is virtually of a restoration to the
Garden of Eden in accordance with the prediction of
Ezekiel.1 The second promise is in accordance with the
prediction of an ancient apocalypse2 and of the first
Epistle to the Corinthians,3 save that we have here the
peculiar expression, " second death," which is the death
of the last judgment, a term found nowhere in Holy
Scripture apart from the Apocalypse of John, and char
acteristic of the apocalypse of the Dragon.1 The third
promise seems to be based on Aaron's pot of manna and
the supposed white stone of the Urim and Thummim, im
plying heavenly food and heavenly ministry. The fourth
promise is based on the prediction of the second psalm
as to the Messiah's dominion6 and the words of the
prophecy of Balaam." The star and the sceptre of the
Messiah himself are given to his faithful church. The
fifth promise reminds us of the priestly army ' and the
book of life of the Psalter" and the promise of Jesus to
his disciples." The sixth promise reminds us of the use
of the building of the church in the words of Jesus 10 and
1 Ezekiel xlvii. 1-12. a ls. xxv. 8.
3 1 Cor. xv. 4 See xx. 6, 14.
6 Ps. ii. 8, 9. Cited not" after the Massoretic text, but the LXX or an
Aramaic Targum.
8 Num. xxiv. 17. 1 ps. cx .,_
8 Ps. lxix. 28. • Matthew x. 32, 33. The Messiah of the Gospels, p. 198.
10 The Messiah of the Gospels, pp. 190 seg.

OF THE APOCALYPSE OF THE EPISTLES 459
in the epistles of Peter and Paul. The individual Chris
tian was there a living stone,1 apostles and prophets
were foundation-stones.2 Here the victorious Christian
is a pillar, a conspicuous and prominent part of the
temple. The temple passes over into the city, the new
Jerusalem, which is conceived of, as in the Epistles to
the Galatians and Hebrews, as in heaven, and accord
ingly to descend from heaven.3 The pillar in the tem
ple of the new Jerusalem bears the name of God and of
the Messiah and of the holy city in order to make it
clear that it belongs to them. The seventh promise is
enthronement with the Messiah, such as we have seen in
the Epistles to the Ephesians and Colossians.4
The apocalypse of the Epistles closes abruptly with
chapter iii. We expect some general statements in
conclusion. We find just such general statements min
gled with other closing statements in the closing chapters
of the Apocalypse.
And he saith, Write, These words are faithful and true : 6
He that overcometh 6 shall inherit these things.7
(Rev. xxi. $b, 7a.)
The command to write, i. 11, 19, in the opening scene,
naturally has its counterpart in the conclusion, xxi. ^b.
1 1 Peter ii. 4-8. See p. 52. 2 Ephesians ii. 20-22. See p. 198.
3 Galatians iv 26 ; Hebrews xii. 22 seq.
4 Ephesians ii. 6 ; Colossians iii. 1-4.
5 This sentence is similar to xxii. 6, and it reminds of us xix. 9. But the adjec
tives wiaTol ml dATfiivol are used in iii. 14 ; xix. n ; xxii. 6. The command to
write is found in i. 11, 19 ; ii. i, 8, 12, 18 ; iii. 1, 7, '4, in this apocalypse of the
Epistles; in xiv. 13, which has been assigned with some hesitation to the apoca
lypse of the Beasts, xix. 9, which we have assigned to the apocalypse of the
Bowls and here.
6 6 vikuv is characteristic of the apocalypse of the Epistles, ii. 7, ". i7i 26 ;
iii. 5, 12, 21.
' KA-qpovojiElv is used only here in the Apocalypse, but it is suited to the sum
ming up of the things given as a reward to the victors.

460 THE MESSIAH
The specific promise to the one that overcometh at the
close of each of the seven epistles, would naturally be
followed by a more general statement such as we find in
xxi. 7a.
The last words of this apocalypse are probably found
in xxii. 16, 17.
I Jesus have sent mine angel '
To testify unto you these things for the churches.
I am the root 2 and the offspring of David,
The bright, the morning star.
And the Spirit (and the bride) 3 say, Come.
And he that heareth, let him say, Come.
And he that is athirst, let him come :
He that will, let him take the water of life freely.4
(Rev. xxii. 16, 17.)
The Messiah, speaking in the first person to John, is
characteristic of the introductory scene of this apoca
lypse. The Spirit speaking unto the churches accom
panies each one of the epistles.
There are also several references to the Messiah of
prophecy in this section of the Epilogue. Jesus repre
sents that he is " the root and the offspring of David."
This refers to the prediction of Nathan and Isaiah ° as
fulfilled in the birth of Jesus. He is also " the bright,
the morning star." ' As such, he is the star of Jacob, of
Balaam's prophecy,7 and the day star of the morn of the

1 Weiss, /. c, s. 224, urges that the angel here is the prophet John, after Mal.
ii. 7 ; 2 Ch. xxxvi. 15 ; 3 Ezr. i. 48 seq.; and that it is impossible in this context
to think of the angel of xxii. 6.
2 So in v. 5, but here explained by yivoq.
3 The bride was probably inserted by the editor when this apocalypse was com
bined with the apocalypse of the Bowls.
4 Comp. xxi. 6.
» Comp. v. 5 ; 2 Sam. vii. 12-16 ; Is. xi. 1. • Comp. ii. 281
7 Num. xxiv. 17.

OF THE APOCALYPSE OF THE EPISTLES

461

second Advent of the second epistle of Peter.1 The
divine Spirit * speaks the eager call for the Messiah to
come, and all the thirsty are called to partake of the
water of life. These words probably constitute the
original conclusion of the apocalypse of the Epistles.

1 2 Peter i. 19. 2 Comp. the groaning of the Spirit in Rom. viii. 26.

CHAPTER XVI.
THE MESSIAH OF THE EPISTLES OF JOHN.
The Epistles of John were written towards the close
of the first Christian century. They are so similar to
the Gospel of John that it is necessary to think of a
common author. From the most ancient times they
have been attributed to the apostle John. But grave
doubts have arisen in modern times as to the correctness
of this traditional opinion. These doubts have been the
occasion of great discussion in the present century.
They are still entertained by many earnest men and
able Christian scholars. The difficulties in the way of
the Johannine authorship have not been entirely re
moved. At the same time it seems to me that the pre
ponderance of evidence is in favor of it. This question
is of no great importance for the purpose of our present
study. The Messianic ideals remain just the same
whether they came from the apostle John or not, and
they are just as true and as really inspired if they came
from another, as if they came from him. These Johan
nine writings present us the latest Biblical type of doc
trine. They carry the doctrine of Christ to a further
height than the Epistles to the Colossians and to the
Hebrews, or the apocalypse of the Seven Epistles.
The Prologue of the Gospel of John, and the comments
of the writer upon his report of the words of Jesus, give
us the crown of the structure of the Christology of the
(462)

OF THE EPISTLES OF JOHN 4(J3
New Testament. We shall therefore consider them last
of all.1
The city of Jerusalem had been long destroyed, and
is no longer in the mind of the writer even as a symbol.
The apocalyptic predictions centering about that event
are no longer in the range of his conception of the Pa
rousia. The earthly life of Jesus is even of less import
ance than in the Epistles of Paul, or in the Epistle to
the Hebrews. The Messiah of this writer is the divine
Messiah of the pre-existence, of the incarnation, of the
heavenly intercession, and of the second Advent.
The Messianic idea of the first Epistle of John may
be divided into four sections : (i) the Introduction i.
1-4 ; (2) i. 5— ii- 27 ; (3) ii. 28-iv. 6 ; (4) iv. 7-v. 21.
THE WORD OF LIFE.
§ 84. The eternal Life and life-giving Word was from
the beginning with the Father as His Son. He was mani
fested, and that which zvas manifested of him was seen,
heard, and handled by those who were called to bear wit
ness concerning it.
That which was from the beginning, that which we have heard,
that which we have seen with our eyes, that which we beheld,
and our hands handled, concerning the Word of Life (and the
life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and
declare unto you the life, the eternal life, which was with the
Father, and was manifested unto us) ; that which we have seen
and heard declare we unto you also, that ye also may have fel
lowship with us : yea, and our fellowship is with the Father, and
with his Son Jesus Christ: and these things we write, that our
joy may be fulfilled. (1 John i. 1-4.)

» It is not easy to determine the order of these writings. Scholars are divided
in their opinion. Under these circumstances I shall treat them in that order
which seems best suited to the purpose I have in view in tracing the develop
ment of the Messianic idea. This favors the order, the first Epistle, the second
and third Epistles, and the Prologue and other material from the Gospel.

464 THE MESSIAH
The Introduction to the Epistle bears solemn and
emphatic testimony to facts concerning the Word of
Life, which had been manifested to the senses of the wit
nesses and which it is the purpose of the writer to de
clare. They saw them with their eyes, they heard them
with their ears, they handled them with their hands. The
aim of the declaration is that those who read the testi
mony may share in the communion with God the Father
and with His Son.
There is a striking antithesis between the Life as
manifested and the Life as not manifested. The Life
as manifested was a real life ; not imagined, but seen with
the eyes ; not heard about, but heard with the ears ;
not an illusion, but touched and handled. The writer
is doubtless thinking of the resurrection and of the story
told in the Gospel of John respecting doubting Thomas ; 1
but that is only an incident of the entire earthly life of
Jesus, which from his first appearance in the world until
his ascension to the Father, was a manifestation. The
writer in this epistle uses manifestation for both the first
advent and the second,2 here without doubt for the first
advent, and we are obliged to think of the entire earthly
life of Jesus as told in the Gospels, and especially in the
Gospel of John ; of the seeing his wondrous personality
and his acts of love and mercy ; of the hearing his di
vine words of instruction ; and of the physical contact
with him which his disciples enjoyed for the many months
he abode with them and journeyed with them, in the
kisses of salutation, in the affectionate embrace, and in
1 John xx. 27-29. See The Messiah of the Gospels, p. 306.
'favEpovv is used of the manifestation of the resurrection in the Appen
dix to Mark xvi. 12, 14 ; and in the Gospel of John xxi. 1, 14 ; of the manifesta
tion of the earthly life of the first advent, 1 Peter i. 20 ; Col. i. 26 ; 1 Tim. iii. 16 ;
2 Tim. i. 10 ; Heb. ix. 26 ; 1 John r. c, iii. 5, 8 ; of the manifestation of the
second advent, 1 Peter v. 4 ; Col. iii. 4 ; 1 John ii. 28, iii. 2. See pp. 50, 62, 223.

OF THE EPISTLES OF JOHN 465
the kindly ministrations to the beloved Master. It was
indeed just these things that were manifested to the
apostles concerning the Word of Life which made them
competent to be apostles of the Messiah.1 It seems to
me that these expressions do not necessarily imply the
apostolic authorship of this Epistle. They rather em
phasize the fact that the religion of the Messiah rests
upon verities, upon substantial facts, borne witness to
by those who had seen and heard and handled them
themselves. It is quite remarkable, in view of the stress
laid upon the facts of the manifestation to the first dis
ciples, that the Epistle has nothing to say about those
facts. There is no reference in this Epistle to the resur
rection, or to the cross, or to the birth of Jesus, or to
any facts whatever in his earthly life. This seems to
favor the opinion that the Epistle was really written to
accompany the Gospel, and that the facts that are not
declared in the Epistle are declared in the Gospel. So
far as the Epistle is concerned, the writer mentions the
manifestation in order to bring into view that about the
Word of Life which lies back of the manifestation and
that which is the result of it.
Three terms are used for Jesus Christ in this Intro
duction : (1) The Son ; (2) the Life ; (3) the Word.
(1) The Son is the Messianic son of the synoptic
evangelists carried back into the pre-existent state in
accordance with the Gospel of John.2 Jesus is not only
the Son of God his Father so far as the communion of
the disciples is with him as well as with his Father after
his manifestation, but also before his manifestation he
"was with the Father." His sonship was a pre-existent
sonship and belonged to him prior to his manifestation.

1 Acts i. 21, 22. 2 See The Messiah of the Gospels, pp. 273 seg.

466 THE MESSIAH
It is not, however, his sonship which is emphasized in
his pre-existence, it is his life. Life is so identified with
him in the conception of the writer, that he is the Life,
the eternal Life. As the eternal Life he was with the
Father, as the eternal Life he was eternally with the
Father. Accordingly the writer thinks of an eternal
pre existence of the Son with the Father before his
manifestation in the world. It is in accord with this
conception that we must explain " that which was from
the beginning." This is distinguished from that which
was manifested. It refers to that which was from the
beginning prior to the manifestation — it cannot mean
therefore the beginning of the earthly life of Jesus or
the beginning of the Christian organization of the dis
ciples — it is a beginning in the pre-existence. From the
beginning looks at the long reaches of th^ time of his
pre-existence from an ideal beginning, it does not assert
that there was a real beginning in time. We are re
minded of the " first born of all creation " of the Epistle
to the Colossians,1 and of his "being in the form of
God " of the Epistle to the Philippians ; 2 but especially
of the Son having " life in himself," and of his looking
forward to returning to the glory which he had with the
Father before the world was, in the words of Jesus in
the Gospel of John.3 We may also think of " the Living
one," " the First and the Last " of the apocalypse of
the Epistles.4
The Son is not only the eternal Life, but still more
he is the Word of Life. This phrase, as applied to the
Messiah, is unique. It is found nowhere else in the New
Testament. Although it comes before the Life and the

1 Col. i. 15. See p. 213. 2 Phil. ii. 6. See p. 180.
3 John v. 26-29 i xv'i- 5- See The Messiah of the Gospels, p. 302.
4 Rev. i. 17. See p. 443.

OF THE EPISTLES OF JOHN 467
Son in this passage, I consider it last in order that we
may get light upon it from the other terms which are less
doubtful. The Life of the Word of Life is interpreted as
the personal Life and is identified with the Son of the
Father. The things which were manifested were concern
ing the Word of Life. Those things were concerning
Jesus Christ the Son. The context shows therefore that
the Word of Life = the Life = the Son ; all three refer to
the person of Jesus Christ, The Word of Life therefore
is the Word which is the Life, and the Word is the per
sonal Word. The personal Word meets us here for the
first time. We shall have to consider it more fully in our
study of the Prologue of the Gospel of John.1 In the
meanwhile it is sufficient to show its significance in this
passage. It is parallel with the Life. There was a
manifestation of the Life and there was a manifestation
of the Word. That which was manifested was only con
cerning the Word and the Life. There was much more
of the Word and the Life which could not be mani
fested, which was indeed eternal in his pre-existence and
eternal in his post-existence. We may compare the
words of Jesus in the Gospel of John, where he says, " I
am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life,"2 and the
statement of the first Epistle to Timothy that the
Church is "the pillar and ground of the Truth."3 As
the Truth and the Life are associated in the words of
Jesus, so are the Word and the Life here. The Word,
which is the Life, was pre-existent with God before cer
tain things about him were manifested to his disciples.
There is nothing in the context to bring out the mean
ing of the Word in this passage. The stress is laid on
the Life. But we may regard the Word as the Word of

1 See pp. 495 seq. See also Vincent's Word Studies, ii., p. 306.
2 John xiv. 6. s 1 Tim. iii. 15. See p. 229.

468 THE MESSIAH
God, or the divine revelation of a body of truth and
fact to men. The Word is not the Word in the form of
an oral discourse, or of a written communication, but in
the form of a person who expresses in his entire life,
character, and actions the divine revelation to the world.
He contains in himself all the word which God has for
the creature. The conception is therefore parallel with
the " image of the invisible God " of the Epistle to the
Colossians,1 and "the effulgence of his glory, and the
very image of his substance " of the Epistle to the
Hebrews.2 The Son is the pre-existent and eternal
being through whom God's word is communicated to
the creature. He is therefore the Word of God in his
entire person and eternal life. All of the personal Word
could not be manifested to his disciples during his
earthly life ; but many things about him were manifested.
These many things that were manifested, about which
Christians could bear witness, implied many more things
back of them and underlying them and enveloping them,
eternal realities which had not been manifested and
which might be manifested hereafter.
JESUS CHRIST THE PARACLETE.
§ 85. Jesus Christ the righteous is our Paraclete with
the Father and the propitiation for the whole world. His
blood cleanseth from all sin those who walk in the light of
God. God is faithful and just to forgive the sins of those
who confess them, and to cleanse from all unrighteousness.
The world passeth away, but he that doeth the will of God
abideth forever. The last hour has come. There are many
antichrists who have withdrawn from Christian fellow
ship and deny the Father and Jesus the Son and Messiah.
And this is the message which we have heard from him, and
' Col. i. 15. See p. 214. a Heb. i. 3. See p. 246.

OF THE EPISTLES OF JOHN 4.QQ
announce unto you, that God is light, and in him is no dark
ness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him, and
walk in the darkness, we lie, and do not truely : ' but if we
walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one
with another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanseth us
from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive our
selves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is
faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us
from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we
make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye may
not sin. And if any man sin, we have a Paraclete with the
Father, Jesus Christ the righteous : and he is the propitiation
for our sins ; and not for ours only, but also for the whole world.
(1 John i. 5 — ii. 2.)
The message of the Epistle begins with the doctrine
that God is Light. In the Gospel of John Jesus said :
"I am the Light of the world."2 Jesus taught that
those who follow him walk in the Light. So the
Epistle shows that those who have fellowship with
God cannot walk in darkness. Walking in the light of
God is the positive side of the fellowship. The nega
tive side is "the blood of Jesus his Son cleanseth us
from all sin." The blood of Jesus is redemptive in
several different ways. Jesus himself taught that he
shed his blood for all, and gave it to his disciples to
drink in the form of the wine of the cup of the Lord's
supper. The communion meal of the sacrifice of the new
covenant involves participation in the blood of the vic
tim by drinking.3 By drinking of the cup, the blood of
the redemptive life of the Messiah is received in fellow
ship with the Messiah and all his disciples. This con
ception is also in the words of Jesus in the Gospel of

1 gee p. 316. 2 John viii. 12 ; ix. 5. Comp. xii. 46
3 Mark xiv. 22-25. See The Messiah of the Gospels, pp. 120 seq.

470 THE MESSIAH
John, where he said, " He that eateth my flesh and
drinketh my blood hath eternal life "; and " My blood
is drink indeed." ' So in many other passages of the New
Testament redemption by the blood of Christ is con
nected directly2 or indirectly3 with the Lord's supper.
Inasmuch as the cleansing is conceived in our passage
as a process and not as a single act, it seems proper to
give the passage the same reference as the words of
Jesus in the Gospel of John, and to think of the fellow
ship of the Lord's supper and of cleansing by the blood
of the communion wine. At the same time it seems
probable that the writer is thinking of a redemptive
effect of the blood of Jesus, which is more comprehen
sive than participation in the wine of the Lord's supper.
The parallelism with walking in the light suggests a con
tinuous cleansing by the blood of Christ rather than an
oft-repeated ritual cleansing. It is quite evident that in
this passage we must think of the application of the
blood of Jesus to the persons of Christians. The words
that are used do not permit us to think of redemption
by the shedding of the blood of the Messiah in his death
of interposition and ransom, although that is taught in
many passages of the New Testament ;4 or of the appli
cation of the blood of the victim of the sin-offering to
the divine altars as taught by Paul and the Epistle to
the Hebrews ; 6 but they imply cleansing by the applica
tion of the blood to the persons, which was done in the
ritual of the Old Testament either in the ceremony of
the purification of the leper, or in the application of the
blood of the victims of the peace-offerings to the per-

1 John vi. 35-63. See The Messiah of the Gospels, pp. 278 seg.
2 P- 102. s p 4g
4 See p. 81. See also 1 John iii. 16, p. 486. » See pp. 146, 150, 263.

OF THE EPISTLES OF JOHN 471
sons or things to be cleansed. The application of blood
to the person is always to cleanse the person.1 Just as
in the Epistle to the Hebrews, the blood of Christ as the
victim of the sin-offering was conceived as everlastingly
on the heavenly propitiatory to purge away the guilt of
sin at the altar of God,2 so here the blood is ever present
to the individual Christian to cleanse him from all sin.
It flows like a redemptive tide through the whole of the
Christian man, cleansing him from all the stain and pol
lution of sin. The blood of Christ stands here as ever
for the life of Christ, and the life of Christ is communi
cated in the fellowship of love to all Christians as the
life of the vine-stock is communicated to the branches.3
The cleansing from all sin by the blood of Jesus passes
over into the parallel conception that God cleanses from
all unrighteousness those who confess their sins to Him.
This cleansing on the part of God is associated with for
giveness of sins. Forgiveness and cleansing are two
sides of the same divine gracious act. The forgiveness
of sins is their remission or removal from consideration
on the part of God. The cleansing from sin is the re
moval of sin from the sinner himself. The mode of
cleansing is not mentioned here. In the previous con
text it is by the blood of Jesus. The ground of forgive
ness is not mentioned here. It appears in the following
context in the Paraclete. It is said that God is faithful
and just to forgive and to cleanse. This reminds us of
the Epistle to the Romans, where it is said of God that

1 KadapiX,u is used in Eph. v. 26 of the Messiah cleansing his bride by the use
of the laver ; in 2 Cor. vii. 1 of Christians cleansing themselves from all defile
ment, perfecting holiness, where there is no reference to means ; in Acts xv. 9
of God's cleansing the heart by faith ; in Titus ii. 14 Christ gave himself for us
that he might purify unto himself a people ; in Heb. ix. 14, 22, 23 ; x. 2, it is
used of the application of cleansing blood to persons and things. See p. 208.
2 See p. 259. 3 See The Messiah of the Gospels, p. 294.

472 THE MESSIAH
He set forth the propitiatory that He might Himself
be just and the justifier of him that hath faith in
Jesus.1 Paul explains and reconciles the justice of God
and t'he justification of the believing sinner by the con
ception of Jesus as the blood-besprinkled propitiatory.
John does not explain how God can be faithful and just
in the forgiveness of sins and in the purification of the
sinner ; but the explanation is not far off. For the
cleansing blood of Christ which precedes and the Para
clete suing for forgiveness which follows, show that God is
just in forgiving and faithful in cleansing. In the Epistle
to the Romans, Paul overlooks the forgiveness of sins
and thinks only of man's justification ; but the later Paul
inism agrees with the Gospels, the Book of Acts, and
the Epistle of John, in thinking of forgiveness rather
than justification.2
The real basis for the forgiveness of sin is presented
in the Paraclete. Jesus Christ is the Paraclete, the Ad
vocate, the Counsellor of the sinner who interposes for
him, pleads his cause, and intercedes for him. He is
the righteous Paraclete, and therefore suited to plead
before the righteous God. He is the Son, and there
fore the most suitable person to plead with his Father.
In the Gospel of John, Jesus promised that he would
send the Holy Spirit into the world as a Paraclete to be
and remain in the world. He represented that the Holy
Spirit was another Paraclete to himself as the first Para
clete.3 But so far as appears from his words in the Gos
pel, he had been the Paraclete with his disciples during
his earthly life ; he was about to send the Holy Spirit to
take his place. The conception of Jesus as the Paraclete 4
1 Rom. iii. 25, 26. See p. 146. a See p. 189.
3 See The Messiah of the Gospels, pp. 292 seg.
4 See Beyschlag, /. c, ii., s. 444.

OF THE EPISTLES OF JOHN 473
here, is somewhat different. He is a Paraclete with the
Father, and the Holy Spirit is a Paraclete with men.
The conception of Jesus as the Paraclete with the
Father, therefore, points to a heavenly ministry of the
risen and enthroned Messiah. This is in accord with the
conception of the Messiah as the Mediator in the first
Epistle to Timothy ' and in the Epistle to the Hebrews.2
In the Epistle to Timothy, Jesus is the one Mediator
between God and man, who gave himself a ransom for
all. So in our passage the Advocate is the propitiation
for the whole world. The Mediator as the ransom for
all is the one who shed his blood in defence of his peo
ple and purchased them as his own. The propitiation
implies a different conception of his mediation. The
Mediator of the new covenant of the Epistle to the
Hebrews is the great high-priest after the order of Mel
chizedek, who cleanses the heavenly altar with the blood
of his sin-offering, and men by the blood of his covenant
sacrifice. As a merciful and faithful high-priest he made
propitiation for the sin of the people at the heavenly
propitiatory.3 As the Messiah in his heavenly media
tion makes propitiation at the propitiatory and is him
self the propitiatory, so he is here the propitiation itself.4

1 See p. 228. 2 See pp. 260 seg. ' See pp. 249 seq.
4 The verb lAdoneoBaL = "|Q3 cover over sin, is used in LXX, Pss. lxv. 4 ;
lxxviii. 38 ; Ixxix. 9 ; and in the New Testament, Heb. ii. 17 ; and in the prayer
of the publican, Luke xviii. 13 ; the noun lAaari/ptov = 7T1S3, tbe propitia
tory, or place of covering over sin, used constantly in LXX (see Ex. xxv. 18 ;
Lev. xvi. 2 ; Num. vii. 89) ; and in the New Testament, Heb. ix. 5 ; Rom. iii.
25 (see p. 147). The noun l~Aa.ap.6c = Q'lQa covering over, atonement, is
used in the LXX, Lev. xxv. 9 ; Num. v. 8 ; and in the New Testament only 1 John
ii. 2 ; iv. 10. The meaning is sufficiently plain therefore. The propitiatory is
the highest altar where the blood of the sin-offering of the day of atonement was
applied to cover over, or cleanse away sin ; the propitiation is the abstract cover
ing over sin there, the verb is the priestly act of covering over sin there. As

474

THE MESSIAH

His blood covers over sin and cleanses the propitiatory,
or throne of grace in heaven. He is the propitiation
here as he is the propitiatory in the Epistle to the Ro
mans, and the priest in the Epistle to the Hebrews ;
that is the victim, the altar, and the priest. As the pro
pitiatory he is the altar. His blood applied to the altar
is the propitiation. Being the propitiation, sin is cov
ered and cleansed at the divine altar, therefore God is
faithful and just to forgive our sins ; just as in the
Epistle to the Romans He was just in justifying those
whose faith laid hold of the blood-besprinkled propitia
tory. The author thinks first of Jesus Christ as the Para
clete and propitiation of his own sins and the sins of
other Christians ; but he feels how improper such a
limitation of the work of the Paraclete is, and at once
rises to the universal significance of the Mediator as the
propitiation for the whole world. The whole world is
as universal an expression as can be made.1 No one
can limit it without doing violence to its meaning and
marring the sublime doctrine of the passage. The
heavenly altar is the world's altar, and the propitiation
there is the world's propitiation. The high-priest of
Israel when he made propitiation at the propitiatory of
the temple on the day of propitiation, did not make
propitiation for individuals or for elect persons in Israel ;
but he made propitiation for the nation, as a whole, as
a living organization before God ; and the sins of the
nation were covered over and cleansed from the national
altar : just so, as soon as the Messiah of Israel is recog
nized as the great high-priest after the order of Mel-

Holtzmann, Handcommentar, iv., s. 217, says, " the action is used by metonymy
for the actor, propitiatio, lor propitiator."
1 " The propitiation is as wide as the sin," Bengel, in loco.

OF THE EPISTLES OF JOHN 475
chizedek, as not merely the priest for Israel, but the
priest for the whole world ; then his propitiation at the
divine altar is a propitiation for the whole world, for
the entire race of man conceived as one organic whole.
The race of man is covered with the Redeemer's blood.
The race of man is represented by a heavenly Paraclete.
The Messiah, to use an expression of the older divines,
is a common person. He is the common Paraclete and
propitiation for the whole world. This universality of
the mediatorial work of Jesus Christ we have seen
already as a characteristic doctrine of Paulinism.1
The forgiveness of sins recurs again at the beginning
of a new section of exhortation :
I write unto you, little children, because your sins are for
given you for his name's sake. (1 John ii. 12.)
The Name of the Messiah here takes the place of the
Paraclete and the propitiation as the ground of the for
giveness. The Name of Christ here is not merely the
" summing up that which is made known of Christ." 2
Such a definition may suit other passages in which the
Name of Jesus Christ is the object of faith,3 but it is not
suited to the passage now before us where the Name
refers back to the propitiation and the Paraclete. West
cott takes too limited a view of the context when he
represents that "the Person Who is present to St. John
through the paragraph is Christ as He lived on earth
and gave Himself for those whom He called brethren.""
The Christ of the Epistle is rather the heavenly Christ.
It is true there is a reference to the earthly, living walk
of Christ in the previous context ; 6 but that does not
suffice to overcome the thought of the heavenly media-

- See pp. 123, 152. ' Westcott, The Epistles of St. John, p. 59.
2 iii. 23. Comp. John xx. 31. 4 /• c, p. 136- 6 i!- 6-

476 THE MESSIAH
tion which has been so strongly stated in this Epistle
and which must have recurred in the use of the term
forgiveness which is so intimately connected with that
mediation. We must rather think of the Name more in
the sense of 3 John 7, which Westcott defines as in
cluding " the essential elements of the Christian Creed,
the complete revelation of Christ's Person and Work in
relation to God and man." But even this comprehen
sive statement does not explain the use of the Name in
our passage. It is not the Name as including the essential
elements of the Christian creed as something to be be
lieved, or the Name in its relation to man's faith ; it is
rather the Name in its relation to God. The forgiveness
of sins granted to man by God was for the- sake of the
Name of Christ, because of the Name of Christ which
the Father looked upon ; because of the infinite and
absolute worthiness of the Name to cover the sins of
the world. The Name stands for the Paraclete and the
propitiation.1 The blood of the heavenly propitiation
was of sufficient purity and power of life to cleanse the
heavenly altar and keep the way of man to God open
and free. The Paraclete who advocated the cause of
man to God had won such a Name of holiness and of
glory that his Name was a sufficient guarantee of the
ultimate righteousness of the world and of the justice of
a forgiveness of sins to those whom such a Paraclete
had undertaken to redeem and to ultimately constitute
righteous before God.
The antithesis between the love of the world and the
love of the Father, which comes out in the course of the
exhortation to live the life of love, brings the writer to
think of the limited duration of the world as compared

1 Holtzmann, I.e., s. 220.

OF THE EPISTLES OF JOHN 477
with the everlasting duration of the Father and of those
who are united to him in holy obedience.1
Little children, it is the last hour : and as ye heard that anti
christ cometh, even now have there arisen many antichrists ;
whereby we know that it is the last hour. They went out from
us, but they were not of us ; for if they had been of us, they
would have continued with us : but they went out, that they
might be made manifest how that they all are not of us. And
ye have an anointing from the Holy One, and ye know all things.
I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but
because ye know it, and because no lie is of the truth. Who is
the liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ ? This is
the antichrist, even he that denieth the Father and the Son.
Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father :
he that confesseth the Son hath the Father also. As for you,
let that abide in you which ye heard from the beginning. If that
which ye heard from the beginning abide in you, ye also shall
abide in the Son, and in the Father. And this is the promise
which he promised us, even the life eternal. These things have
I writ-ten unto you concerning them that would lead you astray.
And as for you, the anointing which ye received of him abideth
in you, and ye need not that any one teach you; but as his
anointing teacheth you concerning all things, and is true, and is
no lie, and even as it taught you, ye abide in him.
(i John ii. 18-27.)
The writer of these words is evidently thinking of
that same contrast between the world and the disciples
which we have studied in the last discourse of Jesus in
the Gospel of John.2 The fleeting character of the
world, as stated here, reminds us of similar representa
tions in the several apocalypses.3 The passing away of
the world brings into view the advent of antichrist
which was to precede the Advent of the Christ.4 The
1 >'• J7-
2 John xiv. -xvii. See The Messiah of the Gospels, pp. 28S seg.
3 See pp. 64, 87, no, 2,6. 4 See P- 92>

478 THE MESSIAH
Epistle represents that many antichrists have already
come. These antichrists are not the false messiahs of
the Synoptic Gospels, or the pharisees of the Pauline
epistles,1 or the Roman beast of the apocalypses,2 who
have always been hostile to Christ and his disciples; but
they are apostate Christians, who having once confessed
Jesus to be the Messiah, now deny that he is the Mes
siah ; and who have, with the denial of the Messianic Son,
denied the Father also and have become worse than the
heathen. These apostates have never been real Chris
tians. Their apostasy is an evidence of the insincerity
and unreality of their professions of the faith. The true
Christian is born of God and he has an anointing from
the Holy one. The Holy one who anoints the Christian
with the oil of consecration may be God the Father,
who anoints His Son to be the Messiah, and who there
fore may be said to christen all Christians, and to bestow
on all the anointing of His grace ; or he may be. the
Messiah who as the Paraclete and the mediatorial priest-
king anoints with the anointing of grace all his disciples.
It is difficult to decide whether the Father or the Son is
conceived of as the Holy One who bestows the anoint
ing. But on the whole it is better to think of the Son,
because the last discourse of Jesus in the Gospel of
John lies at the basis of this passage ; and there it is the
Messiah himself who bestows the charism of the other
Paraclete, the divine Spirit.3 The true Christian has
received from the Messiah, the Anointed one, the anoint
ing of the divine Spirit and thereby recognizes that
Jesus is the Anointed one. The apostate Christian has

1 See pp. 133, 177. 2 See pp. 321, 324, 426.
" xvi. 7. See The Messiah of the Gospels, p. 297. As Vincent, Word
Studies, ii. 338, "The anointing is from the Anointed." See also Beyschlag,
I. c, ii., s. 445.

OF THE EPISTLES OF JOHN 4.79
never received this anointing — he denies the Anointed
one and is an antichrist.1 The appearance of these
apostate antichrists is an evidence to the writer that
the last hour, before the Advent of the Messiah, has
really come. THE TWO MANIFESTATIONS.
§ 86. Jesus came in the flesh. He was manifested to take
away sin and to destroy the works of the devil. He laid
down his life for us. He will be manifested at his Parou
sia, when the faithful will see him as he is and be like him.
And now, little children, abide in him ; that, if he shall be
manifested, we may have boldness, and not be ashamed be
fore him at his Parousia. If ye know that he is righteous, ye
know that every one also that doeth righteousness is begotten
of him. (1 John ii. 28, 29.)
Westcott attaches these verses to the previous con
text of the Epistle. I agree with Haring 2 in regarding
them as beginning a new section. In this section the
manifestation of the Parousia is in antithesis with the
manifestation of the first advent, which has been empha
sized in the introduction to the Epistle.3
The Parousia is used here as in the synoptic Gospels,4
in the earlier Pauline epistles/ and in other Catholic
epistles.6 But the characteristic term of this Epistle is
manifestation. Abiding in vital union with the Messiah
in this life secures that one will have boldness before
him at the manifestation of the Parousia.

J It is not practicable in the English language to bring out fully the force of
this word play of the Greek language. Jesus is 6 Xpiardc, the faithful have
received the xfi'iaila an(i ma-~~ ^e called xpioToi ; but the apostates who have not
received the xPl°pa are dvTixpi-OToc.
2 Gedankengang und Grundgedanke des ersten Johannesbriefs, in Theolo-
gische Abhandlungen Weizsacker gewidmet, ». 184 seq.
3 gee p. 464. 4 See The Messiah of the Gospels, p. 139.
5 See pp. 85, 92. 8 See p. 43.

480 THE MESSIAH
Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon
us, that we should be called children of God : and such we are.
For this cause the world knoweth us not, because it knew him
not. Beloved, now are we children of God, and it is not yet
made manifest what we shall be. We know that, if he shall be
manifested, we shall be like him ; for we shall see him even
as he is. And every one that hath this hope set on him puri-
fieth himself, even as he is pure. Every one that doeth sin
doeth also lawlessness : and sin is lawlessness. And ye know
that he was manifested to take away sins ; and in him is no
sin. Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not : whosoever sin-
neth hath not seen him, neither knoweth him. Little children,
let no man lead you astray : he that doeth righteousness is
righteous, even as he is righteous : he that doeth sin is of the
devil ; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. To this end
was the Son of God manifested, that he might destroy the
works of the devil. (i John iii. 1-8.)
The Father hath bestowed His love upon Christians
in that they are called children of God. This involves
more in the future than it does even in the present.
What the children of God shall be is not yet made mani
fest. But it will be made manifest at the second Ad
vent of Christ when he shall be manifested. Then the
children of God will see the Son of God as he really is,
and seeing him they will be like him. This is the same
thought that we have studied in the Epistle to the Ro
mans, where the end of the chain of grace was Jesus
Christ the firstborn of many brethren.1 This manifes
tation of the Messiah is the hope of the sons of God,2
and every one who has this hope fixed upon the Messiah,
soon to be manifested, purifieth himself as he is pure.
The Messiah is pure." The sons of God, those who have

1 See p. 164. a Comp. p. 226.
a dyvbc is pure, clean, as the result of a cleansing, or as needing no cleans
ing. Elsewhere, 2 Cor. vii. 11 ; xi. 2 ; Phil. iv. 8 ; 1 Tim. v. 22 ; Titus ii. 5 ;
James iii. 17; 1 Peter iii. 2. The verb dyvi^em is used of purifying for the

OF THE EPISTLES OF JOHN aqi
the charism of the Holy one, will purify themselves un
til they become as pure as he. The purification is a pro
cess where the goal is the manifestation of the Messiah.
Christians purify themselves while at the same time his
blood is cleansing them. The manifestation of the Pa
rousia, with its goal of purity, suggests the manifestation
of the first advent. Then the Messiah was manifested
to take away sins. In him was no sin. He was sinless
during his first manifestation just as he is pure as the
Paraclete and at his second manifestation. He was,
though sinless, manifested to take away sins. The form
of the expression here reminds us of the words of John
the Baptist according to the Gospel of John : " Behold
the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the
world." * It is true the Lamb of God is absent and the
world is not mentioned, and the plural, sins, is used in
stead of the generic sin. And yet the conception is the
same, and all these other expressions are in the back
ground. Sins are mentioned because the thought is of
the sins of individuals, and not simply of universal sin
fulness ; and yet we are not justified in thinking that
the sum total of the sin of the world is absent from the
mind of one who shortly before had represented Jesus
Christ as the propitiation for the whole world.2
The taking away of sin is somewhat different from the
propitiation for sin at the heavenly altar and the cleans
ing from sin by the purifying blood of Christ. It is, in
the usage of the Old Testament, the underlying con
ception of divine forgiveness, which was graphically ex
pressed by the shaggy he-goat for Azazel bearing the

Passover, John xi. 55 ; for the vow of the Nazarite, Acts xxi. 24, 26 ; xxiv. 18 ;
figurative of the heart, James iv. 8, and of the soul, 1 Peter i. 22, here also in
the latter sense.
! See The Messiah of the Gospels, p. 69. 2 See p. 475-

482 THE MESSIAH
sin of the people, which had been confessed over him,
away from the people into the wilderness.1 The Mes
siah was manifested to take away sins by removing them
from the persons of sinners so that they would no more
be seen upon them, and in the universal sense to remove
sins altogether from the world.
The manifestation of the earthly life had another pur
pose than that of taking away sins, although germane
thereto ; namely, to destroy the works of the devil.
The conflict between the Messiah and the devil is fami
liar to us from our study of the Gospels,2 the epistles of
Paul,3 the Epistle to the Hebrews,4 and the Apocalypse
of John.5 Here the conflict has a specific reference to
the works of the devil. The works of the devil are the
sinful works which he and his children have been doing
in the world from the beginning, and are doing now.
They may all be summed up in the sin of the world.
The removal of sins and the destruction of the sinful
works of the devil are cognate acts of the Messiah at his
first advent. This removal of sins and destruction of
the works of the devil, are to continue until all sins have
been removed and all the works of the devil have been
destroyed. The second manifestation is the End and
goal of that work of the Messiah, for it belongs to his
first manifestation and not to the second manifestation.
During the time intervening between the two manifesta
tions the work of removal and destruction goes on. On
the one side in this holy war are the devil and his children,
on the other side the Messiah and the sons of God. To

' See Lev. xvi. 21 seg. The Hebrew words Xt.'0 and |"6d, which are usually
rendered forgive, and pardon, when used in relation to sin, always have this
meaning of the bearing away, and removal of sin from the sinner.
2 See The Messiah of the Gospels, p. r68.
3 See pp. 174, 222. " See p. 252. * See pp. 334 seq.

OF THE EPISTLES OF JOHN 433
sin is characteristic of the one, not to sin is characteris
tic of the other. The one sin by nature, the other can
not sin because of the holy seed that is in them. The
writer, in his antithesis, states so strongly that the sons
of God do not sin and cannot sin, that he seems to be
inconsistent with himself. Here is an antinomy in the
situation of Christians in the present world. As chil
dren of God they cannot sin, and yet they do sin. The
Epistle has already said, " If we say that we have no sin,
we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us," and it
has conditioned forgiveness and cleansing from sin on
confession of sin.1 And it is the characteristic of Chris
tians that while they walk in the light, the blood of Jesus
is cleansing them from all sin. The writer cannot soon
after be so inconsistent with himself as to represent
Christians as altogether sinless, needing no more cleans
ing and no further forgiveness. It is quite true that no
one can commit sin, and at the same time be conscious
of the life-blood of Christ within him. No one can com
mit sin while he walks in the light. No one can commit
sin while he .is seeing and knowing Christ. The con
sciousness of Christ and the commission of sin are mut
ually exclusive. But the writer evidently means more
than this. It was not his intention to say that Chris
tians are only in part sons of God and in part walking in
the light ; in part dwelling in Christ, and in that part
they are sinless ; and in other parts still sinners need
ing pardon and cleansing. He represents them as hav
ing the seed of God in them, and on that account they
cannot sin if they have been really born of God. West
cott2 thinks that the phrase " sinneth not " describes a
" character, ' a prevailing habit,' and not primarily an act.
¦Seep. 469. 2 /.<:., p. 104.

484 THE MESSIAH
Comp. Titus iii. 1 1 ; Heb. x. 26. Each separate sinful act
does as such interrupt the fellowship, and yet so far as
it is foreign to the character of the man, and is removed
from him (ii. 1), it leaves his character unchanged. This
is the truth which Augustine partially expresses when he
says that the sin spoken of is the violation of love ; for
love may be taken fairly to express the essence of the
Christian character." There is truth in this statement.
Doubtless love is, in the Epistle, the sum of all righteous
ness, and sin is violation of the law of love ; and yet the
Epistle itself in the immediate context defines sin some
what differently as lawlessness, makes doing of sin and
sinning identical,1 and represents that it is impossible
for the man who is born of God to sin, because of the
divine seed that is in him. May a Christian sin and not
sin at the same time ? Is the explanation to be found in
the cleansing blood of Christ, which cleanses the Chris
tian's act of sin from its sinful character? We can
hardly say this, for if pardon is needed, what is it but
sin that is pardoned ? Vincent says, " John does not
teach that believers do not sin, but is speaking of a char
acter, a habit. Throughout the Epistle he deals with
the ideal reality of life in God in which the love of God
and sin exclude each other as light and darkness."2
There is great truth and force in this statement, and yet
are we justified by the context in saying that John is
here thinking of the ideal rather than the real ? It seems
to me that the antithesis he presents is a real antithesis
in this world, rather than an ideal life in God in antithe
sis with a real life under the influence of the devil. It
seems to me that we are not justified in explaining
" cannot sin " by " conceived as a perfect ideal, life in
God excludes the possibility of sin." s
' iii. 4, 8, 9. 2 Word Studies, ii. 348. 3 Word Studies, ii. 349.

OF THE EPISTLES OF JOHN 435
The writer is thinking of a real life in God in this
world in his own time and experience. I do not see
my way to explain altogether this antinomy of a Chris
tian confessing his sin and yet not sinning. There are
some things, however, that may be said which in a meas
ure may explain the writer's meaning. In the antithesis
between the devil and his children, and Christ and the
sons of God the characteristic element is the war be
tween sin and purity. On the one side stand the devil,
the great original sinner, and all his sinning children,
who sin as he sins in a deliberate characteristic manner.
On the other side stand the pure and sinless Messiah
and the sons of God. The sons of God are engaged in
purifying themselves — the Messiah is engaged in remov
ing their sins and making propitiation for them and
cleansing them away. They are not engaged in sinning,
but in the purification from sin. They are not delib
erately and characteristically sinning. They are delib
erately and characteristically extirpating sin. They may
fall into the snares of sin and act in its external forms ;
but they cannot sin from the heart, with deliberate in
tention, they cannot act in the essential substance of
sin without being apostates and antichrists. All the
children of God stand on the side of purity, the purifica
tion from sin and the destruction of sin. They cannot
stand elsewhere if they are the children of God. If they
commit sin they are guilty and need forgiveness and
cleansing — but their falling into sin is like the stumbling
of a soldier on the battlefield. He springs to his feet
and wars against sin more zealously than ever.
The sons of God are known on the negative side by
their not sinning. They are known on the positive side
by their love to the brethren. Love to the brethren is
rooted in the love of God for us and especially in the

486 THE MESSIAH
love of the Son of God for us. The love of the Son of
God was attested by a supreme act of love.
Hereby know we love, because he laid down his life ' for us :
and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. (i John iii. 16.)
This laying down of the life of the Son of God in
behalf of the sons of God is based upon the statement of
Jesus himself that he as the good shepherd laid down
his life for the sheep. The laying down of the life is a
loving interposition on their behalf, the taking upon one
self the death which threatened others, the dying in
their stead. A similar conception is also given in the
words of Jesus in the synoptic Gospels, where he said
that the Son of man came to give himself a ransom for
many.' The same Greek word is used, but its meaning
seems to be slightly different in the two passages. This
gift of life for others is a love gift of entire self-sacrifice.
It is not to be confounded with the conception of the
propitiation and the victim of sacrifice, which is from an
entirely different point of view. This love gift of life
for others is not an heroic act which the Messiah only
has done or may do — it is an act which every son of
God should do likewise.3
The sons of God have also the internal evidence of
the divine Spirit within them. The divine Spirit has,
however, his counterpart in evil spirits who seduce to
error and sin. How may we discern the Spirit of God
and detect the evil spirits? The Epistle gives a test
which was simple and sufficient in his time.
1 imep fjp.uv tt/v \pvxijv amov IBtjkev; comp. ttjv tfivx'/v jiov tISii/u v-rrip tov
¦n-popuruv, John x. 15. See The Messiah of the Gospels, p. 2S5.
2 See The Messiah of the Gospels, p. no.
3 The very fact that laying down of the life for others is what every Christian
should do, shows that the conception here is not of a victim of the ritual of a
sacrificial system.

OF THE EPISTLES OF JOHN

487

Hereby know ye the Spirit of God : every spirit which con
fesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God : and
every spirit which confesseth not Jesus is not of God : and this
is the spirit of the antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it
cometh ; and now it is in the world already. (i John iv. 2, 3.)
The touchstone of the true Christian is therefore his
confession that the Messiah is come in the flesh. The
divine Spirit dwelling in the Christian enabled him to
make this confession. The confession here is not of a
doctrine, but of a person. This is plain from the
antithesis " confesseth not Jesus." The confession is
the open public confession of Jesus as the Messiah.
This had been sufficient in the earliest times of the
Gospel. But with the unfolding of Christianity some
thing more was required. Thus Paul in his first Epistle
to the Corinthians made the resurrection of the Messiah
an essential fact upon which everything depended.1 The
first Epistle of John makes the incarnation the essential
thing. The true Christian who has the divine Spirit
will make his confession of faith in Jesus Christ as the
one who is come in the flesh. This shows a much later
stage in the development of Christianity than any we
have thus far considered. The coming in the flesh is
another side of the teaching of Paul in the Epistle to
the Romans that Jesus Christ was born of the seed of
David according to the flesh, and that God sent His Son
in the likeness of sinful flesh.2 Here the activity of the
Messiah is emphasized. " He is come in flesh." This
coming is a more distinct implication of the pre-exist
ence of the Messiah, and it goes back upon the teaching
of the introduction to the Epistle that he who was with
God as the eternal life and Word was manifested in

1 See 1 Cor. xv. 13-16. p. 112. 2 Rom. i. 3 i viii. 3- See pp. 144, 158.

488 THE MESSIAH
such a way that his disciples saw him, heard him, and
handled him. The coming in flesh is similar therefore
to the " manifested in the flesh " of the credal hymn of
the first Epistle to Timothy.1 That which was one of
the articles of the creed there is the chief article here,
the one which tests the reality of Christian experience
and Christian life.
THE SAVIOUR OF THE WORLD.
§ 87. God so loved the world that He sent His only be
gotten Son into the world to be the Saviour of the world
and the propitiation for our sins. He gave eternal life in
His Son. Jesus came by water and by blood. These and
the Spirit of truth agree in their testimony that he is
the Son of God. Christians know that the Son of God is
come. They believe that he is the Messiah, they gain the
victory over the world by their faith that he is the Son of
God. Their love will be perfected in boldness in the day
of judgment. The love of God is one of the great themes of this
Epistle. It was manifested in the bestowal of sonship
to men. It was also witnessed by His gift of His Son
to the world.
Beloved, let us love one another : for love is of God ; and
every one that loveth is begotten of God, and knoweth God.
He that loveth not knoweth not God ; for God is love. Herein
was the love of God manifested in us, that God hath sent his
only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through
him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved
us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Be
loved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
No man hath beheld God at any time : if we love one another,
God abideth in us, and his love is perfected in us : hereby know

1 1 Tim, iii, 16, See p. 230,

OF THE EPISTLES OF JOHN 489
we that we abide in him, and he in us, because he hath given
us of his Spirit. And we have beheld and bear witness that the
Father hath sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. Who
soever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God abideth
in him, and he in God. And we know and have believed the
love which God hath in us. God is love ; and he that abideth
in love abideth in God, and God abideth in him. Herein is
love made perfect with us, that we may have boldness in the
day of judgment ; because as he is, even so are we in this
world. (iv. 7-17.)
God is conceived by the writer of this Epistle as so
loving that love is of the divine essential being. God
is Love. Love is therefore the source of the mission of
the Son of God. God's love sent him into the world
in order to impart life to the world and in order that
Christians might live through him. The Son of God
did not first become the Son of God when he came in
the flesh ; as we have already seen, he was the Son of
God when he was with God in his eternal pre-existent
life.1 That sonship was therefore unique. We are not
surprised therefore that a term of uniqueness is ascribed
to it. Here for the first time the Messiah is named
"the only begotten Son." This term as applied to the
pre-existent Messiah is characteristically Johannine.2
It is used by no other writer.
The pre-existent Son of God was the only begotten
Son. No other pre-existent being was in this relation
of sonship ; to no other being was God in this relation of
Fatherhood. The phrase in itself might seem to imply
that at a certain time in the beginning before all other
creatures the Son of God was born, and that therefore
there was a time when he was not existent. But if there

1 See p. 463

1 bee p. 463- .
2 It is used here and John iii. 16, 18 ; povoyEvijc 8e6c (vide ?). John 1. 18 ;
povoysvovc, John i, 14. See pp. 308, 509, 514, 515.

490 THE MESSIAH
is evidence elsewhere that the Son of God was eternal
Life, and was not only with God from the beginning,
but was himself Life, and equally with God the fountain
of all being, the term " only begotten " would imply a
peculiar, a unique relation of eternal sonship. God sent
His only begotten Son into the world as the gift of His
love to the world. The purpose of this sending is stated
in three different terms : (i) " that we might live through
Him"; (2) "to be the propitiation for our sins"; (3)
" to be the Saviour of the world." We have already
studied the manifestation of the Son of God as himself
the eternal Life.1 The coming of eternal life into the
world imparts eternal life to those in the world who are
taken into fellowship with the Messiah. The Messiah
as the propitiation for sin we have also studied.1 The
propitiation was there connected with the Messiah's
activity in heaven as the Paraclete of the world. Here
the propitiation for sin is represented as the purpose of
God in sending the Messiah into the world. Therefore
the propitiation made by the Messianic Paraclete is in
accordance with the original purpose of God. The
special statement of this passage is that God sent him
to be the Saviour of the world. We have seen in the
Pastoral epistles that God is our Saviour.3 In the Gospel
of John the Samaritans recognize Jesus as the Saviour
of the world." This is doubtless the conception of the
same writer as the author of this Epistle. The phrase
is confined to these two passages. Jesus as the Saviour
is, however, used not infrequently in the New Testa
ment.6 The Saviour of the world here has the same

1 See p. 466. s See p. 4?3
3 See p. 226. t iv 42
> Acts v. 31; xiii. 23 ; Eph. v. 23 ; Phil. iii. 20 ; 2 Tim. i. 10 ; Titus i. 4 ; ii.
13 ; iii. 6 ; 2 Peter i. 1, 11 ; ii. 20 ; iii. 2, 18.

OF THE EPISTLES OF JOHN 49)
universal reference as his propitiation for the whole
world in a previous chapter.1 It is impossible to limit
such a generic universalism to a select number of be
lievers. It implies the world as an organic whole.
God abides in those who confess that Jesus is the Son
of God, and they in God. Love is the essential prin
ciple of this abiding, and it is perfected in the Christian,
so that when the Day of the judgment 2 comes, he will
have boldness. The Day of the judgment is the same
as the day of the Advent of the Messiah as the judge,
which is now familiar.
This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ;
not with the water only, but with the water and with the blood.
And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is the
truth. For there are three who bear witness,3 the Spirit, and the
water, and the blood : and the three agree in one. If we receive
the witness of men, the witness of God is greater : for the witness
of God is this, that he hath borne witness concerning his Son.
He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in him :
he that believeth not God hath made him a liar ; because he hath
not believed in the witness that God hath borne concerning his
Son. And the witness is this, that God gave unto us eternal life,
and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath the 4 life ;
he that hath not the Son of God hath not the life.

» See p. 475.
2 n -npkpa Tijg npioEuc is used only here. But the more compact phrase -rip-ipa
KplaEuc, day of judgment, is used Matthew x. 15 ; xi. 22, 24 ; xii. 36 ; 2 Peter ii.
9 ; iii. 7. The Day in other phrases is used Matthew vii. 22 ; Luke vi. 23 ; x. 12 ;
John vi. 39, 40, 44, 54 ; Rom. ii. 5 ; 1 Peter ii. 12 ; Rev. vi. 17, etc. See Vin
cent, /. v., p. 360.
3 It is no longer important in a volume like this to discuss the spurious words,
"in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit : and these three are
one. And there are three that bear witness in earth," because they are rejected
by all critics and are not in the Revised Version.
4 The definite article is important because it indicates that the life here spoken
of is the eternal life given unto us by God in His Son ; and it does not imply that
those who have not received it are altogether destitute of religious hfe and de
prived of every hope of salvation.

492 THE MESSIAH
These things have I written unto you, that ye may know that
ye have eternal life, even unto you that believe on the name of
the Son of God. (i John v. 6-13.)
The Messiah came by water and blood and the Spirit.
These three agree in their testimony. There is some
difference of opinion as to the reference of these terms.
Many think of the water and the blood that flowed forth
from the side of the crucified.1 It is possible this event
was in the mind of the writer. If so, it was only as a
suggestion of vastly more important facts. It is most
natural to think of the water of baptism, the blood of
the cross, and the gift of the Holy Spirit. The water
of the baptism of Jesus which attested him as the Son
of God, the blood of the cross which attested him as the
Lamb of God, the descent of the Holy Spirit that
attested him as the enthroned Messiah, — these three
facts and events present concurrent testimony of the
greatest value. These three also attest to the individual
Christian that Jesus is the Messiah, for the Christian
receives the water of baptism, the blood of the Lord's
supper, and the anointing of the divine Spirit, all con
curring witnesses that he is a child of God and that
Jesus is his Saviour. The gift of the Son of God is a
gift of eternal life that imparts eternal life to those who
receive it. This life is the life of love in the Messiah.
It is an eternal life in fellowship with God. Those who
have not received this life from God do not possess the
Messianic salvation. If they enjoy religious life and
salvation in any of their preparatory stages it is requisite
that they should advance to the knowledge of Jesus and
the confession of him as the Messiah in order that they
may gain the eternal life from God.2

1 John xix. 34.
2 There are those who think that this passage excludes from eternal salvation

OF THE EPISTLES OF JOHN 493
The Epistle closes with an affirmation similar to that
with which it opened :
We know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an
understanding, that we know him that is true, and we are in him
that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God,
and eternal life. (1 John v. 20.)
THE SON OF THE FATHER.
| 88. Jesus Christ is the Son of the Father. He is com
ing in the flesh.
The second Epistle of John is so limited in extent
that we may consider its conception of the Messiah in
one section. There is nothing on our subject in the
third Epistle. The salutation of the second Epistle
gives us a new term : " Jesus Christ, the Son of the
Father." * This phrase is unique in the New Testament.
Jesus has often been presented as the Son of God, and
the reciprocal relation of God as Father and Jesus as His
Son, is characteristic of the Johannine theology ; but this
phrase seems to mean something more, especially in view
of " God the Father " of the previous context, instead
of " God our Father," the usual phrase of the salutations.
Both of these terms seem to indicate a stage of reflec-

all who have not this life from God. Sucl . persons do not understand the writer.
He does not exclude from salvation the heroes of faith in the Old Testament who
did not know Christ and confess him and receive the eternal life in him, for the
time had not yet come for the manifestation of the Messiah. No more then are
the pious heathen excluded who fear God in the form of the religion they pro
fess, but have no knowledge of the Messiah. No more does it exclude those in
any age who have not been brought to a knowledge of him and who have not re
jected him. None of these have yet received the life of the Messiah, the eternal
life from God— but they may nevertheless be in a process of salvation which will
eventuate in their receiving the eternal life in the Messiah, if not m this life, in
the Middle State between death and the day of judgment. See p. 35 ; also The
Messiah of the Gospels, pp. 265, 266.
' 2 John 3.

494 THE MESSIAH
tion in which Father and Son had become stereotyped
terms for God and the Messiah. God is the Father and
4
Jesus Christ is the Son. So in the subsequent context,
" He that abideth in the Teaching the same hath both
the Father and the Son." x
The Son of the Father implies a unique relationship
between the Father and the Son. The basis for the
conception is doubtless to be found in the words of Jesus,
where he called God his own Father, making himself
equal with God,2 and it is parallel with the " only begot
ten Son " of the first Epistle.3
This Epistle has a similar reference to the deceivers
and the antichrists that we have found in the first Epistle:
For many deceivers are gone forth into the world, even they that
confess not that Jesus Christ cometh in the flesh. (2 John 7.)
In the previous Epistle the antichrists denied that
Jesus was the Messiah and the Son,4 or that " Jesus
Christ is come in the flesh." " The reference in these
passages was to the coming of the first advent. Here
the coming in the flesh is not in the past, and therefore
does not refer to the first advent, but the Son is coming
in the present, is impending and is about to come. It
refers, therefore, to the second Advent, which this writer
regards as at hand. He doubtless was thinking, as in
the first Epistle, that he was living in the last hour be
fore the Advent." The presence of these antichristian
deceivers was a sufficient evidence of this. The writer
looks for a second coming in flesh over against a first
coming in flesh. By coming in the flesh he doubtless
means a coming of the Messiah in a visible and tangible
body, as at the first advent.

1 Ver. 9. 2 John v. 17 seq. See The Messiah of i lie Gospels, p. 373.
3 See p. 488. « 1 John ii. 22. See p. 478.
0 1 John iv. 2. See p. 487. » 1 John ii. 18. See p. 4/9.

CHAPTER XVII.
THE MESSIAH OF THE PROLOGUE OF THE GOSPEL
OF JOHN.
THE Gospel of John presents not only the discourses
of Jesus, which we have studied in order to determine
the Messianic idea of Jesus himself,1 but also expansions
and explanations of these discourses and of the facts of
the life of Jesus by the evangelist. Many of these we
have noted in our study of the Messiah of the Gospel of
John.2 They need no further exposition here. There
are, however, passages which are of so great importance
that they demand separate treatment. These are :
(i) The Prologue, i. 1-18; (2) the comment upon the
words of Jesus to Nicodemus, iii. 16-21 ; and (3) the
comment on the words of the Baptist, iii. 31-36.
THE INCARNATE WORD.
§ 89. Jesus is the Word. He was in the beginning with
God and was God. He was creator of all things, the
Lioht and the Life. He came into the world, but the
world knew him not, and to his own people and they
received him not. He became flesh and tabernacled among
men, and the disciples saw his Glory and received of his
fulness of grace and fidelity. He was the only begotten
1 See The Messiah of the Gospels, pp. 261 seq.
2 See The Messiah of the Gospels, pp. 260, 269, 282, 286. (495)

496 THE MESSIAH
who returned into the bosom of the Father. He declared
the Father. Those who received him were born of God and
became children of God.
The Prologue may be separated from the Gospel as
easily as chapter xxi., which is commonly regarded by
critics as a later addition. The removal of the Prologue
lets the Gospel of John begin with the ministry of John
the Baptist just as the synoptic Gospels. The Prologue
has features which distinguish it from the Gospel. Its
Christology is different.1 The Messiah of the Gospel is
the Son of man from heaven, the Father's own Son. The
Messiah of the Prologue is the divine Word, the incar
nate Word. That which is most characteristic of the
Prologue is not found in the Gospel, and there are no
references to it, direct or indirect. The writer of the
Gospel seems unconscious of this unique Christology.
The Prologue has a style which is peculiarly its own. It
has the parallelism of Hebrew and Aramaic Poetry. It
has a rhythm which resembles the short trimeter move
ment of that Poetry. Its style is more like the credal
hymn of the first Epistle to Timothy2 than any other
passage of the New Testament. It also resembles in
parallelism and rhythm the Wisdom of Solomon, of the
Apocryphal literature. It is evidently a piece of Chris
tian wisdom, and in this respect resembles the Epistle to
the Hebrews. It was either a Christian hymn in praise

1 Harnack (Zeitschrift fiir Theolugie und Kirclie, ii., s. 194 ff.) says: " Der
Prolog des Evangelium ist nicht der Schliissel zum Verstandniss des Evangeliums,
sondern er bereitet die hellenischen Leser auf dieses vor. Er knupft an eine
ihnen bekannte Grosse, den Logos, an, bearbeitet ihn und gestaltet ihn um —
falsche Christologieen implicite bekampfend, — um ihm Jesus Christus, den
pnvnyEvi/c 8cdc zu substituiren, resp. ihn als diesen Jesus Christus zu enthullen.
Von dem Momente an, wo dies geschehen ist, ist der Logosbegriffe fallen gelas-
sen." See also his Dogmengeschichte, 3te Aufl., i. s. 93 seq.
2 See p. 229.

OF THE PROLOGUE OF THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 497
of Christ as the Logos, or a saying of Christian wisdom
respecting Christ as the Logos, which was prefixed to
the Gospel, probably by the author of the first Epistle of
John. For if on the one side the Gospel seems uncon
scious of its own Prologue, the first Epistle of John is
very different. Either the Prologue depends upon the
Epistle or the Epistle on the Prologue. Most inter
preters think that the latter is the case. It might well
be therefore that the author of the Epistle prefixed this
hymn or saying of Christian wisdom to the Gospel
whether he was the author of the piece itself or not.
The conception of the Messiah as the Logos is a de
velopment of the doctrine of his mediatorial work which
we have seen unfolding in the later Paulinism and the
Epistle to the Hebrews. We have noted the influence
of the Wisdom of Solomon upon the Epistle to the
Colossians,' and of Philo upon the Epistle to the He
brews.2 We ought not to be surprised therefore to find
a like influence from the Alexandrian Jewish theology
upon the author of the Prologue of the first Gospel.
The use of the term Logos in this mediatorial relation
is certainly a characteristic of the doctrine of Philo.
There is no such use of the word in the Old Testament.
Nowhere in the Old Testament is the Word of God
used with reference to the Messiah.3 We cannot find a
basis for it in the use of the Memra in Palestinian Jew
ish theology. The motive in that theology was such an
awe of the transcendence of God that it was deemed
necessary to interpose between Him and the creature
additional modes of manifestation to those afforded in
1 See p. 215. 2 See p. 243.
3 See Weizsacker, Apost. Zeitalter, s. 551. It seems to me that it is an abuse
of the Old Testament to find a basis for the doctrine of the Logos either in the
creative speech or the prophetic word of God. There is no conception of
mediation in any of the passages.

49g THE MESSIAH
the theophanies of the Old Testament, especially in the
earlier passages of the prophetic history, where there
seemed to be a grossness of representation.1 Doubtless
that motive was at work in the Palestinian Jewish
theology of the New Testament times : but it was a
motive that led in a direction opposite to the Alexan
drian Theology. The Palestinian Theology interposed
additional mediatorial manifestations in order that the
God of the Old Testament might become more trans
cendent. The Alexandrian Theology interposed a com
prehensive mediatorial Logos in order to increase and
enhance God's revelation of Himself to His creatures.
Although the terminology of the Logos was in a
measure supplied by the Alexandrian Jewish theology,
the use of the term in the Christian Wisdom of the
Prologue is original and entirely independent. It re
sulted from an internal development in Christianity it
self. I cannot go so far as Harnack, who says, " That
which is common with Philo is little more than the
name Logos." ' For Philo is the first one, and, so far
as we know, the only one, prior to the composition of
the Prologue, who had the same conception of the
Logos, as the Prologue, apart from the Incarnation of
the Logos which is unique to the Prologue. Philo's
1 Siegfried well says, Philo von Alexandria, s. 281 : " Auch die Beseitigung
der Anthropomorphismen, der Gottes unwurdigen Ausdrucksweisen der Schrift
und ahnlicher Dinge, der wir bei Onkelos begegnen, ist nicht auf etwaige alex-
andrinische Einfiiisse zuriickzufuhren. Das Gefiil fur das Bedenkliche soldier
Wendungen war selbststandig auch auf palastinischem Boden entstanden und
spatere Correcturen des masorethischen Textes geben davon Zeugniss. Daran
knupfte Onkelos an, wenn er uberall, wo das gSttliche Wesen in menschliches
Tun oder Leiden verwickelt zu werden drohte, Ausdrucke wie, xnj'Si.''
Xlp' ^Q'D oder die Proposition DTp vor dem Gottesnamen einschiebt,
und wir haben deshalb keine Veranlassung etwa vereinzelt das '"H JOD'D
herauszugreifen und mit dem philonischen Logos in Verbindung zu bringen."
2 See Harnack, Lehrbuch der Dogmengeschichte, i., s. 66. See also Steven's
Johannine Theology, p. 86.

OF THE PROLOGUE OF THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

499

conception of the Word is a much higher one than was
ever attained in the Palestinian Jewish theology. The
Logos seems to sum up in himself all the mediatorial
activity of God, both of the Old Testament representa
tion and of Greek philosophy, and so to comprehend the
theophanies of the Angel of God, the Angel of the Face,
or the Face itself, the Glory connected with the cherubic
throne and apart from it ; and also the Wisdom of the
Book of Proverbs and the divine Spirit of Prophecy.
It summed them up and yet never went beyond the.
conception of theophany, or mediatorial manifestation
of God Himself.1 It seems to me, therefore, that the con
ception of the Logos of Philo did influence the author
of the Prologue either directly or indirectly.
The development of Paulinism has been forward and
backward from he Christophany of the second Adam
from heaven, which was granted him on the way to
Damascus. The development of the doctrine of John
1 Siegfried, Philo von Alexandria, s. 223, says : " Der philonische Logos ist
ein Thesaurus alles dessen, was fiber D\3S, "" "]K^D, (10311, "lOND, DB>
im A. T. und palastinischen Judenthum, fiber ootjiia im Alexandrinismus und
fiber den Adyoq bei den Griechen philosophirt worden war."
Drummond, Philo Judaus, ii. 273, gives the following summary of the
Logos of Philo : " From first to last the Logos is the Thought of God, dwelling
subjectively in th."1 infinite Mind, planted out and made objective in the universe.
The cosmos is a tissue of rational force, which images the beauty, the power, the
goodness of its primeval fountain. The reason of man is this same rational force
entering into consciousness, and held by each in proportion to the truth and variety
of his thoughts; and to follow it is the law of righteous living. Each form which
we can differentiate as a distinct species, each rule of conduct which we can treat
as an injunction of reason, is itself a Logos, one of those innumerable thoughts or
laws into which the universal Thought may, through self-reflection, be resolved.
Thus, wherever we turn, these Words, which are really Works, of God confront
us, and lift our minds to that uniting and cosmic Thought which, though com
prehending them, is itself dependent, and tells us of that impenetrable Being
from whose inexhaustible fulness it comes, of whose perfections it is the shadow,
and whose splendours, too dazzling for all but the purified intuitions of the high
est souls, it at once suggests and veils."

500 THE MESSIAH
is from the centre of the manifestation of the Messiah
in the flesh. The pre-existence as well as the post-
existence are all explained from the point of view of the
incarnation. The drift of Paulinism is chiefly forward
towards the resurrection and the Parousia. The essen
tial doctrine to Paul was the Resurrection. The drift
of the doctrine of John is chiefly backward into the pre-
existent life of the Messiah as the explanation of the
incarnate life. The essential doctrine to John was the
incarnation. Paul saw Christ as man lifting humanity
to heaven and to God. John saw Christ as God bring
ing heaven and God to mankind.1
The terms which were used in the first Epistle of John
for the pre-existent Mediator were Son and Life and
Word. These reappear in the Prologue. The term
Light is added, and they are all clothed with new feat
ures. I shall arrange the Prologue in the parallelism of the
trimeter poetry of Hebrew wisdom, and in the three
parts in which it was originally composed. It will be

i I call attention to a valuable statement of Holtzmann, without endorsing it in
all respects : " Johannes reprasentirt einen Versuch, das Rathsel, vor welches sich
das erste christi. Zeitalter gestellt sah, von der entgegengesetzten Seite aus zu
losen, als Paulus gethan hatte. Dieser hatte das von der palastinisch-judischen
Gelehrsamkeit aufgestellte Gedankenbild eines dcvTspoc bvBpu-noc (i Kor 15 :
47) herbeigezogen, um die Erscheinung Jesu als den Abschluss der menschlichen
Geschichte, als erreichtes und verwirklichtes Ideal der Menschheit darzustellen.
Johannes hallt sich an das von der alexandrinischen Judenschaft gepflegte Ge
dankenbild eines devrepoc Bsdc (Philo bei Euseb. Praep. ev. 7, 13), um
demselben eine populare Wendung zu geben und in einer menschlichen Er
scheinung den Ort zu finden, an welchem Gott selbst in die Geschichte der Mensch
heit eintritt in einem Menschen, der sprechen k.inn : Ich und der Vater sind
eins (10 : 30). Paulus vertritt die dem griech. Denken naher liegende Apotheose,
der 4 Evglst. die den orientalischen Religionssystemen angehorige Incarnation.
Das Eigenthumliche und Einzige der Person Jesu besteht bei ihm nicht mehr
darin, dass er der Messias der Juden, auch nicht mehr darin, dass er das Urbild
der Menschheit ist, sondern darin, dass er geradezu die Gottheit auf Erden im
Fleisch darstellt." Hand-Commentar, vol. iv., a. 36.

OF THE PROLOGUE OF THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 501
necessary to eliminate several editorial explanations as
well as the seam which welded it to the original Gospel.
1.
In the beginning was the Word,
And the Word was with God,
And the Word was God.
The same was in the beginning with God.
All things were made by him ;
And without him was not anything made.
That which hath been made ' was life in him ;
And the Life was the light of men.
And the Light shineth in the darkness ;
And the darkness apprehended it not. (John i. 1-5.)
The first strophe contains three sections ; the first, of
four lines, presenting the pre-existent Word ; the second,
of three lines, the creative Life ; the third, of three lines,
the victorious Light. The Word is the personal Word,
the same that we have seen in the first Epistle of John as
the Word of Life.2 Three things are said of the Word.
(a) He was in the beginning. In the first Epistle of John
he was from the beginning.3 This does not imply that
there was a beginning when the Word began to exist ;
but that in the beginning he was existing. This is as
much as to say that he was contemporary with the be
ginning. It may be compared with "the firstborn of
all creation " 4 of the Epistle to the Colossians, and " the
First " of the apocalypse of the Epistles.6

1 So Westcott and Hort in accordance with the weight of external evidence.
But R. V. after Tischendorf, De Wette, Meyer, and most critics, because of the
apparent hardness and difficulty of this construction, read " was not anything
made that was made." The rhythm and parallelism are on the side of the ex
ternal evidence.
2 See p. 463. 3 1 John i. 1.
4 Col. i. 15. See p. 213. 6 Rev. i. 17. See p. 443.

502 THE MESSIAH
(b) He was with God. This does not merely imply
that he was with God in the sense in which a ministering
angel might be with God ; but the preposition is preg
nant with the meaning of intimacy and communion.1
(c) He was God. This is the highest of the three
statements. The first in pre-existence, the nearest in
intimacy with God lead to the climax, " is God." It
should be noted that this predicate presupposes the pre
vious predicates as bases on which it advances to the
highest stage. It cannot state anything inconsistent
with their statement. It cannot do away with the per
sonal distinction between God and the Logos in the
second line. Furthermore, the Greek distinguishes by
using 6 6eoe; in the second line, and deoc; without the
article in the third. The Logos is 6e.6c, but he is not 6 dad;. -
What, then, is involved in these terms and in the differ
ence between them? We cannot think of Polytheism
and suppose that the Logos is a second God to the first
and supreme God. The Old Testament training, no less
than the teachings of Christ, would have made such a
conception impossible. Are we then to think of a me
diatorial person, who is called God, as the one most inti
mate with God, and the one through whom He makes
Himself known to men, a secondary God, a God in a de
rivative sense ? We might be led to such a conclusion
by the use of Q^rtbc* for angels and exalted persons,
and especially for the Messianic king in the Old Testa
ment.2 We might think of a usage of the Epistle to

1 "The preposition npdc-, which, with the accusative case, denotes motion to
wards, or*direction, is also often used in the New Testament in the sense of with ;
and that not merely as being near or beside, but as a living union and commun
ion ; implying the active notion of intercourse." Vil-.cent, Word Studies, ii., p.
34. Plummer thinks we might render "face to face with God," or "at home
with God," St. John, Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools, p. 64.
2 See Messianic Prophecy, p. 141.

OF THE PROLOGUE OF THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 503
the Hebrews which is interpreted in this way by some
scholars.1 But the angels and exalted beings of the Old
Testament have no such divine predicates as those
given to the Logos in the previous two lines. The
Epistle to the Hebrews directly applies to the Messiah,
passages from the Old Testament referring distinctly to
Yahweh. There is certainly a remarkable resemblance between
the language of the Prologue here and the language of
Philo. Philo distinguishes the Logos as debt;, and
yet distinguishes him from 6 deoc He also distinguishes
the Logos as deurepoc c^oc.2 The difference between

1 See p. 245.
2 Drummond, Philo Judasus, ii., p. 196, says : Philo ' : commenting on the words
addressed to Jacob, ' I am the God who appeared to thee in the place of God.'
Gen. xxxi. 13, 6 8cdc . . . . iv Tdiru 8eoi he asks, ' Are there really two Gods ?
For it is said, " I am the God who appeared to thee," not in my place, but
" in the place of God," as of another. The solution is the following : The true
God is one, but those improperly so called are several. Wherefore the sacred
Word, has indicated the true God in the present passage by the article, saying,
b 8cdc, but the one improperly so named without the article, iv Td-rru, not tov
Beov, but simply deoii. The latter is the eldest Logos. This usage is adopted
in order to benefit him who cannot yet see the true God ; for as those who are
unable to see the sun itself look upon the reflected ray as the sun, so they
mentally perceive the image of God, his Logos, as himself.' Somn., i., 39
and 41."
Drummond also says : " The Logos, the cosmic principle in the material uni
verse, was really divine, being the rational energy, the formative Thought of God ;
and consequently it was not by a mere figure of speech that it was spoken of as
God. Yet since it represented only the immanence and not the transcendence
of God, since it was an expression of the eternal Cause and not that Cause itself,
it was necessary to distinguish it from the supreme and infinite Being ; and as
the latter was called, in opposition to polytheistic and pantheistic schemes, the
First God, the Logos, the highest next to the Supreme, might be termed the
second. This appellation is actually used, but only once, and that in a fragment
preserved by Eusebius from the ' Questions and Answers.' Philo asks : ' Why,
as though speaking of another God, does he say, "I made man in the image of
God," but not in his own image ? The answer is, that nothing mortal could be
made like the Supreme Father of all, but only like the second God (tov
Sevrepov 6e6v) the Logos. For the rational impress in the soul of man must

504 THE MESSIAH
Philo and the Prologue is, that Philo does not use the
Logos as a distinct personal medium, but only as a
theophanic mediator. The Prologue attaching the con
ception of the Logos to the Messiah, makes the Logos
personal, and so, for the first time, conceives of a per
sonal deoz, who is a different person from 6 0e6c, and
these two persons are in intimate communion as Father
and Son from the beginning, before all things.
These words of the Prologue lie at the basis of the
speculative constructions of the doctrine of the Trinity
and of the divinity of Christ in the creeds and the
systems of doctrine of the Church. But in fact they do
not state what the difference is between 6 Btbz and
dtbz and in what the unity consists. We must not
forget that the Logos is the subject of the three pred
icates we have been considering. The Logos or Word
must be conceived as the Mediator through whom God
speaks to the creature. This speaking may be to the
ear or to the eye ; or to the inner nature of man, his
reason, his conscience, his religious feeling. It may be
in manifold forms and processes. But behind them all
is the personal Word who mediates for Him who is dis
tinguished from himself as " the God." This use of the
Word in order to mediate the speaking of God to the
creature is a parallel conception to " the image of the
invisible God," of the epistle to the Colossians,1 and
"the effulgence of His glory" and "the very image of
His substance," of the Epistle to the Hebrews.2
be stamped by divine Reason, and cannot have as its archetype God, who is
above reason' (Fragments, ii. 625, answering to Qu. in Gen. ii. 62). Here the
application of the term ' God ' to the Logos is rendered necessary by Philo's in
terpretation of the passage on which he is commenting. According to his own
conception, as expressed in the words before us, the Logos is simply the arche
type of the rational principle in man, and this archetype, as we have seen, is the
immanent Thought of the universe." /. c, ii. 197.
1 Col. i. 15. See p. 214. 2 Heb. i. 3. See p. 246.

OF THE PROLOGUE OF THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 505
A fourth line sums up the previous predicates in the
statement that that very one who was in the beginning
and who was in such intimacy with God, was in that
communion in the beginning. There was not a time
when he began to enjoy this intimacy with God. The
intimacy began with his existence. It existed when
time began, it was before all time, it was everlasting.
The fourth line is also a transition to the second section,
for he, who was in the intimate union with God in the
beginning prior to creation, must himself have taken
part in the creation. Accordingly the next three lines
represent the Logos as creator.
He was not the creator as he was not " the God," but
he was God and was also creator. He was creator as
the mediator of creation. All things came into being
through him. Nothing came into existence apart from
him or without his agency. And this was because he
was the Life. Whatever came into existence had its
life, the ground of its being in him. The Messiah as
the Life has been studied in connection with the first
Epistle of John.1 There he was the Life, the eternal
Life as the ever living one. Here he is the Life as the
source of life to the creature. We are reminded of simi
lar statements of the cognate epistles : " All things have
been created through him, and unto him ; and he is before
all things, and in him all things consist," of the Epistle to
the Colossians ; 2 and " through whom " God " made the
ages " and who " upholds all things by the word of his
power," of the Epistle to the Hebrews."
In the third section, the Life passes over into the Light.
The Light is conceived as shining especially for men.
It is the Light of Life. The Life manifests itself in

1 See p. 466. 2 Colossians i. 16, 17. See p. 214.
8 Heb. i. 2, 3. See pp. 246 seg.

506 THE MESSIAH
Light, in enlightening men. But there was an original
darkness. Into this original darkness came the personal
Light. The Darkness strove against the Light, strove
to grasp it, to take possession of it, to overwhelm it, to
conquer it. But the Light prevailed and continued to
shine in the darkness of the world. This reminds us of
the conflict between light and darkness of the first
Epistle of John. There " God is light and in him is no
darkness at all." Those who have fellowship with Him
walk in the light, they cannot walk in the darkness.1
Here the Logos is the Light. So also in the Gospel
itself, Jesus is the Light of the world.2

He was the true Light,3
Which lighteth every man,
Coming into the world.4
He was in the world,
And the world was made by him,
And the world knew him not.
He came unto his own (inheritance),5
And his own (people) received him not.

i i. 5_7. 2 See The Messiah of the Gospels, p. 282.
a Wendt, Lehre Jesu, i., s. 259, is correct in thinking that the reference to
John in verses 6-8 is from another hand. It was probably the original begin
ning of the Gospel of John when the Prologue was prefixed. And it was quite
reasonable to combine John's testimony to the Light with the statement in the
Prologue as to the Light.
« The " coming into the world " may be attached to the Light, or to every
man. Scholars are divided. Inasmuch as the stress of the Prologue is upon the
Incarnation of the Logos and the advent of the Light to the world, it is better
to think of the former.
6 There is an antithesis between rd Idia and ol Idiot. Ta ISia are his own
things, his own possessions, whether we think of a creator coming to his creat
ures, or of the Messiah coming to take possession of his own inheritance.
ol Idioi are persons, not things. Those persons who were in the land to which
he came were his own people, whether » e think of the people of God of the Old
Testament from the point of view of the divine Word, or of the people of the
Messiah whose Messiah he was by divine appointment.

OF THE PROLOGUE OF THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 507
But as many as received him,
He gave them the right
To become children of God,
Those who believe on his name : '
Who not of blood, nor of the will of flesh,2
But of God were born. (John i. 9-13.)
The Logos, who is the Life and the Light, is the true,
the veritable light. When the Light came into the world
it shone upon every man and lighted every man. But
not every man received him. The world was made by
him, as has been stated in the previous strophe. The
world was therefore his own possession. It ought to
have received him. But in fact the world knew him
not. The creature did not know its creator. The Light
shone in the world, but the world as a world did not see
the Light. In the midst of the world was a special part
assigned by God to the Messiah as his inheritance and a
people given to him as the heirs of the promises. He
came into his own inheritance. He came to his own
people. They did not receive him. The world as such
did not know him. The Jewish people as a people did
not receive him. But there were those who did receive
him, by separating themselves as individuals from the
world and from Israel. These were men who became
his, not because they were of Jewish blood, or of the
flesh of Israel, but because they were born of God, by a

' It is quite possible that this line is an explanatory interpolation. The
receiving him is a stronger and more comprehensive expression. The same
phrase is found in 1 John v. 13, and it is quite possible that the insertion was
made by the author of the Epistle, -kioteveiv eIc is characteristic of John. It
occurs about 35 times in the Gospel, 3 times in the first Epistle, elsewhere in the
New Testament 10 times. See Plummer, l.c , p. 70.
2 The third statement, "will of man," seems to be nothing more than an
editorial explanation of " will of the flesh." The antithesis between blood and
flesh on the one side and God on the other is not strengthened, but rather weak
ened by the addition.

508 THE MESSIAH
heavenly birth, who gained the right, when they received
the Messiah, of becoming the children of God. The
birth of God and the right to be the children oi God
remind us of the birth from heaven of the water and the
Spirit of the discourse with Nicodemus.1 There is the
same rejection of the birth of the flesh as we find here.
But there the Spirit is in antithesis with the flesh, here
God is in antithesis. This is a difference of some im
portance. The Prologue is more in accord with the
first Epistle of John where we have the term " begotten
of God" used of Christians.2 m.
And the Word became flesh,
And tabernacled among us,
And we beheld his Glory,3
Glory as of an only begotten from a father,4
Full of grace and faithfulness.5

1 John iii. 5-8. See The Messiah of the Gospels, p. 261.
^yEvv-nBrivai in (tov) Beov apart from this passage of the Prologue is only
used in the first Epistle of John, iii. 9; iv. 7; v. j, 4, 18; comp. ii. 29. So
riava (tov) Oeov of verse 12 characteristic of 1 John iii. 1, 2, 10 ; v. 2 ; in the
Gospel of John only xi. 52 in a comment of the evangelist. The Epistle avoids
the use of viol (tov) Beov for Christians, whereas Paul uses both tekvo (tov) Beov,
Rom. viii. 16, 21; ix. 8; Phil. ii. 15; and viol (tov) Beov, Rom. viii. 14, 19;
ix. 26 ; Gal. iii. 26
3 ioKvi/uoEv — tabernacled, implies the conception of the 0-/0714 or Taber
nacle of the old covenant. The author evidently thinks of the incarnate Logos
as the tabernacle of God among men, as the antitype to the ancient tabernacle
and temple. This conception is in accordance with the Glory which is not the
glory of honor or renown, but the glory of manifestation, in the Old Testament
the theophanic glory, in the New Testament the Christophanic glory. (See The
Messiah of the Gospels, pp. 51, 101.) It is possible the author is thinking of the
transfiguration. But it is more probable that he has in mind the many Chris
tophanies of the evangelistic and apostolic history.
4 The povoycvovc and jvarpdc are both anarthrous. They do not definitely
refer to the Son and the Father, but are in the indefinite form which is suited to
the comparison.
0 wAr/pr/c ^dpiroc aal dTuiBeiac is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew
flONl HDn 3*1. R is quite true that we should expect eaeoc rather than

OF THE PROLOGUE OF THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 5Q9
For of his fulness we all received,1
And grace for grace.
For the Law was given through Moses ;
Grace and faithfulness came through Jesus Christ.
No man hath seen God at any time ;
The only begotten God (Son) 2
Who went to be in the bosom of the Father,3
He hath declared him* (John i. 14, 16-18.)
Xdptc, and it may be that the author has substituted xfyt-S for £%eoc because of
the use he wishes to make of the expression in the subsequent context;
but I think that there can be no doubt that aAyBsia has the meaning oi faithful
ness here. See Wendt, Der Gebrauch der Worter dlrjBEia, etc., in Studien
und Kritiken, 1883, s. 536. See also the word HDN in the new Hebrew Lexicon
of Brown, Driver, and Briggs.
1 Verse 15, giving the witness of the Baptist, originally belonged to the Preface
of the Gospel and not to this Prologue. It was inserted here in the midst of the
last strophe of the Prologue, in order to be a seam to closely unite the Prologue
to the Gospel. These words are parallel with those given in the synoptists. See
The Messiah of the Gospels, p. 67. See Wendt, Lehre Jesu, i., s. 220 seq. It
is possible that verse 16 may be an editorial testimony of the author which is
added to that of John, in explanation of the phrase " full of grace and faithful
ness." - povoysvijc 6e6c is favored by a mass of ancient authorities, and is adopted
by Westcott and Hort, Harnack, and Plummer. But most modern critics
adopt the reading vide followed in the R. V. External evidence favors Bcdg
but leaves the matter in some doubt. Internal evidence from the usage
of the Gospel and first Epistle of John favors the "only begotten Son." See
John i. 14; iii. 16, 18; t John iv. 9. But there may be a reference to the Be6c
of verse 2, and this would favor 6ebq. See Abbot, Critical Essays, pp. 241
seq., 272 seq., in favor of d fiovoyevrjc vide, and Hort's Two Dissertations in
favor of jjLovoyEvije Bedc. The reading must be regarded as doubtful.
3 d uv eIc tov k&A-kov, is pregnant, a verb of motion is implied by the prepo
sition e'ic, which follows the participle of the abiding state. It therefore refers
to the return of the Messiah into the bosom of the Father, where he is and con
tinues to be.
* It seems to me probable that the last line originally was a part of the second
line before it, and that the three lines were originally in the preceding piece of
Christian Wisdom when it was apart.
Btbv ovdslc iupansv -ku-kote
Movoyevijc 8cbc ekeIvoc i^t]yhaaTO
(0 uv eIc tov koa-kov tov naTpbc.
This is favored by the similar construction of ver. 9 ; it gives a better parallel-

510 THE MESSIAH
In the first part of the Prologue, the pre-existent
Logos was presented as God, Life, and Light. In the
second part the Light was considered in its relation to
the world, the Jews, and the Christians who received
him. In the third part the incarnate Logos is presented
and the Glory of his declaration of God is described.
This part introduces the peculiarly Christian conception
of the Logos.1 In the previous context, the Life had
entered into the world through the creative work of the
Logos. Everything that was made had its life in him,
the source and well-spring of its life. The Light had
entered the world, had come to the Jewish people, had
been received only by the begotten of God. The en
trance into the world of the Life and the Light, now
passes over into the more comprehensive Logos. It is
the Logos, he who was God, who became flesh. The
becoming flesh is something more than a Theophany,
the temporary assuming the form of a man for the pur
pose of revelation. Theophanies in the form of man are
well known to the prophetic histories of the Old Testa
ment. It was in accordance with the Philonic concep
tion of the Logos that the Logos was just that theoph
anic God of the Old Testament, and that therefore he
might appear in Christophany as a man. The author of
the Prologue does not state that he appeared as a man,
or manifested himself as a man, but he became man.
The same term is used, in the original Greek, for the
Logos becoming flesh, as for the becoming of all things
ism between the first and second lines ; and the climax is more suited to the
close of an independent piece of poetry, especially if we refer the last line to the
return into the bosom of the Father. The attachment ot the prologue to the
Gospel made the change of order rhetorically appropriate.
1 Plummer says : " This is the gulf which separates S. John from Philo.
Philo would have assented to what precedes; but from this he would have
shrunk" (/. c, p. 71).

OF THE PROLOGUE OF THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 514
which were created through the Logos. The Logos did
not merely appear as flesh ; but he came into an exist
ence in the world, in flesh. He pre-existed as the Word
in the beginning and was God in the beginning; but he
came into an existence in time and in the world, in flesh.
The term became flesh is much more than became man.
He might be conceived as the second Adam, the Son of
man, the heavenly man, without a body.1 He might be
conceived as becoming a man and being concealed with
God in heaven long before his entrance into the world,
as in the Apocalypse of Enoch.2 He might be con
ceived as becoming body without becoming the flesh of
that body; that is, as tabernacling in a human body
without the flesh and blood of that body, and without
any of those characteristics which the mortal body of
men have. His body might have been like the body of
immortality and glory of the Resurrection.3 But the
Logos became flesh. He became incarnate in a body of
human flesh and blood. In the previous context flesh
and blood are the characteristics of man in antithesis
with God. Here the antithesis between God and flesh
is transformed into a synthesis of God and flesh ; for it
is the Logos, who is God, who became flesh. The mean
ing of the statement may best be understood by bring
ing into view the previous references to the incarnation.
Paul teaches that " God sent forth his Son, born of a
woman," 4 " born of the seed of David according to the
flesh," 6 in " the likeness of sinful flesh "; ' and the Epis
tle to the Philippians represents that he who existed in
the form of God took the form of a servant, was made
in the likeness of men.' According to the credal hymn

1 aufia. 2 See The Messiah of the Gospels, p. 27. ' See p. 118.
« Gal. Iv. 4. See p. 140. E Rom- !- 3- See p. 144.
•Rom. viii. 3. Seep. 158. ' Phil, ii.6, 7. See p. 181.

512

THE MESSIAH

in the first Epistle to Timothy, " he was manifested in
the flesh." ' The Epistle to the Hebrews teaches that
the Messiah partook of flesh and blood ; 2 and the first
Epistle of John makes it a cardinal point of the Chris
tian confession, "that Jesus Christ is come in the
flesh." 3 It is easy to see an advance in these repre
sentations of the incarnation. But none of them reach
the height of the doctrine of the Prologue. Nowhere
else is it taught that the Logos became flesh ; nowhere
else is it suggested that God became flesh ; nowhere
else is it taught, except by implication and logical de
duction, that Jesus Christ is God and flesh. The in
carnate Logos, God in flesh and blood, suggests at once
the manifestations of God in the Old Testament, and of
Christ in the New Testament. The first suggestion is
the abode of God in the ancient tabernacle. Jesus'
flesh is the tabernacle of the Logos. God tabernacles
in the flesh of Jesus, as he did in the ancient tabernacle
and temple. This reminds us of the teaching of the
Epistle to the Hebrews that the flesh of the ascended
Mediator is the veil of the heavenly tabernacle.4 We
are not surprised, therefore, that the Evangelist in his
comment on a word of Jesus should say, " He spake of
the temple of his body." 6 The conception of the taber
nacle leads to the Glory of the pillar of cloud which
filled the tabernacle, and especially the throne- room, the
Holy of Holies. This Glory of the manifested God ap
peared in the Christophanies of the New Testament.
This Glory, the writer says, " we beheld." It seems to
me that this does not imply an eye-witness of the Chris
tophany any more than the similar statement in the in-
' i Tim. iii. 16. See p. 230. 2 Heb. ii. 14. See p. 250.
3 1 John iv. 2. See p. 487. « Heb. x. 20. See p. 270.
0 John ii. 21. See The Messiah of the Gospels, p. 261.

OF THE PROLOGUE OF THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 513
traduction to the Epistle.1 It rather states that such
manifestations of the glory of the Logos in Christoph
anies were well-known facts attested by eye-witnesses,
and with regard to which the Christian body could say
" we beheld " them. The thought of the Glory of the
Christophanies suggests the theophany to Moses, when
God revealed to him the riches of His grace and faithful
ness in the forgiveness of sins.2 Just such a display of
the Glory of Christ had been made in the wonders of
grace and faithfulness which had accompanied his Chris
tophanies. Jesus, the incarnate Logos, was also full of
grace and faithfulness. There was a pleroma of these
attributes in him. This pleroma of Jesus Christ reminds
us of the pleromas of the epistles of the Imprisonment.3
Out of the pleroma of grace flows supplies of grace in
rich diffusion, one grace is added to another in the ex
perience of the Christian community.
The previous context referring to the tabernacle, the
Glory, the manifestation of the Grace of God to Moses,
and the antithesis to them in the Christophanies of the
New Testament, leads the writer to the antithesis be
tween Moses and Christ, in which all is summed up.
Moses was the mediator through whom came the Law.
Jesus Christ was the Mediator through whom came the
grace and the faithfulness of the Gospel of redemption.
The " spiral movement " of the Prologue now ascends to
its apex.* The pre-existent Logos had been with God

> See p. 465. 2 Ex. xxxiv. 6, 7. s See pp. 193, 200, 204, 218, 220.
* "In this Prologue we notice what may be called a spiral movement. An
idea comes to the front, like the strand of a rope, retires again, and then reap
pears later on for development and further definition. Meanwhile another idea,
like another strand, comes before us and retires to reappear in like manner.
Thus the Logos is presented to us in v. 1, is withdrawn, and again presented to us
in». 14. The Creation passes next before us in z/. 3, to reappear in j/. 10. Then
' the Light ' appears in v. 4, and withdraws, to return vv. 8, 9. Next the re-

§14 THE MESSIAH
in the beginning and from the beginning. The incarnate
Logos is not to lose his union and communion with
God. He is to return into the bosom of the Father, to
be and abide forever in the bosom of the Father. The
Prologue opens with the pre-existence, it closes with the
post-existence ; the Incarnation binds the pre-existence
and the post-existence into one everlasting life. The
Father now takes the place of the 6 dtbc. for the first time
in the Prologue. What shall we say of the /xovoyevyc;?
One reading gives " only begotten God," the other, " the
only begotten Son." The difference in meaning is not
material in this connection ; for the word " only begot
ten " implies sonship even if God is the only begotten of
the Father ; and the Son in the bosom of the Father is
God, because the Son is the Logos and the Logos is
God. We return to the same interrelation in the god
head with which the Prologue started — only there it was
in pre-existence — here it is post-existence. The only
begotten is conceived as the only one who declareth the
Father. It is in accord with his nature as the Logos,
the Word, that he should declare the Father. If he is
the only Logos, he is the only one who can declare the
Father. No man hath seen God at any time ; that is,
in such a way as to be able to declare Him. The author
is not speaking of the seeing of the theophanic God, but
of the seeing of the Father Himself. The author, mov
ing in the lines of Philo, evidently conceives of the Son
as the Mediator of all the theophanies of the Old Testa
ment as well as the Christophanies of the New Testa
ment. He ever has been the manifested God which the
ancient patriarchs and prophets saw. He only has seen
the Father. He only can declare the Father. His decla-

jection of the Logos is introduced in v. 5, and reproduced in vv. 10, 11."
Plummer, St. John, Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools, pp. 73, 76.

OF THE PROLOGUE OF THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 515
ration is therefore a declaration by the Logos, of God
Himself, in antithesis with the giving of the Law through
the human mediator Moses.

THE ONLY BEGOTTEN SON.
§ 90. God so loved the world that He gave His only begot
ten Son. He sent him into the world not to judge the
world, but that the world should be saved through him.
He gave all things into his hands. He came from heaven
to bear witness. He speaks the words of God, and men
gain everlasting life by faith in him. Those who refuse
to believe in him are judged already, and the wrath of God
abides on them.
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten
Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have
eternal life. For God sent not the Son into the world to judge
the world ; but that the world should be saved through him. He
that believeth on him is not judged : he that believeth not hath
been judged already, because he hath not believed on the name
of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the judgment, that
the light is come into the world, and men loved the darkness
rather than the light ; for their works were evil. For every one
that doeth ill hateth the light, and cometh not to the light, lest
his works should be reproved. But he that doeth faithfully
cometh to the light, that his works may be made manifest, that
they have been wrought in God. (John iii. 16-21.)
This section is evidently a comment upon the words
of Jesus. In many respects it reminds us of the first
Epistle of John. The gift of the Son of God and his
mission to the world were because of the love of God to
the world. The Love of God is the original source of
redemption. This is the same doctrine as we have
studied in the Epistle, where it is said : " God is love.
Herein was the love of God manifested in us, that God
hath sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we

51g THE MESSIAH
might live through him "; and, " He loved us, and sent
his Son to be the propitiation for our sins," and " sent the
Son to be the Saviour of the world." ' The coming of the
only begotten Son is there a sending, here it is also a
sending, and in addition a gift of love to the world.
There is the same universality here as there. Those
who seek to limit the love of God to the elect, or any
other class of men, or to condition it in any way in which
it does not condition itself, are guilty of a sin against
the love of God, which is of such enormity that nothing
but the love of God can cover it. God loves the world.
He gives and sends His only begotten Son into the world.
The Son comes to be the Saviour of the world. God's
love and the Saviour's mission must be regarded as fail
ures unless the salvation of the world is eventually ac
complished. This does not imply the eventual salvation
of every man, but it does mean the salvation of the world
as a whole, as an organized body or mass. God did not
send His Son to judge the world, but to save it. The
second Advent, as we learn from other passages of
Scripture, is to judge the world. Prior to the second
Advent the Son of God is the Saviour of the world, and
the Love of God carries on the salvation of the world.
Salvation is conditioned on faith. Whosoever believes
on the Son of God hath eternal life. Eternal life is
salvation. Those who do not believe on the Son are not
judged by the Son, they are judged by their own act,
they have rejected salvation. The Light comes into the
world in the Son of God. Those who do evil hate the
light and love darkness. Those who do faithfully 2 come
to the light and their faithfulness is manifested. Those

1 i John iv. 8-16. See p. 488.
'' ttoieIv ri/v aAyBsiav, iii. 21, is the equal of flON HC'Jf = do fidelity, do truly,
and does not mean "do the truth," comp. Ezek. xviii. 9.

OF THE PROLOGUE OF THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 517
who do not believe in the Son, are men who prefer
darkness to the light and evil deeds to faithful deeds.
Such are judged already by their own deliberate choice.
This reminds us of the statement of the Epistle of John,
that " If we say that we have fellowship with him, and
walk in the darkness, we lie, and do not faithfully:
but if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have
fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus
his Son cleanseth us from all sin." 1 The teaching
here, as in other similar passages, does not exclude
from salvation those who have never heard of Christ, and
who know nothing of the Son of God as manifested in
Christ ; it excludes from salvation those who reject the
Saviour of the world and deliberately prefer the darkness
of sin to the light of holiness. There are multitudes of
men, women, and children who belong to neither of these
classes. They have not rejected the Love of God and
they have not believed in Jesus, with regard to whom
we can only say, that the doctrine of this passage is, that
God loved the world and sent His Son to save the world.2
The third passage of the evangelist that we have to
consider is his comment upon the words of John the
Baptist :
He that cometh from above is above all : he that is of the
earth is of the earth, and of the earth he speaketh : he that
cometh from heaven is above all. What he hath seen and heard,
of that he beareth witness ; and no man receiveth his witness.
He that hath received his witness hath set his seal to this, that
God is true. For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words
of God : for he giveth not the Spirit by measure. The Father
loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand. He

1 1 John i. 6, 7. See p. 471.
2 It is altogether probable that if they have had no opportunity for decision in
this life, they will have it in the Middle State prior to the day of judgment. See
pp. 35, 493; also The Messiah of the Gospels, pp. 181, 266.

518 THE MESSIAH
that believeth on the Son hath eternal life ; but he that obeyeth
not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on
him. (John iii. 31-36.)
The Son of God cometh from above, from heaven,
and is therefore above all. He beareth witness to what
he hath seen and heard in heaven with God. No other
can bear such witness. This reminds us of the only be
gotten declaring the Father in the Prologue. God hath
sent him and he speaketh the words of God. God is
the Father and He loves the Son and all things are com
mitted to his hand. The Son is made the ruler of all.
He has the power and authority over all. He is the
test of human salvation. He that believeth on the Son
hath everlasting life. He that believeth not, or obeyeth
not, according to the varying readings, shall not see life ;
that is, the eternal life of salvation, — but instead of this,
the wrath of God abides upon him. This is in accord
with the previous section, where he was under condem
nation. Such persons are not those who have had no
opportunity to believe, or those who do not believe from
simple neglect, but those who in a positive and deliberate
way refuse to believe or decline to obey.

CHAPTER XVIII.
THE MESSIAH OF THE APOSTLES.
We have traced the development of the Messianic
idea of the apostles from its simplest forms in the dis
courses of the Book of Acts until we attained the com
plex and exalted forms of the Prologue of the Gospel of
John. We are now prepared for a summary statement
of the Messianic idea of the apostles. We might make
that statement in the order of the development of the
Messianic idea. But this would be simply to condense
the material of the previous chapters in the same
method. It seems better therefore to present the ma
terial in another order and so consider it from another
point of view. The order that we shall follow is the
order of the life of the Messiah himself, using life in the
more extended sense so as to comprehend his pre-exist
ence and his post-existence as well as his existence in
this world.
There can be no doubt that the Christology of the
apostles, in all of its types, unfolds from the Christophanies
of the risen and enthroned Messiah, granted to the chief
apostles, Peter and Paul and John. These Christophanies
guided Peter to interpret the earthly life of Jesus, enabled
Paul to understand the mediatorial reign, led John to
know the pre-existent life, and opened the eyes of all to
the redemptive and judicial significance of the second
Advent. In our study of the Messiah of the Gospels,
(519)

520 THE MESSIAH
the whole Messianic idea was shaped by the earthly life
of Jesus. In our study of the Messiah of the apostles
the Messianic idea is transformed by the heavenly reign
of Jesus. We shall begin with the pre-existence of the
Messiah, then study in their order the incarnation, the
earthly life, the death on the cross, the descent to
Hades, and finally the resurrection, the reign of grace,
the second advent, and the kingdom of glory.
I. THE PRE-EXISTENCE OF THE MESSIAH.
The pre-existence of the Messiah seems to be unknown
to the Book of Acts, and the epistles of Peter, James,
and Jude. The doctrine of the pre-existence is confined
to the Pauline and Johannine types of New Testament
theology. In the earlier Paulinism the pre-existence of
the Messiah appears only in the epistles to the Corin
thians, and there in such a form that we cannot be
certain that any more than ideal pre-existence is taught.
Jesus is regarded as the second Adam, the original image
after which man was created ; l the one Lord through
whom all things came into being ; " the man from heaven
with the life-giving spirit ; 3 the theophanic angel who
led Israel in the journey to the Holy land ; ' he who was
rich prior to his self-impoverishment.5
In the Epistles of the Imprisonment, the pre-existence
of Christ becomes a prominent doctrine. He pre-existed
in the form of God,6 was the image of the invisible God,
the first-born prior to all creation, through whom all
things were created.' In the Epistle to the Hebrews,
the pre-existent Son was the radiation of the glory of
God and the express image of His essential being,
through whom the ages were made." In the apocalypse
' See p. 99. 2 p. 98. ' p. 117. < p. 09.
' p. 121. " p. 180. ' p. 213. » p. 246.

OF THE APOSTLES 521
of the Epistles, he is " the First," ' the beginning of the
creation of God, the Ancient of Days, Yahweh, the
everlasting God ; " and it seems probable that the final
editor of the Apocalypse identifies him with the Yahweh
of the Old Testament, as the First, the Alpha, and the
Beginning.3 In the first Epistle of John, the pre-existent Son was
the Word of eternal Life with the Father from the
beginning.4 In the second Epistle of John, Jesus Christ
is the Son of the Father.5 In the Prologue of the
Gospel of John, the Son was in the beginning with God
and was God, the only begotten God. He was the
Light, the Life, and the Word. All things were made
through him, and he was the Life of all things that came
into existence.6 II. THE INCARNATION.
There is no clear reference to the incarnation in the
Book of Acts or in the epistles of James, Peter, and
Jude. This doctrine also belongs to the Pauline and
Johannine types of theology. In the earlier Paulinism,
the second Adam was a life-giving Spirit from heaven ; T
the Lord Jesus became poor for our sakes ;" in the ful
ness of time, God sent His Son ; he was born of a woman,
as the one seed of Abraham, under the Law,8 of the seed
of David according to the flesh ; 10 God sent His Son in
the likeness of sinful flesh.11 Thus in the earlier Paulin
ism, the first advent of the Messiah was a mission from
God. The Epistle to the Philippians represents that the
Messiah himself was active in his entrance into the

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522 THE MESSIAH
world, and the mission from God retires into the back
ground. Christ Jesus emptied himself of the form of
God, and took the form of a prophetic servant.1 His
advent was a Kenosis. According to the Pastoral epis
tles, Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners,2
he was manifested in flesh.3 There has been an epiphany
of grace,4 an epiphany of our Saviour Jesus Christ.6
The Epistle to the Hebrews represents that the Son
of man was made a little lower than the angels and
partook of flesh and blood ; " he was manifested to put
away sin.7
The first Epistle of John teaches that the pre-existent
life of Jesus was manifested, and that what was mani
fested was seen with the eyes, heard with the ears, and
handled with the hands.8 He was manifested to take away
sin and to destroy the works of the devil. The test of
the reality of Christian experience is the confession that
Jesus is come in the flesh.' God so loved the world that
He sent His only begotten Son into the world to be the
propitiation for our sins — to be the Saviour of the world
— that we might live through him.10 The writer of the
epistle says, " We know that the Son of God is come." "
It is evident that this epistle makes the incarnation the
characteristic doctrine of Christianity, and that more
than any of the other epistles it lays stress upon the
Coming in the flesh.
The Prologue of the Gospel takes the same position.
The advent is the Light shining in the darkness,12 the
true Light coming into the world.12 The climax of the
doctrine is reached in the statement, " The Word be
came flesh, and tabernacled among us, and we beheld his

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OF THE APOSTLES 523
glory . . . full of grace and faithfulness." ¦ The author
of the Gospel, in his comment on the words of Jesus, re
minds us of similar words of the first Epistle of John,
when he says, " God so loved the world, that he gave his
only begotten Son. . . . For God sent not the Son into
the world to judge the world ; but that the world should be
saved through him. . . . And this is the judgment, that
the light is come into the world." 2 So, in his comment
on the words of John the Baptist, " He that cometh from
above is above all : . . . He that cometh from heaven is
above all. . . . For he whom God hath sent speaketh
the words of God." 3
It is very striking that in all these various references
to the incarnation, the kenosis, the manifestation, the
epiphany, the sending, and the entrance into the world,
there is not a word or a suggestion of the virgin-birth, of
the gospel of the Infancy in Matthew and Luke. It is
quite evident that the doctrine of the incarnation in the
theology of the apostles was constructed without any
reference, direct or indirect, to the virgin-birth. The
virgin-birth cannot therefore be essential to the doctrine
of the incarnation. That cannot be an essential doctrine
of the New Testament which seems to be unknown to the
apostles and which finds no expression in the theology
of Peter, James, Paul, and John.
III. THE LIFE OF JESUS IN THE WORLD.
The apostles have little to say about the life of Jesus
in the world prior to the crucifixion.
Peter names him the " Holy and Righteous One." *
Jesus of Nazareth.5 The assembled Christians call him
the " holy Servant Jesus." ° The first Epistle of Peter
represents Christ as "a lamb without blemish and with-
' p. 508. 2pp. 5*5 sef- " P- 5*7- 4 p- 31- • p- 33- ' P- 36'

524 THE MESSIAH
out spot." 1 He " did no sin, neither was guile found in
his mouth : who, when he was reviled, reviled not again ;
when he suffered, threatened not." 2 He suffered just for
unjust.3 Paul in the 2d Epistle to the Corinthians represents
that Jesus was in poverty,4 that he knew no sin ; and
speaks of " the meekness and gentleness of Christ." 6
In the Epistle to the Galatians, he emphasizes the
fact that the Son of God loved him and gave himself up
for him." The Epistle to the Philippians represents
that the Messiah humbled himself, becoming obedient
unto death.' The first Epistle to Timothy refers to the
good confession he witnessed before Pilate.8
The Epistle to the Hebrews emphasizes the suffering
of the Messiah. God made him " perfect through suffer
ings." " It behoved him in all things to be made like
unto his brethren." " He himself suffered being tempt
ed." " He " hath been in all points tempted like as we
are, yet without sin." 10 In the days of the flesh " having
offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying
and tears unto him that was able to save him from death,
and having been heard for his godly fear, though he was
a Son, yet learned obedience by the things which he
suffered." " He was " holy, guileless, undefiled, separated
from sinners, . . . perfected for evermore." 12
The Apocalypse refers to Jesus as the faithful '3 and
true witness,14 the root and offspring of David.15
The Epistle of John speaks of the walk of Jesus Christ
as an example for Christians,13 represents that he came by
water and by blood,17 and names him Jesus Christ the
righteous.18 The Prologue of the Gospel of John states

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OF THE APOSTLES . 525
that he came into the world and the world knew him not.
He came to his own people and they received him not.
The disciples saw his glory and received of his fulness
of grace and fidelity. He declared the Father. He
came from heaven to be a witness. He spake the words
of God.1
It is evident, therefore, that the historical events of
the life of Christ oh earth are of small importance in the
doctrine of the apostles. The sinlessness, self-sacrifice,
and righteousness of the Redeemer ; in other words, his
holy character, is what is emphasized.
IV. THE DEATH OF CHRIST.
The death of Christ in the first Epistle of Peter, is the
death of a lamb without blemish and without spot, a
sacrificial victim whose blood is so precious as to be the
redemptive price of men. The blood of this lamb is,
according to the previous context, the blood of a cove
nant sacrifice, which is sprinkled upon those who take
part in the covenant.2 This is the same conception of
the use of the blood that we have seen at the institution
of the Lord's supper, the perpetual sacrificial meal of
the new covenant.3 The epistle also represents that the
Messiah himself bare our sins in his body upon the tree,4
and that by his stripes we were healed.5 Christ " suf
fered for sins once." " Here Peter thinks of an inter
position in the suffering and dying of the Messiah for
the people. The death of interposition is a different
conception from his death as a sacrificial victim of the
sacrifice of the covenant, and should be carefully distin
guished from it.
Paul, in his discourse to the elders of Ephesus, taught

i p„ co6 seq. 5 p. 48. s The Messiah of the Gospels, p. 120.
« p. 54. " P- 55- ' P- 56.

526 THE MESSIAH
that the Lord had acquired the Church by his own blood.1
The purchase by blood is the purchase by the inter
position of the Messiah, who shed his blood in the de
fence of the Church to deliver the Church from its enemies.
In the first Epistle to the Corinthians, Paul represents
that Christ was crucified for us for our sins ; and he
reminds the Corinthians : " Ye were bought with a
price." The shedding of the blood of Christ by his
interposition is thought of, and also the application of
the blood of the sacrifice of the covenant. He thinks
of Christ both as the antitype of the existing peace-
offerings and their communion meals, and also of the
ancient passover and its communion meal.2
In the second Epistle to the Corinthians, Paul ad
vances to a more profound doctrine of the death of
Christ. He represents that he died for all and all died
with him. God made him who knew no sin, to be sin
on our behalf.3 Christ was therefore made to be sin,
and he died by interposing himself for sinners ; and so
he died for all men, taking upon himself the death pen
alty of sin. This seems to be the conception of the in
terposition of a second Adam rather than of a suffering
victim of any offering of the ritual.
The Epistle to the Galatians opens up a new phase of
the doctrine of the death of Christ. He gave himself
for us * for our sins,6 redeemed us from the curse of the
Law, having become a curse for us.6 He was born
under the Law, that he might redeem from under the
Law.' The death of Christ is still an interposition.
But it is an interposition of the one seed of Abraham
between the Law and the Jew. The Law pronounced
accursed one who did not entirely obey it. Jesus was
1 p. 82. 3 pp. ico seg. s p. 123. « p. 133.
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OF THE APOSTLES 527
pronounced accursed and died the accursed death. He
was not a sinner, but by his interposition he became
sin to the Law, and incurred the curse of the Law on
behalf of sinners for whom he interposed. The Law
became itself accursed when it crucified the holy Jesus,
and lost its authority forever with respect to believers
in him.
The Epistle to the Romans advances another concep
tion of the death of Christ. It conceives of him as a
sin-offering, and especially as the great sin-offering of
the day of atonement. He dies as the victim of the
sin-offering. His blood is taken to the heavenly pro
pitiatory and sprinkled upon it, and there remains cleans
ing the propitiatory from all the sins of the people.1
It is a world's propitiatory arid not the propitiatory of
Israel alone. While we were yet sinners, Christ died for
us ; and while we were enemies, we were reconciled to
God through the death of His Son, and are justified by
his blood.2 The death on the cross is the death of the
victim of the sin-offering. The blood of justification
was applied to the propitiatory to cleanse it and make
it an everlasting throne of just justification. Christ's
death was also the death of the race of man, who died in
him from their bondage to Sin and Death.3 The Son of
God in the likeness of sinful flesh and as a sin-offering,
condemned sin in the flesh.4 God spared not His own
Son, but delivered him up for us all. Christ Jesus died,
and became by his resurrection our justification.6
The Epistles of the Imprisonment are still richer in
their conception of redemption by the death of Christ.
Redemption through the blood of Christ, in the Epistle
to the Ephesians," may be conceived of as through the

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528 THE MESSIAH
shedding of his blood in interposition, through the
sprinkling of the blood of the sin-offering on the pro
pitiatory, or as the sprinkling of the blood of the peace-
offering on the faithful, as in the several passages pre
viously considered. The Gentiles made nigh in the
blood of Christ, are conceived of as having their sins
covered at the same heavenly altar as the Jews, and
therefore the enmity between them is removed. Thus
the partition between the Jews and Gentiles caused by
the national altar at Jerusalem is broken down.1 Christ
is also conceived of as a whole burnt-offering ascending
to God and finding acceptance as a love gift.2 Accord
ing to the Epistle to the Colossians, God made peace
through the blood of the cross of Christ, through the
death of Christ, and in the body of his flesh.3 God
blotted out the bond written in ordinances that was
against us, which was contrary to us ; and He hath
taken it out of the way, nailing it to the cross.4 When
Christ died, the Law and its curse and penalty were
blotted out and rendered invalid forever. This seems
to be a martyr's interposition, and not the death of a
sacrificial victim.
In the Pastoral epistles, the more elementary form of
the interposition of Christ is adhered to. Christ Jesus
gave himself a ransom for all,5 that he might redeem us
from all iniquity."
In the Epistle to the Hebrews, the Messiah tasted
death for every man,' was once offered to bear the sins
of many,' and so we have been sanctified through the
offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.' His
blood of sprinkling speaketh better than Abel.10 " Jesus,
that he might sanctify the people through his own

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OF THE APOSTLES 529
blood, suffered without the gate." ' His is the blood of
the eternal covenant.2 This epistle conceives of the
death of Christ as the death of a victim that compre
hends the significance of the entire sacrificial system.
In the apocalypse of the Seals, Jesus, as the Lamb of
God, purchased men by his blood.3 He loved us and
loosed us from our sins by his blood.4 The former
refers to the shedding of his blood by interposition, the
latter to the application of the blood to the persons as
in the covenant sacrifice. The latter use of the blood
is also implied in the description of the white-robed.
They washed their robes and made them white in the
blood of the Lamb.6 According to the apocalypse of
the Epistles, the Messiah died as a faithful martyr.6
In the first Epistle of John, the three phases of re
demption by the blood of Christ are all brought into
view. He laid down his life for us ' by interposition.
The blood of Jesus His Son cleanseth us from all sin 8
by its application to us. God sent His Son to be the
propitiation for our sins,9 the propitiation for the
world,1" by his offering of himself at the divine altar.
He was manifested to take away sin and to destroy the
works of the devil.11
It is evident, therefore, that there are several different
ways of conceiving of the redemptive value of the death
of the Messiah, (i) The more primitive conception seems
to be that he died as a martyr-prophet, and saved men
by interposing between them and their enemies. This
is the conception which is most persistent in the writ
ings of the New Testament. In Paulinism, the martyr-
prophet becomes the one seed of Abraham and the sec-

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530 THE MESSIAH
ond Adam. (2) On the basis of the Lord's supper and its
covenant sacrifice, the Messiah was conceived of as a
sacrificial victim, and especially as the victim of the
peace-offering. (3) Paul in the Epistle to the Romans in
troduces the conception of Christ as the victim of the
sin-offering, and in the Epistle to the Ephesians as the
victim of the whole burnt-offering; but these concep
tions are found nowhere else in the New Testament save
in the Epistle to the Hebrews, which regards the Messiah
as the comprehensive victim, the antitype of the entire
sacrificial system of the Old Testament ; and in the first
Epistle of John, so far as the sin-offering is involved in
the abstract propitiation wrought by the sin-offering at
the propitiatory. (4) Paul and John both conceive of
the universal redemptive value of the death of the Mes
siah. Paul starts with the idea of the second Adam,
John with the incarnation. The death of Christ is a
death for the race. The race dies in him to Sin and to
the Mosaic Law, and gains life by his resurrection.
V. THE DESCENT INTO HADES.
Peter, in his discourse on the day of Pentecost, repre
sents that the Messiah was not left to Hades, whither
he had gone after death, nor did his flesh see corruption
in the grave where he was placed.1 He was to be the
judge of the dead ; " and therefore he had to descend
to the abode of the dead to preach the Gospel to the
dead. He was put to death in flesh, but quickened in
spirit, and, in the quickened spirit, went and preached
to the most wretched of the spirits, the antediluvians
who were imprisoned in the abode of the dead.3 The
Gospel was preached to the dead that they might live
' P- 2s • 2 p. 38. 2 pp. S6 seq.

OF THE APOSTLES 53 1
according to God in spirit.1 The angels who corrupted
the antediluvians are imprisoned in Tartarus, in pits of
darkness, reserved unto judgment.2 The unrighteous
are also kept under punishment for the day of judg
ment.3 So also according to the Epistle of Jude, the
angels who seduced mankind are kept in everlasting
bonds under darkness unto the day of judgment." All
of these wretched creatures were brought under the in
fluence of the Messiah when he appeared among them
in the realm of the dead.
In the Epistle to the Romans, it is said Christ died
and lived again that he might be lord of both the dead
and living.6 According to the Epistle to the Ephesians,
he descended into the lower parts of the earth, the sub
terranean abode of the dead, and, when he ascended, led
in his train the captives whom he had rescued."
According to the Epistle to the Hebrews, Jesus suf
fered death that he might bring to nought him that had
the power of death, that is the devil, and might deliver
them who through fear of death were all their lifetime
subject to bondage.7 The worthies of the Old Testa
ment all died not having received the promises, but
having seen them and greeted them from afar, God
having provided some better thing concerning us, that
apart from us they should not be made perfect.8
According to the apocalypse of the Epistles, Jesus be
came dead and is alive for ever, having the keys of Death
and Hades.9 He has authority to release from Hades
and to confine in Hades. The locusts are released from
the well of the abyss, and Apollyon, or Abaddon, is their
king, in the apocalypse of the Trumpets ; '" the beast after
he has been slain comes forth from the abyss, in the

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532 THE MESSIAH
apocalypse of the Bowls ; ] the dragon is chained in the
abyss for a thousand years and then comes forth for the
last battle, in the apocalypse of the Dragon.2
Christ's descent into Hades evidently made a great
change in the abode of the dead for men and angels.
He redeemed some from Hades, and took them with
him in his ascent to heaven. During his redemptive
reign, for purposes of discipline and of judgment, he
summons evil spirits and the devil from Hades, and im
prisons them again at his pleasure. He reigns over the
realm of the dead as well as the realm of the living.
It is not cle \r whether the Messiah took all the re
deemed with him from Hades to heaven, or whether he
took some and left others. Paul expects to depart to
heaven to Christ, and conceives that his aim will be to
be well-pleasing to Christ in heaven as well as on earth,
that to die and be with Christ is gain.3 It is not clear
that all the faithful are to share in this privilege. The
Epistle to the Hebrews sees the spirits of the per
fected, and the Church of the first-born, assembled be
fore God the judge and Christ the mediator on the
heavenly Zion.4 But it is not certain that these repre
sent the entire body of the faithful.
The Apocalypse presents many scenes of heavenly
activity during the continuance of men upon the earth
prior to the resurrection and the judgment. The two
martyrs, who testify forty-two months in the great city,
rise from the dead and ascend into heaven on a cloud.6
It is said blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from
henceforth, that is, from a certain definite time prior to
the resurrection.6 The martyrs rise from the dead, sit
on thrones, and reign with Christ a thousand years.'
1 p. 427. 2 p. 341. 3 pp. 126, 179. * p. 276.
0 p. 310- * p- 325- ' p- 341-

OF THE APOSTLES 533
144,000 of the tribes of Israel are sealed for preserva
tion for the judgment of the trumpets.1 The deceased
martyrs plead before the altar for the hastening of their
redemption. The affliction of the martyrs will endure
for a little time until their number has been completed.2
The Lamb on Mt. Zion is attended by 144,000 martyrs,
who have kept themselves faithful and unspotted, and
are the firstfruits of the harvest of the dead.3 The vic
torious martyrs sing the song of Moses over the destruc
tion of the enemies.4 These parallel representations
show that according to these prophetic writings, there
is to be a resurrection of martyrs to heaven either in one
body at the beginning of the millennium, when the devil
is shut up in the prison of Abaddon, or else that the
resurrection of the martyrs to heaven is involved in the
resurrection of the Messiah to heaven, and takes place
at the death of the martyrs, the necessities of the vision
causing them to appear in the several scenes as in one
body. The Apocalypse limits its conception of these
risen ones to martyrs. This limitation stands in the
way of the doctrine that all Christians share in the
first resurrection, unless we can show that the Apoca
lypse in all its minor apocalypses conceives of the entire
Church of the time as a martyr Church, and so includes
all true Christians among the martyrs.
When Hades is judged, in the apocalypse of the
Dragon, it seems that some of its inhabitants were found
written in the Lamb's book of life.5 It is evident that
the redemptive activity of the Messiah extended to
Hades and Abaddon during his abode in the grave, and
that his mediatorial reign extends over these regions. It
is evident that his redemptive activity extends over the
' p. 372. 3P- 394- ' P' 410. * p. 416- * p- 362.

534: THE MESSIAH
faithful in heaven. It is possible that his redemptive
activity extends to faithful ones who may have been left
in Hades at his resurrection, and who still may go
thither from the present life on account of their unpre-
paredness for heaven. There is no evidence in the New
Testament to enable us to determine whether there is
any redemptive activity in Abaddon subsequent to the
redemption which Christ himself wrought when he de
scended thither. VI. THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS.
The resurrection, ascension, and enthronement are
three successive stages in the glorification of Jesus.
Sometimes they are distinguished, but more frequently
they are combined in the statements of the apostles.
The apostle Peter represents that the resurrection of
Jesus from the dead was in fulfilment of the 16th
Psalm.1 He repeatedly asserts that God raised him up
from the dead and that the apostles were witnesses.
Peter also sees the Messiah enthroned at the right hand
of God in accordance with the 2d Psalm ; * God has
glorified his servant Jesus. The heavens receive him
until the times of restoration.3 Jesus is the head of the
corner, the only saving name.4 God exalted him at His
right hand to be prince and saviour.5 The assembled
Christians conceived him as the anointed and enthroned
king of the 2d Psalm against whom enemies rage in
vain.8 In the first Epistle of Peter it is said that God
begat us again unto a living hope by the resurrection of
Jesus Christ from the dead.'
Paul represents, in his discourses and epistles, that he
had seen the risen Jesus in Christophanies, and classes

' P- z5- 2 PP- 25 seq. « p. 29. * p. 33.
' P- 37- * P- 36- 7 P.. 45- See also p. 57.

OF THE APOSTLES 535
his seeing with the seeing of the apostles and" others.1
In his discourse in the Book of Acts, Paul said that God
raised the Messiah from the dead and he was seen for
many days by his witnesses,2 and this Paul regards as
in fulfilment of the 16th Psalm. In his discourse at
Athens he represents that God hath given assurance unto
all men that He will judge the world in righteousness by
the Messiah, in that He hath raised him from the dead.3
In the first Epistle to the Corinthians the resurrection
is the cardinal doctrine of Christianity." Christ was
raised the firstfruits from the dead. His resurrection
involves the resurrection of all men at his Parousia.
The second Adam became a life-giving spirit 5 in order
that all should be made alive."
According to the second Epistle to the Corinthians,
the Messiah rose again for all, and he rose for all that
they should live unto him who rose again for their
sakes.' In the Epistle to the Romans, Paul conceives
of the resurrection and the enthronement together. It
was in accordance with the 2nd Psalm that the Mes
siah was declared to be the Son of God with power,
according to his spirit of holiness by the resurrection of
the dead.8 He was raised for our justification.9 He
was raised from the dead through the glory of the
Father that we might walk in newness of life. We shall
be united with him by the likeness of his resurrection,
we shall live with him, we are alive unto God in him.10
He that raised up Jesus from the dead will also quicken
our mortal bodies.11 It is Christ that was raised from
the dead, and who is at the right hand of God, who
maketh intercession for us.12

1 p. 112. See also pp. 72, 103, 133. 2 p. 75. 8 p. 80.
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536 THE MESSIAH
According to the Epistle to the Philippians, God
highly exalted him, gave him the name above every
name and made him equal with God.1 According to the
Epistle to the Ephesians, God raised Christ from the
dead and made him to sit at His right hand in the
heavenly places far above all rule and authority, and
power and dominion and every name, in all ages, and
put all things in subjection under his feet and gave
him to be head over all things to the Church.2 God
raised us up with Christ and made us to sit with Him in
the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.3 He ascended on
high leading captives from those he had rescued from
Hades. He ascended far above all the heavens that he
might fill all things. He is the head of the body of dis
ciples.4 According to the Epistle to the Colossians,
Christ is the head of the body the Church, the begin
ning, the first-born from the dead.5 Those who have
been buried with him are also raised with him through
faith in the working of God who raised him from the
dead.8 The exhortation is : " If then ye were raised
together with Christ, seek the things that are above,
where Christ is, seated on the right hand of God." '
According to the Pastoral Epistles, Jesus was justified
in the spirit, and seen of angels in connection with his
resurrection and enthronement ; 8 Jesus abolished death
and brought life and immortality to light.' Jesus Christ
rose from the dead, of the seed of David ; 10 if we died
with him we shall also live with him ; if we endure, we
shall also reign with him.1'
According to the Epistle to the Hebrews, the Messiah
when he had made purification of sins sat down on the

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OF THE APOSTLES 537
right hand of the Majesty on high, having become so
much better than the angels, inheriting a more excellent
name.1 We see Jesus because of the suffering of death,
crowned with glory and honor. He became a merciful
and faithful high priest.2 Having then a great high
priest who hath passed through the heavens, Jesus the
Son of God, let us draw near with boldness unto the
throne of grace.3 He was named of God a high priest
after the order of Melchizedek.4 For such a high priest
became us, holy, guileless, undefiled, separated from
sinners and made higher than the heavens.6 We have
such a high priest who sat down on the right hand of
the throne of the Majesty in the heavens." Through
his own blood, he entered in, once for all, into the holy
place.' God brought again from the dead the great
shepherd of the sheep.8
In the apocalypse of the Epistles, the Son of man
who became dead, is alive forevermore, and is the Living
one ;" which became dead and lived again.16 In the pro
logue of the apocalypse of the Seals, he is the first-born
of the dead.11 He is seen entering heaven as the Lamb,
who had been slain, the victorious Lion of Judah.12 In
the apocalypse of the Dragon, the Messiah is caught up
to heaven on his birthday in accordance with the 2d
Psalm.13 There is no reference to the resurrection of the Mes
siah, or to his enthronement in the epistles of John. In
the prologue of the Gospel of John, the only begotten
God returns from his earthly life into the bosom of the
Father.14 It is evident therefore that apart from the epistles

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538 THE MESSIAH
of John, the resurrection and enthronement of the Mes
siah is the most important Christian doctrine, upon
which Peter and Paul dwell most frequently and most
fully. Paul represents that the race secures ultimate
resurrection in the Messiah, and that believers have
risen to heavenly places in him during their earthly
life. The spiritual resurrection is the prelude to the
universal resurrection in the body.
VII. THE REIGN OF CHRIST.
The reign of Christ begins with his enthronement at
the right hand of God. On the day of Pentecost the
descent of the Holy Spirit established his kingdom on
earth.1 The corner-stone of the kingdom is Christ in
heaven, against whom men struggle in vain.2 The Mes
siah of the second Psalm reigns in him, and the kings
and rulers of the earth cannot overcome him.3 He is a
prince and saviour who bestows repentance and remis
sion of sins.4 The prophecy of Amos respecting the
rebuilding of the tabernacle of David is fulfilled in the
conversion of the Gentiles to Christ.5 He is the shepherd
and overseer of men, the king of angels.6
Paul conceives of Christ as enthroned in heaven, but
conceives of his reign as a spiritual one. He reigns in
heaven until all things have been reduced to submission,
men and angels and Death, the last enemy of all.7 The
Messiah's kingdom has to be won from enemies. The
mediatorial reign continues until the kingdom has be
come universal, and then the perfected kingdom will be
delivered over to the Father, that God may be all in all.8
Every thought is to be brought into captivity to Christ.
Believers are being transformed by the glory of the

1 p- 27. 2 p. 33- s p- 36. • p. 37.
6 p. 41- " P- 54- ' p. in. "p. 115.

OF THE APOSTLES 539
Messiah into his image.1 The reign of grace began with
the enthronement of Christ.2 God enthroned him at His
right hand, giving him the name above every name, and
all things in heaven and earth and Hades bow the knee
to him.3 God enthroned him in heaven, where he reigns
supreme over all, filling all things.4 He ascended to his
throne, and thence gave the ministry for the building up of
his body, the Church.6 In all things he is to have the pre
eminence. Enthroned in heaven he is the head of all
things, the centre of the believers' life and hope.6
According to the Epistle to the Hebrews the Messiah
carries on all things by the word of his power. He is the
appointed heir of all things. He sat down on the right
hand of God, heir of a more excellent name than the
angels.7 He was crowned with glory, and all things are to
become subdued to him.8 The Messiah is enthroned at
the right hand of God, reigning until his enemies have
been subdued." The Messiah is the prince and perfecter
of faith. He gained his reward on his heavenly throne.10
According to the apocalypse of the Seals, the Messiah
is ruler of kings ; " he is recognized by all heaven as the
alone worthy, and receives universal adoration.12 Accord
ing to the apocalypse of the Epistles the Messiah liveth
forever as the Lord of men and angels, and especially as
king of the churches with the key of David. He is ever
present with his churches in special presence, to dwell
with the penitent and to discipline the impenitent.13
According to the apocalypse of the Beasts he is King of
kings and Lord of lords.14
The kingdom is conceived of by the primitive Chris
tians in accordance with the teaching of Jesus, as both

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540 THE MESSIAH
eschatological and soteriological. Thus Peter represents
that the kingdom began with the enthronement of Christ,1
the head of the corner.2 Christians are living stones of
the temple of which the Messiah is the corner-stone, a
kingdom of priests.3 The dynasty of David has been re
established, accordingto James, and the conversion of the
nations is the spreading of the Messianic dominion over
mankind.4 In the Apocalypse the primitive Christian
view is retained. The Messiah made Christians a king
dom of priests.5 But the kingdom is also eschatological,
in that it is predicted that the kingdom of God is to take
the place of the kingdom of the world.8 The Millennium
which follows the brief martyr age is conceived of as the
last complete period of the kingdom of the Messiah on
earth. The martyrs reign with the Messiah during this
period on heavenly thrones.7 In the Epistle of James
the kingdom is eschatological. It is an inheritance.8
In the second Epistle of Peter the entrance into the
eternal kingdom is the ultimate reward.9
In the discourses and epistles of Paul the kingdom is
an inheritance.10 Paul conceives of the enthronement of
Christ in connection with his resurrection, but nowhere
uses kingdom in the soteriological sense. The kingdom
to Paul is always eschatological. In the second Epistle
to the Thessalonians the patient and believing will be
counted worthy of the kingdom at the revelation of
the Messiah.11 In the Epistle to the Romans it is
righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.12
According to the epistles of the Imprisonment, the
Christian commonwealth is in heaven with the Mes
siah.13 The Messiah broke down the barrier between

1 pp. 27 seq. ' pp. 33 seq. a p. so. 4 p. 41.
6 PP- 392. 399- 8 P- 4°S. 7 p. 341. « p. 43.
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OF THE APOSTLES 541
Jew and Gentile, making them into one new body, the
commonwealth of God.1 God delivered the faithful from
the realm of darkness and transferred them into the king
dom of the Son of His love. Their hope is an inherit
ance in the light.2 The Pastorals teach that the kingdom
of glory will appear, and the faithful will receive the
crown of righteousness at the epiphany of the Messiah.3
Thus Paul conceives of the kingdom as already exist
ing in heaven during the mediatorial reign, and of the
faithful as already in that kingdom. But he never uses
the kingdom for earthly organizations, or earthly rela
tions. The Church is his term for the kingdom of grace
of the Gospels.
According to the Epistle to the Hebrews, in heaven
are the better country, the city of God, the better things
which the ancient martyrs did not enjoy except in the
contemplation of hope, but which they receive together
with Christians.4 The true Zion and Jerusalem are in
heaven, where are the general assembly of the angels,
the church of the first-born, the perfected spirits of men
and Jesus the mediator. Only this immovable kingdom
will remain.5 VIII. THE GREAT HIGH PRIEST.
The Epistle to the Hebrews holds up the Messiah as
the great high priest. He became a faithful and merci
ful high priest, and made propitiation for sins. He
succors the tempted, delivers from the fear and bondage
of death, and brings many brethren into glory.6 Jesus
the apostle and high priest is worthy of more honor than
Moses and Joshua, because he is the son and builder of
the household of God. He is touched with the feeling
of our infirmities, and affords free access to the throne
¦ p. 194. 2 p 210. 3 p. 237. * p. 273. 8 P- 276. • p. 248.

542 THE MESSIAH
of grace for needed help.1 The high priest after the
order of Melchizedek is more exalted than Aaron and
Abraham. He has a priesthood to which they did
reverence. It knows no change of person. It has no
infirmities. The Messiah was made higher than the
heavens, entered within the veil of the holy of holies in
heaven, where he ever lives to make intercession, able
to save to the uttermost, the author of eternal salvation
to all who obey him.2 The Messiah is the mediator of
a new and better covenant, which has taken the place of
the old. He is the minister of the heavenly tabernacle.3
Jesus, the mediatorial priest and victim, is on the
heavenly Zion.4
The apocalypse of the Beasts also conceives of the
Messiah, in accordance with Psalm ex., as the priest-
king after the order of Melchizedek ; but it follows the
psalm in thinking of conquest and subjugation of ene
mies rather than of heavenly ministry. So the armies
that follow him are a kingdom of priests clothed in fine
linen, white and pure.5 The kingdom is a priestly king
dom in accordance with the covenant at Horeb,6 in both
the first Epistle of Peter ' and in the Apocalypse.' The
Messiah of the Apocalypse is not conceived of as having
a priestly ministry in heaven ; rather in the apocalypse
of the Seals the 24 elders minister as priests,9 and in the
apocalypse of the Trumpets ministering angels, who ap
ply the incense which gives efficacy to the prayers of the
saints.10 The activity of a priest-king over a kingdom of priests
involves the related conceptions, holy places and things,
in the forms of which the priestly ministry is conducted.
According to the first Epistle of Peter, Christians are

1 p. 254. 2 p. 256. 3 p. 260. * p. 276. « p. 331.
« Ex. xix. ' p. 50. s pp. 302, 399. • p. 397. 10 p. 3?4.

OF THE APOSTLES 543
living stones of the spiritual temple of which Christ is
the corner-stone.1 Paul represents that Christians con
stitute a temple built of various kinds of precious stones
on the one foundation, Jesus Christ ; * that the Messiah
, is the corner-stone of a new temple whose foundations
are apostles and prophets, and whose buildings are the
faithful, who together constitute a living, growing tem
ple, the habitation of God through the Holy Spirit.3
Paul also thinks of Jesus as the blood-besprinkled
propitiatory, the altar and perpetual victim combined
in -one.4
The Epistle to the Hebrews represents that his
blood was taken into the holy place to perpetually cover
over sin. His blood is the blood of the eternal cove
nant, and so his flesh and blood became the perpetual
meal of his people on the altar-table of the Church.5
The Messiah's flesh is the veil of the Holy of Holies of
the heavenly tabernacle.6 IX. THE MEDIATOR.
The representative and mediatorial offices of the Old
Testament prophet, priest, and king are altogether in
adequate to express the mediation of Christ. Paul con
ceives of the Messiah as the second Adam, the head of
a redeemed race. Christ is the mediator in racial rela
tions as well as in special relations to the faithful. With
out the use of the terms mediator or mediation, this
ideal is unfolded, possibly under Alexandrian influence,
even in the first Epistle to the Corinthians, where Jesus
is represented as the Wisdom of God, summing up the
three great divisions of his work, righteousness, sanctifi
cation, and redemption.' According to the Epistle to the

1 p. 50. 2 p. I08. 3 p. I94. 4 p. I42.
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544 THE MESSIAH
Romans, by his one act of righteous obedience, justifica
tion came upon men.1 He is the mediatorial surety and
guarantee of a righteous people. He makes intercession
at the right hand of God.2 According to the Epistles
of the Imprisonment, he is the head of his body the
Church, which he fills full with the fulness of his pres
ence.3 He is the husband and Saviour of the Church.4
He is the mystery of God, in whom are hid all the
treasures of wisdom. In him dwells all the fulness of
the Godhead bodily.5 According to the Pastoral Epistles,
he is the one Mediator, Jesus Christ the righteous. He
is taken up in glory by the Church, which holds him up
as the Truth, the mystery of godliness, on itself as a
pillar and ground." The Epistle to the Hebrews repre
sents that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and to-day
and forever. He is the great shepherd of the sheep.'
In the first Epistle of John it is taught that the Mes
siah is the Paraclete with the Father, acting in heaven
on behalf of the faithful, the propitiation for the whole
world,8 and the mediator of redemption in all its forms.
According to the Prologue of the Gospel of John, the
mediatorial Logos, the only begotten God, returned into
the bosom of the Father.9
The Mediatorial redemption completes the redemp
tion of the Old Testament and of the religions of the
nations. It does not depreciate or destroy the value of
the earlier stages of redemption. According to Peter,
Jesus is the only Saviour, the giver of repentance and
remission of sin.10 He was manifested to redeem by his
precious blood.11 God's seeming slackness as to the ad
vent of the Day of judgment is due to His long-suffering,

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OF THE APOSTLES 545
in order to the repentance and salvation of men.1 Paul
saw in Jesus the source of the sure mercies of David and
of remission of sins, the light of the Gentiles, and the
salvation of the ends of the earth. The Church was pur
chased by his blood. All are called to repentance and
remission of sins, and an inheritance among the sancti
fied.2 God in Christ was reconciling the world unto
Himself, not reckoning their trespasses, but the righteous
ness of Christ. On account of his death all men died in
him. On account of his righteousness all in him were
raised as new creatures into a new and Christlike life.3
Christ is the righteousness, sanctification, and final re
demption of all those who are in union with him. Thus
three stages of salvation are presented to us which are
essentially ethical.
Believers become united to Christ in baptism, and are
washed, consecrated, and justified in him.4 Redemp
tion begins by the external ceremony of baptism, by the
internal ethical washing, by the external governmental
justification, and by the voluntary consecration of the
individual. An initial act of salvation is also in the ad
vent of the divine Spirit to dwell in the individual be
liever. The Holy Spirit unites believers in the one
body of Christ, dwelling in each one as in a temple of
God.5 With the Epistle to the Galatians a new conception
comes in. Christ delivers us from the curse of the Law
and from this present evil age of the world." The de
livery from the Law was by his dying under the curse of
the Law, and was another initial step in redemption. The
delivery from the present evil age involves the transfer
into the concluding Messianic age. That is an ultimate
> p. 62. 2 p. 74. s p. 121. i p. 103. 6 P- ios- ' P- I32-

546 THE MESSIAH
redemption. Jesus redeems from under the Law. By
baptism believers are joined to him in vital union and
are clothed with him. Christians are new creatures in
Christ.1 According to the Epistle to the Romans, the
sins of the faithful are covered over by the blood of a
perpetual sin-offering. Christ is the blood-besprinkled
propitiatory and their justification is secured by the
righteousness of their surety and guarantee. God
passed over sin until the time when he provided and
accepted this righteousness.2 Jesus was delivered to
death for our trespasses. He was raised for our justifi
cation that we might be reconciled to God, have peace
and access to grace.3 By the one act of righteous obedi
ence of Christ, justification came upon all men. His
righteousness is appropriated by faith and baptism. He
who is baptized enters into vital union with Christ, and
shares in all his work. He was crucified in him, died
with him, was buried with him, and rose in him to his
throne of righteousness. The bondage to sin and death
was therefore done away with once for all. He has
risen by death in Christ into a new spiritual life.4 God
sent His Son to secure justification to believers. The
Spirit of God accompanied by Christ comes to believers
and dwells in them, giving them the spirit of adoption,
in which they recognize God as their Father and them
selves as joint heirs with Christ.6
In the Epistles of the Imprisonment new and larger
views appear. Believers are sealed by the Holy Spirit,
have forgiveness of sins, and redemption by the blood of
Christ." In Christ, God forgives and the Holy Spirit
seals believers for the day of redemption. Christ cleanses
in baptism.7 God reconciles all things, men and angels,
* p. 151-

1 p. 136.
6 p. 157.

2 pp. 142-3.
» p. 188.

3 p. 149.
7 p. 205.

OF THE APOSTLES 547
to Himself through the blood of the cross. God delivered
the faithful from the realm of darkness, r nd transferred
them into the kingdom of the Son of His love. They
have forgiveness of sins.1 On the cross the ordinances
against us were blotted out, and God triumphed over all
enemies in the Messiah. His people died, were buried,
rose again, and ascended to heaven in him.2 According
to the Pastorals, Christ died to save sinners, and gave him
self a ransom for all.3 In the Epistle to the Hebrews it is
taught that Christ made a purification for sins, and sat
down on the right hand of God.4 He made one sacri
fice of himself for sins." He is the Mediator of a new
and better covenant."
In the Epistle of John, it is said that the Messiah was
manifested to take away sins and to destroy the works
of the devil.7 He is the propitiation for our sins, for
the whole world." He is the Saviour of the world.9
Eternal life is in the Son of God.10 According to the
Prologue of the Gospel of John, those who receive the
Son of God are born of God and become children of
God.11 God sent His Son not to judge the world, but
that the world should be saved through him. Men
gain everlasting life through faith in him.12
Thus the Messianic redemption has its initiation in
the new birth, the resurrection in Christ, the act of
justification, the sealing of the Holy Spirit, in baptism
and its washing and consecration ; it has its goal in the
holiness, conformity to the image of Christ, and glory of
the second advent. But between the initiation and the
goal is the process of mediatorial salvation, which is
carried on by the heavenly Paraclete as the righteous

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548 THE MESSIAH
surety, the ever living propitiation, the source of purifi
cation, sanctification, and transformation, and by the
earthly Paraclete, the Holy Spirit who inhabits the faith
ful and organizes them into the holy temple of God.
X. THE CHURCH OF GOD.
The Church is a conception of the apostle Paul. It is
not used in the epistles of Peter, Jude, or in the first and
second epistles of John. It is used of the local assem
bly by Jesus twice in a single passage ; ] by the Epistle
of James once ; several times, in the epistles to the seven
churches of Asia ; in the prologue and epilogue of the
Apocalypse; in the third Epistle of John, and in the
historical sections of the Book of Acts.
The Church, as the Christian body, is peculiar to
Paulinism. It is probable that the single usage in the
gospels, by Jesus, in this sense, reflects a Pauline inter
pretation.2 In Paul's reservation of the kingdom for
the kingdom of glory, he uses Church for the kingdom
of grace, of Jesus and the primitive Christians. Church
in the Pauline sense first appears in Paul's discourse to
the elders of Ephesus, where he represents that the
Church of the Lord was acquired by the blood of the
Lord.3 The Church is the organized body of Christians
in this age of the World.4 As such it was persecuted
by Paul previous to his conversion.5 The Church is the
body of Christ." The Church is to make known the
manifold wisdom of God to the angels and in the
Messianic age of the ages to manifest the glory of God.
It thus is eschatological as well as soteriological.7 So
Christ is the head, husband, and Saviour of the Church.

1 See The Messiah of the Gospels, p. 194.
2 See The Messiah of the Gospels, p. 191.
3 p. 81. * p. 105. « p. 142. • p. 18S. ' p. 199.

OF THE APOSTLES 549
He cleanses it, baptizes, sanctifies it, and makes it holy,
and finally makes it a glorious Church.1 Christ is the
head of his body the Church.2 The Church is the
pillar and ground which holds up Christ as the Truth.3
According to the Epistle to the Hebrews, the Church
of the first-born is in heaven in the heavenly Jeru
salem.4 The Church of the Messiah is the inheritor of Israel
of the old covenant. Believers in Christ are true chil
dren of Abraham, the true Israel of God.6 God cast
away Israel after the flesh, but on the true spiritual
Israel the Gentiles were grafted. The blindness of
Israel as a nation will continue until the full complement
of the Gentiles has entered the Church. Then all Israel
will be saved."
One hundred and forty-four thousand of the children
of Israel are sealed and rescued, according to the apoca
lypse of the Trumpets ; ' but according to the apocalypse
of the Seals, one hundred and forty-four thousand
martyrs are exalted to be companions of the Lamb, and
then an innumerable company of the white-robed from
all nations.8
The doctrine of the Church as a congregation of the
faithful unfolds into the doctrine of the Church as the
body of Christ in organic union with the Messiah.
Christians are united in baptism with Christ into one
body of which all the faithful are members, each with his
own special place and gifts." The Holy Spirit unites
believers in one body of Christ, dwelling in each one as
a temple of God.10 He who is baptized enters into vital
union with Christ and shares in all his work. He was
crucified in him, died with him, was buried with him,

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550 THE MESSIAH
and rose in him to his throne of righteousness. He has
risen into a new spiritual life, to serve God, to share in
the holy war against sin, to be sanctified, and at the End
to receive the gift of eternal life.1 The Church is the
body of the Messiah which he fills with the fulness of
his presence.2 Christ gave the ministry for the building
up of his body that it may attain perfect manhood after
the likeness of the Messiah. The unity of the body in
the Father, the Messiah, and the Spirit is to be zeal
ously maintained.3 His people died, were buried, rose
again, and ascended to heaven in him. Enthroned in
heaven he is the head of all things, the centre of the
believer's life and hope.4
A kindred conception with the Church is that of the
Christian family. The Spirit of God accompanied by
Christ comes to believers and dwells in them, giving
them the spirit of adoption in which they recognize
God as their Father and themselves as joint heirs with
Christ.5 Christ united Jew and Gentile into one house
hold or family of God. God is the father of all father
hoods." The spirit of adoption is given when first the
believer is united to Christ by faith,7 but the adoption
of sons will take place in a public and official manner
when the Messiah has become the first-born among
many brethren.8 This will be on the ultimate day of
redemption. XI. THE AGE OF CONFLICT.
According to the Apocalypse of Paul, the Parousia
will be preceded by apostasy and also by the revelation
of the man of sin, who will oppose all that is holy and
will set up his throne in the temple, claiming to be God.

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OF THE APOSTLES 551
He will work according to the working of Satan with
miracles and deceitful works. The mystery of lawless
ness was already at work, but was restrained by an irre
sistible power for a season, after which the man of sin
would be manifested. But he is doomed to Gehenna,
and will be destroyed by the breath of the Messiah and
the manifestation of his Parousia.1 According to the
Epistle to the Romans, the blindness of Israel as a nation
will continue until the full complement of the Gentiles
has entered the Church. Then all Israel will be saved.2
In the last days there will be grievous times of sin and
apostasy.3 The Apocalypse of John presents this conflict in three
stages : (i) the martyr age, (2) the millennium, (3) the final
trial. (1) The martyr age endures 3^ times=42 months=
1,260 days, a broken week of time, a period shortened
by the divine compassion. During this age, according
to the apocalypse of the Beasts, the holy city will be
trodden under foot of the nations, and the two martyrs
will testify until they are slain by the beast ; 4 and the
Roman beast makes war with the saints.5 According to
the apocalypse of the Dragon, Satan and one-third of
the angels were cast out of heaven to the earth after a
brief conflict with Michael and the holy angels at the
time of the enthronement of the Messiah. The Dragon
persecutes mother Israel, but she is delivered from him
by God in the wilderness." According to the apoca
lypse of the Epistles, the churches are to exercise
patience during the tribulations of the kingdom. They
are to be patient, brave, and faithful in their services
during the times of affliction. They are exposed to the
persecution of the evil-minded Jews, the synagogue of
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552 THE MESSIAH
Satan, and the seduction to idolatry on the part of the
heathen. These try their fidelity and enable them to
win prizes of victory.1
As in all the apocalypses, the judgment upon the
enemy of the time is associated with the ultimate judg
ment ; and it is not always easy to discriminate them.
The apocalypses of the Sevens present a series of afflic
tions which are the sign of the End. These seem to be
heralds of judgment, and there is no discrimination be
tween them as heralds of the judgment upon the beast
and of the judgment of the world. They seem ordinarily
to be rather the former. In the apocalypse of the Trum
pets seven angels sound the trumpet blasts of judgment.
These are convulsions of nature, such as are associated
with judgment scenes in the older apocalypses. Four
of these trumpets bring down hail, fire, and blood upon
the earth, a burning mountain falling into the sea, a
burning star falling into the rivers, and a darkening of the
heavenly lights ; and one-third of nature and men is de
stroyed.2 The apocalypse of the Seals unfolds a series
of calamities, such as war, bloodshed, famine, pestilence,
and convulsions of nature, heralding the great day of
judgment.3 The apocalypse of the Bowls discloses seven
angels pouring out bowls of wrath, on men, causing the
sea and the rivers to change into blood, scorching the
earth by the heavenly lights, and causing darkness to
come about the throne of the beast.4
The Roman beast is the great enemy during the
martyr age according to the apocalypse of the Beasts.
At the end of the age Rome falls and is rewarded for
her sins, and the worshippers of the beast drink the wine
of the wrath of God.6 The Messiah comes on a white
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OF THE APOSTLES 553
horse with his priestly army, battles with the beast, and
the beast and the false prophet are cast alive into th
lake of fire, while the armies of the beast lying slain on the
battlefield are devoured by birds of prey.1 Thus the
advent of the Messiah coincides with the destruction of
the Roman beast. There is no separation of the two
events. (2) According to the apocalypse of the Dragon, Satan
is seized at the close of the martyr age, chained and
sealed up in the abyss for a thousand years. During this
long period the kingdom of the Messiah is untroubled
by the devil. At the close of the millennium Satan is
let loose, and leads Gog and Magog against the beloved
city of the saints. But he and his army are destroyed
by fire from heaven.2 The advent scene for judgment
follows.3 It is evident, therefore, that the apocalypse of
the Dragon interposes the millennial kingdom of the
Messiah between the judgment at the close of the martyr
age and the judgment of the final battle which precedes
the advent. (3) There is a brief period of final struggle
after the millennium as well as before the millennium.
In the apocalypse of the Trumpets there is no such
interval thought of ; but the army of locusts headed by
Abaddon, the king of the demons, is put under the fifth
trumpet, and the demon army of two hundred million
horsemen from the Euphrates under the sixth trumpet,4
which are parallel representations of the same ultimate
conflict before the final advent. The only feature of this
apocalypse which can be brought into parallelism with
the millennium is the preaching of the everlasting gospel
to all nations,6 which according to the apocalypse of
Jesus must take place before the judgment of the nations,

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554 THE MESSIAH
and which thus implies a gospel age.1 ' The apocalypse
of the Bowls describes the destruction of the harlot city
Rome, and connects the ultimate judgment with it.
The judgment is a great earthquake. Babylon drinks
the cup of the wrath of God. The islands and moun
tains flee away and a great and destructive hail de
scends from heaven.2 A scarlet-colored beast with ten
subordinate kings destroys the harlot city with fire and
sword. The people of God are warned to go forth from
her and so avoid the judgment to come upon her. She
is drunk with the blood of martyrs, and is the great city
of idolatry. Saints and martyrs rejoice over her de
struction.3 XII. THE SECOND ADVENT.
According to the teaching of Peter, the heavens will
retain the Messiah until the times of restoration and
seasons of refreshing.4 The day of the Parousia is to be
eagerly awaited by the righteous ; but it will be pre
ceded by scoffers who will deny the Parousia, and it will
overtake them as a thief. The seeming slackness of
God is due partly to His different estimate of time, but
chiefly to His long-suffering in order to the repentance
and salvation of men.6 According to James, the Parou
sia of the Messiah was at hand."
According to Paul, believers must be unblamable
and wholly sanctified at the Parousia. The Day of the
Lord will come as a thief in the night, and men should
be watchful. It brings sudden destruction to the un
wary.7 The patient and believing will be counted
worthy of the kingdom at the Revelation of the Mes
siah. He will come with the angels to be glorified in

1 See The Messiah of the Gospels, p. 145, « p. 416. s p 423,
' P- 29- » p. 62, e p. 42. i p. 85,

OF THE APOSTLES 555
his saints, but with a flame of fire for the disobedient,
who will suffer everlasting destruction from his pres
ence.1 The Parousia is near ; the ends of the ages have
come upon the generation of Paul, and men are to await
the time without entangling themselves in worldly affairs.2
Death, the last enemy, will be destroyed at the Parousia
and Revelation. The Lord cometh.3 In the fulness of
the times God is to sum up all things in Christ.4 In all
things he is to have the pre-eminence.6 Christians must
be without spot or reproach at his Epiphany." There
has been an Epiphany of grace and there will be an
Epiphany of glory. This is the hope which inspires men
to live in holiness in this world.7 There is a day of the
Epiphany of the Messiah.9 According to the Epistle
to the Hebrews, the Messiah will appear a second time
for the judgment of those who reject him and the re
ward of the faithful. The day is approaching.9
The Apocalypse has several advent scenes in the minor
apocalypses. In the apocalypse of the Beasts we have
seen the advent in connection with the destruction of
the Beasts. The Messiah is the priest-king of Psalm
ex., on a white horse, slaying his enemies with his sword
and the swords of his warriors, and trampling them in
the winepress of his wrath. The prologue and epilogue
of the Apocalypse express the common hope of Chris
tians in the apostolic age when they say, " The time is
at hand." " The Lord Jesus will come quickly." 10 In
the apocalypse of the Dragon, the advent is on a great
white throne before which heaven and earth flee away.
The advent scene is then a judgment by the books of
record." In the apocalypse of the Trumpets, the Mes
siah comes with the clouds, and every eye will see him.12
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556 THE MESSIAH
The Son of man comes on a white cloud, and reaps the
harvest of the earth with the sickle of judgment, and
with the attending angels treads the winepress of God,
and a great stream of blood flows forth. The time is at
hand. That the Son of man will come quickly is guaran
teed by the sacred names of God.1 According to the
apocalypse of the Epistles, the Messiah will soon come
in second advent to award the prizes of victory.2
The first Epistle of John represents that the last hour
is come.3 The second Epistle of John declares that the
Son of God is coming in the flesh.4 The second com
ing in the flesh is thus in antithesis with the first com
ing in the flesh.
XIII. THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD.
The resurrection of the dead is a characteristic doc
trine of Paulinism. According to the first Epistle to
the Thessalonians, the Messiah will descend from heaven
with a shout of command. The dead saints will rise
from their graves and come with him. The living will
be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.6
According to the first Epistle to the Corinthians, at
the Parousia, Death, the last enemy, will be destroyed.
Then the dead will rise and the living will be changed
at the blast of the trumpet, and the bodies of the faith
ful will be transformed into the image of the heavenly
body of the Messiah himself." According to the Epistle
to the Romans, the revelation of the glory of the sons
of God is earnestly expected by the whole creation.
Then will man attain the redemption of the body and
be conformed to the image of the Messiah.7 The Epistle

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OF THE APOSTLES 557
to the Philippians represents that when the Messiah
comes from heaven, he will transform the bodies of
humiliation so that they will be conformed to his body
of glory. It is the chief ambition of Paul to attain this
ideal.1 According to the apocalypse of the Dragon, Hades,
Death, and the Sea will all give forth the dead, and they
will stand before the great white throne to be judged,2
and Death will be no more.3 According to the apoca
lypses of the Dragon 4 and of the Epistles,6 the faithful
will not undergo the second death.
XIV. THE TRANSFORMATION OF NATURE.
According to the apocalypse of Peter, as the former
world perished by the deluge, the present world will
pass through a conflagration, and new heavens and
earth, the abode of righteousness, will take their place.8
According to Paul, the revelation of the glory of the
sons of God is earnestly expected by the whole creation
with birth-throes. Then it will be delivered from the
bondage of corruption into the freedom of the glory of
the children of God.7 According to the apocalypse of
the Dragon, new heavens and a new earth will take the
place of the old ; all evil will be abolished, all things will
become new." According to the apocalypse of the Bowls,
the islands and mountains flee away when the earthquake
of judgment comes upon Babylon." In the first Epistle
of John it is said that the world passeth away ; but he
that doeth the will of God abideth forever.10

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558 TflE MESSIAH
XV. THE MESSIAH THE JUDGE.
According to Peter, the Messiah is the judge of the
living and the dead.1 He is about to judge the living
and the dead. The gospel has been preached to prepare
men for the judgment. The End of all things is at hand.
Judgment will begin at the house of God. The righte
ous will scarcely be saved.2 There is a day of judgment
for which the fallen angels are kept in chains in Tartarus.
Then the unjust will be punished in the blackness of
darkness forever.3 According to James, the Judge is
at the door.4 According to Jude, the fallen angels are
kept in prison in Tartarus for the day of judgment, when
the Lord will come with myriads of saints to execute
judgment on the wicked.5
According to the earlier Paulinism, God is about to
judge the whole world through the Messiah." There
will be a judgment of the work of Christians, and each
one will be rewarded according to his work. The gold,
silver, and precious stones, the truly excellent, will abide
the fire ; but the wood, hay, and stubble, the profitless
disciples, will be consumed. In view of this judgment,
Christian discipline is to be conducted. The world
passeth away as a shifting show. Only those in harmony
with the Messiah will abide.' It is the aim of the living
and the dead alike to be well pleasing to Christ before
whose judgment-seat they must stand at the resurrec
tion.8 There is a day of judgment when God will judge
by Jesus Christ, all men according to their works and
according to the Gospel.9 In the Pastorals it is taught
that there is a day of the Epiphany of the Messiah when
he will judge the living and the dead.10 According to

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OF THE APOSTLES 559
the Epistle to the Hebrews, only the immovable heavenly
kingdom will remain in the day when heaven and earth
will be removed and all things shaken by an earthquake
of judgment.1
The apocalypse of the Beasts represents the judgment
of the Messiah as a slaughtering enemies in battle, tread
ing the winepress of his wrath, and casting the chief
enemies into the lake of fire.2 The apocalypse of the
Dragon describes a judgment scene in which all the dead
stand before the throne and are judged in accordance
with the books of record and of life. The condemned
are cast into the lake of fire.3 The apocalypse of the
Trumpets describes the Son of man reaping the harvest
and treading the winepress, and rewarding each man
according to his works.4
The apocalypse of the Seals states that the time is
come to reward the servants and to destroy the destroy
ers.6 The great day of the wrath of God is come, from
whose face men of all classes hide in terror." The
apocalypse of the Bowls sees a great multitude in heaven
singing hallelujahs because of the execution of the divine
judgment on the harlot city, and the beginning of the
heavenly reign.' These are varying and in many respects
incongruous representations of the Messianic judgment.
They are all symbolical of a transcendent event which
can only be conceived in pictures of the imagination.
It is a violation of a fundamental principle of interpreta
tion to regard any one of them as realistic, and use it to
give the law to all the rest.
The brighter side of the judgment is in the awards of
the righteous. According to Peter, the chief Shepherd
will reward the faithful with crowns of glory.8 Accord-

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500 THE MESSIAH
ing to Paul, there is a salvation to be expected from
the wrath of God and an enjoyment of the glory of
God in the Day of Christ.1 At the End the faithful
receive the gift of eternal life.2 The Day of the Messiah
is a day of reward to believers who have been made
perfect.3 There is in store for believers in the fulness
of time, adoption and an inheritance of glory when they
will be holy and without blemish.4 The Holy Spirit
seals believers for the day of redemption. Christ will
finally make his Church a glorious Church. The wicked
have no inheritance in the kingdom.6 The faithful have
been transferred from the realm of darkness into the
kingdom of the Son of God's love, and their hope is an
inheritance in the light." When Christ shall be mani
fested the faithful will also be manifested with him in
glory.7 The Messiah will keep the trust of the faithful
until the day of his Epiphany. Then the kingdom
of glory will appear and they will receive the crov/n
of righteousness.8
The apocalypse of the Trumpets represents that God
gives the thirsty of the water of life and makes them His
sons.9 The apocalypse of the Seals describes an innu
merable multitude of the redeemed, gathered about the
throne of God, arrayed in white robes and with palms in
their hands, singing songs of victory. They serve God
continually in His temple and enjoy everlasting life and
felicity. All sorrow, injury, privation, and death have
passed away.10 The apocalypse of the Bowls sees a
great multitude in heaven singing hallelujahs. The
marriage of the Lamb is announced and the saints array
themselves for the heavenly feast.11 According to the
apocalypse of the Epistles, the Messiah will award to the

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OF THE APOSTLES 561
victors the prizes of their patience, faithfulness, and good
works. These are the crown of life, the tree of life, the
hidden manna, the white stone, the morning star, domin
ion over the nations, white raiment, recognition before
the Father, becoming pillars in the heavenly temple,
and enthronement with the Messiah.1
XVI. THE NEW JERUSALEM.
According to the Epistle to the Galatians, the Jeru
salem above is the mother of all believers.2 According
to the Epistle to the Hebrews, in heaven are the better
country, the city of God, the better things which the
ancient martyrs did not enjoy except in the contempla
tion of hope, but which they receive together with
Christians.3 The true Zion and Jerusalem are in heaven,
where are the Judge, God of all, the general assembly of
the angels, the church of the first-born, the perfected
spirits of men, and Jesus the mediator.4
The apocalypse of the Dragon describes the new
Jerusalem descending from God out of heaven, adorned
as the bride of the Messiah. Her foundations are twelve
precious stones, her walls are diamond, her gates twelve
pearls ; the city herself is pure gold. She is a cube like
the holy of holies of the tabernacle. God's throne is
therein. He dwells with men. His servants see His
face, live in His light, and reign forever.5
The apocalypse of the Bowls also describes the holy
city descending from heaven like a great diamond re
flecting the glory of God. Her walls are great and
high, her twelve gates are guarded by angels and bear
the names of the twelve tribes of Israel, her twelve
foundations bear the names of the twelve apostles. She

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562 THE MESSIAH OF THE APOSTLES
is twelve thousand furlongs in size, and her walls are
one hundred and forty-four cubits high. A river of life
flows from the throne of God through her streets. The
tree of life with twelve monthly fruits is on its banks.
God is her temple and sun ; the Lamb is her lamp.1
The new Jerusalem will constitute the kingdom of
glory. The mediatorial kingdom having been completed,
it will be delivered up by the Messiah to the Father,
and God will reign supreme over all.2 In the fulness of
times all things will be summed up in the Messiah.3 In
the Messianic age of the ages the Church is to manifest
the glory of God.4
At the conclusion of our study of the Messiah of the
Apostles our hearts respond to the words of the coming
Saviour, " Yea : I come quickly," with the glad echo of
the faithful in all ages, "Amen: come, Lord Jesus." 6

1 p. 429. 2 p. in. s p. 188. * p. 199. 6 Rev. xxii. 20.

I AUVUan A1ISU3AINR 31VA 1