AN HISTORICAL EXPOSITION
OF THE
PROPHECIES OP THE REVELATION OP ST. JOHN;
SHEWING THEIR CONNECTION WITH AND CONFIRMATION OF THOSE OF DANIEL,
AND OF THE OLD TESTAMENT IN GENERAL; PARTICULARLY IN THEIR MOST IMPORTANT ASPECT ON THE PRESENT TIMES.
IN TWO VOLUMES.
VOL. I.
BY MATTHEW HABERSHON.
“ The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.״
Rev. six. 10.
“ Come then, and added to thy many crowns,
Receive yet one, the crown of all the earth,
Thou who alone art worthy.”	Coivper.
dt(otrt) 3£Oition, Comttrt.
-------si quid novisti rectius istisj
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LONDON :
JAMES NISBET AND CO., BERNERS STREET.
B. WERTHEIM, ALDINE CHAMBERS.
M.DCCC.XLIV.
LONDON
C. F. HODGSON, 1 GOUGH SQUARE, FLEET STREET.
ADVERTISEMENT.
For a slight correction in the chronological portion of this Work, the Reader is referred to a small pamphlet which its Author has just published, entitled “ The Shadows of the Evening 3 or Signs of the Lord’s Speedy Return.’״
It has reference to the term “year ’״ in Rev. ix. 15, which was an open question whether it signified 360 or 365j days 3 i. e. so many prophetical years.
Time having made it manifest, reckoning from the rise of the Ottoman Power on the ruins of the Eastern Roman Empire, (May 29th, 1453), that it cannot be the former, the time of its termination is necessarily carried forward 5£ years beyond what has been pre-viously calculated.
The date of the more ancient prophetical periods being uncertain within a few years, (even to the exact year of the Christian era), it is presumed there is no-thing in any one of them which stands m the way of, or may not harmonize with, this explanation.
Μ. H.
December, 1845.
PREFACE.
On the general importance of a devout atten-tion to “ the sure word of prophecy,״ it is unnecessary here to repeat what we have said by way of Preface to our Dissertation upon the Prophecies of the Old Testament.
Yet the present work further requires that we premise one or two particular remarks per-taining to the great crisis which nearly all classes of men, pious and profane, seem little less than unanimously to be looking for as very near at hand. And as it will be seen in the following pages that we have abundant Scriptural warning, not only of the crisis itself, but also of its suddenness when it does arrive ; so our object in these prefatory remarks is to press upon the devout Reader’s attention what an absolute call there is for constant watchful-ness and earnest prayer.
a2
PREFACE.
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Of the very near approach of such an un-looked-for change of things, the scriptural warnings are so various, so arousing, and so definite, that did they relate to some minor subject, to some single national interest, to some great earthquake for instance, in England alone, or in France alone, it would be thought something like moody madness to treat them with scorn, or even with neglect ; how great then must be the “ madness and folly,״ without taking into account the awful impiety, of indif-ference to a crisis, an approaching crisis, a crisis whereof we are scripturally forewarned as so near at hand, which is to put an ever-lasting close to the present dispensation of mercy I First, then, let us here survey the preino-nitions which the lively oracles seem, as it were, to force upon us by their prophetical chrono-logy. ' Surely these ought not to be under-valued, nor ought their evidence to have the less weight, because errors therein, which the very nature of the subject might have led us to expect from human ignorance or rashness, have been committed by many. Surely it is but reasonable to believe that, since it hath pleased God to affix such chronology, proportionately to the importance of those prophetic events which
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PREFACE.
it is designed to identify in the passing or coming course of things, he would ever, at the proper time, give and permit, according to his own determinate counsel and foreknowledge, the proper understanding of each matter of chronological inquiry. Therefore, throughout our investigations in this department of the following, as well as of the former work, we earnestly invite attention to the adduced evi-dence, believing as we do, that it contains enough of demonstration relative to the present time, to awaken the most serious thoughtful-ness and calling upon God. And where such infinitely momentous interests are pending, it is anything but wisdom or piety to shut our eyes against the least glimpse of elucidation which the kind Providence of God may have brought within our view.
But for further eviction that the coming of the Lord is now very near at hand—let us sur-vey, Secondly, The sequence of fulfilments down every parallel column of prophecy itself.
The continued series of these fulfilments having been made visible by well known history from the earlier times of the Chris-tian Church to the commencement of the closing scenes of the present day, the strongest
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VI
assurance is hereby given us, that these closing scenes, howsoever strange or formid-able they shall prove, will likewise speedily be fulfilled, and swell the stream of history ! Take a single instance, and let it be that which prophecy delivers most in detail, — namely, that of “ the Seven Vials.״ The first five of these have been applied to the events of the last fifty-four years, by the most eminent writers upon the subject ;* and we see no reason to doubt the correctness of their application; con-sequently none to doubt, whether or not, in the approaching fall of the Ottoman Empire, the coming of the Lord Jesus, and the war of that great day of God Almighty,which are the subjects of the Sixth Vial, the course of events will stop, and the purposes of Heaven be, for the first time, suspended. As no such stoppage of events, or suspension of Divine judgments, can be thought of without a special revelation to that effect, the certain alternative is, that, ad-mitting the interpretation of the former vials to be indeed correct, those Divine judgments are the very next things that will come to pass, and this very suddenly and shortly.
* See Faber, Cuninghame, Frere, Gauntlett, &e.
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PREFACE.
In further proof of this, let us review, Thirdly, The Signs of the Times. The ques-tion regarding them, which we have to ask and to answer, is, Are they such as God him-self hath led us to expect, for we admit of none other than those which have “the testimony of Jesus.” The chief of those which have this Divine testimony are—many running to and fro—the great increase of knowledge— the preaching of the Gospel as a witness to all nations—the conflict of the opposing evil spirits of despotic, revolutionary, and popish misrule—and the wasting away of the Turkish power.
These things being what pre-eminently dis-tinguish the present age ; and forming, as they do, the leading features of society, seen and read of all men, are warnings sufficient, if observed, to prevent our being taken by surprise, even though the suddenness of Christ’s appearing be as lightning—as a snare—or as a thief in the night !
It will be well to remember that our neglect of these warnings, even if that neglect were universal, would not, cannot, in the least affect the purposes of God. We are naturally slow to believe that our own fond schemes and anti-
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cipations, of whatever sort, are to be broken up and frustrated. God nevertheless calls for our filth concerning the distinct signs and warnings which he hath given of what is coming to pass ; and demands that every wish and disposition of our hearts be reduced to an acquiescence in His will. “ Who is wise, and he shall understand these things; prudent, and he shall know them.״ (Hosea xiv. 9·)* Our own wisdom has nothing to do with the matter. Far wiser is it for us to lay our hand upon our mouth, and to say with Abraham, when forewarned of God’s immediate judgments upon the cities of the plain, “ Shall not the Judge of all the
EARTH DO RIGHT ?”
Lastly, Devout study of the Prophetic Scrip-tures not only arms us with readiness to meet the approaching crisis of the world, but furnishes us with the most powerful preventives against abounding error. Neither Socinianism, nor the Popish spirit of schism which has of late sprung up within our own Church, nor the awful heresy
* Bishop Horsley's paraphrase of these words is very striking : “ I want a man endowed with the powers of wisdom : for he will employ those powers of his mind upon these predictions and reve-lations of mine. I want a man that will so employ the powers of his mind ; for he, and he only, will attain to a knowledge of them.”—Horslei/’s Critical Notes on Hosea.
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PREFACE.
which is lifting its head at Brighton, nor any other apostacy or delusion, whatever may be its insinuating form, can exist within this enclosure of the Tree of life. In prophecy, as in the rest of Scripture throughout, we behold man laid low in the dust of self-abasement, and Christ alone exalted and adored as the only and all-sufficient Saviour ; so that indeed his testimony alone is the spirit of prophecy.
On this subject an able writer of the present day observes, “ Prophecy, which was given for the confirmation of the truth of the Scriptures, has been given also for the purpose of animating the hopes of God’s true servants while waiting for its fulfilment; and also for their caution in seasons of peculiar trial, and at moments when, if not thus forewarned, they too might be seduced, and led away, to follow * the error of the wicked.’ The present moment is eminently such a season of seduction and of peril. The Apocalypse will now divide the professedly Christian body, while it rescues those who are to be rescued from ‘ the plagues9 appointed for the apostate church. These,—and many such stand at this moment in the utmost peril,—will read this prophetic book anew, and learn a 5
PREFACE.
X
wisdom, while yet there is time to step back from the precipice.״*
The Author thinks it right to apologize for delay in bringing out this second part of his general work. It has arisen from two causes. The first, from its having required much more time than he had anticipated to study and to write it. The second, from his having been unexpectedly called, in Providence, about eighteen months ago, to leave this country for Jerusalem ; which circumstance, with its atten-dant professional engagements, broke in upon about a twelvemonth of his time. Indeed, he cannot say that it could have been brought out even now, except by the help of a clerical friend, in revising the manuscript and correct-ing the proof sheets ; to whom he feels happy in making this public acknowledgment, as to one whom he has long loved and valued in the fellowship of the Gospel.
* “ Ancient Christianity,’י by the author of “ Spiritual Des-potism,” Vol. ii. p. 420,421.
CONTENTS OF VOL. I.
CHAPTER I.
CHRIST THE HEAD OF THE CHURCH, AND SOVEREIGN DISPOSER OF ITS EVENTS ; WITH A DESCRIPTION OF ITS CONDITION AT THE PERIOD WHEN THIS BOOK WAS WRITTEN. (THE WHOLE COMPRISING THE FIRST DIVISION OF THE REVELATION, AND DENOMINATED BY ״THE THINGS WHICH ARE.״)
The title of the Apocalypse—Its dedication to the Seven Churches in the province of Asia—The Apostle John’s situation at the ime of his writing it—Given on the Lord’s day^-The command to write and send it to those Churches—Description of the ap-pearance of our Lord Jesus Christ—The encouragement he gave —The subject matter of: this book, The Mystery of God—The addresses to the Seven Churches are of general application— Address to the Church in Ephesus-—in Smyrna—in Pergamos —in Thyatira—in Sardis—in Philadelphia—in Laodicea—The history ip the Revelation, is a carrying out of the principles of these addresses—The proper Deity of Christ and of the Holy Ghost—The unity of the Church—Millennial intimations..	1
CONTENTS.
XU
CHAPTER IL
A REPRESENTATION OF THE DIVINE GLORY IN HEAVEN, AND OF ITS BLESSED INHABITANTS.
Here commences the second division of the Revelation, denomi-nated by the things that shall be “ hereafter״—The symbols of their existence unfolded—The Scene exhibited as in Heaven— The Throne of God—The Elders—The Seven Spirits—The living creatures—The Worship of Heaven—The whole described correspondency to the Israelitish services and worship—similar visions of Isaiah—Ezekiel—The Symbols of the Throne—What the Elders represent—The Lightnings and Thunders—The seven lamps of fire—The sea of glass—The four living creatures con-sidered and explained—The great subject of their songs of explained .................................. 19
CHAPTER III.
THE EXALTATION OF CHRIST IN HEAVEN ; THE COM-MITTAL OF THE CONCERNS OF THE CHURCH INTO HIS HANDS ; AND THE WORSHIP PAID HIM BY ITS BLESSED INHABITANTS.
Symbol of the Book—A master symbol—Its seven seals—Their general meaning—Form of the books of the ancients—Impor-tance of the contents of the book with seven seals—The coming forward of Christ as the slain Lamb—In what sense he is said to open the seals—Periods of time represented by them—The study of them important—Worship paid by the living creatures —The prayers of the Saints—New Song of heaven—Future honour of the Saints—Song of the Angels—And of the whole Creation—Deity of Christ .......................... 35
CONTENTS.	XÜi
CHAPTER IV.
THE FOUR FIRST SEALS ; SHEWING THE GRADUAL PRO-GRESS OF THE AWFUL APOSTACY OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST.
Opening of the First Seal—A very remarkable Era—Concern of the heavenly part of the Church respecting it—Its symbols and their meaning—Emperor Constantine and the triumph of Chris-tianity over Paganism — Pagan persecutions — The Apostate Julian—Opening of the Second Seal—Import of the Symbols —Paganism destroyed by Theodosius—His character — The Church’s fierce divisions and slaughter—Opening of the Third Seal—The Emperor Justinian—His great actions and their lamentable influence on the Church—Its gross darkness—Pre-servation of the Holy Scriptures incorrupt—Opening of the Fourth Seal—The Church in a state of very general and extreme corruption—Charlemagne—Important era he formed —Confined to the Latin nations—Great misery of this period. 51
CHAPTER V.
CONTINUATION OF THE SEALS ; OR THE PARTIAL RE-COVERY OF THE CHURCH AT THE REFORMATION; AND THE APPEARANCE AND ACTINGS OF INFIDELITY AS EXHIBITED IN THE CIRCUMSTANCES AND EFFECTS OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION.
General observations on the preceding Seals, and the Apostacy they denote—This where spoken of in the Old Testament— They form epochas ״of History—Constantine—Theodosius— Justinian—Charlemagne—Unity of the four first Seals—Danger of Prosperity to the Church exemplified—The Reformation, with the age of Martyrs—Its influence—Its instruments—Abi-lities of the reigning Monarchs—Persecutions—The Bartholo-mew and other Massacres—Cry for Vengeance—The Great
CONTENTS.
XIV
French Revolution—Symbols of the Sixth Seal explained as referring to it—Exemplified the principles of Infidelity—The Symbols of the Sixth Seal are the very same signs as those pre-dieted by our Lord of his coming—The restoration of the Jews —“ The Time of the End’׳—Parable of the fig-tree chronolo-gical—The expression “ this generation,” as used by our Lord.
73
CHAPTER VI.
THE SUSPENSION OF THAT FEARFUL DOOM WHICH AWAITS 1 HE NATIONS DURING THE SEALING AND PRESERVATION OF THE SERVANTS OF GOD. THE OPENING OF THE SEVENTH SEAL.
Present period of peace—Most destructive warfare merely sus-pended—Deliverance of the righteous from its effects—Their sealing—Their symbolical number—Their characters—Nature of their preservation—A newly arrived company seen in Heaven —Arguments proving that it is the real Heaven—That they are newly arrived—That they have experienced a great rescue or salvation—Their song—That they came out of a great tribuía-tion—That they are the company that was sealed—Their arrival in Heaven appears to have been a translation thither—Argu-ments for such probability—This is nothing incredible, and why—Seventh Seal—A solemn and awful pause—General ob-servations................................... 101
CHAPTER VII.
THE DIVINE VISITATIONS OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE ; ESPECIALLY IN THE WEST; BY THE DESTRUCTIVE IRRUPTIONS OF THE GOTHS, VANDALS, HUNS, AND OTHER BARBARIANS. THE FOUR FIRST TRUMPETS.
Public events of another Series—National Visitations—Import of the master-symbol—Prayers of the righteous heard—Outbreak of
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CONTENTS.
most tremendous wars—Connectedness of the Four First Trum-pets—Each of them symbolical—“ The third part/’—its signifi-cation—Barbarous nations—Destruction effected by them—Una-nimity of commentators on the interpretation of those Trum pets— First Trumpet, the invasions of Alaric, king of the Goths—Second Trumpet, those of Attila, king of the Huns—Third Trumpet, the devastations of Genseric, king of the Vandals—Fourth Trumpet, the extinction of the imperial authority in the West.123
CHAPTER VIII.
THE RISE OF MAHOMET, AND THE VISITATIONS OF GOD UPON THE EMPIRE BY THE SARACENS. THE SOUNDING OF THE FIFTH TRUMPET.
The meaning of the term, a Woe Trumpet—The Fifth Trumpet— Gibbon, value of his history—Rise of Mahomet—Compared to the falling of a star—His diabolical principles—Their effects—His followers compared to locusts—The correctness of the comparison—Their tormenting—Their discipline—Their victories—Their licentiousness—Their cruelty and ferocity— Their false and apostate religion—Their Caliphs—Confined to no Third Part—Their great conquests not permanent—Their limi-tation—Great defeat by Charles Martel—Gibbon’s observations thereon—Importance of that defeat—The duration of their aggressive ravages—Application to the type of locusts—Founda-tion of Bagdad—Decline of the Saracen Empire..... 149
CHAPTER IX.
THE DIVINE VISITATIONS UPON THE ROMAN EMPIRE, MORE ESPECIALLY IN THE EAST, AT THE SOUNDING OF THE SIXTH TRUMPET ; IN THE RISE AND ESTA-BLI8HMENT OF THE TURKS, OR OTTOMANS.
The four horns of the altar—Second “Woe״ comes at a con-siderable distance of time after the first—Decline of the Saracens
CONTENTS.
XVI
—First Turkish Sultan—The Turks a great people before they were restrained or a bound ”—Divided into four Sultanies on the Euphrates—Were " bound ’*—By their own mutual con-tentions—By the Crusades—By the Moguls—Their loosing— —Rise of the Ottoman power—Work it was to perform—Pre-paration for it—Time of its continuance—Description of the Turks—Their demolition of the Eastern Empire in the Fall of Constantinople—Establishment of Mahometanism on its ruins— Attempts against the West—Western Idolatry and Wickedness׳
175
CHAPTER X.
THE FALL OF THE PAPACY : COINCIDENT WITH THE CESSATION OF THE SIXTH TRUMPET, THE SEVEN THUNDERS, AND THE OPENING OF THE SEVENTH SEAL.
The Second Woe not yet past—Re-appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ—His description the same as in Rev. i., and why—As the slain Lamb, and for what end—His opening the Seventh Seal, or the ‘‘little book ”—The purpose of his present appear-ing—The Seals and Trumpets here unite their histories—The Seven Thunders; what is to be generally understood by them —The death of the Duke of Orleans supposed to be one of them —Others of them supposed to be past—The Lord Christ’s solemn asseveration—same as described in Daniel—Import of it concerning the termination of the Papal power—Awful warn-ing given against this apostacy—History of redemption as con-cerned with it here terminates—To be deeply studied and di-gested—Diversity of characters in which Christ appears—Obser-vations on the little opened book, and the prophecies yet to be given. ...’................................ 203
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CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XI.
THE FALL OF THE PAPAL NATIONS; THE WAR OF THE FRENCH ATHEISTS AGAINST CHRISTIANITY, AND ITS SUBSEQUENT TRIUMPH, IN CONNEXION WITH THE CEASING OF THE SIXTH TRUMPET.
The symbols taken from Jewish worship—The True Church in-closed by the Providence of God—The Visible Church Pagan-ized—It possesses what is called the Outer Court for 1260 years —The variety of terms by which this chronological quantity is represented, and the use of that variety—The Two Witnesses —This appellation denotes the vitality and exhibition of real Christianity—Marvellous power of the same, as denominated The Two Witnesses—Its depressed condition for 1260 years— Clothed in sackcloth—An emblem of sorrow—The Lord has always had personal Witnesses for True Christianity upon earth —Instanced in the Waldenses and Albigenses—The French Revolution—Its character—The Beast from the Abyss, namely, an organized Power of Infidelity—The Atheism of the French philosophers—Barruel’s account of the chief authors of the Revolution—Voltaire—D’Alembert—Frederic II. of Prussia —The Encyclopédie—Abolition of the Order of Jesuits—The French Académie becomes a club of Infidels—The French Press teeming with Atheistical works—Europe deluged with them—The infidel atrocities of the Revolution—The “ Great City,” and “Street of the Great City;”—Import of these symbols—The two Witnesses killed—Their dead bodies not suffered to be buried—Visitations upon the French people, and for what—Rejoicings at the imaginary reign of “ Liberty and Equality ”—England preserved—The Spirit of Life from God entering into the Witnesses—Their standing on their feet—The connection between the “ War” against the Witnesses and the “ Great Earthquake”—Reflections on the French Revolution— Mr. Burke—The ascension of the Witnessess to Heaven.. .227
CONTENTS.
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CHAPTER XII.
THE CESSATION OF THE SIXTH TRUMPET, IN THF FALL OF THE OTTOMAN POWER; AND THE ULTIMATE VISI-TATIONS UPON THE TEN KINGDOMS OF THE WESTERN EMPIRE. THE SEVENTH TRUMPET, OR “ THIRD WOE.”
Expiration of the Ottoman Power—Harmony of various inter-preters upon this subject—The prophecies of the Old Testament, a peculiarity of—The mystery of God finished—The Third Woe —The duty of giving heed to prophetic warnings—Daniel's pro-phecies upon the judgments of the latter days—The first resur-rection—Toplady, an extract from his writings—The destruction of those who destroy the earth—The temple of God opened in heaven—A warning to rulers................... 277
INTRODUCTION.
The Revelation of St. John is a prophetic descrip-tion of the great changes that have taken place since the Apostle’s time, and which are yet to take place in this world, in !reference to the Church of Christ ; it discloses the hidden springs of the rise, continuance, and fall of nations ; and in few words may be called a complete Church History.
Before proceeding to its particular interpretation, we shall better perceive the general scope of its subject if we take a brief retrospect of what we have already learnt from the Old Testament prophecies. In doing this let us remember,—
First, That several predictions of Daniel in par-ticular, were accomplished before the Christian era, and therefore do not relate to events foretold in the Apocalypse.
Such are those predictions that related to the three
INTRODUCTION.
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successive ruling kingdoms of Babylon, Persia, and Greece, down to the full establishment of the fourth, or Roman empire. To these we’ add all the Old Testament predictions of the Passion and Death of Christ, the consequent end of the Jewish Dispensa-tion, the fall of Jerusalem, and the total and utter dispersion of the Jews. All such predictions had been fulfilled when this last great Revelation was given. What remained unfulfilled in the Hebrew Scriptures, belonged exclusively to the Christian Dispensation. To what thus did remain unfulfilled, I would now again direct attention.
Secondly, As constituting the nucleus of St. John’s prophecies, those subjects in the book of Daniel which have occupied our special notice have been,
1.	The prostration and dismemberment of the imperial Roman Power, represented by the cutting down of the Great Tree in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, which was signally effected when the Empire was attacked on all sides by the northern barbarians ; after which, it was represented as bound together by a band of iron and brass, or by the Latin and Greek kingdoms.
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2.	The division of the Western or Latin branch of the Empire, or the Roman Empire proper, into the ten kingdoms prefigured by the ten toes of the Great Image, and by the ten horns of the monstrous wild beast.
3.	The rise of “ a little Horn,״ i. e. the Papacy, in the midst of these ten kingdoms : described in the vision of the four wild beasts ; and which was to last cs for a time, times, and half a time.״
4.	The rise of “a little Horn/’ the Mahometan power, out of or behind one of the four Grecian king-doms into which Alexander’s conquests were divided ; described in the vision of the Ram and the He-goat.
5.	The great, universal, and overwhelming declen-sion of religion, which indeed the existence of these two apostacies indicated, but which is also particu-lari y specified in the “ Great Vision” of Daniel.
6.	The blessed Protestant Reformation is spoken of in the same chapter as a “ little help.”
7· The appearance of the chief actor in the French Revolution, Napoleon Bonaparte, whose principles, policy, and success are so particularly described likewise in the same chapter.
8. The present signs of the Times ; which are, the Mahometan little horn being ״broken without hand
INTRODUCTION.
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the sudden and prodigious acceleration and aug-mentation of travelling represented “ by the many running to and fro and the unexampled “ increase of knowledge.”
These are the chief matters of Old Testament pro-phecy, which constitute the Nucleus of Apocalyptic radiation, which also ha/ve in part been fulfilled, and are yet fulfilling. Those which specially remain to be accomplished, and which, as viewed with their seve-ral chronological Periods and synchronisms, together with the already noticed signs of the Times, proclaim their fulfilment to be very near at hand, are—
1.	The persecution of the Church, and the remark-able wickedness of the wicked.
2.	The complete extinction of the Mahometan power.
3.	The destruction of the Papacy, or the end of the “ time, times, and a half a time,” or 1260 years.
4.	The restoration of the Jews to their own ]and.
5.	The conquests and career of the kings of the South and North, predicted in Daniel for “ the Time of the End.”
6.	״The time of” unprecedented “ trouble” con-sequent thereupon.
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7· The reign of Christ on the Throne of David, and the establishment of his kingdom upon earth.
For the particular consideration of all these several predicted matters, the reader is referred to our former volume, entitled, ζζ A Dissertation on the Prophe-cies of the Old Testament,״ &c., where they are each distinctly treated of. We exhibit them here as the several eye-marks for our safe discursive range throughout this more expanded prophetic history of the Christian dispensation. The keeping of them constantly in view will greatly help our understand-ing of the Apocalypse; for hereby we obtain con-trolling principles which will serve to prevent many mistakes in its interpretation. Thus
First, By observing the kind of events that answer to Old Testament predictions, we may perceive that these in no instance touch upon matters of profane history, except as such matters were foreseen to be mixed up with the concerns of the Church, and with the process of human redemption. Hence their leading subject is the destinies of the Jewish people. No notice is taken of Medes and Persians as be-coming of prophetic importance before the time of
INTRODUCTION.
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Cyrus, in whose reign they first entered into con-nexion with the Jews through the conquest of Baby-Ion ;—nor of the pohshed Grecian States [however distinguished in profane history] before the age of Alexandery in whose conquests, as these made Greece the ruling power of the world, the interests of the Jews were of course involved. But when, after his death, that great power was divided into four king-doms, no prophetic account is taken except of those two of them, to which the land of Palestine was alternately subjected. Those two are then distin-guished as “ the king of the North ” and “ the king of the South i. e. the kingdom of Syria and of Egypt. Neither is there any account taken of the still more important war and celebrated personages which distinguish a long period of Roman history, (fruitful as it is in events of deep interest, especially daring the career of Hannibal) until it begins to touch the affairs of the Jews by the reign of An-tiochus Epiphanes; and even then, whilst any of the successors of Alexander remained, the prophetic notice of the Romans themselves is very slight.
In like manner the still more concise predic-tions of the Old Testament respecting matters of
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profane history connected with the Christian dis-pensation, closely follow the same principle ; so that secular events are only noticed in so far as they are bound up with the interests of the New Testament Church; and this principle is no less strictly ad-hered to in the more enlarged predictions of the Apocalypse concerning the same events. A se־ cond controlling principle, which should all along be remembered, in order to distinguish, with greater certainty and correctness, subjects of prophecy from the extensive and mingled mass of profane history, is, that they have reference only to the most important eras in the world’s annals, and not to events of minor consequence. They were events of the largest extent for time and space ; they were the most permanent in their effects ; they were attended with the most surprising changes ; they were of a character suffi״ ciently commanding to originate new orders of things, new features in society, new habits of thought, and to involve unnumbered millions in their weal or woe. It is only events of this sort that stand conspicuous in prophecy. Its range is therefore one of inexpres-sible grandeur, and the study of it is any thing but trifling, or common-place. Such a description of future events may be compared to those mountain
B
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tops that pierce into the clouds, inspiring feelings of awe and dread, affording prospects as great and as magnificent as were beheld by Moses from the top of Pisgah, and opening, like them, the most lovely scenes, even those of a renovated world,—scenes of which it may be truly said :—
u No mockery meets us, no deception here.’*
Let us further observe, that under these con· trolling principles, we do right to apply the pro-phecies of Daniel and St. John to secular matters. In this we have not only the sanction of the best commentators, ancient and modern; but also, in the texts of those prophets themselves, the sanction of the Holy Spirit. Moreover, in the historical books of Scripture, we find that, before the Baby-lonish captivity, the concerns of the Church having an unavoidable connection with the course of worldly affairs, were necessarily interwoven with narrations of profane history. This appears very distinctly in the Books of Kings, Chronicles, Nehemiah, Ezra, and Esther, where the history of the Church,—of its prophets and saints,—and of the providential and gracious dispensations of God, is intermingled not only with secular Jewish annals, but with those of Babylon, Persia, and other surrounding nations.
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INTRODUCTION.
Just so shall we find that as the Church, under the Christian dispensation, is equally in contact with the Roman Empire from the time of Christ until now, the prophetic history of the former is alike set forth in combination with the changes which the latter has experienced ; take, for instance, in Daniel’s prophecies, the symbol of the great and terrible beast with ten horns. (Dan. vii. 7> 8.) Thus is profane his-tory made the handmaid of divinity, the record of that providence which is the fulfilment of God’s word. By which it appears that a complete Church history must be conformed to the pattern thus given in the sacred writings ; that, whilst it records the triumphs of Divine truth in the lives of God’s faithful people, it has also to exhibit the various phases of the Church as they have been formed and affected by the great movements of the world about her. It is thus, with an eye to the controlling principles above mentioned, we regard the Apocalypse as a clear and compact, though compendious, Church history.
On examining the secular events predicted in it, we find nothing omitted that happens to be called for by our two controlling principles of interpretation. The world’s great leading movements, that have occasioned each changed aspect to the Church, are
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here introduced in their simple and influential order of succession. Hence we do well to observe, that
There is much that bespeaks Divine contrivance in the arrangement of the Apocalypse. It is not like any ordinary human composition : it is not a consecutive history, conducted upon a single thread of narrative ; but it classifies the leading events ac-cording to their several kinds ; throws these several kinds into parallel columns, as it were, of synchro-nical order; and traces each of them regularly, though now and then in a way of digression and resumption, down to their common termination. Thus are the varied aspects of each self-same period of time, as well as of each successive one, exhibited with remarkable clearness and simplicity ; the origin, the principles, and the character of national powers are graphically delineated; and historical materials so arranged as to impress the devout mind with their real cause, their relative importance, their true bearing, and their certain issue.
The same arrangement is perceptible in the book of Daniel. In his first vision, the four successive empires are exhibited as one splendid idol-mass of human form, whose four several portions from the
XXIX
INTRODUCTION.
head to the feet represent respectively the varied composition, strength, and grandeur of each empire. In his next vision, the principles, disposition, and conduct of each of the four empires are clearly sym-bolized ; together with those of a most distinguished ecclesiastical power, that should rise and become identified with the ten kingdoms into which the last of the four would be divided. In his third vision, namely, of the Ram and He-Goat, the Persian and Greek empires alone come in view ; and the fate of the latter, as foreseen through distant ages still in its original Greek character, is predicted in a summary prophecy of the rise, the conquests, and the princi-pies of Mahometanism. His fourth and last vision appears to be a general recapitulation, in historical order, of such events in the former three as would more immediately concern the Jewish people; while it passes over those which would be interwoven with the Gentile Christian dispensation. Thus we see, that in the first vision a general but highly expressive out-line is traced ; then by another, and another, and ano-ther line of parallel events, the history of the whole period is filled up with the most surprising fulness and accuracy ; and with so much clearness that the great wheels of Providence, in whose mysterious cir-
INTRODUCTION.
XXX
cuits a complication of unnumbered lesser ones are involved, may be seen with distinct recognition.
This perfection of prophetic narrative is still more peculiar to the Apocalypse ; even as its predictions are still more multifarious, and treat of events of a more intricate description. Here,—First, under the expressive symbol of seals, seven in number, we behold, in one unbroken line, the great changes ac-cruing to the Roman Empire’s internal administration. Secondly, under the equally expressive symbol of Trumpets, likewise seven in number, we are in-structed concerning the changes arising from the great and successful invasions of the empire from without. Thirdly, we have the collective influence of these changes, as bearing upon the interests of Chris-tianity ; wherein not only the direct agency of Christ, but also that of Satan, is set forth ; that of Christ as dispossessing Satan of the power he had so long maintained by means of Pagan idolatry, and thus converting it into a professedly Christian power ; and that of Satan, in his being permitted the re-venge of entering stealthily into this professedly Christian power, thereby the more effectually to depress the true church ; namely, by committing his administration to the ten sovereignties of the divided
XXXI
INTRODUCTION.
empire, and erecting by their means the Papal eccle-siastical dominion.
Such are the three chief parallel columns of pro-phecy in the Apocalypse : to the Seals belongs that portion of the book which begins with its fourth chapter, and ends with the 1st verse of the eighth chapter; in the second column, or that of the Trumpets, is included from the beginning of the 2nd verse of the eighth, to the end of the eleventh, chapter ; and to the third or collective column per-tains the remainder of the book. They may also be compared to three great parallel rivers, as branching, moreover, into numerous lesser ones, before they end their course. The first of the three has a ramification of this sort in the contents of the seventh chapter; the second has several such upon matters contained in the tenth and greater part of the eleventh ; and the third has many such—one of which is in the fourteenth chapter, another in the seven Yials of the fifteenth and sixteenth chapters, another in the contents of the seventeenth, and so on to the end of the Book ; forming, like the Nile, or the Ganges, so many distinct outlets to their original main current of prophetic history.
One important, and perhaps the chief design, of
INTRODUCTION.
XXX11
such terminating ramification of each main course of prophetic history, is that of more distinctly dis-playing the opposite destinies awaiting the true and false church at the close of the present dispensa-tion; the blessedness of the righteous on the one hand, and the fearful punishment of the wicked on the other. As yet, the tares and the wheat grow together; but, in the time of harvest, Christ will say to the reapers, “ Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them ; but gather the wheat into my gamerJust so is all here represented ;—under the Seals, those that have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb, are marked for deliverance, and delivered; while the rest are left to the blowing of the “ four winds of heaven !״—under the Trumpets, those who bear a life-conveying testimony for God, are called up to heaven, and ascend thither in a cloud, while the rest are consigned to the blast of the seventh Trumpet. In the more intrinsic and composite series of events belonging to the third column, the deliver-anee of the righteous foreshown in the Seals is again conspicuous, and is also symbolized by the gathering *
* Matt. xiii. 30.
xxxiii
INTRODUCTION.
in of the harvest :* it appears after the sixth Vial in the coming of Christ ; and is more fully described in the particulars of the Millennium stated in the last chapters of the book. The destination of the merely professing church, the ungodly and profane, on the other hand, is tremendously set forth in the descrip-tion of the Vintage, at the end of the fourteenth chap-ter ; in the outpouring of the seventh Vial ; and in the eighteenth and nineteenth chapters. Thus will the Lord make it manifest, that, after all the trials of this life, and though He has permitted his people to be intermixed with the ungodly world, so as often to be hardly distinguished from them, yet, at the close, “ it shall be well with the righteous, for they shall eat the fruit of their doings but “ woe to the wicked ! it shall be ill with him; for the reward of his hands shall be given him.”f So clearly does one and the same principle of divine government pervade every portion of the Word of God, and shine with uncommon brilliancy in these its more express prophecies ; whose practical tendency is hereby felt to be accompanied with the most special personal enforcements.
f Isaiah iii. 10, 11.
Rev. xiv. 14—16.
INTRODUCTION.
XXXIV
The above considerations, while they shew how superior is the arrangement of the Apocalypse to that of every uninspired history, shew at the same time how evidently the wisdom it contains is of God; even as it is worthy of that Omniscience and infinite Power which alone could harmonize to their ultimate effect such varied series of great and wonderful events. And the stamp of Divine Prescience is still further evident, from the appro-priate significancy of the symbolical language em* ployed in these and in other predictions which are found scattered throughout the greater part of the Holy Scriptures. If properly viewed and understood, they are perceived to be most lucid, simple, appro-priate, and impressive ; and we cannot but utter our own conviction of how much real intellectual gratifi-cation and pleasure men deprive themselves, who neglect the study of these deeply interesting and holily animating subjects, for the sake of compara-tively unprofitable and insipid inquiries and specula-tions upon things that rise no higher than bodily sense, one’s own temporal interest, gratification of vanity, or vain curiosity.
Scriptural symbols are not employed, as is often imagined, for the purpose of really darkening their
XXXV
INTRODUCTION.
subject matter, but rather, by the intensity and ful-ness of their signification, of giving a strength, clearness, and comprehensiveness beyond what com-mon language is capable of. They may be con-sidered, in not a few instances, as so many algebrai-cal expressions of definite quantities, which may be merged into other quantities, multiplied and re-multi-plied, and still kept distinctly before the eye. Or, “ the figurative language of prophecy, like the ancient hieroglyphics, and like those non-alphabetic charac-ters which are derived from them, is a language of ideas rather than of words. It speaks by pictures quite as much as by sounds ; and through the medium of those pictures, rather than through the medium of a laboured verbal definition, it sets forth, with equal ease and precision, the nature and relation of the matters predicted.”* Hence, what a mass of various information is comprised in the simple figure of one great idol, setting forth, by its parts, the character and destination of the four successive monarchies ! In this single piece of imagery is seen at one view the whole fabric of heathen superstition and tyranny, and the no less heathenish and tyrannous system of
* Faber’s Sacred Calendar, Vol. i. p. 10.
INTRODUCTION.
XXXVI
the saint-mediatorship of Papal invention ; while the distinct metals of which the idol is composed, express the varied strength and martial significance of each, in equally simple and appropriate relations.
That this remark is no less true of the other symbolical visions in the book of Daniel, may be seen in our Dissertation upon the Old Testament Prophecies; and the present work will shew that symbols of even greater richness and variety, abound in every part of the Apocalypse. Indeed it is ex-pressly declared in the very first verse of this in-spired book, that its subject is set forth in Symbolical language. “ The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass, and he sent and sig-nified it by his angel unto his servant John.” The meaning of the Greek word, Ισημaver, here translated signified, is, to shew symbolically. The same word is used John xii. 33 ; xxi. 19; Acts xi. 28; compared with ch. xxi. 10, 11, to express symbolical representation, as will appear on comparing the con-texts. Thus its character being established, inde-pendently of all other shewing, by a direct divine testimony, we have no choice but to believe, that this whole prophetical narrative of many centuries is
XXXVll
INTRODUCTION.
given in symbols, so far as symbols can with propriety be employed. If therefore the seals, the trumpets, the vials, the ten-horned beasts, and many other of the leading matters, are so much prophetic narrative of a symbolical kind, even as they are generally allowed to be, then must also the two witnesses, the heaven, the earth, the sea, the new heaven, and the new earth, and others, about which there is not so general an agreement, be of the same kind.*
With regard to chronology, even Jewish commen-tators, of no mean celebrity, may be seen to have understood the Prophetic Numbers of Daniel as being not literal, but symbolical, e. g. a day for a year. Of this we have satisfactory evidence in Rabbi Isaac Abrabanel’s Notes upon that prophet, and in a work entitled, The Explanation of the Times, by Eliakim Ben Abraham.f This little treatise gives an account of the interpretations affixed to the numbers in Daniel by all the most learned Jewish Doctors ; of whom, it appears that Ben Ezra is the
* For further illustration of the above remarks on the symbols of this magnificent historical prophecy, the reader is referred to their proper place in this first volume.
t This work was printed in London in the Hebrew year 5554, or a.%d, !794.
c
INTRODUCTION.
XXXVlll
only one that has regarded the three times and a half as three literal years and a half of solar time. He, however, was strongly opposed by the other Jewish Doctors. Abrabanel, for instance, asks him, how upon this principle he can explain the season and the time (Dan. vii. 12,) during which the lives of the former Beasts were^to be prolonged, and whether he will make it only one year ? The rabbies Saadias-Gaon and Solomon Ben Isaac Jerchi explain the 1335 days, (Dan. xii. 12,) to be years ; and respecting the Time, Times, and dividing of Time (Dan. vii. 25.) they alike observe that, " This Scrip־ ture descends into the Abyss by reason of the difficult and profundity of its interpretation”
That the most eminent Christian Interpreters at and before the time of the Reformation, considered the numbers both of Daniel and the Apocalypse as mystical or symbolical, may be seen by looking into Joye’s Commentary on the Revelation, published just three hundred years ago : and analogy indeed requires that if the events are predicted symbolically, so likewise must be the chronology.
In our endeavour to decipher and apply the latter, we have felt ourselves on safe as well as holy ground, forasmuch as we have been occupied upon a portion
XXXX1
INTRODUCTION.
of the revealed word of God. This endeavour, so far from being forbidden, is compatible with what is here most distinctly and forcibly encouraged ; con-sequently we have thought it our duty to state such views of prophetical chronology as appear exhibited by the analogy of Scripture and of history.
Every aspect of this great prophecy, whether as presented by its harmony with the revelations of the Old Testament, its own admirably consistent struc-ture, its minutely pointed chronology, or by the signs of the times in which we live, equally implores us to be upon the watch, and to use all means of ascertaining, as correctly as possible, our present position. The current appearances of the day are often most deceptive to a mind untutored by the Bible and untaught of God. The crisis of nations generally comes unexpected to the sufferers. The period when, in the providence of God, Babylon of old was to fall, arrived suddenly—in one night. Swiftly “as the eagle flieth,” did Alexander over-throw the Persian empire. And within our own memory, however inadequately the recency of the events may affect us,—yes, in our own life-time, when the peace of Europe seemed secured by well balanced treaties—an unexpected and awful reverse
INTRODUCTION.
xl
supervened; the providence of God confounded the politics of the wisest and most experienced states-men; and the foundations of its kingdoms were suddenly loosened by revolution or war. And we have no greater security at this moment against a still more fatal reverse ! It is not that all as yet continues calm ; not, that we have national re-sources ; not even that we have pre-eminent religious privileges ; it is to none of these things that we can trust. A storm, for anything that we can do to prevent it, and from quarters we may never suspect, may suddenly and most rapidly gather round us, which shall again confound all human politics ; and this may happen very soon. The cup of Europe’s guilt and of England’s guilt may now have come to the full. “ Divine justice,” says an ancient writer, ts has leaden feet, but iron hands ; its march to ven-geance is slow, but its executions are terrible.” In the full prospect of such times, the Lord’s voice to His own people is, “ Lift up your heads, for your redemption draweth nigh.” “ Come, Lord Jesus.”
CHAPTER I.
CHRIST THE HEAD OF THE CHURCH,
AND
SOVEREIGN DISPOSER ΟΓ ITS EVENTS ;
ΛΥ1ΤΗ
Λ DESCRIPTION OF ITS CONDITION AT THE PERIOD WHEN THIS BOOK WAS WRITTEN.
(Till·: WHOM·: COMPRISING THE PIltST DIVISION OP THE REVELATION, AND DENOMINATED UY “ THE THINGS WHICH ARE ")
The title of 1 he Apocalypse—Its dedication to the Seven Chinches in the province of Asia—The Apostle John’s situation at the time o f his writing it - Given on the Lord's day—The command to write and send it to those Churches—Description of the up-pearance of our Lord Jesus Christ—The encouragement he gave
—	The subject matter of this book, the mystery of God—The addresses to the Seven Churches are of general application—Ad-dress to the Church in Ephesus—in Smyrna—in Pergamos—in Thyatira—in Sardis—in Philadelphia—in Laodicea—The his· tory in the Revelation is a carryiny out of the principles of these addresses—The proper Deity of Christ and of the Holy Ghost
—	The unity of the Church—Millennial intimations.
B
THE
REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST ;
WHICH GOD GAVE ONTO HIM,
TO SHEW' UNTO HIS SERVANTS THINGS WHICH MUST SHORTLY COME TO PASS ;
AND HE SENT AND SIGNIFIED THE SAME BY HIS ANGEL, UNTO HIS SERVANT
JOHN,
WHO BARE RECORD OF THE WORD OF GOD,
AND OF THE TESTIMONY OF JESUS CHRIST, ACCORDING TO ALL THINGS THAT HE SAW.
BLESSED IS HE THAT RKADHTH, AND THEY THAT HEAR THE WORDS OF THIS PROPHECY) AND KEEP THOSE THINGS WHICH ARE WRITTEN THEREIN) FOR THE TIME IS AT HAND.
(Rev. i. 1—3.)
E 2
JOHN
TO THE SEVEN CHURCHES WHICH ARE IN ASIA.
‘4Grace be unto you, and peace, from iiim which is, and which was, and which is to come;
“And from the seven spirits which are before his throne;
“And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first-begotten of the dead, and the Prince of the kings of the earth.
“ Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
“ Behold, he cometh with clouds ; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him : and all the kingdoms of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.
“ I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saitli the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.”
The circumstances under which this Revelation was (jiven to John.
“ I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribu-lation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.”
The day on which it was given.
“ I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day.”
The command that was given.
“ And I heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet, saying I am ,Alpha and Omega, the first and the last : and, What
CHAPTER I.
6
thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia ;
Unto Ephesus, and Unto Smyrna, and Unto Pergamos, and Unto Thyatira, and Unto Sardis, and Unto Philadelphia, and Unto Laodicea.”
The appearance of the Lord Jesus Christ with the symbols of his power.
“ And I turned to see the voice that spake with me.
‘4And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks; and in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man,
“ Clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle.
“ His head and his hairs were white, like wool, as white as snow ;
“ And his eyes were as a flame of fire ;
“ And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace ;
“ And his voice as the sound of many waters.
“And he had in his right hand seven stars; and out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword : and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength.״
The effect of this vision on the mind of the Apostle.
“ And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead.״
What the Lord Jesus Christ said.
“ And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not ; I am the first and the last : I am he that liveth, and was dead ; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen ; and have the keys of hell and of death.
“ Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be uereafter.״
i
JOHN TO THE SEVEN CHURCHES.
GENERAL REMARKS.
Throughout the whole of this first chapter, as above quoted, there is something so inexpressibly sublime, so grand, and yet so encouraging—something so far out of a common description, that we might well imagine a communication was about to be made of a most important and extraordinary character. Some-thing, in fact, from the great similarity of the illustrious personage who in both instances appears upon the scene, analogous to the “ great vision ” in the three last chapters of Daniel. For the Lord Je-sus Christ is here described in almost the very same words as when he is introduced to the prophet on the banks of the river Hiddekel (Dan. x. 5, 6), pre-paratory to the delivery of that most important and circumstantial historical narrative which is contained in the 11th and 12th chapters.
On that occasion he said, “ I am come to make thee understand what shall befall thy people in the latter days ; for the vision is yet for many days.” (Dan. x. 14.) On the occasion before us, he said, “ Write the things which thou hast seen, even the things which are, and the things which shall be here-after ” That is, (1), Write the title, (ver. 1—3) ; the inscription, (ver. 4—6) ; the summary, (ver. 7> 8) ; and what thou hast now seen of the divine appear-anee of the Lord Jesus, together with the things which were about to be explained in the seven subsequent addresses to the churches ;—and, (2), the things which were to happen to the
CHAPTER I.
8
end of time. After this, for the purpose of guard-ing against such being misunderstood or misap-plied, these things are declared to be the mystery of the seven stars, described in verse 16, as seen in the right hand of Christ, and of the seven golden candlesticks (ver. 13), in the midst of which He is described as walking. The whole together reads thus :
“Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be here-after; the mystery of the seven stars which thou sawestin my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches ; and the seven candlesticks are the seven churches.”
This last verse fixes, therefore, the whole of this Revelation to belong exclusively to the Christian Church, with as much precision as the assertion in Daniel x. 14. fixes the “ great vision ” of that pro-phet to belong to the Jews. For by the seven stars being declared to be the angels of the seven churches, is to be understood the great mass of believers in Jesus Christ, since only such he holds in his right hand; and the seven golden candlesticks amongst which he walks, in like manner being said to be the seven churches, applies to the locality of every such Christian church in the world ; the symbolical num her seven, implying in both cases the full and com-píete real number. Therefore, the mystery of t hese seven stars and seven candlesticks being the subject of the prophecy, it follows that the various great epochs of the Christian church, which were to mani-
9
JOHN TO THE SEVEN CHURCHES.
fest themselves in the great national providences of the Roman Empire, must constitute that mystery.
And it will not be questioned but that these eras of modern history, as detailed in the seals and trum-pets, and other parts of the Apocalypse, are indeed a mystery. Perhaps nothing in the whole range of God’s government of the world, ancient or modern, has so much mystery thrown around it, and is so in-scrutable to our views of things, as that he should have allowed the apostacies of Popery and Mahomet-anism to establish themselves on the ruins of His own church. Yet, doubtless, all has been the result of in-finite wisdom, and will ultimately be overruled for His own glory.
As the last verse of the chapter appropriates the contents of the whole book to belong to the Christian church, so the first announces the whole prophecy to have a reference to all the great consecutive events of that church, from the time of the vision to the end of the w’orld. For the title expressly says, that it is “ the revelation of Jesus Christ which God ״ave him
O
to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass that is, of necessity, since it looks forward to so long a space of time, things which must shortly begin to come to pass. Accordingly we find this book of prophecy commencing with the first great event that happened after it Was wTitten, namely, the triumph of Christianity over Paganism within little more than two hundred years after-wards; and then exhibiting all other successive b 5
CHAPTER I.
10
events of sufficient importance to form prophetical eras from that time to the present, and onwards.
Having thus disposed of the things which he had seen, the Apostle proceeds to the things “ which are ” and writes the addresses to the Seven Churches. The first is,
TO THE CHURCH IN EPHESUS.
(Rev. ii. 1—7.)
“ Unto the angel of the church in Ephesus write ; These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks;
“ I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thoucanstnot bear them which are evil; and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars : and hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name’s sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted.
“ Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.
“ Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works ; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.
“ But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolai-tañes, which I also hate.
“ I!e that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches ;
“To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life which is in the midst of the paradise of God.”
The second address is
TO THE CHURCH IN SMYRNA.
(ch. ii. 8—11.)
“And into the angel of the church in Smyrna write; These
11
JOHN TO THE SEVEN CHURCHES.
things saith the First and the Last, which was dead, and is alive ;
“ I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich,) and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan.
“ Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer ; behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried ; and ye shall have tribulation ten days : be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.
“ He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches;
“ He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.״
The third address is
TO THE CHURCH IN PERGAMOS.
(ch. ii. 12—17.)
“And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write ; These things saith he which hath the sharp sword with two edges ;
“I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, even where Satan’s seat is : and thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith, even in those days wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth.
“ But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumbling-block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication. So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes, which thing I hate.
“Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.
“ He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches;
“To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hid-den manna, and l will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth, saving he that receiveth it.”
CHAPTER I.
12
The fourth address is
TO THE CHURCH IN THYATIRA.
(cb. ii. 18—29.)
“ And unto the angel of the church in Thyatira write; These things saith the Son of God, who hath his eyes like unto a flame of fire, and his feet are like fine brass ;
“ I know thy works, and charity, and service, and faith, and thy patience, and thy works; and the last to be more than the first.
“ Notwithstanding, I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which called! herself a pro-phetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols.
“ And I gave her space to repent of her fornication ; and she repented not.
“ Behold I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery w ith her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds.
“ And I will kill her children with death ; and all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts ; and I will give unto every one of you according to your works.
‘־ But unto you I say, and unto the rest in Thyatira, as many as have not this doctrine, and which have not known the depths of !Satan, as they speak ; I will put upon you none other burden.
“ But that which ye have already, hold fast till I come.
“ And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations : (and he shall rule them with a rod of iron ; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers :) even as I received of my Father, And 1 will give him the morning star.
“ lie that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.’׳
The fifth address is
TO THE CHURCH IN SARDIS.
(ch. iii. 1—6.)
‘,And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; These
13
JOHN TO THE SEVEN CHURCHES.
tliings saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars ;
“ I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead.
“ Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die : for I have not found thy works perfect before God. Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard ; and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee. Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments ; and they shall walk with me in white : for they are worthy.
“ lie that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.
“lie that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.״
The sixth address is
TO THE CHURCH IN PHILADELPHIA.
(cli. iii. 7—13.)
“And to the angel of the church iu Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth ; and shut-teth, and no man openeth ;
“ I know thy works: behold, I have set before ihee an open door, and no man can shut it ; for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name.
“ Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie ; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee.
“ Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth. Behold, I tome quickly : hold fast that which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.
“ Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God ; and he shall go no more out: and I will write upbn him
CHAPTER I.
14
the name of my God, and the name of the city of ray God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God : and I will write upon him my new name.
“ He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.״
The seventh and last address is
TO THE CHURCH IN LAODICEA.
(ch. iii. 14—22.)
“ And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write ; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God :
“ I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot : I would thou wert cold or hot.
“ So then, because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.
“ Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing ; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked :
“ I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich ; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear ; and anoint thine eyes with eye-salve, that thou mayest see.
“As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten : be zealous, there-fore, and repent.
“ Behold, I stand at the door and knock : if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
“To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.
“ He that hath an -ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.״
The above seven addresses have suggested to my own mind the following considerations :
15
JOHN TO THE SEVEN CHURCHES.
1st. That the whole remaining part of the Book of Revelation, and in that the history of the church during the last eighteen hundred years, 13 but a carry-ing out and development of the summary matters which those addresses so strikingly exhibit ; and that in what yet remains to be developed, they will be exhibited in their highest perfection, both of justice and of mercy ; in their rewards and in their punishments ! Hence we see that the same watch-ful and scrutinizing eyes which are here shewn to take such particular cognizance of the internal state of the church, and of its least departure from the truth, whether in doctrine or practice, are still watching over it, as it has ever done, with the same sleepless care and the same jealous in-terest. Yes, it watches over it now, And there are no enemies against which the church is here warned ; no conflicts against which it is here strengthened; no encouragements which are here given ; no rewards which are here promised ; no con-solations that are here held forth; which we may not, and ought not to, apply to ourselves, each one of us individually.
2ndly. The most demonstrative proofs are here given respecting the Divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ, as also respecting the Personality of the Holy Ghost ; which two divine persons are, therefore, with the Father, One God. To this effect we see, through-out the whole of these three chapters, Christ assum-ing to himself, in language which it would appear impossible to mistake—in language which will bear
CHAPTER T.
IG
11υ other construction—the attributes of Deity. For instance, in the 11th verse of the first chapter, he uses, in reference to himself, the very same language which, in the 8th verse, belong to the Almighty, calling himself “ The Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last.” Likewise in the preface to each of the addresses, he refers to those divine prerogatives with which his person is encircled in the magnificent description given in verse 13 and onwards. At the same time, throughout the whole, he identifies himself as the incarnate Saviour, saying, in the solemn lan-guage of the 18th verse, ״I am He that liveth and was dead; and behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen: and have the keys of hell and of death.” Each address also concludes with the solemn, most solemn, exhortation to attend to what the Spirit saith unto the churches; who is called (ch. i. 4), “ the seven Spirits which are before his throne,”—and distinctly spoken of as one of the persons in the Godhead.
3rdly. These addresses most forcibly direct our attention to the essentials of Gospel truth, while they waive all those unimportant distinctions of particular churches in our day which man has made, and which have been, and still are, the occasion of so many un-Christian contentions. The church, as here described, consists of all those, be their minor distinctions what they may, and of only those, “ who have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” It consists of those, and those only, who can take up the language of John, and say, “ Unto
JOHN TO THE SEVEN CHURCHES.	17
Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and the Father, to Him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.”
4thly. We have in these addresses most distinctly implied the glorious expectations which the Church of Christ entertains, 1st, of the nations being broken to pieces ; 2nd, of the second coming of the Saviour ; 3rd, of the reign of the saints; 4th, of the coming down of the New Jerusalem from heaven ; and 5th, of Christ’s taking possession of a throne distinct from that in which he now reigns with the Father, (ch. iii. 21).
The Apostle was commanded (ch. i. 19) to write those things which he saw, even the things which were then present, and the things which were to be after these, or hereafter. We have touched upon the former, and now proceed to turn our attention to the latter—to those things which, as being all then future, were to happen “ hereafter ; ” and on account of which, the Apocalypse, as foreshewing them, is spe-cially called “ the Book of this Prophecy.”
CHAPTER II.
A REPRESENTATION
OF
THE DIVINE GLORY IN HEAVEN,
AND
ITS BLESSED INHABITANTS.
Here commences the second division of the Revelation, denominated by the things that shall be “ hereafter ״—The symbols of their ex· istence unfolded—The Scene exhibited as in Heaven—The Throne of God—The Elders—The Seven Spirits—The living creatures— The Worship of Heaven—The whole described correspondently to the Israelitish services and worship—Similar visions of Isaiah —Ezekiel—The Symbols of the Throne—What the Elders repre-sent—The Lightnings and Thunders—The seven lamps of fire— The sea of glass— The four living creatures considered and ex-plained—The great subject of their songs of praise.
CHAPTER IL
REPRESENTATION OF THE DIVINE GLORY IN HEAVENי AND ITS BLESSED INHABITANTS.
(chap iv.)
“ After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven : and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me ; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter.”
Here begins the second division of the Book, and with a disclosure of events which were then to come. Accordingly a new vision is introduced. The Apos-tie was not bidden in the former vision to come up into heaven, because there was in that no special revelation into futurity ; no grand disclosures of the progress and finishing of the mystery of God : the primary counterpart of the vision was the church as indeed already militant, but not, as afterwards, in-volved in those intricacies of the affairs of nations.
Accordingly Christ is there exhibited as walking in the midst of the churches, and, both by warnings, threatenings, rewards, promises, and encouragements, guarding its purity. But now that the history of the Church throughout all future generations commences;
21
DIVINE GLORY IN HEAVEN.
and God is pleased, in foreshowing it, to crown it with an advantage above all human histories, by letting us see that the church triumphant, and like-wise the hierarchy of heaven, have a connexion and sympathy with it ; the Apostle is commanded (and that by the Lord Jesus Christ, “the first voice which he heard99 ) to ascend up thither.
In the highly figurative and expressive language in which the whole of this history is given, a door is represented as opened in heaven. It conveys the idea of all hindrances being removed, and an important welcome given—and here signifies that such a wel-come is given us to all the disclosures which are about to be made of the counsels, decrees, and glories of Heaven.
Faint and cold at best are the highest ideas that we, as strangers and pilgrims, can entertain of that happy region, of which it is declared, that it consists of “ fulness of joy, and pleasures at God’s right hand for evermore.” We must, with the Apostle, be called up thither, before w*e shall be able to realize, in any adequate degree, its superlative blessedness ; for no description however vivid, no representation however glowing, can bring home its glories to earthly minds. Even when we read of them from the pen of inspi-ration, we need much of the sanctifying illumination of the self-same Spirit by whom the description was indited. May such illumination be given while we consider the effulgent opening of heaven here pre-sented to our view ; and may we be enabled, at least
CHAPTER II.
22
as far as the Lord permits and intends by this disclo-sure, in some faint degree to
“ Pierce within the veil Which hides that world of light.״
1.	THE THRONE.
“ And immediately I was in the spirit : and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne. And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone : and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald.״
2.	THE ELDERS.
“ And round about the throne were four and twenty seats : and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold. And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices.״
3.	THE SEVEN SPIRITS.
“ And there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.״
4.	THE LIVING CREATURES, AND THEIR WORSHIP.
u And before the throne there was a sea of glass, like unto crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four living creatures, full of eyes before and behind. And the first living creature was like a lion, and the second living ereature was like .an ox, and the third living creature had the face of a man, and the fourth living creature was like a flying eagle. And the four living creatures had each of them six wings about him ; and they were full of eyes within : and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.״
23
DIVINE GLORY IN HEAVEN.
THE WORSHIP OF THE ELDERS.
“ And when those living creatures give glory, and honour, and thanks to Him that sat on the throne, who liveth for ever and ever, the four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship Him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, Thou art worthy, 0 Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.”
It will better assist to understand this repre-sentation, as well as the scenery of the whole book, if, in studying it, we bear in mind that the Almighty, in the particulars here described, honours his own word, his own ordinances, and his own institutions, by bringing into view what relates to the Jewish dis-pensation and the Old Testament worship, as a basis to the greater revelations and discoveries now about to be made. The former, as having been addressed to the senses, supplied a proper and suitable platform and materials for the latter: so that this descrip-tion of heaven and the heavenly world appears but as exhibiting or carrying out in anti-type the divinely ordered encampment of Israel in the wilderness. At once it may be observed, that in like manner as the prophets in general drew their allusions from Jewish matters and history, the full significance of which they refer to the prophecies and histories of the Christian Church ; so does the Book of Revela-tion, in a pre-eminent manner, take the style of the old prophets, their symbols, types, and institutions,
CHAPTER II.
24
and adduce them as illustrations of the wonderful and splendid history which it unfolds.
To begin with the description given in the above quotation of the heavenly world, we cannot but be struck with its resemblance to the encampment of the children of Israel during their forty years’ journey-ings, described in Numbers ii.—and with the evident light which the comparison throws upon that repre-sentation. For instance, in the very centre of the Israelitish camp there was a visible token or manifes-tation of God’s special presence and glory. It was the only manifestation of the kind then upon earth, and was called the Shechinah. It consisted of what appeared as a bright cloud, and sometimes as a pillar of refulgent flame, resting on the mercy-seat; an-swerably to which we here behold its brighter anti-type exhibited within the opened door of heaven to the view of the Apostle, consisting not of a bright cloud or flame, but of a splendid throne. Such was seen in vision by Micaiah,* when he said : “ I saw Jehovah sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing by him on his right hand and on his left.” Also that described by Isaiah in the following sublime language, “ I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Above it stood the Seraphims : each one had six wings ; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another, and said
* 1 Rings xxii. 19.
25
DIVIXE GLORY IX HEAVEX.
Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts ; the whole earth is full of his glory.”
Besides this mention, there is to be found in the first of Ezekiel a most magnificent description of this resplendent seat of the Divine Majesty, corresponding in a most remarkable manner, yet in beautifully divers! -fied language, with that here given. After many parti-culars from the 4th to the 26th verse, it closes as fol-lows,—and I transcribe it, as I wish to draw a fixed attention to what is so often, in the after-parts of the Revelation, brought forward :—“ And above the fir-marnent that was over their heads was the likeness of a throxe, as the appearance of a sapphire stone : and upon the likeness of the throne, was the likeness as the appearance of a man above upon it. And I saw as the colour of amber, as the appearance of fire round about within it, from the appearance of his loins even upward, and from the appearance of his loins even downward, I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and it had brightness round about. As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord.”
In the apocalyptic representation before us, no at-tempt is made to describe the majesty of Him that sat upon the throne ; it is merely said that He was to look upon like a jasper, and a sardine stone—that is, he appeared in the dazzling splendour and ineffable brightness of the most costly, pellucid, transparent stones, and in this nameless majesty there is in ex-c
CHAPTER II.
26
pressible grandeur. It reminds us of the burning glory which was seen by Moses and Aaron when they went up into the mount; and which, as no lan-guage could adequately picture forth, is compared to ״ a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it were the body of heaven in his clearness as if the luminaries of heaven, the suns of a thousand skies, concentrated their radiant lustre upon the hallowed spot.
A striking and cheering adjunct is observable, both here and in Ezekiel’s description. It is the rainbow, as a pledge of mercy. ״There was a rainbow round about the throne,” of the colour of living green,ζί in sight like unto an emerald “ a brightness round about, as the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain.”
There were also round about this ineffably glorious throne of Jehovah four־and־twenty seats, or, more properly speaking, four-and-twenty other thrones, upon which are represented four-and-twenty elders sitting clothed in white robes, emble-matical of perfect purity, and having crowns or co-ronets of gold upon their heads.
These elders appear to represent that part of the church redeemed from among men, which has already received its reward. We are here reminded of the four-and-twenty courses of the priests appointed by David to minister among the Jewish people set apart for the service of the Temple ; and likewise of the
* See Exodus xxiv. 1 0, 17.
27
DIVINE GLORY IN HEAVEN.
camp of the Levites, which in the wilderness invested the Tabernacle. Moreover it appears very evident that kuch a portion of the ransomed church have thus received their reward ; that is, have obtained a glo-rious resurrection. The very circumstance that these elders are seen in a.bodily form, with honours bestowed upon them, shews that they are intended to represent something more than separate spirits.
The question therefore arises, does anything in Scripture countenance the idea, that many of the righteous are already in the presence of God in their glorified bodies ? In the first place, I would notice, that, as in the case of Enoch and Elijah, at least some must be in heaven thus perfected. And then on that great occasion, the death of our Lord, we are informed that “ the graves were opened, and many of the bodies of the saints which slept arose, and came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.”*
Again, in the description of the city of the living God, given by Paul to the Hebrews, a distinction is made between the “ general assembly and church of the first born which are written in heaven,״ and the “ spirits of just men made perfect.’^־ These latter, I consider, are those who rose after our Lord’s resur-rection, and are denominated “ the elders.” Of their numbers we can have no idea ; but most probably they were such as had been most eminently useful and faithful in their respective generations, and had borne
f Ileb. xii.
* Matt, xxvii. 52, 53.
c 2
CHAPTER II.
28
the burden and heat of the day ; yea, for ought we know, they may have been all the righteous dea d, from the time of Adam. And this interpretation respecting “ the elders,״ appears the more probab le, from the circumstance of their not being introduced either in the visions of Isaiah or Ezekiel ; wherein we find not even a figure to represent them. The reason of such omission is obvious : there were then no spirits of just men made perfect in heaven—there had been no resurrection of the saints, so there was no part of the saved church for such four-and-twenty elders to represent. But after the great event of our Lord^s resurrection, the case had become differ-ent ; many of the spirits of the just were “made perfect” —that is, their bodies and souls were re-united,sothat they now formed a separate and distinct class of heavenly inhabitants. The lightnings, and thunder-ings, and voices, which proceeded out of the throne, remind us of the transactions at Sinai, and of that transcript of the mind and will of God, which was there published in the promulgation of the moral law ; they also appear to say, that whilst there is a bow of mercy around the throne, in virtue of the covenant of grace, there is at the same time a reserve of vengeance and wrath against the wicked, and to every transgressor of that law.
The seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, and styled the “ seven Spirits ” of God, (which are also referred to in ch. i. 4,) represent no other than the person of the Holy Spirit ; and to these correspond, in the Israelitish tabernacle, the golden lamp-stand
29
DIVINE GLORY IN HEAVEN.
with seven branches, which was before the Most Holy place.
The sea of glass before the throne, clear andtrans-parent as crystal, is allusive to the molten sea of brass used for the purification of the priests ; and appears to intimate, that, unlike to a troubled sea,
“ whose waters cast up mire and dirt,” heaven is a place of settled peace. Perhaps the idea is correctly conveyed in the following beautiful stanza of Watts :—
״ There shall I bathe my weary soul In seas of heavenly rest ;
And not a wave of trouble roll Across my peaceful breast.”
Beyond all these in the Israelitish encampment, (in the midst of which, as we have seen, were the tabernacle, with the glory of God, the priests, the candlestick, and the molten sea,) was the whole body of the people, the whole of the Twelve Tribes, disposed in four large battalions or armies ; each forming, under one general standard of the four principal tribes, a compact square. The standard of Judah was on the east side ; that of Ephraim on the west ; Reuben on the south ; and that of Dan on the north : and each of which had an additional tribe on its right and on its left, completing the complement of the twelve, or whole number of the people, represented as the whole visible church.
It is not surprising, then, to find the heavenly vision of the church analogous to this arrangement, Accordingly St. Paul speaks of the “ general assembly
CHAPTER II.
30
and church of the first-born which are written in heaven;” by whom may be meant those that are not yet “made perfect” as distinct from the elders, or those who are made perfect. Hence we infer that the redeemed myriads of yet disembodied spirits, are what are here represented by the “ four living crea-tures full of eyes before and behind, in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne.”
The descriptions of the heavenly glory in the sixth of Isaiah and the first of Ezekiel, and the one in this place, are all “ derived from the same original ; and whatever may seem to be the difference between the seraphim of Isaiah, and the cherubim of Ezekiel, is here adjusted by their being brought into com-parison with a third common measure, namely, the ‘living creatures’ of St. John’s vision.”
The original term is very improperly, in our Bible, translated “beasts.” A beast is inferior, and, throughout the whole of the prophetic scriptures, represents masses of human beings acting below the dignity of their nature ; whereas these living creatures are far superior in intelligence to all mortals, and per-fectly holy. The difficulty must be great, of represent-ing under a simile, to our conceptions, the spirits of the just in heaven, in their disembodied state ; and Ezekiel intimates this difficulty of expressing it by similitudes taken from earthly things, by saying, “ as it were the likeness of four living creatures.”
In both Isaiah’s prophecy and that of Ezekiel, we find a sameness of resemblance to animals ; but in Ezekiel each “ living creature ” appears to have the
31
DIVINE GLORY IN HEAVEN.
four likenesses in itself \ and therewith a general re-semblance to the human form—or that dignified ap-pearance of superior intellect and mind, which dis-tinguishes man from other animals. Here in the Apocalypse it is said, that they were respectively like a lion, an ox, the face of a man, and a flying eagle, each the chief of its class, and denoting the strength, power, and vigour; the usefulness, industry, and labour ; the reason and quick-sightedness, with which they serve, obey, and worship God.
From either of the visions it appears that no part of these beings was without the likeness of that woiir derful organ of animal creation, eyes—the inlets of knowledge and intelligence, expressive of their vast intellectual superiority to anything known or expe-rienced in this world, and perfectly agreeing with other parts of Scripture which represent the perfection of knowledge in heaven.
Their position likewise before the throne, is agreeable to what is related of that of the righteous dead : “ absent from the body, 1present with the Lord” They are here described as “ in the midst of the throne and round about the throne,” as if their situation could not be exactly fixed. Ezekiel likewise says, “in the midst;” but at the same time expresses the uncertainty of their position by these words, “They ran and returned, as the appearance of a flash of lightning.” Both terms, however, strongly imply, that it is as near the throne of God as it can be ! The same also which is meant in one vision, appears to be meant in the other ; namely, a living
CHAPTER II.
32
representation of the high honour, the blaze of intel-ligence, the superlatively exalted qualities, the un-bounded range, and the delightful employment of every individually saved sinner. Thus they all form the “ general assembly and the church of the first-born, whose names are written in heaven,” and they unceasingly cry “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, which is, and which is to come.”
The rest of the chapter cannot be better told than by repeating the language of the inspired writer, “And when the living creatures ”—or the “general assembly and church of the first-born”—thus “ give glory, and honour, and thanks ”—to the Lord God Almighty— “to Him that sitteth on the throne, and liveth for ever and ever ;”—while they are thus employed, “ the four-and-twenty elders,” the spirits of just men made perfect, “fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship Him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive the glory, and the honour, and the power ; for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.”
I would here only make one additional remark, namely, that the above interpretation, which regards the elders and four living creatures as constituting the redeemed church in heaven, appears confirmed by the subject of their song of praise in the succeed-ing chapter, and which it seems impossible theÿ could otherwise have adopted. For in chap. v. 8, we read,
33
DIVINE GLORY IN HEAVEN.
“that the four living creatures, and the four and twenty elders, fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sung a new song,”—not merely praising God for his perfections and for creation, as in the above description, but they praise him for redemption, and for redeeming them—“ And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the Book, and to loose the seals thereof : for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood, out of every kin-dred, and tongue, and people, and nation ; and hast made us unto our God kings and priests : and we shall reign on the earth ”
CHAPTER III.
THE
EXALTATION OF CHRIST IN HEAVEN;
THE
COMMITTAL OF THE CONCERNS OF THE CHURCH INTO HIS HANDS;
AND THE
WORSHIP PAID HIM BY ITS BLESSED INHABITANTS.
Symbol of the Book—A master symbol—Its seven seals—Their general meaning—Form of the books of the ancients—Impar-tance of the contents of the book with seven seals—The coming forward of Christ as the slain Lamb—In what sense he is said to open the seals—Periods of time represented by them—The study o f them important—Worship paid by the living creatures—The prayers of the Saints—New Song of heaven—Future honour of the Saints—Song of the Angels—And of the whole Creation— Deity of Christ.
CHAPTER III.
THE EXALTATION OF CHRIST, AND THE WORSHIP PAID HIM.
The Apostle having represented the throne and majesty of the Lord God Almighty to our view, and having described that throne as encircled by the redeemed church, consisting both of the bodied and disembodied spirits of just men, proceeds saying,—
“And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne,abook written within and on the back side, sealed with seven seals.’’ (v. 1.)
A book as in the right hand of God, upon his throne in heaven, is such a symbol as must convey the idea of a record of the Divine counsels and pur-poses ; and we have already learned that it must be respecting “ things hereafter.” Subsequent predic-tions in the Apocalypse will shew us how highly significant this symbol is ; not of a relation of indis-criminate events, but of events of a certain class and most superior series This also is evident from the position in which we here see it, and from the cir-cumstances that attend it. It contains, in fact, the sum of all exterior church history under the Christian
37
THE EXALTATION OF CHRIST.
dispensation ; and stands exactly in the same relation to the fourth or Roman kingdom individually, as the vision of the great image of Daniel * did to the four kingdoms collectively. It contains, then, the first great lesson of modern history, and that in which all the events of the last eighteen hundred years are involved.
Hence we may consider that, in like manner as the vision of the great image laid the prophetic out-line of Gentile idolatrous history in the four successive kingdoms of Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome; so is the import of this book the prophetic outline of the sequel of Rome’s history, commencing from when these transcendent visions were given to John, in the reign of Trajan, near the close of the first cen-tury. We have therefore to refer to Ptolemy’s As-tronomical Canon, and to a continuation of it ;t and in these we shall see the names of all the successive Emperors from that time to the present. It is the history then of their reigns, with all the mighty events and changes belonging to them, (“ the things which were to be hereafter,’5 which were promised to be revealed to the Apostle,) that we may naturally suppose was intended by the symbol of the book with seven seals.
The seven seals themselves represent the most im-portant periods of time into which these successive reigns, with the one that is yet to come, are distri-
* See p. 17G Dissertation.
f See both at the end of “ Dissertation on the Prophecies of the Old Testament,”
CHAPTER III.
38
buted, so as to mark with every period a new order of things. The uniformity of these symbols, expressed by the common name of seals, is an intimation (unlike that of the diversity in Nebuchadnezzar’s vision of the great image) that the imperial masters would no more be shifted to some empire of another name, but would retain its own character to the last. Thus the book sealed with seven seals is a general historical record of the Roman Empire, comprising the whole range of its numerous successive masters, and yet setting forth in succession seven most decided changes, each of which should involve new habits of thought, alter the face of public affairs, and form new and distinct eras of time. And it will appear, as we proceed, that six out of the seven of such successive changes have already passed; and that the periods marked by them are each most aptly cha-racterized by such a symbol as intimates the changes to have been wrought by events and instruments within the Empire itself ; by the opening of seals— that is, by events which bear the stamp of public legitimate authority;—by events which have the seals of empire; not, like the next series of events, by extrinsic causes ,from beyond its bounds.
They have been generally interpreted to signify Di-vine secrecy ; and this from viewing them rather as literal than symbolical seals ; but it is indispensably necessary to a right interpretation of the Apocalypse, to beware of literalizing the obvious symbols. Such an interpretation also deprives them of their peculiar point : since there is as much Divine secrecy
39
THE EXALTATION OF CHRIST.
belonging to the plan and development of the trumpet periods, and those of the vials, as in the accomplish-ment of those of the seals. If that be indeed their meaning, it can belong equally to the other distinct classes of prophetic events ; for they all emerge from the secret counsel of one and the same inscrutable Providence ; an d until they have so emerged, they are all alike sealed and secret to us, The more digni-fied and just interpretation, therefore, appears to be, to consider their respective openings as the unfolding of a new order of things, having the confirmation of what we understand by the great seal of the Empire, By this interpretation, their successive openings appear to intimate, in the most touching and affecting man-ner, the varied hue and complexion which the state of society so mournfully exhibits throughout this long range of periods. Thus considered, they carry likewise an importance such as they might naturally be supposed to have from the great mystic roll to which they are attached being seen in the right hand of the Most High, from no one being found worthy to open such seals but the Saviour himself, and from the overwhelming solemnity of the whole scene.
With regard to the peculiar form of this book : those of the ancients are said to have been generally rolls of parchment, fastened or sealed on the out-side. In this instance, therefore, of the book having seven seals, it is considered, and most probably cor-rectly, that seven successive volumes were rolled one within another, and each of them sealed;
CHAPTER III.
40
which explains how ״the seals” were seen by the Apostle to have been opened in succession.
These seven seals, then, symbolize those great revolving wheels of Providence, that carry in their tremendous whirl ״the fates and fortunes of the Church of Christ,” even as these are embodied in the fourth and last great empire predicted in the book of Daniel, from the first to the last period of her militant state on earth.
This additional consideration—namely, respecting the fates and fortunes of the militant Christian Church, distinguishing, according to the learned Vitringa, the seven most remarkable and important changes that were to befall it—enables us to under-stand the import of the following verses, and to ap-precíate its beautiful and most deeply interesting adaptation to the design of the whole vision.
“ And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof? And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon. And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon. And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not; behold, the .Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof.״ (v. 2—5.)
Here I would call attention to the circumstance, that it is one of the elders—namely, of those risen saints whom we have identified with ״ the spirits of just men made perfect”—that is here heard to speak consolation to the Apostle. Meanwhile it is impos-sible to mistake who is intended by ״ the Lion of
41
THE EXALTATION OF CHRIST.
the tribe of Judah, the Root of David since Christ alone can be meant ; he was of the tribe of Judah ; and he, as being very God, was the Root, though, as man, he was the offspring of David. Therefore, when we see Him, in the next verse, appearing as a slain Lamb—and in that character, namely, as our great atoning Sacrifice, taking the book, and opening the seals thereof—we understand, that, as in being the Lion of the tribe of Judah he is King, and as in being the Root of David he must be a Divine person ; so it is in consideration of his having humbled himself, and come into such an endearing relation to us sinners, that he was found worthy, and prevailed, not only to open to us, but also to foresee and govern, the whole course of these prophetic events. Nothing less can be signified by his being the only one found worthy to take the book, and to open the seals ; that is, as doing what never could be deputed to men or angels. In almost every other instance, the mere disclosure of God’s purposes has been committed to his servants the pro-phets ; nay, it has been so even here ; for we have seen already, respecting the whole matter of the Apo-calypse, that “ he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John.” By this majestic opening, therefore, of the seals, we ought assuredly to under-stand, not only that our Lord and Saviour discloses to view their comprised events, but that He overrules and brings them to pass. To the same effect speaks our pious minstrel, Watts, in the following lines ; and they appear fully to convey the idea I wish to impress upon the mind ;
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42
“ Eternal Father, who shall look Into thy secret will ?
Who but thy Son shall take the book And open every seal ?
He shall fulfil thy great decrees,
The Son deserves it well ;
Lo, in his hand the sovereign keys Of heaven, and death, and hell.״
Thus then continues the Apostle :
u And I beheld, and, 10, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth. And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne. And when he had taken the book, the four living creatures and the four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having' every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints.
" And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof : for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation ; and hast made us unto our God kings and priests ; and we shall reign on the earth.״ (v. 6—10.)
The significance of all is express and intense : that God the Father should deliver up to the Incarnate One the immediate control of all the events predicted in this book ; and this too in the character of our once slain Lamb—our once-for־all atoning Sacrifice ; and that into His hand. He should deliver so exclusively the events of this “ book,” is a proof that the events are interwoven with the history of Christ’s church throughout the whole duration of its militant state, and are not limited, as is generally thought, to the three first centuries. For how unreasonable, and
43
THE EXALTATION OF CHRIST.
unanalogous to the great import of similar Scripture imagery, is it to conclude that what God thus repre-sents as holding in his right hand, and what was thus solemnly delivered unto Christ, could concern no more than a sixth portion of the already elapsed period of our Christian era—a portion, too, within the course of which no change of things marking any prophetical epoch was apparent! We have here, moreover, another proof of the special care of God over all the interests of His church. How awful, then, is the infidelity of the present age on the one hand, and the indifference of professed Christians on the other !
As the Apostle John had been commanded to write not only the things which he saw—or the things then present,—but also the things that were to be hereafter ;* so the things present having been already disposed of, and the same voice, " the first voice” which he heard, having now called him up to heaven, saying,(< Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter we henceforth behold, in a series of the most splendid visions, those future things embodied in the contents of the symbolic roll, which we have seen represented first as in the right hand of the Lord God Almighty, and then, in the presence of all the company of heaven, taken and received by Christ as being alone worthy to have possession thereof, and to open its seven seals. Nor is it without reason that we have in-ferred that "the things which were to be hereafter,” are
Chap. i. 19.
CHAPTER III.
44
certainly involved in its contents ; and that from the study of these may be obtained the most valuable scriptural instruction, and lessons of unutterable importance—especially to ourselves, who are living so near their close, when their evidence becomes so much stronger, and their effects so much more striking and marvellous.
The importance of such events is magnified in the highest degree by the circumstance that the Lord Jesus Christ, the all-atoning Lamb, as such, receives the revelation of them from the right hand of “ Him that sat upon the throne as also by the circum-stance that ensued hereupon, namely, that the entire company of disembodied spirits, “the general assem-bly of the church of the first born in heaven and with them the risen saints, “ the spirits of just men made perfect are seen prostrating themselves in humble adoration “ before the Lamb ; having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints.” From the lat-ter expression, it would appear that there is a much greater connexion and a deeper interest existing between the saints on earth and all the pious dead, than is generally supposed ; the prayers which they offer to God the Father, through the merits and intercession of Christ, being represented as sweet odours in golden vials in the hands of the whole redeemed church. From this being told us, it would likewise appear, that the church triumphant must of necessity be intimately acquainted with what is going forward in the church militant ; and that the veil which hides the eternal world from our view
45
THE EXALTATION OF CHRIST.
is really very thin. Such a thought is both cheering and edifying.
We further see here in what light God regards the prayers of his saints ; and how very precious they must be in his account; thus to be offered up, in union with the adoring praises of the heavenly world, unto “ Him who hath loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood.”
Moreover, upon Christ’s having the fulfilment of God’s determinate counsel thus committed to him, and upon the perfected saints raising hereupon, with their instruments of human music (“ harps,’’) the song of praise, we find this song of the elders called a new song—they sang, it is said, “ a new song ”— because not, like their former song,* specially em-ployed upon the wonders of creation, but called forth in special praise of the Incarnate Son. Therefore it is, “ Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof; for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood, out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation.’’ Here also we see how clearly they identify themselves with the ransomed church !
They further express the degree of honour to which they themselves are already exalted : “Thou hast made us unto our God kings and priests,” —that is, the whole of the church now in heaven, the whole of the righteous dead, in the one state or the other, are possessed of this high distinction.
Ch. IV. 4, 10, 11.
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46
They conclude their song in anticipation of a still higher destination that awaits them, “and we shall reign on the earth :”—a destination which what is promised in the Book of Daniel fully prepares us to regard as awaiting all the Lord’s people. For in that Book we are told,* that after the four great successive empires are broken to pieces, “ the saints of the Most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever.” And again it is added, that “the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey Him.” Accordingly, in anticipation of this happy state of things, and in confirmation of this glorious promise, the church in heaven, whilst they are extolling the praises of their Saviour, exult-ingly employ the above anticipatory language, ex-claiming, “And we shall reign on the earth.” Here is also another intimation that the four and twenty elders (as we have inferred elsewhere concerning also the four living creatures) represent the saints in glory ; for here is language that we have no scrip-tural authority for imputing to any of the angels, or to any beings except the saved of Adam’s race.
After this distinct and rapturous adoration paid by the church, the Apostle adds :
“And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round
* Compare Dan. ii. 35. 44, and ch. vii. 18, 27, 28; and see Dissertation,p. 265—270״
47
THE EXALTATION OF CHRIST.
about the throne, and the living creatures, and the elders ; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thou-sands of thousands ; saying, with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.״ (ver. 11,12.)
Here are specially worthy of notice :—1· The per-sons who now, for the first time, are introduced in the vision, namely, the angels:—2. Their position; they are about the throne of God, and his redeemed church :—3. Their very great numbers; they are (as expressed in Heb. xii. 22) as “an innumerable company;יי “numbers without number;יי “ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thou״ sands :יר—lastly, Their song ; “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain ;יי but they do not, because they can-not, add, with the church, who hath redeemed us.
How sublime the scene which is here so simply represented ! but there is more of it yet. That both portions of the redeemed church in glory, and that the countless numbers of angels, should all conspire in the blessed work of praising the Lamb that was slain, is not sufficient. The whole creation, in the four-fold aspect which is taken of it by the sacred writers, joins in repeating the glorious theme. ■\
“ And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.” (v. 13.)
The above form of speech, to express the whole creation, is used twice in the Decalogue :* and it is employed by St. Paul to the Philippians (ch, ii. 10.) in
* Exod. xx. 4—11.
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the very same connexion as here by St. John; namely, about the universal worship belonging to Christ as the God-man. “ Let this same mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus : who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men : and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name ; that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven,
AND THINGS IN EARTH, AND THINGS UNDER THE
earth. And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father”*
The whole of this fifth chapter of the Apocalypse is a glorious commentary upon those words of St. Paul. Here we see Christas exaltation practically manifested ; his great name universally acknowledged as infinitely above every name ; and how readily and cheerfully at his name every knee does bow9 tS to the glory of God the Father,” saying, “ Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb, for ever and ever.”
What follows as the final act of this sublime wor-ship, is but another echo of the high praises of the Incarnate Son, and of the devotion of the whole spiritual church to Him.
* Phil, ii 5—11.
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THE EXALTATION OF CHRIST.
“ And the fourliving creatures said, Amen. And the four and twenty elders fell down and worshipped Him that liveth for ever and ever/׳ (v. 14.)
In conclusion, I would observe, that, abundantly full and clear as are the Scriptures upon the proper Deity of Christ, in no part of them is it more striking-ly displayed, than in this manifestation of his glory to the adoring reverence and worship of all the hosts of heaven. Jealous for his glory as the Lord God hath declared himself to be, it is impossible that the adoration here described could have been per-mitted to a mere creature. And the express mention of the whole universe, without one exception—“Every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them ”—shews how impossible it is that He to whom such universal and rapturous worship is paid should be anything less than God and Lord. Moreover, we here behold him invested with attri-butes properly and peculiarly divine. The Lamb, as one that had been slain, is seen in the midst of the throne of heaven. There is he seen having seven horns, which indicate his perfect and irresistible power ; and having seven eyes, denoting the perfec-tions of his omnipresence. Therefore let the church below join with the church above in ascribing with its full “ Amen, blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb, for ever and ever and among that innumerable company may my spirit join in the same ! Amen.
D
CHAPTER IV.
THE FOUR FIRST SEALS;
SHEWING THE
GRADUAL PROGRESS OF THE AWFUL APOSTACY THE CHURCH OF CHRIST.
Opening of the First Seal—A very remarkable Era—Concern of the heavenly part of the Church respecting it—Its symbols and their meaning—Emperor Constantine and the triumph of Chris-tianity overFaganism—Pagan persecutions— The A póstate Julian —Opening of the Second Seal—Import of the Symbols—Pagan· ism destroyed by Theodosius—His character—The Church*$ fierce divisions and slaughter—Opening of the Third Seal— TheEm· peror Justinian—His great actions and their lamentable influence on the Church—Its gross darkness—Preservation of the Holy Scriptures incorrupt—Opening of the Fourth Seal—The Church in a state of very general and extreme corruption—Charlemagne — Important era he formed—Confined to the Latin nations— Great misery of this period.
CHAPTER IV.
THE FOUR FIRST SEALS ; SHEWING THE PROGRESS OF THE CHURCH'S AWFUL APOSTACY.
The process of opening the seals is now com-menced ; and it will unfold to our view, by rich, varied, and most significant emblems, the mighty course of God’s providence, in the aspects which his church would assume throughout its whole militant period, until its safe translation to glory.
THE OPENING OF THE FIRST SEAL;
Or the External Triumph of the Church.
“ And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals ; and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four living crea-tures saying, Come and see.
“ And I saw, and 10 ! a white]horse; and he that sat upon him had a bow ; and a crown.was given unto him : and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.״ (vi. 1,2.)
This symbol appears to import :—
1.	An era signally summoning the notice of the world : for it was by as it were the noise of thunder, that the Apostle was called to “come and see.”
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THE FOUR FIRST SEALS.
This implies that the event to which it refers would be one of a very astonishing kind : much more as-tonishing than those of the succeeding seals or periods ; for it is the only one of all the seven that was announced with this astounding noise. It indi-cates, then, sotne great and most remarkable change, public, unexpected, summary, and decisive.
2.	This voice of thunder proceeds from one of the four living creatures ; therefore, according to our pre-ceding exposition, it proceeds from a portion of the general assembly and church of the first-born which are written in heaven ; and implies that it has refer-ence to concerns wherein the church is essentially interested.
3.	The great and surprising change we speak of, is further symbolized by a great warrior coming forth riding on a horse of snow-white appearance, emble-matical of purity. He is armed with a bow, exprès-sive of activity and skill in war ; as it is prophetically written of the posterity of Joseph, ״ his bow abode in strength 2” and he is adorned with a crown, as the reward of his victorious conduct, of which indeed the whole phenomenon is highly significant. To the same effect it is added, that “ he went forth conquer-ing and to conquer,״ which seems to convey the idea that his conquests would in some signal manner be renewed.
Thus the whole vision appears to shadow forth some great temporal advantage obtained to the militant church in the person and by the exploits of an imperial and sovereign warrior.
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We now apply to history ; and there indeed we find that the first great and most surprising change which took place in the affairs of the church after the apostolic age—and a change which quite altered the complexion of the world—corresponds exactly to this striking imagery, That change was the national triumph gained over Paganism by the Emperor Constantine ! The particulars of this great event are so well known that it is unnecessary here to relate them. Only we would remark, that it was an event of general and surpassing interest to the Christian Church, and productive of the most im-portant alterations which Christendom ever experi-enced. It found the profession of our holy religion, though externally sullied, yet pure at the vitals, and still shining in essential matters with a brightness of which no concise account can give an adequate idea. Hence the appearance of pure whiteness is given to the symbol of the horse.
It was a change which, in energy and vigour, in the manifest and unexpected strokes of an evident interposition from above, was as striking as any that had heretofore been seen in the revolutions of empires; and the instrument of providence in bringing it to pass, was well equipped and qualified for the purpose. In the numerous battles fought by Constantine, as the professed champion of Christianity against Pagan arms, he had indeed “ a bow ” which abode in strength —and “ a crown,” the token of his victories, “ was given unto him.” Here then is a correspondence of events to the prediction; and in all Christian
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THE FOUR FIRST SEALS.
history I know of no others that show it. No such change had ever before occurred—nothing that could mark a prophetical era. The Roman Emperors until this period had been high-priests and worshippers of the fabulous gods of the heathen world; and many of them—as Trajan (by whom the Apostle was banished to Patmos), and Antoninus, and Decius —had been notorious persecutors of the Christians. Under the reigns of such men, the church, with little variation in her general aspect or external circum-stances, had often struggled for her very existence. This had been especially the case just before her great deliverance, as may be seen in the systematically conducted assaults she had to encounter under Dio-clesian, when the battle between the powers of heaven and hell was so hot, as to render the issue very doubtful to human conjecture.
At that season of extremity was raised up Constan-tine ; and by him the above prediction was accom-plished in the decisive victories which Almighty God gave him over his Pagan competitors. The temporal glory which henceforward surrounded the Church is likewise aptly symbolized by the bow and the crown ; for from that period the assertors of the Christian name, instead of being trampled upon, were protected by the laws: and whereas their lives, liberty, and property, had hitherto been exposed to perpetual jeopardy, they were now constituted upon an equality with their Pagan fellow-citizens, in honour, peace, and security. Magnificent buildings began every-
CHAFTER IV.
56
where to be erected for Christian worship ; riches flowed in upon them; and such general means of worldly prosperity were acquired, that the change was as remarkable as it was lasting.
This interpretation of the prophecy calls not at present for any remark upon the lamentably deterio-rating effects of all such worldly honour and glory ; those effects will appear quite soon enough under the subsequent seals. Our business here was to shew the true character of the first great change which the visible church had to experience ; its full attestation by well known history; and its exact fulfilment of the predicting symbol.
The warrior of this First Seal “ went forth con-quering and to conquer” Two periods of conquest seem here designated. The former has been already considered; the latter we refer to the desperate, tremendous, deeply concerted, and well-conducted attempt of Julian, the nephew of Constantine, to restore idolatry, and to revive the expiring cause of Paganism. He did all that his extraordinary zeal and abilities could effect within the brief term of two years, during which Providence permitted him to rule over the Roman world ; had he lived much longer, great success would probably have attended his measures, so that Paganism might again have become the religion of the Empire. But the last two words of this prophetic sentence stopped his further pro-gress—the cause of Christianity had gone on conquer-ing, and it was “ to conquer ” therefore it did con-quer ; and the apostate himself is said, in his mortal
THE FOUR FIRST SEALS.	57
agony; to have confessed it with the exclamation, “ O Galilean, thou hast conquered !”
OPENING OF THE SECOND SEAL;
Or the Church in a state of fiery Division and Discord.
“ And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, Come and see. And there went forth another horse that was red ; and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another ; and there was given unto him a great sword.” (vi, 3, 4.)
Keeping in remembrance that a man on horse-back exhibited in divine vision, denotes the going forth of some power in military array, divinely commissioned to effect changes on the earth ; and that the character of the change is expressed by the colour of the horse;”* also that the white horse denoted the considerable degree of real purity at that time in the Church ; we hence infer that the red, or fire-coloured, denotes a change to an era remarkable for internal war or slaughter, an era of angry intolerance and persecu-tion. And such a state of murderous animosity is still more clearly expressed by its being said that the effect of this change would be to “ take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another and by the symbol of a “ great sword.” The omission of its being notified to the Apostle in a voice of thunder, intimates that, though equally real, it would come in less strikingly ; that it would be brought
Dean Woodhouse. D 5
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58
about in a more quiet way than the first great change from Paganism to Christianity.
Let us now again turn to history. It was but sixty or seventy years after that mighty revolution which was symbolized by the first seal, when Theodosius, surnamed the Great, was raised up to give the last blow to Roman Paganism. He found it still exist-ing, even in the Senate. Moreover the title, ensigns, and prerogatives of Pontifex Maximus, or Supreme Priest, which had been instituted by Numa in the first ages of Rome, and assumed by Augustus, had been accepted, however inconsistently, by the pre-ceding Christian emperors. Statues of the gods were still exposed to public adoration; four hundred heathen temples had as yet remained open ; and the fumes of idolatrous sacrifices continued to be tolerated. Un-der these circumstances, Theodosius, in a full meet-ing of the Senate, solemnly proposed the question, whether the worship of Christ or that of Jupiter should be the religion of the Romans ? The result of this appeal was the degradation and condemnation of the latter by a large majority ; and from that mo-ment, Christianity was constituted by law the reli-gion both of the State and of the Empire. The hea-then temples were therefore summarily demolished. It was made a capital offence to sacrifice, or to attend Pagan rites ; and by the most severe, and indeed sanguinary} edicts, the whole system of heathen my-thology, which had been the boast and pride of so many ages, was gradually dissolved, and sunk into
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THE FOUR FIRST SEALS.
contempt. The idol gods of eleven hundred years were, as Gibbon expresses it, “ dragged in triumph at the chariot wheels of Theodosius.”
Accounted, as this remarkable Emperor was, st the last of the successors of Augustus and Constantine, whose authority was universally acknowledged throughout the whole extent of the Empire and standing, as he did, its sole barrier against those barbarian nations which, immediately after his death, swept over it like a flood ; he appears, in the former case, as a beacon upon a bigh mountain ; and in the latter, as a conspicuous rock in the midst of the ocean. And it may be noticed as a very striking arrangement of Providence, that the abolition of ido-latry which he accomplished was the means of more effectually strengthening the cause of Christianity, and of better preparing it for that tremendous shock which, on the ruin of the Empire by the Goths and Vandals, levelled everything else in the dust.
The Church, however, in proportion to that tempo-ral prosperity of which the reign of Theodosius forms the memorable epoch, shewed increasing signs of departure from the truth of the Gospel. As to the personal character of the Emperor himself, he seems to have been very sincere in his profession of Chris-tianity. “ His clemency, liberality, and generosity,״ says Milner, “ were admirable. He was brave and successful in war, but his wars were forced upon him. He was an enemy to drunkenness, and was himself a model of gravity, temperance, and chastity.
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in private life.” “ I see,” he adds, “ in Theodosius the triumphs of the cross ; nor in all the Pagan history of the Emperors was there any to be compared with him.”
Such however was the state of the times, that all his public acts served only to foster the seeds of corruption, degeneracy, and strife; whence the aspect of the Church most strikingly agreed with the presignification of this seal. It was character-istically uncharitable and revengeful—overrun with fiery divisions and fierce discord ; these were of such deadly animosity, as often, particularly at the election of Bishops, to break out in mutual slaughter. The splendid triumphs of Constantine, and subsequently the hostile spirit of Julian, had, till this time, greatly restrained and kept down the spirit of faction. But no sooner had the sword and edicts of Theodosius put an end Pagan aggression, than the animosities of Christians towards each other exceeded all bounds. The most sanguinary internal contests, together with the most detestable crimes, were the mournful result.
Even the barbarian invasions served only to give more play to this lamentable spirit : all exterior checks to it being removed by the breaking up of the Empire, and by the consequent relaxation of the Church for a long period from the restraints of civil government. The schism of the Donatists—a large sect that was not accused even by its adversaries of holding any corrupt doctrine, nor of any peculiar
61
THE FOUR FIRST SEALS.
degeneracy in morals, and which had its origin in faction, and in contention for worldly power—was the occasion of thousands of Christians perishing by the hands of each other. The Arian controversy also produced similar results, and of much longer duration. For other particulars, see Milner’s and Mosheim’s Ecclesiastical Histories of the Fifth and Sixth Centuries.
THE OPENING OF THE THIRD SEAL .״
Or the Church in a most deplorable state of Degeneracy and Ignorance.
u And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, Come and see. And I beheld, and 10 a black horse ; and he that sat upon him had a yoke * in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four living creatures say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny ; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.” (vi. 5, 6.)
The state of things just described continued until, in the providence of God, Justinian mounted the im-perial throne; when another decided change began to shew itself. “ I beheld,” saith the Apostle, “ and 10 !” (an exclamation of surprise that was not uttered at the opening of the second seal) “ a black horse ! ” sig-
* That “yoke,” and not “balances,” is here the meaning of the word Zvyt!, is most probable ; because grain was not retailed by weight, but, as with ourselves, by dry measure. This indeed further appears from the next verse, where the word " measure ״ (chcenix) which was rather more than a quart, is used : while a penny, about seven pence half-penny of our money, was the value of the usual daily allowance for a labouring man or slave.
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62
nifying mourning and woe, darkness and ignorance. And by the rider upon the horse having “ a yoke in his hand,״ is intimated a state of bondage to cere-monies, authorized penances, rigorous fastings, and monkish austerities—a state directly opposite to that happy liberty of the Gospel, in which we are exhorted to “ stand fast, and not to be entangled again with the servile yoke” of mere human ordi-nances.*
On the character and acts of Justinian much has been advanced already in our work upon the Old Testament Prophecies ;t from which it will be per-ceived what a portentous influence on the religious character, not only of his own times, but of succeed-ing ages, may be traced to the acts of his reign ; and we need do little more than refer to what is there said respecting the epoch which he formed in Chris-tian history, to see that it was the very commence-ment of that season of mourning and spiritual famine which is here prophetically foreshewn. His victories and masterly talents enabled him to retain with firm grasp the government he had assumed; as also to quell and hush the discord of bloody factions in the Church. But in his manner of doing this he establish-ed a new era, sealing and ratifying with overwhelm-ing authority novel evils of even greater magnitude ; so that the cessation of those bitter feuds settled down, as a natural consequence, into a state of gross spiritual darkness and ignorance, which yielded
* Gal. v. 1 ; Col. ii. 16 ; 1 Pet. ii. 16.	+ Diss. pp. 245, 251.
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THE FOUR FIRST SEALS.
scope for ecclesiastical oppression of the worst kind throughout all Christendom.
This result, however unlooked for, was the more effectually brought to pass by means of that code of laws which Justinian set forth, and which has been so celebrated to the present day. Herein he not only re-modelled the statutes of the Empire, but incorpo-rated with them various ordinances for the regula-tion of ecclesiastical discipline ; insisting moreover upon the latter in numerous separate edicts, and making his own faith the rule and measure of ortho-doxy to his whole dominions. Indeed it was one of the chief occupations of this Emperor’s eventful life, to interfere with everything ; and especially to order and ordain, in the most arbitrary manner, whatever was connected with the affairs of the Church. In his personal character, he is represented as “ chaste and temperate, but the slave of superstition and of avarice;” and his schemes are declared to have occasioned “ dissensions and schisms; forced conver-sions, attended with cruelties, which alienated men’s minds still more from godliness ; the growth of superstition and formality ; the miserable declension of real internal godliness, and the increase of igno-ranee and practical wickedness.”*
The main object of attention among the ministers of religion, from the highest to the lowest, appears to have been how to compass contrivances of am-bition and avarice ; so that no arts appeared too gross
* Milner.
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for the gratification of their rapacity, nor any crimes too flagrant for them to commit. Mo-sheim, speaking of that period, informs us that “the cause of true religion sank apace,” that “the gloomy reign of superstition extended itself in proportion to the decay of genuine godliness ;” and that this “lamentable decay was supplied by a multitude of rites and ceremonies.” In short, the austerities and ascetic habits of monks, the number of which became prodigiously increased ; the senseless round of unauthorized and absurd will-worship, mortifications, penances, and rigorous fast-ings,—imposed a most oppressive and intolerable yoke, and superseded altogether the simplicity of Gospel truth: while the most corrupt doctrines, and legends, concerning the invocation of saints, image worship, and relics ; concerning prayers for the dead; concerning the figment of purgatory, the efficacy of good works, and human tradition, took place of the written Word of God.
Such was then the dire state of the visible Church throughout the Eastern and Western realm ! It is well that a voice from the highest authority, and of most dread command—for it is stated to be from the midst of the four living crea-tures who were stationed close around the throne, and was therefore the voice of God—offered one restraint to this most pernicious state of things. “ A measure of wheat for a penny, and three mea-sures of barley for a penny ; and see thou hurt not the oil and the váne.” The meaning of this voice,
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THE FOUR FIRST SEALS.
divested of metaphor, is, that although there should be a most gloomy scarcity of “ the word of truth, the Gospel of salvation,”—for the famine here spoken of means ״not a famine of bread, nor a thirst of water, but of hearing the words of the Lord,”*—a privation of that nourishment by which the souls of men are fed and sustained,—yet there should be left some supply of such spiritual food, although it would be exceedingly scarce ; and that those who have hungered for it, would not obtain it without much temporal sacrifice and great difficulty ; that the virtue, however, and repository of its cheering consolations, would remain untouched by the evil of thé times.
And so we find it. Blessed be God, that during the whole continuance of those dark times, his pro-mise was marvellously fulfilled. Indeed there has always been a moderate supply of spiritual nourish-ment. The grand saving doctrine of Christianity—of salvation by faith in the atonement of the Lord our righteousness—has always been taught. ״ And that invaluable storehouse and repository of Divine knowledge, of spiritual wine and oil, the Holy Bible, the Word of God, has been accessible to some per-sons in all ages, ever since this injunction was deli-vered. Notwithstanding the ignorant, fanatical, fac-tious, and corrupt hands through which this sacred treasure has been transmitted to our times, it has come to us, in the main, uninjured. The corruptions of it, even for the base purposes of party zeal and worldly domination, has been miraculously few.
* Amos viii, 11.
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66
Thus hath the prophetical injunction from the throne been signally obeyed, through a dark period of long continuance, and of great difficulty and danger. The oil and the wine have not been injured”*
THE OPENING OF THE FOURTH SEAL
Or the utter and entire corruption of the Visible Churchy with its attendant miseries.
(t And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, Come and see. And I looked, and 10 ! a pale greenf horse ! and his name that sat upon him was Death, and hell followed with him : and power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.” (vi. 7, 8.)
It would not readily be anticipated that any condi-tion of the visible church could be worse than the one which has just been described ; yet here we have ano-ther of still deeper horror and guilt presented ; and history, in full verification of the prophecy, informs us that another gradation of ecclesiastical barbarism, still more deeply sunken than the former, did, at the time we are about to consider, occupy a whole fourth part of the Empire, in a manner exactly answerable to the symbols of this seal.
The horse of this Fourth Seal is depicted in the very colour of corruption—a pale green, “ which,
* Dean Woodhouse.
-f־ Scholars are agreed that this, which is the primitive meaning of the original word, is the proper meaning of it here : so that it ought to be rendered either pale green, or yellowish green, like the colour of the first shoots of grass and herbage. It is applied in the classics both to gold and to flesh.
67
THE FOUR FIRST SEALS.
though beautiful in the clothing of the trees and fields, is very unseemly, disgusting, and even horrible when it appears upon flesh.”
"There is a sublime climax,” observes Dean Woodhouse, " or scale of terrific images, exhibited in the colours of the horses in the four first seals, denoting the progressive character of the Christian times. It begins with pure white ; then changes to fiery, or vengeful ; then to black, or mournful ; and when we imagine that nothing more dreadful in colour can appear, then comes another gradation in colour much more terrific, even this ‘ deadly pale/ ” But this is not all—" he that sat upon him ” is not described ; his name alone is given, which was Death. The form of this symbol is left to be supplied by spiritual truth, and by subsequent ecclesiastical his-tory. It is further added, that "hell (or hades) followed with him” — that is, the receptacle of the dead, the place of departed souls — implying that there was a more dreadful enemy in regions beyond the grave : both images, taken together, sig-nifying the destruction of true religion in the great body of the church, the extinction of all spiritual life—and every horrible result that can flow from such a state of things.
At the head of this great and awful change stands the name of Charlemagne, who reigned from the year 768, but as Emperor only from 800, to 814. Milner, in commencing his church history of the ninth century, says : "We are penetrating a land of deserts and pits, a land of drought, and of the shadow
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of death ; and are carried, by every step, into scenes still more gloomy than the former. Baronius, a Popish writer, calls it “ an iron age, barren of all goodness ; a leaden age, abounding in all wickedness ; and a dark age, remarkable above all others for a scarcity of writers and men of letters.” The often repeated language of Mosheim, describing this and the following centuries, is in the same strain. He speaks of the astonishing ignorance that gave a loose rein both to superstition and immorality; of the thick darkness, the clouds of ignorance which uni· versally prevailed ; of the Latins, presenting a spec-tacle almost without exception sunk in the most brutish and barbarous ignorance—a dismal night of ignorance, covered with a thick and gloomy veil of superstition and cruelty. He uses also other epithets shewing that it was an era that is well designated the dark ages.
Charlemagne himself, whose private character, amidst all his splendid and valuable qualities, was anything but influenced by Christian principles, shewed himself very sensible of the deplorable igno-ranee and vices of the times ; but the methods he adopted for a remedy only riveted more firmly the chains of superstition and priestly tyranny, and gave wider vent to the sources of corruption. Mr. Hallam says of him, that the epoch he formed “ in the his-tory of the world, has cast a lustre over his head, and testifies to the greatness that has embodied it-self in his name. He possessed in everything that grandeur of conception that distinguishes extraordi-
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THE FOUR FIRST SEALS.
nary minds. Like Alexander, he seemed born for innovation. Perhaps his greatest eulogy is written in the disgraces of succeeding times, and in the mise* ries of Europe. In the dark ages of European his-tory, the reign of Charlemagne affords a solitary resting place between two long periods of turbulence and ignorance.”
Dr. Robertson also says of this great prince : " All the calamities which flow from anarchy and discord, returning with additional force, afflicted the different kingdoms into which his empire was split. From that time to the seventeenth century, a succession of uninteresting events fill and deform the annals of all the nations of Europe. Charlemagne in France, and Alfred the Great in England, endeavoured to dispel this darkness, and gave their subjects a short ghmpse of light and knowledge. But the ignorance of the age was too powerful for their efforts and institutions. The darkness returned, and settled over Europe more thick and heavy than before
This thick darkness, the same author informs us, was accompanied with corresponding wickedness. His own remarks upon it will suffice to conclude this dismal account, namely, that “ a greater number of those atrocious actions which fill the mind of man with astonishment and horror, occur in the history of the centuries under review, than in that of any period of the same extent in the annals of Europe. (He might have said in the history of the world.) If we open the history of Gregory of Tours, or of any contemporary author, we meet with a series 0^
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deeds of cruelty, perfidy, and revenge, so wild and enormous as almost to exceed belief.” Thus correct to the letter is the symbol of the pale green horse !
Let us now attend to the last prophetic particular belonging to this great change from bad to worse ; it is the geographic limitation affixed to it. “ Power was given unto them over ” only “the fourth part of the earth.” This we shall find applies exactly to the era formed by Charlemagne. The three preced-ing ones, beginning respectively with Constantine, Theodosius, and Justinian, extended over the whole length and breadth of the Roman empire, even to the three quarters of the world, Europe, Asia, and Africa ; whereas the sway of Charlemagne, great as it was, extended to only about “a fourth part.” The western portion of the empire is, as we shall hereafter find in explaining the “ trumpets,” consi-dered as a “ third part ”—but according to Gibbon “ only two-thirds ” of the western empire of Rome were subject to Charlemagne ; and “ the petty sove-reigns of the remaining part of it, including England and Spain, implored the honour of his alliance, and styled him their common parent, the Emperor of the West.”
With pointed historical accuracy, therefore, is the fourth part predicated as the sphere of operation be-longing to this seal—and it was a limitation especially needing to be marked, as the history of the East knows nothing of any change at this period; the West also was the more proper and immediate territory of the Roman empire. It was also upon
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THE FOUR FIRST SEALS.
occasion of the Western imperial Headship being revived in the person of Charlemagne, that the Greek and Latin, or the Eastern and Western, churches became finally and irrevocably separated.״
The power that was thus given over the fourth part of the Empire was ״ to kill with sword, and with famine, and with pestilence, and with the beasts of the earth.״ This would seem to intimate every kind of devastation and destruction ; a concentration of, as well as an addition to, all the former evils. “ With sword,״ may mean all those special evils which began with the era of Theodosius ; “ with famine,״ those which subsequently characterized that of Justinian ; and “ pestilence with the beasts of the earth,״ a still higher grade in horrors, those which peculiarly began to be felt in the era of Charlemagne:—while the latter expression, “ the beasts of the earth,״ may have reference especially to the tyrannical conduct of the Papal nations against the Church of God. Thus all the evils of the three seals, the second, third, and fourth, would meet together ; which was histori-cally the fact : and thus “ death,״ in its most appal-ing forms,rode triumphant during this devoted period.
The visible church being now sunk in the ido-latry, superstition, and unparalleled wickedness of that papal system which had struck at the very vitals of godliness, and thus no longer abiding in Christ, her living and vital head, was spiritually in the very shadow of death, and plunged into a very deep abyss of misery, the midnight of which may be considered to have been from the eleventh to the
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thirteenth centuries, and to have evinced itself most certainly by its direful effects in the Crusades. Mr. Hallam remarks, that ״to engage in the Crusades, and to perish in them, were synonymous and that ״ they drained to the lees the cup of misery.” Of the first Crusade, he says, ״ So many crimes and so much misery have seldom been accumulated in so short a space as in the three first years of this enter-prize :” and of the last, ״ such calamities now fell upon this devoted army, as have scarce ever been surpassed—hunger and want of every kind, aggra-vated by an unsparing pestilence.” And these were not accidental evils ; they were the very fruit of the spirit of the times, the withering effects of the pre-vailing apostacy, the cold death-shade of the almost universal dominion of Satan over the hearts and con-sciences of men, with the almost total’absence of the Word of God. Thus was the visible church in what are more expressly called the Latin nations—for these constituted the fourth part of the Roman earth, — in a state of entire corruption. Thus did ״Death,” morally, spiritually, and phy-sically reign; and thus most emphatically ״hell followed with him !”
CHAPTER V.
CONTINUATION OF THE SEALS;
OR
THE PARTIAL RECOVERY OF THE CHURCH AT THE REFORMATION ;
AND THE APPEARANCE AND ACTINGS OF INFIDELITY
AS EXHIBITED IN
THE CIRCUMSTANCES AND EFFECTS OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION.
General observations on the preceding Seals, and the Apostacy they denote—This where spoken of in the Old Testament— They form epochas of History—Constantine—Theodosius—Jus-tinian—Charlemagne—Unity of the four first Seals—Danger of Prosperity to the Church exemplified—The Reform a γιον, with the age of Martyrs—Its influence—Its instruments—Abi-lities of the reigning Monarchs—Persecutions—The Bartholomew and other Massacres—Cry for Vengeance — The Great French Revolution—Symbols of the Sixth Seal explained as referring to it—Exemplified the principles of Infidelity—The Symbols of the Sixth Seal are the very same signs as those pre-dieted by our Lord of his coming—The restoration of the Jews —“ The Time of the End}r—Parable of the fig-tree chronolo-gical—The expression “ this generationas used by our Lord.
E
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CHAPTER V.
,CONTINUATION OF THEj SEALS; OR THE REFOR-MATION, AND THE FRENCH REVOLUTION.
Before proceeding to the consideration of the Fifth Seal, it appears so desirable to be fully assured of the ground over which we have already gone, that I will yet trouble the reader with a few general observa-tions tending to confirm the foregoing interpretation.
1.	The Great Apostacy, noticed in the last chapter, is so very important and conspicuous an event in Church history, it occupies so many centuries, and so completely absorbs all other events both ecclesiastical and secular, that we might well have expected it would occupy a very prominent place in any revelation which God might be pleased to give of the future condition of the Church. And indeed we find it a kind of groundwork to all the rest of the prophecy; while it stands as an awful exemplification of the fall of man.
2.	Nor is less importance given it even in the Old Testament prophecies. This may be seen in
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CONTINUATION OF THE SEALS.
DaniePs description of the “ little horn ” of Popery, which was to “ wear out the saints of the Most High, and would think to change times and laws,” during the long term of 1260 years;* all which could not have taken place without such “ falling away/’ It is further said that the “ little horn ” of Mahometanism should appear when “transgressors were come to the full;”t and, in DaniePs last Great Vision, that “ the daily sacrifice would be taken away, and that the abomination which astonisheth, or maketh deso-late, would be set up.”J All this could not but imply a complete yet gradual and long apostacy, and it could imply nothing else. If such a thing, therefore, was so decidedly revealed under the Jewish dispen-sation, how should it be other than a matter of course, that what is so essentially interwoven with the history of Christian times, would be a main subject at least of Christian prophecy ?
3.	That St. John should arrange the future phe-nomena of the visible church, according to the succession of those chief sovereigns whose reigns would form remarkable epochs, and alter the face of society, is quite analogous to what we find in the prophet Daniel. In such changes the interests of the church are necessarily and materially involved. Moreover, in what other manner could the epochas of English church history be marked ? In laying down its great outline, should we not, without a
* See Diss. pp.214—227.	f Ibid, pp 303, 304.
X Ibid. p. 323.
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moment’s hesitation, fix upon Alfred the Great, William the Conqueror, Henry the Eighth, and Wil-liam the Third, as each having given a colour and complexion to the generations that respectively fol-lowed their reigns ? Just so did the reigns of Con-stantine, Theodosius, Justinian, and Charlemagne, change the aspect of the general church ; and their epochs are so broad and well marked, that we have only to take a glance at the works of the most popu-lar historians, as Gibbon, Mosheim, &c., to perceive that the reigns of those sovereigns form the great and leading resting-places at which such historians pause. Gibbon, in particular, breaks off respec-tively at the reigns of Constantine and Justinian; Mosheim, at those of Constantine, Charlemagne, and Charles V. ; these being what he calls “ notable pe-riods, distinguished by signal revolutions, or re-markable events.” Other historians do the same. The reign of Theodosius, it is true, is not so broadly defined, though equally real as an epoch ; and we may observe, that it is the only one of the four which was not so striking in the Apostle^s vision, and at which he does not put some inter-jection to ratify it as strange or remarkable. On the appearance of the first, third, and fourth horses, he says, “ I beheld,” or “ I beheld, and 10 !”—but on that of the second he merely says, “ And there went out another horse.” So minutely accurate and appropriate are the words of prophecy.
So the reign of Theodosius is also less com-monly insisted on as an epoch by historians in gene-
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CONTINUATION OF THE SEALS.
ral, as it comes so soon after that of Constantine ; there being only about sixty years between the one and the other. This, however, is no real objection ; for “ the continuous chain of transactions in the stage of human society, is ill defined by mere lines of chrono-logical demarcation—and many considerable portions of time, especially before the twelfth century, may justly be deemed so barren of events worthy of remembrance, that a single sentence or paragraph is often sufficient to give the character of entire gene-rations, and of long dynasties of obscure kings.״ This has been well observed by Mr. Hallam ; and his ob-servation is specially applicable to that long period of more than seven centuries, which we find occupied by the Fourth Seal.
In connexion with the above remarks, it is inte-resting to look at the stream of deterioration running through these four great eras. Now Constantine reigned from a.d. 303 to 337· Theodosius came 46 years after Constantine, from 383 to 395. Justinian came 132 years after Theodosius, from 527 to 565. Charlemagne came to the empire 235 after Justinian, reckoning from the time he was crowned Emperor of the West, from 800 to 814.
Thus the first of these eras takes up about 60 years ; the second about 170; the third about 250; and the last, as will presently be seen, above 700 years.
4.	Though the church became so changed during the progress of these four successive eras, as no longer to appear the same : for whereas the first was
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white, or had the character of purity—-and the second became red with that of slaughter—the third black with that of ignorance—and the fourth greenly pale with that of corruption ; still with all this distinctness there is a general identity observable. The four eras are all symbolized by riders upon horses; which decline with regular gradation from one colour to another : from the mild and peaceful rule displayed in the colour of the first horse, to the dreadful tyranny of Death and Hell, which is symbolized by that of the last. The unity and completion of the eventful parts belonging to them appears to be also intimated by their being comprized in the cardinal number four : answerably to the four sides of the Throne, and to the “four living creatures״ there stationed, who speak at the opening of the several seals, until their voices have gone about the complete square of the throne. Carrying this last idea back to a former type, the encampment of the twelve tribes in the wilderness, we here see, in beautiful prefigura-tion, “ the whole assembly of the church of the first-bom in heaven " deeply interested in the progress of the church on earth. “This unity,” observes Dean Woodhouse, “also accords with that of the first four trumpets, and also of the four first vials, as will be seen in théir places !” and certainly in this book of Revelation, the number seven, the number of perfection, evidently shows itself by the special com-ponents of four and three, both in the seals, the trumpets, and the vials.
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CONTINUATION OF THE SEALS.
5.	The last observation I would make with regard to these four first seals, is, that collectively they may be considered as exhibiting the church in a state of increasing external splendour, attended by a proportionate internal decay ! This page of providence speaks volumes to us ; its lesson is most striking, did we but view it as awfully confirming the repeated Warnings of Scripture respecting the intoxicating nature of all mere outward prosperity. Satan tempted our Lord himself with the dominion and glory of this world,which was the utmost he could offer; and though he found nothin of success with Him, yet in such things he has ever been too successful with the children of fallen man, both in their individual and public capacities. In the case before us he has made the largest stride that has ever yet been beheld ; he has deceived the world in one unmeasured mass : and the veil of ignorance and corruption which he has thus spread over all nations, still envelops them, to an incalculable extent, with the very shadow of death.
This page of providence speaks particularly to the churches ; and accommodating it to their present as-pect, it speaks likewise to their subordinate Societies ; —bidding them all not to be high-minded, but to fear ; —not to seek great things for themselves in worldly distinctions, pre-eminence, and wealth ; but to be satisfied with a humble, lowly condition, looking to God, depending on his blessing, glorying only in the Cross, and learning at the feet of Jesus. For it ought ever to be remembered that it was not when
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the Roman world was Pagan, nor was it among Infi-dels who make no profession of religion, that this deluge of sin, guilt, and misery arose and desolated. It was in the church, and under the most extravagant profession of the name of Christ. None then ought presumptuously to say, " The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord are these;״ since, as we here behold, sin can be as rampant there as anywhere else. So truly did the Fall bring all mankind into a state of sin and misery ; and so clearly does God here prove to us, that we all need something incomparably more than a mere profession.
THE OPENING OF THE FIFTH SEAL ;
Or the Age of Martyrs, and a partial recovery of Church Purity.
“ And when he had opened the fifth seal, T saw under the altar, the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held : and they cried with a loud voice, saying, IIow long, 0 Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth ? And white robes were given unto every one of them ; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellow-servants also, and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.״ (vi. 9—11.)
With the great change symbolized by this Seal, the instrumentality also changes. It is no longer, as in the former seals, brought about by the “acta viro-rum illustrium ״ of the Roman world ; by its empe-rors, governors, and warriors ;—it is brought about by intestine remedies working in opposition to the prevailing apostacy of the ruling powers. Hence, as
81
CONTINUATION OP THE SEALS.
it was the voice of a portion of the ransomed church in glory, that, on opening each of those, cried, “ Come and see so it is still a part of such church that again speaks ; but it is a select part; it is “ the souls of those that were slain for the word of God, and for the tes-timony which they held in other words, it is the souls of the martyrs of Jesus, crying aloud, not again to “ come and see ” the outward progress of Christianity in its association with the grandeur of the world ; but its progress as opposed to the wickedness of the times ; its progress in the reaction which has taken place, and the reception this has experienced. Such very clearly appears to be the meaning of the fifth seal ; which discloses under the altar—at the foot of that mercy-seat, in the holy of holies, which is the symbol of the gracious presence of Deity—a host of disembodied souls, who, in consequence of the new order of things that has taken place, had been “ slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held,״ whose blood cries for vengeance to God,—the Sovereign Lord — the arbiter and disposer of all ; implying that during the whole period of this seal there would be a succès-sion of persecutions, which would put all persons to the peril of their lives who should bear a faithful testimony for God against the prevailing corrup-tions.
And this has most punctually been fulfilled ! The fifth scene in the great Christian drama has already been opened to the view of the whole world ; nor can we fail to identify it with what is pre-eminently called E 5
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The Reformation, together with its consequences down to a very recent day.
The revolution of public opinion which this great event effected—the change which it wrought in the sentiments, principles, and conduct of mankind— was greater and more marked than whatever of the sort had transpired since the age of Constantine. We have already intimated that the four first seals were homogeneous in their general character, inas-much as they present to us, in a regular gradation, four distinct eras—a general view of the progress of outward Christianity, from its victory over Paganism to its utmost corruption and degeneracy under papal usurpation. But now this fifth seal, or the blessed Reformation, is of a character altogether new. It was the victorious struggle of better principles ; the re-action of Go^el truth and light against prevailing error and darkness ; meliorating the whole constitu-tion of society ; producing new habits of thought, and extending its beneficent and salutary influence to the most distant parts of the globe. It was a tre-mendous, and to a very great extent successful, blow struck at the Western power of Satan in his stronghold of Popery, the “ little horn99 of Daniel ; but the change it effected was brought about by such humble instruments, that in the prophecy they are not even named or hinted at. It was a secret, unex-pected blow from a quarter whence of all others no danger to the apostate power of Rome was appre-hended.
There had happened nothing like it since those
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THE REFORMATION.
first Gospel times when God chose the weak things of the world, the twelve apostles, and the first minis-ters of the Word, to demolish the idol worship of Heathenism. He now chose similar instruments to clear away the heathenism of professed Christians. He chose Luther, an obscure monk, and endowed him with remarkable qualifications for the great work he had to accomplish ; gave him a deep insight into the essentials of Divine truth ; anointed his soul with a more than common unction of the Spirit ; and sent him forth, thus armed, to contend against the prevailing errors and iniquities, supported as they were by all the authority of kings and great men of the earth. A host of similar men, encouraged chiefly by his bright example, standing up simultaneously in Germany, Switzerland, England, and more or less in the other Western nations, boldly preached the truth as it is in Jesus;—and wonderful was their success.
Nor should we overlook that this success was effected in opposition not to weak and impolitic agents of the great adversary, any more than in the earliest׳ centuries. As if again specially to display the all-conquering power and efficacy of the simple and unadulterated Word of God, it was so ordered that the throne of the successors of Augustus and Constantine was then filled by the Emperor Charles the Fifth, a man who, with brilliant talents, inherited more dominion than had any European monarch since the age of Charlemagne ; that Francis the First was the reigning monarch of France;
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Henry the Eighth, that of England ; and Leo the Tenth, the occupant of the pontifical chair. These sovereigns were likewise of such distinguished abilities as Europe perhaps had never before seen at one and the same time ; were all strongly attached to Popery ; and equally wedded to the prevailing cor-ruption of the age. Consequently they resisted to the utmost the rise and progress of the Reforma-tion in their respective dominions ; and though the English monarch was at length induced to favour it, he is no exception to our statement, as is well known to those who have the slightest knowledge of his character, and of his motives for so doing.
The very same determined opposition that had been made to the preaching of the Gospel when Satan held the Roman world in pagan blindness, was now made again to its faithful preaching while he was holding it in papal ignorance ; and from time to time, through the period of nearly three centuries, (about the same length of years that the pagan persecutions lasted) have the unoffending disciples of the Lord Jesus been persecuted unto death, and with even more savage cruelty than that of a Trajan, a Nero, or a Dioclesian.
It comports not with this brief account to descend into the particulars of the dreadful scenes of these modern persecutions. The histories of the church, and the books of martyrs, have rendered the atrocious facts familiar enough to most readers. But we may mention some of the principal instances— first the horrid Bartholomew massacre in France,
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THE REFORMATION.
under Charles IX. The principal Protestants in the kingdom happened then to be in Paris by ex-press invitation, under a solemn oath of safety; while instruments for their destruction had secretly been put into the hands of above sixty thousand furious and bigotted Papists ; so that on the 24th of August, I572, at an appointed signal, this numerous conspiracy of assassins was let loose on the whole Protestant population; hence during three days of continued slaughter, such as the annals of pagan persecution never recorded, a great multitude of persons of all ranks were indiscriminately butcher-ed ; and such a scene of infernal cruelty was exhibited as it is hardly in the power of language to describe. From Paris the massacre went on throughout the kingdom, and similar deeds of slaughter were every-where done upon the Protestants in France.
A few years after this, the severest persecutions were carried on against the Protestants of Holland and Flanders, under the barbarous and unrelenting cruelty of the Duke of Alva, by command of Philip IL, sparing neither age, sex, nor condition. Those also in England under Queen Mary are well known, with those of the Irish rebellion of 1641 ; together with what for many years ensued upon the revocation of the edict of Nantz, under Lewis XIV., when the French Protestants were dragooned, hunted down, and destroyed, like wild beasts. Yet history can furnish but an imperfect record of the real number of the martyrs and sufferers in these various persecutions. For when it is considered that whoever, in most of
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the papal countries, embraced the principles of the Reformation, were put down at once by the strong arm of power; also that in most instances they were privately tortured and murdered through the secret workings of that dark and hellish engine of cruelty, the Inquisition ; and that England alone, of all the ten kingdoms, may be said to have had an entire ־,espite; the period which was introduced by the Reformation may truly be called the age of martyrs. So that as decidedly as the church, during the four first periods, shewed its respective gradations of de-cline and corruption, so decidedly does it in the pre-sent period shew the aspect of persecution.
Hence, by a most appropriate symbol, is this epoch represented exhibiting the souls 1of those who were slain “ under the altar,” (in allusion to the pour-ing out of the blood at the bottom of the altar *) crying with a loud voice for vengeance !	“ How
long, O Lord,״ (or, the arbiter of life and death, for the peculiar term here used may emphatically express sovereign rule)—“ How long, O Lord, the holy and the true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth ?” If it was said by Himself, “ Thy brother’s blood crieth to me from the ground ;” and further, “ He that toucheth you, toucheth the apple of his eye :” and, “ it were better for him that a mill-stone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea :” where shall such persecutors appear !
* Lev. iv. 7, 18, 25, 34 ; v. 9 ; ix. 9.
87
THE FIFTH SEAL.
Truly we here learn from Divine authority, that vengeance only sleeps; and that in the mean time white robes are given unto " every one ” of those who have thus been slain, as a distinguished mark of honour and acknowledgment of what they have suffered for Christ.
“ And it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their feUow servants also, and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled :”—words which seem strongly to imply, that persecution unto death would not termi-nate with the period of this seal. It is addressed to those who are included in that period : hence an an-nouncement in it which looks beyond ; namely, un-til their brethren should be killed, as they were.” This may with awful probability have a reference to the next seal. It appears as much as to say, that the martyrs who suffer under this epoch of church history are to be assured that vengeance will come ; but not until others of their brethren shall have suffered in another period that will arrive; after which it will no longer de-lay. I have drawn attention to this, because it appears to be in harmony with other intimations of a similar nature.
The state of things to which the Reformation gave birth, continued from the beginning of the sixteenth to the latter end of the eighteenth century. The revival it occasioned in religion, was never equal to the expectations which had been formed of it by those who witnessed the splendid success of the first Reformers. It became firmly established in England,
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in a great part of Germany, and in some of the more northern nations ; but by the very severe persecu-tions which befell it in France, Spain, Portugal, and of course in all Italy, the head-quarters of the apos-tacy, it was in those countries successfully resisted. Thus, although it proved to be comparatively but “ a little help,״* still it was a blessed period, as we indi-vidually have reason to testify ; for we live and enjoy our privileges under its shade, and in the blessings it has brought us.
THE OPENING OF THE SIXTH SEAL;
Or the French Revolution, and its tremendous consequences.
“ And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, 10, there was a great earthquake ; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood ; and the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig-tree casteth her untimely figs when she is shaken of a mighty wind ; and the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together, and every mountain and island were removed out of their places : and the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bond-man, and every free-man, hid themselves in the dens, and in the rocks of the mountains ; and said unto the mountains and 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 shall be able to stand?״ (ch. vi. 12—17.)
In interpreting this seal, it is of more than common importance to have a right understanding of the sym-bols. Therefore I will proceed to examine these before I apply my observations.
* See Dissertation, ch. xii. pp. 325, 326.
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THE FRENCH REVOLUTION.
1.	An earthquake is always understood in prophecy to denote some sudden revolution in a kingdom or empire ; as in Haggai ii. 6, 7 ; Joel ii. 10; and Heb. xii. 26. To this effect Mede observes, that it signi-fies not always an extinction, but only an extraordi-nary alteration of the face of things—just as a literal earthquake changes the disposition of the earth’s sur-face, by exalting vailles and depressing hills, turning the channels and course of rivers, and so forth. Sir Isaac Newton also notices, that “ great earthquakes, and the shaking of heaven and earth, are put for the shaking of kingdoms, so as to distract and overthrow them.”
2. The sun, the moon, and the stars, signify the sovereign ruler, his consort or immediate family, and the chief or leading men of any such kingdom. By the sun becoming black as sackcloth of hair, is denoted the total eclipse of the sovereignty ; and by the moon becoming as blood, the consort or family of the sovereign becoming its fatal victims ; while the stars falling to the earth, like figs when shaken with a great wind, signify all persons in superior ranks and situations, who, possessing titles, and holding offices of high trust or honour, are deprived of them by sudden and overwhelming violence.
3.	The heaven departing as a scroll when it is rolled together, or as a roll when he that extends it quits his hold, expresses the entire disappearance of the whole political heaven, or system of the kingdom.
4.	Every mountain and island being removed out of
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their places, intimates that every other kingdom* and independent lesser state of the same political system, should be altered in position ; otherwise expressed by our Lord’s own lips as the shaking of the powers of the heavens.
5.	The remaining symbols represent the exceed-ing great alarm and dread with which such events would overwhelm the kings, the great men, and people of every class and degree ; together with the strenuous endeavours of all to escape the horrible perils that would be thickening around them : and this by hiding themselves in the most secure and inaccessible places, and by most perseveringly using all possible means, in order, at any sacrifice, to avert them. “The language of the prophet describes a flight of the utmost terror and dismay before a vie-torius army, who, having destroyed all the fortresses and cities, pursues the hopeless fugitives into their last places of refuge.״ It further expresses what a general apprehension would be felt that the appointed time of God’s judgments upon the world, or the time of his severe retribution and vengeance, had arrived. Hence it is here spoken of in a manner that might befit the day of judgment. But the language used is not stronger than that which was uttered by the Lord Jesus himself speaking of these times, when he said there should be “ upon the earth distress of na-tions, with perplexity ; the sea and the waves roar-ing״—that is, the masses of the people in the utmost confusion and panic “ men’s hearts failing
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THE FRENCH REVOLUTION.
them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming upon the earth.”*
Such is the explanation of these striking symbols. We now again apply to history, and it is to no distant history, to find the exact counterpart of this impor-tant prediction: and we do find that the next great event, bearing the characters of a prophetical era, (one that forms a new epocha in the affairs of the Church, altering the state of society, producing new habits of thought, and involving the interests of the civilized world) does thus answer to it. My readers will undoubtedly be beforehand with me in pronouncing this event to be that fearful revolution of France, which broke out upon the world in the year 1789. I have already so particularly spoken of it in a Dissertation on the Prophecies of the Old Testament, and in connexion with the bearing it has on the restoration of the Jews; first, in ch. vi. pp. 124 to 134 ; and secondly, in a more particular descrip-tion of its chief actor, the Emperor Napoleon, in ch. xii. pp. 329 to 340 ; that it is unnecessary to go into many particulars of it here. Still, as it occupies so large a space in prophecy, as will hereafter more fully appear in this work, and is thus made prominent, especially by our Lord himself, as the most nota-ble sign of coming events—events not only of unut-terable importance, but of such an unprecedented character—a few additional testimonies from a popu-
* Luke xxi. 25, 26.
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lar historian respecting it, will not here be mis-placed.
Mr. Alison, in the most complete work upon this great event that has ever appeared, speaks as follows. “ There is no period in the history of the world which can be compared, in point of interest and importance, to that which embraces the progress and termination of the French Revolution. During the five and twenty years of its progress, the world has gone through more than five hundred years of ordinary existence, and the annals of modem Europe will be sought for in vain for a parallel to that brief period of anxious effort and chequered achievement. Rights established for centuries, privileges contended for by successive generations, and institutions held the most sacred, were at once abandoned. The minds of men were shaken as by the y awnings of the ground during the fury of an earthquake; all that the eye had rested on as most stable, all that the mind had been accustomed to regard as most lasting, disap-peared before the first breath of innovation.”
“ Almost all the European history fades into insig-nificance when compared to the wars which sprung out of the French Revolution ; and the conquests of Marlborough or Turenne are lifeless when placed beside the campaigns of Napoleon. In the former history of the world, different eras are to be observed, which have always attracted the attention of men, from the interest of the events which they present, and the importance of the consequences to which they have led. The era of Napoleon will be ranked
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THE FRENCH REVOLUTION.
by future ages with those of Pericles, Hannibal, and of the Crusades, not merely from the splendour of the events which it produced, but the magnitude of the effects by which it was followed.”
What I would now wish to press upon the attention of my readers, is the exact agreement of the events of this great Revolution with the symbols of this Seal, as above explained ; together with the certainty, that in the whole range of Christian history no other events do agree with them. And here I would repeat my remark that prophecy is not loose in its applica-tion, nor tobe considered as of that undefined character which some people are apt to attribute to it. On the contrary, the more closely it is analyzed, the more is it found capable, to a very wide extent, of close and particular demonstration.
In the course, then, of events which have trans-pired since the era of the Reformation, or the Fifth Seal, a change has been witnessed in the political world, in all points answerable to the contents of this Sixth Seal. A great revolution has taken place, in which the kingly power was obscured or eclipsed— the queen was murdered—men who in any way rose above their fellow-creatures, did lose their standing — “ equality ” was the watchword — the political heaven disappeared ;—every kingdom, together with all those minor independent States, that might be compared to clusters of islands, were removed out of their former places—and the “ kings of the earth ”
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(an intimation of the occurrence of this Revolution after the division of the empire into kingdoms), they and all their subjects, have experienced such inex-pressible alarm and dread, as baffles every resem-blance, except that óf an apprehension of the day of judgment.
Such being the case—these things having happened, and having happened in accordance with the language of the Sixth Seal,—one conclusion which I draw is, that
The signs promised by our Lord in that most im-portant prophecy recorded in Matt, xxiv., Mark xiii., and Luke xxi., as the immediate harbingers of his second coming, have been given.
I repeat the assertion, that that most important prophecy in which He said “ There shall be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars ”—that these " signs ” should be the darkening of the sun, the moon ceasing to give her light, the stars falling from heaven, and the powers of heaven being shaken, with the other particulars given by Luke, ch. xxi. 25, 26—have, taking it for granted that the above interpretation of the Sixth Seal is correct, appeared ! and that when he gave this notable warning, he had in view the great Revolution of 1789, and its impor-tant consequencès. For so exactly does the lan-guage of both prophecies correspond, that, indepen-dent of all interpretation and the similar position in which they stand, it would seem as a matter of course, that what one signifies, the other must. And when we reflect what, in other parts of Scripture, the
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THE FRENCH REVOLUTION.
darkening of the heavenly bodies is made to repre-sent; as for instance those in Isaiah xiii. 9—13, the fall of Babylon ; and in Ezek. xxxii. 7> 8, that of Egypt; when we further reflect what little point would belong to a literal interpretation, particularly of “ the sea and waves roaring,״—there appears to be the highest possible sanction for ascribing these pre-dieted signs of our Lord to a political revolution, and the overthrow and shaking of kingdoms. I submit, therefore, that we have sufficient evidence, that the conclusion which I have drawn is correct— viz. that the signs portending the near approach of our Saviour’s second coming, have been given! And that we may, in joyful anticipation, lift up our heads, knowing that our redemption draweth nigh, and that the kingdom of Christ is nigh at hand !
It being thus demonstrated that the Sixth Seal is the key to our Lord’s prophecy ; and that the signs which he promised, not only of his own coming, but
of the times of the Gentiles being fulfilledy (Luke xxi., 24) have appeared,
The next conclusion I would bring to the mind of my reader is, that
The argument adduced, in the Dissertation on the Old Testament Prophecies,* from the events of the French Revolution responding to the shocks, which 2520 years (or “ seven times ״) previously had por-
* See Diss. ch. vi. p. 124—134.
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tended Israel’s and Judah’s downfall, receives hereby the strongest confirmation ; and that their restoration is by consequence9 as there explained, near at hand !
Another conclusion which I would draw before dismissing the subject, is that
The above interpretation of the Sixth Seal, involv-ing as it does the career of the Emperor Napoleon, is in perfect harmony with the course of things laid down in Daniel’s last Great Vision, where such career is placed immediately preceding, and therefore a sign of, the Time of the End, and the restoration of the Jews.* If, therefore, in that historical narrative of Kings, it is thus brought forward, it is but in per-feet keeping, that, in a symbolical history of events, it should occupy the same place, and involve the signs spoken of by our Lord, as warnings of the near approach of same times.
As to the exact time, how long it shall be after these remarkable signs when we shall “ see the Son of man coming in the clouds with power and great glory—and when he shall send his angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the uttermost part of the earth, to the uttermost part of heaven,’*f although he does .not in this prophecy expressly give either the hour or the day, yet he does not leave us wholly in ignorance. He has given intimations by which wTe may be assured that it would, at least,
t Mark xiii. 26, 27.
* See Diss. ch. xii. p. 329—340.
THE FRENCH REVOLUTION.	97
be as many years as it has been, and not much longer ! The first is in the parable of the fig-tree : 0When her branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is near: so ye in like manner, when ye shall see these things come to pass, know that it is nighf even at the doors”* Or, as Luke expresses it, “ know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand”-\ Now the time between the putting forth of the leaves of the fig-tree, “ and all the trees,’*:¡; and summer, is from fifty to sixty days which, reckoning upon the recognised principle 01 prophetic interpretation, is that number of years. Of these, from the breaking out of the French Revolution, in the year 1789, fifty-four are nearly past ; and therefore very few, if any, remain to run their round, before the solemn events to which the parable points, take place !
Another intimation which He gave, and which appears to confirm the above chronological con-elusion, is in the verse immediately following, where he emphatically says, ״ Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all these things be done —adding, as though he foresaw the indi¿ ference with which the announcement would be received, this impressive verification, “ Heaven and earth shall pass away : but my words shall not pass away.”§ By the expression “ this generation ” it is evident our Lord could not mean the generation to
* Mark xiii. 28, 29. f Luke xxi. 31. J Luke xxi. 29,
§ Mark xiii. 30, 31.
F
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9S
which he was speaking, because “the things״ to which he was directing their attention were the dis-tant future ; but that of which he was speaking,— that is, the generation that should witness “ the signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars.״ I consider the view of the Rev. T. Gisborne on this point, to be quite conclusive. His language is, “ Our Lord, in announcing to his disciples that, as surely as the bursting foliage of the fig-tree proclaims the near approach of summer, the appearance of the signs in the sun, and the moon, and the stars, would reveal the near approach both of the redemption of Israel (of “ his elect ״), and of the kingdom of God, says :
‘ When ye see all these things, know that it is at the doors/ Now it is manifest that in using the words ‘ ye see/ it was not his intention to imply, that the individuals whom he wTas addressing, or any of their number, or any of their contemporaries on earth, would survive to behold those signs. As St. Paul, when speaking of that very far future generation of mankind, which should constitute the living inha-* bitants of the earth at the arrival of the day of Judgment, (the coming of the Lord,) says, in general terms : ‘ Then we which are alive and remain,* shall be caught up to meet the Lord in the air !—so our Lord, by the expression ‘When ye see all these things/ plainly intends the generation of Israelites (of believers) which should be dwelling upon the earth at the distant period when those predicted
* 1 Thess. iv, 17, and see 2 Thess. ii. 3—13.
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THE FRENCH REVOLUTION.
signs should be displayed. When, therefore, he adds in the succeeding verse,* This generation shall not pass away till all these things be fulfilled it seems evident that by the wordsζ this generation/ he does not intend the generation he was addressing, but the generation of which he was speaking : the generation which should be living at the time when the signs should be dis· played, and, as He solemnly averred, should also behold their object accomplished in the predicted events which they announced.”*
The inference is,—that the generation which was living at the time of the French Revolution, will not pass away, until Christ come in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory ; and until His ״ elect ” are gathered by angels from the four winds of heaven ! —It is a solemn thought how few of that generation comparatively are now left !—how swiftly they are passing away ! How very near then must be the time of His coming ! How needful the admonition with which He concludes his prophecy ! I will repeat it. He says—and says to us individually—״ Take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.”f That these last
* See Essays, Second Edition, p. 253.
t Luke xxi. 34—36.
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words of exhortation could not have been intended to be confined to the few disciples whom he was now addressing apart in comparative retirement, is evident from reference to the universality of “ all these things that should come to pass,” of which he had just been speaking. His angels would be gathering together his elect from the four winds. “ As a snare would his day come upon all them that dwell upon the face of the whole earth.” These were therefore his elect cc from the four winds,״ “ over the whole earth,” who should “escape” this snare. How natural then the inference, that these are the people who are here more immediately exhorted to “ watch and pray always.”* Before concluding my notice of this important prophecy, I would draw the attention of the reader to the beautiful light which it throws upon the idea which was suggested in my former volume on the Prophecies, relative to a double termination of the great period of 1260 years. It is this, That the period of time between the first and second termination is not arbitrary, but its exact duration is expressed by the time between the budding of a fig-tree and summer !
* Compare Mark xiii. 37.
CHAPTER VI.
THE
SUSPENSION OF THAT FEARFUL DOOM WHICH AWAITS THE NATIONS,
DURING THE
SEALING AND PRESERVATION OF THE SERVANTS OF GOD.
THE OPENING OF THE SEVENTH SEAL.
Present period of peace—Most destructive warfare merely suspended —Deliverance of the righteous from its effects—Their sealing— Their symbolical number—Their characters—Nature of their preservation—A newly arrived company seen in Heaven—Argu-meats proving that it is the real Heaven—That they are newly arrived—That they have experienced a great rescue or salvation —Their song—That they came out of a great tribulation—That they are the company that was sealed—Their arrival in Heaven appears to have been a translation thither — Arguments for such probability—This is nothing incrediblef and why—Seventh Seal— A solemn and awful pause—General observations.
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CHAPTER VI.
THE PRESERVATION OF THE SERVANTS OF GOD FROM THE FEARFUL PREDICTED RUIN ; AND THE OPENING OF THE SEVENTH SEAL.
Having thus disposed of those predictions of the seven-sealed book which are already fulfilled, and traced them down, through the commotions of the French Revolution, to the memorable battle of Waterloo, we are come to the present times.
“ And after these things,” saith the apostle, “ I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree. And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God : and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their fore-heads.” (vii. 1—3.)
Three predicted facts are here very apparent :—
1.	That after the events above noticed, there should be a remarkable interval of quietness, an unusual and marked suspension from the horrors of war.
“ Winds” are scripturally symbolical of wars and
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THE FOUR WINDS.
public commotions. Thus in Jer. li. 1; ״Behold, I will raise up against Babylon, and against them that dwell in the midst of them that rise up against me, a destroying wind.” See also Jer. iv. 11, 12 ; and in ch. xlix. 36, the four winds express a general de-struction : ״ And upon Elam will I bring the four winds from the four quarters of heaven, and will scatter them toward all those winds ; and there shall be no nation whither the outcasts of Elam shall not come.” To hold, therefore, the four winds, that they should not blow, is a very striking emblem of peace, and exemption from war ; and it is the more striking here, on account of the command given, that until a certain important work shall have been performed, nothing is to be injured by them, neither ״ the earth, nor the sea, nor any tree ;”—that is, neither the peace-able and quiet part of the empire, nor the restless and agitating part of the community, nor yet any of the higher powers. The scriptural meaning of this symbol of trees is happily stumbled upon by Gibbon himself, where, speaking of the estates of many of the great feudal lords having been dissipated, and half of their families having become extinct by the expensive and perilous expeditions of the Crusades, he says : ״The conflagration which destroyed the tall and barren trees of the forest, gave air and scope to the vegetation of the smaller and nutritive plants of the soil.”* (See also Judges ix. 15 ; Isaiah xxxvii. 24 ; Ezek. xvii. 12, 24.)
Accordingly, after the conclusion of the war occa-* Gibbon, ch. lxi.
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sioned by the French Revolution, i. e. after the year 1815, a period of peace and stillness did inamostunpre-cedented manner take place, and as yet continues ! And from this prophecy we see, that such a state of things has originated, not as many would have usי to believe, in the superior wisdom of man, but in the restraining providence of God ! Let this divine prohibition be removed, and we shall soon see what becomes of man’s boasted wisdom. But to proceed. Here then is foretold the exact period wherein we have been living for the last seven and twenty years;* a period which, according to the interpretation of the prophecy before us, will not be completed till the business of "sealing the servants of our God in their foreheads ” shall have been accomplished. The rumours and apprehensions of renewed general war have at various intervals, like the fitful rolling of thunder upon the stillness of the scene, been frequent and loud. Witness the insurrection in Poland, the revolution in Belgium, the civil wars of Spain, and the affairs of Egypt, France, and America. But hitherto they have all, in a manner that strongly marks the controul of God—the “ loud voice ” from Providence—been put to silence ! For the winds, in obedience to His high command, were not to llôw; neither have they been per-mitted to blow ; neither can they blow, until ״ the servants of our God shall have been sealed in their
* See Dissertation.
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DAYS OF VENGEANCE.
foreheads,” that they may ״ escape all these things that are coming upon the earth.” For,
2.	It is very evident that such a tranquil condition of things has an express brevity assigned it, and is to be instantly followed by the most tremendous and fatal wars and invasions.
The command to restrain the four winds till the servants of God are sealed, is tantamount to the fact, that at the completion of the sealing, the detention will cease, and the four winds blow violently. And it further implies, that sudden destruction will come upon the apostate, persecuting, infidel church (if by such a name she can be called), yes, that the sealing of God’s servants for safety from its fury is the only thing that at present restrains it.
Here then, from the mere comparison of events with predictions, apart from all chronological reckon-ing, and in perfect keeping with our observations in the preceding chapter and our conclusions in the Dissertation on the Old Testament Prophecies, we infer that those oft threatened days of vengeance are just at hand. We refer more particularly to what is contained in our former volume upon the latter part of the eleventh chapter of Daniel, (in which the career of the Emperor Napoleon is noticed verses 36—39, and which, as we have already remarked, is only another prophetic account of tne events of the sixth seal) ; for in that prophecy also is foretold a state of quiescence, identical in kind and order with the one we have now described ; which, we are there told, was to continue until ״the time of F 5
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the end ;״ after which ״ the king of the North shall come like a whirlwind ״ (the tempestuous rushing of the four winds)* ״with chariots and with horses, and with many ships ; and shall enter into the countries, and overflow and pass over.***
In the same volume, Chapter XIV., will also be found detailed such other signs of the times as mark the near approach of this tremendous and fatal period—signs which have not, like those ״ in the sun and the moon and the stars,״ passed away, but which are still before our eyes ; that, for instance, of the dry-ing up of the Turkish empire ;—together with that of the present immense travelling, respecting which an author whose work we lately took up, says, ״ that while one half of the population is on the highways, the other half is on the narrow seas ״t—and that of the unprecedented increase of knowledge.
3.	The prophecy before us clearly implies, that from this ruin and its miseries, come when they may, the servants of God will be delivered !
The ״servants of God״ here mentioned, are pointed out in ch. xiv. of the Apocalypse, verses 4 and 5, as those ״ who were not defiled with women ״ (that is, not with an apostate church), ״ for they are virgins ; they are those who follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth.—And in their mouth was found no guile : for they are without fault before the throne of God.״ Moreover they are pointed out by our Lord, as those who ״ watch and pray always, that they may
f Sketches of Persia, 1828.
* Diss. ch. xiii.
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THE SEALING.
be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass.״ They who answer to this description—-and it is an awakening truth, that such are living at the present moment—will, before the day of wrath arrives, be found sealed in their foreheads ! For this purpose, an angel is seen ascending from the east, or the sun-rising, the most important and favoured point in the compass of the world, having the seal of the Living God ! This must signify some agency that will be used in token of appropriation, whereby the Living God will ac-knowledge his servants in the sight of all—for seal-ing in the forehead expresses as much.
What such agency will be, we are not told. It may be a sharp but short persecution, intimated in Dan. xii. 10, where it is written, that “Many shall be purified, made white, and tried ? this being an effect that would contrast the real servants of God with the great mass of religious professors. Whatever that sealing shall be, it appears destined to be the very next event that is to befall the church ; and at no great distance of time ; for every view of the sub-ject intimates that it is near at hand. It should, therefore, be a serious consideration with every one, Am I a servant of the Living God, so that His seal will be seen upon my forehead ? Am I watching and praying always, that I may be found worthy to escape those things which are coming on the earth ?
The Apostle further saith :—
“And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the
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tribes of tbe children of Israel. Of the tribe of Judah were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Reuben were sealed twelve thou-sand. Of the tribe of Gad were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Aser were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Nepthalim were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Mariasses were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Simeon were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Levi were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Issachar were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Zabulón were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Joseph were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Benjamin were sealed twelve thousand.” (vii. 4—8.)
This is, upon the very face of it, a symbolical num-ber, and a symbolical representation ; and it openly carries its own meaning with it : for if it be the ser-vants of the God of the angels (“ toe ” and “ our God,״ saith the angel) that are to be sealed, then they, and the hundred and forty four thousand who are described as sealed, must be one and the same people : those who are not defiled with false doctrines or worship ; who follow Christ whithersoever he goeth ; who are sanctified through faith in his righteousness, and are therefore without fault. It follows, then, that the mention of the twelve tribes of Israel must be for the purpose of pointing out, in symbol, the spiritual Christian church; a signification in harmony, as before observed, with that of all the other symbols of this book that refer to Christian worship—all, as far as the case will admif, being in like manner borrowed from things connected with the Jewish dispensation.
The number twelve, thus raised to its highest Scripture multiple, 144,000, as also applied to each tribe with the highest decimal which the Scriptures commonly make use of, shows its completeness—
109
THE SEALING.
that not one shall be wanting—that not only shall there be the complete number of twelve tribes, but that each tribe shall be twelve thousand.
At the same time, it is an awful fact, that, although here is a complete enumeration of the twelve tribes of spiritual Israel, it accords not exactly with the enumeration of the original tribes; for one tribe, that of Dan, which in the order of encampments occupies so conspicuous a place, is totally omitted ! and that of Manasseh is introduced in its place. This, as it cannot be undesigned, so must it be deeply significant. If it refer to any one sect or denomination calling itself Christian, that shall be thus excluded, it must be one in which the essentials of godliness are not found, and the individuals of which do not “ follow the Lamb whi-thersoever he goeth
From all this it necessarily follows, that the exprès-sive symbol thus constituted, must include every faithful servant of God throughout the world ; other-wise the symbol would fail of its completeness. Such being the case, an incalculable number, (for it would be difficult to name any region of the earth to which the Gospel, in one mode or another, has not gone forth : and that “ His word, the Lord hath declared, shall not return unto him void ”) —an incalculable number must be meant by this hundred and forty and four thousand, wffio are sealed for their preservation and security.
The question now arises—and it is an awakening one —How are they to be preserved ? Or in what is their security to consist ? For we are quite sure, from the
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solemnity of the whole scene, that their preservation will be perfect, and their security worthy of the seal of God. But if the ruin from which they are saved shall be so universal and entire as is everywhere predicted, where on earth can we imagine a place of safety suited to the high dignity of their bearing upon them the seal of the Living God as a warrant for their deliverance ? We may well ask, Is there no pre-intimation respecting it ? Are we left in the dark upon this all-absorbing subject ?
Here then let us resume our remark, that the com-pleteness of the number saved is so perfect that it must include the whole militant church of Christ, the servants of God in every part of the world, an innu-merable company of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues. And now let us attend to the next verse, in which the Apostle tells us what he saw after he heard the number sealed. He begins by describing it as something most remarkable and surprising. He saith :
“ After this I beheld, and 10, a great multitude which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands ; and cried with a loud voice, saying, The Salvation be ascribed to our God who sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.” (ch. vii. 9, 10.)
I take it for granted that the above passage must be considered as referring, in its immediate consecu-tiveness, to what had just preceded it ; since no other reason can we imagine for its being placed here at all. Now if it be only taken thus, and in its plain straight-forward meaning, it furnishes a full, comprehensive, and satisfactory answer to the question above raised
Ill
THE SEALING.
concerning the kind of preservation to which the ser-vants of God are sealed ; and yields, in the prophetic narrative, the very next piece of information for which the attentive and devout student of Scripture is na-turally prepared to look, or rather which, from our Lord’s prophecy, we may be confidently led to expect, in his saying, ״ And then shall he send his angels, and shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of heaven.”* If the preservation thus turn out to be a very different mode of preservation from what we, with our human notions, should have reckoned upon, or imagined likely; to be adopted, let us remember that it is the wisdom of God, and not of man, that must be considered in this matter; consequently our chief concern must be, simply to ascertain what He hath pre-determined ; and then to say, with Mary of old, (happy is it, indeed, for us that we may say it,) ״ Be it unto me according to thy word.”
First. Let us observe that this great multitude is beheld by the inspired Apostle, not in any place on earth, or in connexion with kings, warriors, or any other of the inhabitants of this lower world ; but in the heaven where God reigneth, ״standing before the throne of God and the Lamb.” They are more-over seen adorned with the emblems of perfect purity and victory—with “ white robes, and palms in their hands and they are encompassed by, and in the presence of, ״all the angels that stand round about
* Mark xiii27 ״.
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the throne ? also by the elders, and the four living creatures, representing the whole redeemed church in glory. This is a state so utterly incompatible with any other locality than that of the heavenly world, that while we are necessitated to infer this great multitude to be identical with the 144,000 sealed and rescued servants of God, we are equally compelled to acknowledge that the preservation of the former is no other than this heavenly denizenship of the latter.
Secondly. Of these let us further observe, that they must be regarded as a newly-arrived company. So we must conclude (1) from the surprise which the Apostle seems to express upon its manifestation to him. “ After this, I beheld, and 10 ! ” are expressions not likely to have been used had that multitude been seen by him before. (2.) From its not having been previously noticed as a component part of the hea-venly host ;—of that host which had been fully de-scribed in the 4th and 5th chapters of the Apocalypse, as, together with God, the Triune Jehovah, consisting of the elders and four living creatures, and of the angels ; all of whom are distinctly enumerated in verse 11 of this seventh chapter, without any mention of this great multitude. The latter, therefore, could not have constituted any portion of the former, but must be regarded as a Separate class by themselves. (3.) From the question asked in verse 13, which supposes the same thing: “These clothed in white robes, who are they, and whence came they ?”
Here then is a capital point to be ascertained, viz. that the great multitude, seen by the Apostle imme-diately after the servants of God are sealed, and
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immediately before the four winds of heaven are loosed, are a company newly arrived in heaven, altogether distinct from any of its former inhabit-ants : that they are not “ the elders,” or those who had been raised from the dead before the Apostle wrote ; that they are not “ the four living creatures,” or the spirits of the unrisen dead ; and that neither are they ״ the angels !”
“ And they cried with a loud voice, saying, The salvation be ascribed to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and to the Lamb!” (verse JO.)
Thus we are told that the newly-arrived company, this great multitude from all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, have just experienced, through the favour of God and the Lamb, a great salvation!—a salvation responded to in the warmest terms by the other inhabitants of Heaven, as appears by the following verses :—
“ And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders and the four living creatures, and fell on their faces be-fore the throne, and worshipped God, saying, Amen : Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen.״ (vers. 11, 12·)
It is observable that here is no mention of “ The Salvation ”—this is exclusively confined to the newly-arrived company described in the 9th verse; and therefore by them alone it has been experienced. Nei-ther does it appear to be the ״ common salvation;” as is implied in the authorized version, which omits here the definite article, so that our point and immediate application is lost; but rather the salvation : some
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special and great deliverance being referred to, which “ with a loud voice they ascribe to God and the Lamb.” And this is the special burden of their song. They are so overpowered by the mercy and love which hadbeen shewn them ; they are so alive to the late imminent perils from which they hadbeen delivered ; and they are so sensible that this deliverance is the result of sovereign and triumphant grace ; that they sang “ as with the voice of many waters, and as with the voice of great thunder,” and as harpers playing on their harps,—“ they' sang as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four living creatures and the elders ; and no one was able to learn that song, except the hundred and forty and four thousand that were redeemed from the earth.”* And that new song which no one was able to learn, was,
(t THE SALVATION BE ASCRIBED TO OUR GOD, WHICH SITTETH UPON THE THRONE, AND TO THE LAMB !”
“ And one of the elders spake, saying unto me, Who are these that are arrayed in white robes, and whence came they ? And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said unto me, These are they which came out of the great tribulation, yea, they have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.״ (vers. 13, 14.)
It is a remarkable peculiarity belonging to pro-phetic narrative, that when the most important fea-ture in a prediction is set forth, it is frequently done in the form of question and answer. Several of such have been noticed in the Old Testament prophecies.
* Itev. xiv. 2, 3.
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THE GREAT SALVATION.
For instance, Dan. viii. 13, “Then I heard one saint speaking, and another saint said unto that certain saint which spake, How long shall be the vision concerning the daily sacrifice ? &c,״* Again, in Dan. xii. 5, 6 : “ Then I Daniel looked, and, behold, there stood other two, the one on this side the bank of the river, and the other on that side of the bank of the river. And one said to the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, How long shall it be to the end of these wonders ?”+ See also Zech. i., iv., v., vi.
Our attention being in like manner awakened here to its height, by a question very natural for any one to ask, “ These that are arrayed in white robes,״ (this newly arrived great multitude, standing before the throne of God and before the Lamb !) who are they, and whence did they come ?—such a question having been actually put to the Apostle by one of the elders, for the purpose of giving him a reply ; the reply is now next to be considered.
“ These are they that come out of the great tribulation,״—for so is the original Greek,—“ yea they have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple : and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more, nei-ther shall the sun light on them nor any heat. For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters : and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.’’ (ver. 14—17.)
From these expressions of tender sympathy, it may * Diss. ch. xi.	f Ibid., ch. xiv.
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be inferred, that in “ the tribulation, the great one,״ (there being, not, as in our common version, no de-finite article, but actually two,) from which they are come out, they had hungered, and had thirsted; that the sun had scorched them ; and that their eyes had poured out floods of tears. These evils not only shall they no more experience, but the highest honour is assigned them. They are before the throne of God, and he dwells among them, and Christ shall feed them, and lead them to living fountains of waters ! Such honour before the throne of an earthly king would be great; how infinitely greater before the throne of the King of kings ! Hence what emphasis do we perceive belongs to our Lord’s admonition al-ready so repeatedly noticed, “Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and TO STAND BEFORE THE S0N OF MAN.”*
On the whole, then, it appears conclusive that this great multitude, thus eternally honoured and blessed, is one and the same with that of the mystical 144,000 just previously described. (1.) From the fact already ascertained, namely, that the sealed company first mentioned, as well as that before the throne, next mentioned, consists of persons out of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues ; ” and as the latter is exhibited immediately after the former, as also a people partaking of that same
* Luke xxi. 36.
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deliverance for the sake of which the four winds are restrained, and God’s judgments suspended; there appears no alternative but to come to this conclusion. (2.) That the two companies are one and the same, appears by the former being sealed for deliverance from a great catastrophe that was coming upon the earth; and by the latter being introduced as celebrating with a loud voice a great deliverance wrought for them, by Him whose seal the former had received upon their foreheads ! Therefore the events here related are but a double description of one and the same rescued people. Compare Genesis xli. 32.
Another important question, however, now arises from having seen these two great companies, thus found to be identical, first in one locality and then in another : namely, first on earth, sealed for de-liverance from a great impending judgment ; and then in heaven, clothed with robes of purity, and bear-ing the ensigns of victory. The inquiry concerning them in the latter case, what they were and whence they came, had an immediate reply. That which re-mains, and which is so deeply interesting to the pre-sent generation of God’s people, of whom we have so much reason to believe they will be constituted, is, How came they there ? by what transition have they escaped the things coming to pass on the earth, so as previously to have been safely landed upon the re-gions of a blissful immortality ?
Our Lord when he was upon earth, appears already to have furnished us with the desired answer, by in-
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forming us, that at the time of his coming with power and great glory, “ He will send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other adding that, “ as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marry-ing and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and knew not until the flood came and took them all away ; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. Then shall two be in the field ; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill ; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Watch, therefore,” he re-peated, ‘‘ for you know not what hour your Lord doth come.” The reply, therefore, to the question, “ These that are arrayed in white robes, how came they to the heavenly world,” appears to be, they were caught up thither by angels—in other words, that it was by a translation to heaven ! To this effect St. Paul speaks in the fifteenth of 1 Corinthians, “ Be-hold I shew you a mystery ; we shall not all sleep, but we shall be changed. In a moment, in the twink-ling of an eye, at the last trump, for the trumpet shall sound.” And in writing to the Thessalonians, he says —and it is to be remarked, that in each mention there is the sound of a trumpet—“ 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 which are alive and remain, shall be caught up together with
* Matt. xxiv. 31.
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TRANSLATION TO HEAVEN.
them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air : and so shall we be for ever with the Lord.”
I know indeed of no commentator, except Dean Woodhouse, who has even hinted at such a thing as that this part of the history of the Church between the sixth and seventh seals, involves a translation to heaven, the whole of this seventh chapter of Revela-tion being generally explained away without any pointed application. The Dean makes the following casual remark—but as if he were half afraid to go on with the idea, he there leaves it “ Of the manner in which the sealed of God shall be delivered in that day, we can speak no further than the assurances of other passages of Scripture seem to warrant. St. Paul assures us that in the great day of the Lord, the pious Christians then alive shall be caught up to the Lord* by a glorious deliverance; which seems to accord with that described in the prophecy now before us.” But why should this be thought a thing incredible ?— in the face of such divine assurances as the above, why should we hesitate to receive the testimony, and rejoice in the prospect ? Considering the nature of the judgments from which the militant church is to be rescued ; that they are described as a complete de-struction of its enemies, accompanied with unmiti-gated horrors of war and national ruin, it is difficult to view such rescue as other than miraculous. Every Christian believes, or professes to believe, that his soul will be caught up into paradise upon its dismissal from the body; and what if God be pleased, on
1 Thess. iv. 7.
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closing the present dispensation, to magnify his own grace by doing a new thing in the eyes of an apostate world which has been bitterly persecuting his servants up to that moment!—what, if he be pleased to manifest how precious they are in his sight, by taking them as he did Enoch ! or by sending, as he did for Elijah, chariots of fire and horses of fire to convey them to heaven ? Is not all this compatible with their high calling ? is there anything to which they need to ob-ject ? The real distinction consists only in the mode of deliverance. The end that awaits all believers is substantially the same, whether they pass through the territories of the grave, or are caught up to meet the Lord in the air. But since he hath promised to ״ swallow up death in victory since thus ״the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces ; and the rebuke of his people shall be taken away from off all the earth let the language of every soul be, ״Lord, I believe, help thou mine unbe-lief ”—“ For the Lord hath spoken it !”*
THE OPENING OF THE SEVENTH SEAL.
“ And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.” (viii. l.)
This verse terminates the important line of pro-phecy symbolized by the Seven Seals. Whatever the state of things may be that it signifies, it is the last act of the last of the four successive empires of Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome. With it, the ״ Times of the Gentiles will be fulfilled.” It appears * Isaiah xxv. 8.
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to express some new position and epoch of the Em-pire, which we may suppose to consist in a fearful looking for, and expectation of, the approaching judg-ment and vengeance—an epoch marked by total cessation from accustomed activity, such as the word “ silence ״ symbolically denotes—a cessation not unlike that of paralysis, caused by the certainty of immediate ruin and desolation. It seems like the solemn pause during which the ten kingdoms of the Empire will be in trembling suspense awaiting the blow that is to effect their extinction.*
That blow belongs not to the “ Seals,” but to ano-ther class of events of a totally different character, which wre shall immediately proceed to explain—viz., that of the seven trumpets; of which it will form the last.
We conclude the present portion of the Apoca-lypse, with a few general observations.
(1.) How intimately near has the heavenly world been brought to our view and recognition !
(2.) How deeply is the church in heaven acquainted with, and concerned in, the affairs of the church on earth!
These two facts appear, by the Apostle John’s re-ceiving a summons from “ the general assembly and church of the first born which are written in heaven,” to come and see ; and by the noble army of martyrs knowing under the fifth seal that vengeance was de-layed; and by one of the “ elders ” giving the informa-
• Dan. ii. 34; also Exod. xv. 14—16.
G
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tion respecting the newly arrived and translated com-pany before the throne ! Would not the symbolical acts assigned to such persons be most inappropriate, were they really ignorant of what was passing on this earth ?
(3.) I would again repeat, that it is quite indepen-dently of prophetical chronology, and simply by a series and sequence of events as here detailed, that we are brought to the near prospect of a translation to heaven, and of a subsequent national ruin. The common and vague objection, then, which, on the score of chronology, is made to the study of unfulfilled prophecy, is as inapplicable here, as it is to the his-torical narrative of Daniel’s last prophetic vision.* From both we learn that, after the commotions, wars, and changes caused by the French Revolution, a remarkable interval of quietness was to be enjoyed, after which, those commotions and changes were to be renewed in their most dreadful forms. Now that interval of peace has already been enjoyed during the last eight and twenty years ; nor does it appear, either from the aspect of things, or the opinions of eminent men, that it can continue much longer. Therefore, as far as this consideration is confirmatory, so far are even the chronological conclusions of my former work con-firmed. But greater proof awaits us, namely, upon considering the yet remaining parallel columns of this prophecy ; together with those other and equally dis-tinct signs of the times, of which we find ourselves the more forewarned the nearer they are approaching their termination.
Daniel xi.
CHAPTER VII.
THE DIVINE VISITATIONS OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE;
ESPECIALLY IN THE WEST;
BY THE
DESTRUCTIVE IRRUPTIONS OF THE GOTHS, VANDALS, HUNS, AND OTHER BARBARIANS.
THE FOUR FIRST TRUMPETS.
Public events of another series—National visitations—Import of the master-symbol—Prayers of the righteous heard—Outbreaking of most tremendous wars—Connectedness of the Four First Trumpets —Each of them symbolical—“ The third part," its signification —Barbarous nations—Destruction effected by them—Unanimity of commentators in the interpretation of those Trumpets— First Trumpet, the invasions of Alaric, king of the Goths—Second Trumpetf those of Attila, king of the Huns—Third Trumpet, the devastation of Genseric, king of the Vandals—Fourth Trumpet, the extinction of the imperial authority in the West.
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CHAPTER VIL
THE VISITATIONS OF GOD UPON THE WESTERN EMPIRE; BY THE GOTHS, VANDALS, AND OTHER BARBARIANS.
Having historically reviewed the church and its enemies, according to that breadth of the series of events which was compatible with the series of the Seven Seals ; and hereby having seen that the seven epochs which these seals denote, give so many faith-ful exhibitions of the predicted phases or changes of the church, in so far as those changes have been brought about by its own acts and deeds : we now proceed to review quite another series of predicted events, produced by extrinsic causes ; namely, by foreign enemies of the Empire. And here we should specially observe, into what exact order and simplicity the mingled mass of historical record is reduced by this divine arrangement, which keeps the different classes of events distinct and separate from each other.
In the series already reviewed, we have seen the whole face of Christian society betraying a spirit of
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THE FOUR FIRST TRUMPETS.
mournful backsliding, by an utter perversion of the truth, and by a rank corruption of morals. In the present series, we shall have to behold the visitations of God, inflicted upon such abounding wickedness. It is a lesson, teaching us, in the plainest manner, that worldliness, and declension from the truth and spirit of the Gospel, must inevitably, sooner or later» draw down the most intense punishment upon na-tions as well as upon individuals. God, as the righteous Governor of the universe, has ever, by this course of procedure, from the beginning, displayed the unutterable holiness of his character, and his un-changeable hatred of iniquity. We see it in the history of the Deluge, the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, the visitations upon Israel and Judah ; but above all, in the infliction of Divine wrath upon the Son of God, for the sins of a guilty world. Yea, “He spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment”*
The vengeance predicted against these fearful backslidings, virtual and actual apostacies, and mutual persecutions of professed Christians, which we have seen detailed in the events of the Seven Seals, is now to be reviewed in a distinct apocalyptic class of events, which, in like manner, is divided into seven parts, that together make up a full and scripturally perfect num-ber. Its dread prophetic detail is introduced as fol-lows:
“ And I saw the seven angels who stood before God, and to
* 2 Peter ii. 4.
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them were given seven trumpets. And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer ; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense ascended with the prayers of the saints, from the hand of the angel before God. And the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire from the altar, and cast it to tiie earth ; and there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake,״ (Rev. viii 2—5.)
In the first place, with respect to this introduction, I would draw attention to the master-symbol here employed—it is expressive of war. Thus, when the host of Israel was to go forth to battle, the trumpet was to give the signal, and sound the alarm.* Thus it was also the fearful signal of hostile invasion ; and in this sense we are here to receive it: ״Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid ?”t The nature, then, of the events pre-signi-fied by the sounding of the Seven Trumpets, may be understood by the following particulars :—
1st. That they are brought to pass, not by intestine wars ; nor by movements which, as inrthe preceding series, had respectively the seal of empire ; but by the instrumentality of barbarous nations situated be-yond the bounds of the Roman earth.
2dly. That accordingly they are occasioned by great external violence, in the way of invasions, rapid conquests, and complete overthrows.
3dly. That they are uniformly characterized by the very worst evils attendant upon war : such as indis-criminate slaughter, rapine, devastation, and ruin.
In the second place, let us observe, that in this introduction there is an assurance given to the * Num. x. 5.	f Amos iii. 6. Jer. iv. 19.
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THE FOUR FIRST TRUMPETS.
“ Saints ” that their prayers shall be accepted, and that they shall be taken care of, during the continu-anee of these horrid catastrophes. The altar, at which the angel stood, was “ the golden altar before the throne,” i. e. before the mercy-seat, upon which was to be offered no strange incense ;* no strange fire ;+ by no strange priest :J but incense, offered thereon by the legal priests, was an atonement for the people § who accompanied this offering with their prayers. || It is therefore beautifully symbolical of the efficacy and acceptance of Christian prayers offered in these hours of danger ; and as we at the present day are near the very outbreaking of the last, the greatest, the consummating one, of these stupendous inflictions of Divine wrath, we have here the greatest encourage-ment to pray much, to pray fervently, to sigh, and cry without ceasing for the abominations of the land.
Thirdly. After “ the fume of the incense had as-cended with the prayers of the saints, from the hand of the angel before God,” this same angel took the censer, and filled it with fire from off the altar of Burnt offering. In Psalm xviii. 8, the wrath of God is compared to fire ; and the effects of his wrath—such as war, famine, and other plagues ־־ are signified by the same emblem.^ It is accordingly so explained by Sir Isaac Newton, who says, “ burning any thing with fire is put for the consuming thereof by war.”** Such a fire was “ cast to the earth,” the Roman “ orbis
* Exod. xxx. 9, 38.	+ Lev x. 1. J Nura. xvi.
Ç Num. xvi. 46.	|| Luke i. 10.
1[ Ps. lxvi. 12 ; Jer. xlviii. 45. ** Obs. on the Prophecies, p. 18.
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terrarum,” or empire, being the special territory of the whole prophecy ; “ and there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings,” the sound of war, and the signals of hostile invasions, “ and an earthquake,” or concussion ; a complete overturning of the esta-Wished order of things. And so entire was the change effected by the four first Trumpets alone, that new forms of government, new manners, new laws, new habiliments, new languages, new names of men and countries, were every where introduced in the Western Empire; while its ancient possessors—that is to say, all the proud and illustrious families, whose names are so conspicuous in ancient history—were almost, if not entirely, extirpated.
“ And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound, (ver. 6.)
FIRST TRUMPET.
“ And the first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth : and the third part of the earth was burnt up ; and the third part of the trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.״
SECOND TRUMPET.
“ And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great moun-tain burning with fire was cast into the sea; and the third part of the sea became blood ; and the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died ; arid the third part of the ships were destroyed.״
THIRD TRUMPET.
“ And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters ; and the name of the star is called Wormwood: and the third part of the waters
THE FOUR FIRST TRUMPETS.	129
became wormwood ; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter.״
FOURTH TRUMPET.
“ 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 might be darkened, and the day might not shine for the third part of it, and the night like־, wise.” (viii. 7—12.)
One common character, Dean Woodhouse has re-marked, appears to belong to these four first Trum-pets. " The attack, whose alarm is sounded, falls, as he observes, in a fourfold division :—first, on the land; for thus it seems that the original word should be translated, not in its general signification of the earth, as containing the land, sea, rivers, See. ; but in its particular sense, as opposed to the sea, Sec. : secondly, on the sea : thirdly, on the rivers and springs : fourthly, on the heavenly luminaries—the sun, moon, and stars ; that is, on the whole of God’s creation. “ For in the 14th chapter of this book, v. 7, God is described as the Creator of all things under these divisions : ‘ the heaven ; the earth ; the sea ; and the springs of waters/ ” The like division of the visible world, (often three-fold—sometimes, as here, fourfold) is found in other parts of Scrip-ture.*
It must not be forgotten that these four several components of the natural world are here symbolical, as denoting so many components of the Roman Em-
* See Isa. li. 15,16 ; Hoseaiv. 3; Nahum i. 4,5; Ilab. iii. 6, 8, 11 ; Zeph. i. 2, 3; Hagg. ii.6; Phil. ii. 10.
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pire. To regard them in any other light, would be a violation of all consistency; and would perplex the whole subject with absurd difficulties. Like the other symbols of this book; they refer to men; and not to things : thus; the land we consider as denoting persons in a state of peace and quietness; under the authority of laws and a settled government; where all is stable and firm : the sea, a condition of persons loosed; from one cause or another, from such restraints, and therefore in a state of anarchy and confusion : rivers and fountains of waters, the channels and sources of the empire’s strength and support :—while the sun, the moon, and the stars, symbolize, 1, the sovereign ; 2, his consort and family ; and 3, the nobility and persons in high and responsible stations.
Further, we have to notice what is here intended by that expression, “ the third part which so repeatedly occurs under the four first Trumpets. Now we understand by it, exclusively, the Western third of the Empire ; for this alone answers to the symbols. The other two thirds of it were—the East, of which Constantinople, or, as it has been called, “ New Rome,” was the capital ; and the South, of which the metropolis was Cartilage, called by contemporary writers “the Rome of the African world.” This three-fold division was the most marked one of the total Roman Empire, and was even recognized in the Apostle’s time. But it is only the East and the West that are prominent in history, and therefore in pro-phecy ; because only these had the magnificence of an imperial court. And the prophetic limitation of
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THE FOUR FIRST TRUMPETS.
such severe judgments to the West, by the name of the third part, was as necessary as it was accu-rate.
Moreover, under the First Trumpet, whereas it is said that only one third of the earth was burnt up, and one third of the trees, yet is it added that “ all green grass was burnt up f which seems indeed but another instance of prophetic accuracy, as signifying that although only a third of the Empire was reduced to remediless confusion, by which the men of supe-rior station lost their all; yet the whole of the Em-pire had its beauty and glory defaced. Its aspect was no longer, to the eye of the mind, what that of verdant grass is to bodily vision ; but henceforth, in all its length and breadth, appeared parched and barren ; for there was scarcely any streak of it where the feet of the barbarian armies had not trodden. Its former majestic grandeur was now irrecoverably blasted and tarnished !
The instruments of this Divine vengeance were no other than those prodigious hosts of barbarians whose countries lay far beyond the Imperial bounds, in the then unknown regions of the North ; but which are at this day so familiar to us as those of the Danes, Swedes, Saxons, Germans, Poles, Russians, and Tartars. The vast and barbarous hordes with which these regions abounded, are known in history by the general but distinctive names of Goths, Visigoths, Ostrogoths, Huns, Vandals, Sweves, Alans, and others of inferior renown. Their succès-sive irruptions, which it were vain to attempt to count, began, immediately after the death of the
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Great Theodosius, a.d. 395, to pour into the heart of the Empire with accelerated impetuosity ; so that in less than two centuries they had wrought all the misery and ruin which had been predicted by the four first Trumpets.
“ Wherever they marched,” says Dr. Robertson, “ their route was marked with blood. They ravaged or destroyed all around them. They made no distinc-tion between what was sacred and what was profane. They respected no age, nor sex, nor rank. What escaped the fury of the first inundation, perished in those that followed it. The most fertile and popu-lous provinces were converted into deserts, in which were scattered the ruins of villages and cities, that afforded shelter to a few miserable inhabitants, whom chance had preserved, or the sword of the enemy, wearied with destroying, had spared. The con-querors who first settled in the countries which they had wasted, were expelled or exterminated by new invaders, who, coming from regions farther removed from the civilized parts of the world, were still more fierce and rapacious. This brought fresh calamities upon mankind, which did not cease until the North, by pouring forth successive swarms, was drained of people, and could no longer furnish instruments of destruction. Famine arid pestilence, which always march in the train of war, when it ravages with such inconsiderate cruelty, raged in every part of Europe, and completed its sufferings. If a man were called to fix upon a period in the history of the world, during which the condition of the human race were most calamitous and afflicted, he would, without
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hesitation, name that which elapsed from the death of Theodosius the Great, to the establishment of the Lombards in Italy. The contemporary authors, who beheld that scene of desolation and labour, are at a loss to describe the horror of it. The scourge of God— the destroyer of nations—are the dreadful epithets by which they distinguish the most noted of the barba-rían leaders ; and they compare the ruin which they brought on the world, to the havoc occasioned by earthquakes, conflagrations, or deluges,—the most formidable and fatal calamities which the imagination of man can conceive.״*
This concluding observation, which, it will be perceived, was made without any reference to Scrip-ture, is very striking, as placed in connexion with the symbols we are now considering : an earthquake being mentioned in verse 5 ; a storm, or deluge of hail, and fire, in verse 7 ; a burning mountain, in verse 8 ; and a fiery meteor, in verse 10.
Such terrific images apply indeed so naturally to events like those before us, that there is less differ-ence of opinion among commentators upon this part of the Apocalypse than upon any other ; so that here the names of Brightman, Mede, Poole, Jurieu, God-win, Fleming, Cressener, Whiston, Sir Isaac Newton, Daubuz, Lowman, Bishop Newton, Faber, Frere, Scott, Fry, Jones, Cuninghame, and others, might be mentioned as unanimously interpreting them of those calamities which accomplished the ruin of the Western Empire.
* Hist, of Charles V., Vol. i. p. 11, 12.
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Let us now briefly review that stupendous succès-sion of calamities, so as to distinguish the most prominent of them as severally fulfilling the predic-tions of the four first Trumpets.
I. Though for half a century before the time of Theodosius, the empire had been seriously threatened by the Goths, it was not till the reign of Valens that they were admitted within its bounds. Hitherto they had been kept tolerably quiet by the firmly tempered character and military abilities of Theo-dosius, on whose single life the safety of the tottering state seemed to depend. But no sooner was this great prince removed by death, than the first irruption of those Northern barbarians took place, so that in the year 396 the work of irreparable destruction was begun. “ The savage warriors of Scythia issued from their forests, directed by the bold and artful genius of Alaric, a name dreadfully pre-eminent in these scenes of destruction ; and crossing the Danube near its mouth, pursued with almost unvaried success, for sixteen or seventeen years, their desolating course.” The whole territory of Attica—“ Corinth, Argos, and Sparta-yielded without resistance to the arms of the Goths ; their villages and cities were burnt, their males massacred, and their beautiful females driven away like cattle.״ This route, it may be interesting to the Christian reader to notice, included the cities of Thessalonica, Philippi, Berea, Athens, and other places mentioned in the New Testament.
At length, after devastating the coasts of Panno-
1.35
THE FOUR FIRST TRUMPETS.
nia, Istria, and Venice, the tremendous sound of the Gothic trumpet was heard under the walls of Rome; which, after a third siege, and eleven hundred and sixty-three years from the time of its foundation, was taken ! So cruel a slaughter was made of the inha-bitants, that the streets of the city are said to have been filled with the dead bodies, which remained for a long time unburied. “ The despair of the citizens was sometimes converted into fury ; and whenever the barbarians were provoked by opposition, they ex-tended the promiscuous massacre to the feeble, the innocent, and the helpless.” This was attended with a general pillage of its enormous treasure, the spoils of a world; and the most horrid cruelties were committed to discover and obtain them. At the end of six days the city was evacuated, when the lawless savages pursued their course into the Southern pro-vinces of Italy, where Alaric, after destroying whatever opposed him, ended his days a.d. 411 ; and his sue-cessor, making peace with the Emperor, passed over into Gaul.
Meanwhile, and again from the higher regions of the North, had descended another swarm of barbarians, under Rhadagast, who burst upon the banks of the Up-per Danube, and passing over into Italy, besieged Flo-rence, and threatened Rome. Being stopped in this quarter, they crossed the Rhine, and entered Gaul. “ This memorable passage,” says Gibbon, ״ may be considered as the fall of the Roman Empire in the countries beyond the Alps ; and the barriers, which had so long separated the savage and civilized nations
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of the earth, may be considered from that fatal mo-ment levelled with the ground. The banks of the Rhine were crowded, like those of the Tiber, with elegant houses and well-cultivated farms. This scene of peace and plenty was suddenly changed into a desert; and the prospect of the smoking ruins could alone distinguish the solitude of nature from the desolations of man. The consuming flames of war spread from the banks of the Rhine over the greater part of the seventeen provinces of Gaul ! That rich and extensive country was delivered to the barbarians, who drove all before them in one promiscuous crowd, —the bishop, the senator, and the virgin, laden with the spoil of their houses and altars.”
After spreading such desolation throughout those regions, the Vandals and other tribes, in 409, en-tered Spain, which, in like manner, they overran, and ravaged. “ At length, satiated with carnage and rapine, and afflicted by the contagious evils which they themselves had introduced, they fixed their permanent seats in the depopulated country.”
But this furious and destructive Northern storm of hail and fire mingled with blood, did not stop here. Having, as we have seen, overrun the East and the West, that no part of the Roman earth should escape its devastating influence, it bore down, in the year 429, into the South. For then the Vandals, under the command of Genseric, crossed the Straits of Gibraltar, and invaded the African provinces, which were exceedingly populous ; indeed the country itself was so fruitful, that it was called the granary of Rome
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THE FOUR FIRST TRUMPETS.
and of mankind. “ On a sudden, the seven provinces, from Tangier to Tripoli, were overwhelmed by the invasion of the Vandals. War, in its fairest form, implies a perpetual violation of humanity and justice ; and the hostilities of barbarians are inflamed by the fierce and lawless spirit which incessantly disturbs their peaceful and domestic society.
“The Vandals, where they found resistance, seldom gave quarter : and the deaths of their valiant coun-try men were expiated by the ruin of the cities under whose walls they had fallen. Careless of the distinc-tions of age, or sex, or rank, they employed every species of indignity and torture, to force from the captives a discovery of their hidden wealth.”* In a.d. 439, about ten years from the time of their first invasion of Africa, they surprised and took Carthage, its capital ; where, after Genseric had permitted his licentious troops to satiate their rage and avarice, he introduced a more regular system of rapine and oppression, enjoining all persons, without fraud or delay, to deliver up their gold, silver, jewels, and valuable furniture or apparel; and the attempt to secrete any part thereof, was inexorably punished with death or torture.
Thus intensely did the storm of hail, and fire, and blood beat upon the whole Roman earth, whereby its beauty was throughout irreparably defaced : “ All green grass was burnt up,” East, West, and South. It was, nevertheless, but “a third part” that was
* Gibbon.
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parched by its continuance. The hail-stones formed a thick and permanent lodgment in the Western empire only. From this portion of the figurative world they were never removed : and many ages of war and darkness followed, during which the fruits of peace, and science, and civilization were completely blasted and burnt up.
Thus faithfully does history bear witness to the effects of the first trumpet as exactly according with the prophecy. " The Roman earth,” says Mr. Faber, " was dreadfully desolated in all its three divisions : but while the Eastern Empire recovered itself from the visitation, and while the Vandalio kingdom soon melted away in Africa ; the Western Empire,” (a third part of the Roman land, and a third part of its trees,) “ was permanently occupied, and parcelled out into various sovereignties, by the victorious warriors of the north.”
II.	No sooner had the tempest of the first Trumpet, after sweeping its most destructive course over the Roman earth, died away in the extreme provinces of Africa, than the second trumpet sounded ! and a “ great mountain burning with fire,” that is, a great hostile power burning with ungovern־ able fury, poured itself into the Empire, all unsettled and weakened as it was, and " it (the Empire) became blood ! ״
This mighty nation was that of the Huns, which, when now about to be brought into action, was ruled by a sovereign whose very name carried terror with
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it ; for he was emphatically called, The Scourge of God. “ If a line of separation,״ says Gibbon, ״ were drawn between the civilized and the savage climate of the globe, Attila might aspire to the title of supreme and sole monarch of the barbarians. He alone, among the conquerors of ancient and modern times, united the two mighty kingdoms of Germany and Scythia; and those vague appellations, when they are applied to his reign, may be understood with an ample latitude. The crowd of vulgar kings, the leaders of so many martial tribes, who served under the standard of Attila, were ranged, in the submissive order of guards and domestics, round the person of their master. They watched his nod, they trembled at his frown ; and at the first signal of his will they executed, without murmur or hesitation, his stern and absolute commands. In time of peace, the de-pendent princes, with their national troops, attended the royal camp in regular succession; but when Attila collected his military force, he was able to bring into the field an army of five, or, according to another account, of seven hundred thousand barba-rians.”
Such, as we learn from well-authenticated history, was the accumulation of power which, pursuant to the divine decree here revealed, was about to preci-pítate itself into the agitated, defenceless, and bleeding Empire. The fatal blast sounded in the year 441 ; and for twelve years, namely^ till the death of Attila in 453, the whole of the West, the same “ third part״ which so severely had suffered before, was
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drenched in blood. ,Then, it might be truly said, the Roman jurisdiction “died,” as to its ancient polity ; while also the " third part of the ships,” that is, of all important cities—the emporia of trade and commerce, such as are ships to the literal sea—were destroyed. Moreover, the symbol of a burning mountain cast into the sea is here very appropriate in another respect ; namely, that whatever mischief it might do as burning, it would soon be extinguished. Now this was remarkably the case, in point of fact, with regard to the invading power of the Huns. For, first, Attila himself was suddenly taken ill and died when about to attack the city of Rome, from which he had been diverted the year before ; and then the Huns, after thus losing their king, returned beyond the Roman boundary ; within which, unlike the other barbarous nations, they never had a fixed settlement, though they left such indelible traces of their inva-sion. Gibbon therefore speaks of these events as having “ finally extinguished the empire of the Huns.”
The track of Attila s march will best be shewn in the language of the same historian. Speaking of thé defences of the Illyrian frontier, he says, “ But these obstacles were instantly swept away by the inundation of the Huns. They attacked with fire and sword the populous cities of Sirmium and Singidunum, of Retiaria and Marcianopolis, of Niassus and Sardica, where every circumstance, in the discipline of the people, and the construction of the buildings, had been gradually adapted to the sole purposes of de-
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THE FOUR FIRST TRUMPETS.
fence. The whole breadth of Europe, as it extends above five hundred miles from the Euxine to the Adriatic, was at once invaded, and occupied, and desolated by the myriads of barbarians whom Attila led into the field. The armies of the Eastern Empire were vanquished in three successive engagements ; * and the progress of Attila may be traced by the fields of battle. From the Hellespont to Thermopylæ, and the suburbs of Constantinople, he ravaged, without resistance and without mercy, the provinces of Thrace and Macedonia. Heraclea and Hadrianople might, perhaps, escape this dreadful eruption of the Huns : but words, expressive of the total extirpation or erasure, are applied to the calamities w’hich they inflicted on seventy cities of the Eastern Empire.— A pause at length seemed to take place: but it was a passing semblance, rather than a permanent reality. In the year 446, the Constantinopolitan emperor concluded an ignominious peace with Attila ; but, in the year 450, the restless Hun threatened alike both the East and the West. Mankind awaited his decision with awful suspense.”—The fiery mountain was however now cast into Gaul and Italy. After ravaging the former of those countries with his usual savage barbarity, he was at length stopped in the plains of Chalons by a great defeat from the allied Roman armies, “ the last victory which was achieved in the name of the Western empire.”
“ Neither the spirit, nor the forces, nor the reputa-tion of Attila, were impaired by the Gallic expedition. He passed the Alps, invaded Italy, and besieged
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Aquilei with an innumerable host of barbarians. The succeeding generation could scarcely discover its ruins. After this dreadful chastisement, Attila pursued his march ; and, as he passed, the cities of Altinum, Con-cerda, and Padua, were reduced to heaps of stones and ashes. The inland towns, Vicenza, Verona, and Bergamo, were exposed to the rapacious cruelty of the Huns. Milan and Pavia submitted without resist-anee to the loss of their wealth. Attila then spread his ravages over the rich plains of modern Lombardy ; which are divided by the Po, and bounded by the Alps and Appenines. It is a saying worthy of the ferocious pride of Attila, that the grass never grew where his horse had trod ! ”
III.	About two years after the death of Attila, and the evacuation of the Empire by the Huns, the fatal blast of the Third Trumpet sounded ! and the formid-able Genseric, king of the Vandals, a name already noticed under the First Trumpet, and a name classed by Gibbon as of equal rank with that of Alaric and Attila in the destruction of the Western Empire, fell like “ a great star burning as it were a lamp,” upon those parts that were left it as the chief resources of its wealth and strength, .and made them very “ bitter and these resources were now especially its maritime ones.
Genseric made his first serious descent upon the city of Rome itself, whose pomp and luxury had in some measure been restored during the forty-five years which had elapsed since the Gothic invasion.
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THE FIRST FOUR TRUMPETS.
In the year 445, he sailed from the port of Carthage, and landed at the mouth of the Tiber ; while Rome, so lately the queen of nations, found herself utterly defenceless, and unable to resist the arms of a barbaric leader. During fourteen days and nights this great metropolis of the world was given up to the ferocity of the Vandals, and the licentiousness of the Moors ; and by these merciless hordes it was plundered of all that yet remained to it from former conquerors, of public or private wealth, of treasures sacred or profane. Among other spoils of the former kind, those which had been taken from the temple of Jeru-salem, on its destruction by Titus nearly four hundred years before, were transferred, on this occasion, from Rome to Carthage. Having thus satiated at onc.e his rapacity and cruelty, the haughty Vandal hoisted sail, carrying with him immense booty, and a countless multitude of captives, among whom were the empress Eudoxia, and her two daughters.
From this time, the kingdom of Italy, a name to which the Western Empire became gradually reduced, was afflicted and embittered for a length of years by the incessant depredations of these Vandal pirates. “In the spring of each year they equipped a for-midable navy in the port of Carthage ; and Genseric himself, although at a very advanced age, still commanded in person the most important expedí-tions. His designs were concealed with impene-trable secrecy till the moment he hoisted sail. When he was asked by his pilot what course he should steer,i Leave the determination to the winds
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(replied the barbarian with pious arrogance) ; they will transport us to the guilty coast whose inha־ bitants have provoked the Divine justice ; ’ but if Genseric himself deigned to issue more precise orders, he judged the most wealthy to be the most criminal. The Vandals repeatedly visited the coasts of Spain, Liguria, Tuscany, Campania, Lucania, Brutium, Apulia, Calabria, Venetia, Dalmatia, Epi-rus, Greece, and Sicily : they were tempted to sub-due the island of Sardinia, so advantageously placed in the centre of the Mediterranean ; and their arms spread desolation or terror, from the columns of Hercules to the mouth of the Nile."
Thus, like a blazing meteor, did they fall upon the allegorical rivers and fountains of waters ; “ the cele-rity of their motions,” adds the historian, “ enabling them at the same time to threaten and to attack the most distant objects which attracted their desires ; and as they always embarked a sufficient number of horses, they had no sooner landed than they swept the dismayed country with a body of light cavalry."
But this portentous star was only to make one third of the waters thus become wormwood ; and accordingly the unconscious testimony of the his-torian goes on to add, “ the fury of the Vandals was confined to the limits of the Western Em-pire !”* Genseric remained the tyrant of the sea, continuing his depredations for about twenty years after his sacking and pillaging of Rome, nor did he
* Gibbon.
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die till he had seen the extinction of the Western Empire.
There is another and more emphatic sense in which he is likened to a star, or fallen angel of the church,* in that he was a chief abettor and propagator of the Arian heresy, as well as ruler in ecclesiastical affairs wherever his conquests extended. In this respect his fiery and desolating course is, in exprès-sive symbolical language, designated by the words “ burning as it were a lamp ; ” for his name stands in dreadful pre-eminence, not merely as a destroyer of nations, but as a peculiarly barbarous persecutor of the Lord*s people. Gibbon says, “ The cruel and absurd enterprize of subduing the minds of a whole people, was undertaken by the Vandals alone. Gen-serie himself had, from his early life, renounced the Orthodox communion ; and the apostate could neither grant nor expect a sincere forgiveness. He was ex-asperated to find that the African who had fled before him in the field, still presumed to dispute his will in the synods and churches ; and his ferocious mind knew neither fear nor compassion. His Catholic subjects were oppressed by intolerant laws and arbitrary punishments. The language of Genseric was furious and formidable: the knowledge of his intentions might justify the most unfavourable inter-pretation of his actions : and the Arians were re-proached with the frequent executions which stained the palace and dominions of the tyrant.” The same
* Rev. i. 20. H
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historian speaks immediately afterwards of “ the re-ligious war,” and tells us that a persecution was made the serious and important business of the Vandal court.”
Acting on this principle, throughout all his ex-tensive ravages, he not only spoiled private houses, palaces, and public buildings, but stripped the churches of their riches and ornaments ; razed them in most instances to the ground ; seized their reve-nues ; sent their bishops into exile, or to slaughter ל and maimed, and otherwise tormented or slew, such as were nobly firm and inflexible in acknowledging the Deity of God their Saviour. Thus in every sense were “ the waters made bitter, and many men died of the waters because they were made bitter.”
IV.	The desolations inflicted on the Empire beneath the three first Trumpets, were of that destructive and permanent character, and had so entirely overthrown the colossal power of Rome in the West, that it required no new enemy from beyond the bounds of the Empire, no new fiery mountain or blazing star, to finish the destruction by subverting the imperial throne. “ The remnant, or the refuse of previous invasions, was enough to destroy the last remaining parts of Roman greatness in Italy, and to abolish the office and the name of the Emperor of Rome.”
Accordingly, on the sounding of the Fourth Trumpet, Odoacer, king of the Heruli—a bold
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THE FOURTH TRUMPET.
barbarian, and popular leader of the confederate troops of Italy, of whom no fresh symbol or similitude is given, as in the three former instances—stripped the Emperor Augustulus of his imperial honours in the year 476, and then every shadow of Roman greatness in the West departed ! Nine preceding Emperors had successively disappeared within the short space of twenty years : the present Emperor was a youth recommended only by his beauty ; and would be “ the least entitled to the notice of posterity, if his reign, which was marked by that extinction of the Roman empire in the West, did not leave a memorable era in the history of mankind”* His real name was Romulus Augustus : whereon the same historian remarks, that “ the appellations of two great founders of the city, and of the monarchy, were thus strangely united in the last of their successors.״ Anticipating the subsequent extinction of the Eastern empire, we may here mention that its last chief likewise bore the name of its founder Constantine.
Thus was the third part of the sun, the ruling power, smitten ; likewise the third part of the moon, with the third part of the stars ; and all to such a degree, that neither the one nor the other could give any light. In consequence of this eclipse, the Wes-tern Empire was “ darkened ״—obscure, as no empire at all—for above three centuries ; so that “ the day,״ whose light is direct from the sun, “ shone not for a third part of it ; nor the night shone likewise,״ hav-
* Gibbon. H 2
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ing lost the benefit of its lesser luminaries, the moon and the stars. Thus one of the heads of the Empire, as is elsewhere expressed, was “ wounded to death,” and did not revive till the beginning of the ninth century. Meanwhile the evils and miseries of the Roman world increased to that extremity which is so eloquently described by the pen of Dr. Robertson ; and the whole West settled down beneath a growing gloom of ignorance and barbarism.
One other remark I would make is, that we have here another instance that the heavenly luminaries are used in prophecy to signify the kings, princes, and nobles of the earth; and that it affords an additional confirmation that our Lord’s prophecy, above explained in the Sixth Seal, signifies the same thing ; and by consequence, that the signs of which he spake “ in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars,” have appeared !
CHAPTER VIH.
THE RISE OF MAHOMET,
AND
THE VISITATIONS OF GOD UPON THE EMPIRE BY THE SARACENS.
THE SOUNDING OF THE FIFTH TRUMPET.
The meaning of the term, a Woe Trumpet—The Fifth Trumpet— Gibborif value of his history — Rise of Mahomet — Compared to the falling of the star—His diabolical principles— Their effects—His followers compared to locusts—The correctness of the comparison—Their tormenting—Their discipline—Their victories—Their licentiousness—Their cruelty and ferocity— Their false and apostate religion—Their Caliphs—Confined to no Third Part— Their great conquests not permanent—Their limi-tation—Great defeat by Charles Mart el.—Gibbon's observations thereon—Importance of that defeat—The duration of their aggressive ravages—Application to the type of locusts—Founda-tion of Bagdad—Decline of the Saracen Empire.
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CHAPTER VIII.
THE SOUNDING OF THE FIFTH (OR FIRST WOE) TRUMPET»
THE SARACENS.
This Trumpet, as also the two remaining ones; is introduced with the following audible, solemn, and awful denunciation.
“And I beheld, and I heard a single eagle Hying through mid-heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe ! woe ! woe ! to the inha-biters of the earth, by reason of the other voices of the Trumpet of the three angels, who are yet to sound.” (viii. 13.)
This proclamation, as having been so loudly uttered by a symbolical eagle throughout the whole expanse between heaven and earth that he might be seen and heard by all—by high and low, plainly intimates that the calamities of the remaining Trumpets would be greater and more terrible, and refers to events of yet higher importance than the four former ones ; hence our attention is called, in this special manner, to their contents, which are accordingly set forth with more particularity. We are not to regard this announce-ment of the eagle as a mere general declamation : but
THE SOUNDING OP THE FIFTH TRUMPET. 151
judging of the nature of the three woes, from what two of them have already been¡ we ought to consider it as intended to awaken most serious and devout reflec-tion, and especially in ourselves ; because it appears almost a certainty, that the third and last of those heaviest woes is now not far distant.
THE FIFTH TRUMPET, AND FIRST WOE.
“ And the fifth angel sounded ; and I saw a star from heaven fallen to the earth : and to him was given the key of the pit of the bottomless deep. And he opened the pit of the bottomless deep ; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace ; and the sun and the air were darkened by the smoke of the pit. And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth : and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. And it was commanded them that they should not injure the grass of the earth, nor any green thing, nor any tree ; but only the men whosoever have not the seal of God upon their foreheads. And to them it was given that they should not kill then], but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment is as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man. And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them. And the shapes of the locusts were like horses prepared for battle; and upon their heads as it were crowns of gold, and their faces as the faces of men. And they had hair as it were the hair of women, and their teeth were as it were of lions. And they had breast-pi ates, as it were breast-plates of iron ; and the sound of their wings as the sound of chariots of many horses rushing to battle. And they had tails like to scorpions, and there were stings in their tails : and their power was to injure men five months. They have a king over them, the angel of the bottomless deep ; his name in Hebrew, Abaddon ; moreover, in the Greek he possesses a name, Apollyon. The one woe is past ; behold, there come yet two more woes hereafter.״ (ix. 1—12.)
In explaining the four preceding Trumpets, I have
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thought it right, as other commentators have done before me, to quote freely from history; and the providence of God so ordered it, that, towards the latter end of the last century, and just before the French revolution broke out, a master mind was raised up, to furnish the most valuable account of the de-cline and fall of the Roman Empire that had ever proceeded from human ability. Such a work, as has often been remarked, coming from a decided enemy to Christianity, was intended for any purpose rather than that for which it is now used—the illustration of Scripture prophecy. This purpose, however, it is found to serve in a very superior degree : taking in, as it does, the whole scope of Roman history, and beginning from almost the very year in which the Apostle John wrote the Apocalypse. Thus the infidel author, while throwing out his shafts against the truths of the Gospel, unconsciously carries, as it were, the charge against himself of a lie in his right hand. For we may safely maintain, that the mind which could, with such truth and point, with such inimitable pathos and simplicity, compose this his-tory, just as we find it in the New Testament com-posed before any of the events had taken place— could have been no other than that which had planned the mighty series; consequently whose hand was to bring it all to pass ; that hand, therefore, must be the hand of the God of the Bible, and the religion which the Bible teaches must be Divine.
After the subversion of the imperial power in the West, beneath the blast of the Fourth Trumpet,
THE SOUNDING OF THE FIFTH TRUMPET. 155
a.d. 47β, nothing succeeded during the next hun-dred and fifty years, from without, to disturb the mournful condition of the Empire. Forty-two years before the close of this succeeding period, the era formed by the eventful reign of Justinian had occurred ; and the thick darkness, the gloom of spri-tual bondage, which characterized it, as explained under the third seal,* had settled both upon the East and West in all its accumulating horrors. It was in this mournful state of things, more and more maturing to its perfection, “ when transgressors were coming to the full,”t that about the beginning of the seventh century the fifth trumpet sounded ! and another great event took place, having likewise, in its perfec-fection, all the characters which I have described as attaching to this series of prophetic symbols. See
pp. 120, 121.
The event we are now to contemplate was a scourge of such surpassing magnitude ; it broke in upon the slumber of the world in such an exciting and perma-nently ruinous manner ; and it inflicted such deadly evils,that itmight well be denounced, and concentrated in that one sad energetic apostrophe, “ Woe !”
It is thus pertinently introduced by Gibbon: ״ After pursuing above six hundred years the fleeting Caesars of Constantinople and Germany, I now descend, in the reign of Heraclius, on the eastern borders of the Greek monarchy. While the state was exhausted by the Persian war, and the church
f See Diss. ch. xi. p. 303. H 5
* Chap. iv.
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was distracted by the Nestorian and Monophysite sects, Mahomet, with the sword in one hand, and the Koran in the other, erected his throne on the ruins of Christianity and of Rome. The genius of the Ara-bian prophet, the manners of his nation, and the spirit of his religion, involve the causes of the decline and fall of the Eastern Empire ; and our eyes are curiously intent on one of the most memorable revo-luttons which have impressed a new and lasting character on the nations of the globe”
He is represented as a star falling from heaven to the earth.
The scriptural signification of stars as a symbol, is the superiority of one person over another, arising either from birth, riches, talent, or some other daz-zling distinction - it being usual to say of such indi-viduals, they are stars, stars of the first magnitude. Such was G enserie, “ the great star ” of the third trumpet, he having already dazzled and struck terror into the world, by his exploits, both of mind and body, before he fell on “ the rivers and fountains of waters/’ In this sense, likewise, Mahomet might, with the greatest propriety, be denominated a star ; and as such, from the orbit of influence in which he moved, he fell on the earth ; that is, on the empire, after it had recovered, in some degree, from the ha-rassing effects of the four first Trumpets, and this chiefly under the long, prosperous, legislative reign of the Emperor Justinian ; so that it was nowin a more settled and quiet condition. Bursting suddenly from comparative obscurity, and coming forth as a bold and successful impostor, he suddenly sprang into political
THE SOUNDING OP THE FIFTH TRUMPET. 155
vigour and importance ; and with horror plumed upon his crest, and the fierceness of desperation in his gesture, he embodied the agency of evil and the elements of satanic power, the effects of which threatened universal desolation, and are yet felt by a great part of the world.
׳ To him was given ״ the key of the bottomless pit ” —or “ of the well of the abyss.”
Of no human being who has come into immediate contact with the Christian church can this be said, to an extent marking a prophetical era, except of Mahomet ; and it is a mark of identity which I do not think is sufficiently brought forward in the appli-cation of this Trumpet. We understand, and we un-derstand rightly, by the expression “ bottomless pit,” the depths of hell, the habitation of Satan and devils. Thus the Scriptures uniformly speak of it ; and we all approve of the sense thus taken of it by our great poet, when he says—
“ a spacious gap disclos'd Into the wasteful deep : The monstrous sight Struck them with horror backward, but far worse Urg’d them behind : Headlong themselves they threw Down from the verge of heaven ; eternal wrath Burnt after them to the bottomless pit.”
Paradise Lost—Book 6.
By the key of this infernal place of abode being given to a human being, and his being said to open it therewith, is to be understood, that such a person would be permitted by God to establish a system on the principles of those who inhabit that dark abyss —
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a system that would be diametrically opposed to the great plan of salvation revealed in Holy Scripture.
The impure and anti-scriptural principles of the Koran have been already exposed ;* they are here characterized as ״ a smoke arisen out of the pit, like the smoke of a great furnace,” and as such was a sign of Divine wrath and anger, t Smoke is a Scriptural emblem of some grievous judgment or calamity ; either because it is generally accompanied with fire, or, as here, because it darkens the air. ״ Howl, O gate; cry, O city: for there shall come from the north a smoke ”t Moreover, in the sequel of this book, the punishment of the wicked is thus expressed : ״The smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever.”§ In the case before us, the grievous judgment or calamity consisted in the infernal prin-ciples, or ״dark sentences,”|| propagated by Maho-met, which, like the smoke of a great furnace, dark-ened the Roman Empire and the world, and for so many years was the scourge of both the Greek and
״Locusts מ came out of this smoke ״ upon the earth.” Hereby the nature of the instruments of the smoke is set forth, and the power described by which the ״ little horn,” as it is elsewhere termed, became mighty ;1[ for it is expressly declared, that ״ His power should be mighty, but not by his own
Latin churches.
power.'
§ Rev. xiv. 11.
II Diss. ch. xi. p. 282. 1[ Diss. ch. xi·.
* Diss. ch. xi. f P>. xviii. 8. I Is. xiv. 31.
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Locusts fly in such prodigious numbers, that they form a great cloud and darken the sky, and then falling upon the earth, make terrible havoc of all the fruits thereof. They increase most in very dry sea-sons, and come in blighting, burning easterly winds, which are usually accompanied with a smoky vapour ; whence probably is that expression Hosea xiii. 3, according to the LXX., (( and like a smoke or vapour from locusts.”
/
Great armies are resembled to locusts in the Scrip-tures. First, by reason of their numbers, Judges vi. 5, 7) 12; Ps. cv. 34; and Joel i. 6: the multitude of locusts which inhabit the eastern (and sometimes European) parts, being almost incredible. Secondly, because of the great mischief they do in fields, in houses, and to men themselves. Thirdly, from the exact military discipline and order they observe in flying ; and the strength which is in their ranks and divisions when they fly or go.* Fourthly, from their climbing of walls, or getting into houses and windows, like men of war in time of siege and taking of towns ;t and from their not being subject to any hurt from weapons ; for these they avoid by their swiftness, and by the subtilty and tenuity of their bodies.!
These particulars might direct us in a great mea-sure to the Saracens, or Arabians, the descendants of Ishmael, so particularly described by Bishop Newton in his Second Dissertation, to which the reader is
f Ex. x. 6.
* Joel ii. 7, 8. I Waple.
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referred. First, because they came from the East, as the locusts did. Secondly, because of their vast num-bers, and their wandering state and condition ; living in tents, and roaming from place to place.* Thirdly, because they are expressly likened unto grasshoppers or locusts.f Fourthly, from the suddenness of their invasions, and the prodigious swiftness of their con-quests, and the great havoc and ravages made by them. Fifthly, because with their national character and tern-per, which Gibbon describes to be “ armed against mankind, and doubly inflamed by the domestic licence of rapine, murder, and revenge,” they now embodied the doctrines of the Koran. They were, as it were, inoculated with Mahometanism : it fastened indelibly to their every principle of action and henceforth all that was either good or bad in their original dis-position became subservient to the cruel, unrelenting, infidel, and licentious dictates of this imposture. Thus did they come out of the smoke which arose when Mahomet opened the bottomless abyss !
But the description of these locusts does not stop here,—we have other particulars very minutely given, which confirm all that has previously been said of them; and prove, that even if this period of their appearance, together with the smoke out of which they arise, *did not sufficiently identify them, the very qualities ascribed to them, and whereby they effect such great mischief and tor-ment, render any mistake about them seemingly
f Judges vii. 3—5.
* Nahum iii. 15, 16. t Diss. ch. xi.
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impossible ; which easily accounts for the uniform agreement among commentators, respecting the in-terpretation of this Fifth Trumpet, or Third Woe.
One quality remarked as belonging to them, is their resembling horses harnessed to battle, which intimates that they would display considerable power of military skill and discipline, and that their con-quests would be carried on with that prodigious and almost incredible speed, for which they were famous beyond all other nations. Another mark of identity is, that they had on their heads as it were crowns of gold, signifying their victories and success in subduing so many kingdoms ; perhaps likewise in their wearing on their heads mitres or turbans like crowns, glorying in being thus adorned with orna-ments enriched with the jewelry of conquered princes, and which, amongst other people, had been, and still are, the peculiar badges of royalty.*
The next, or third, particular is, that their faces were as the faces of men, and their hair as the hair of women. They had seemingly rational and plau-sible pretences, and were not, like the invaders under the former Trumpets, barbarians and savages : at the same time an idea is conveyed of their great refinements in licentiousness. There are few persons who, in their younger days, have not read the Ara-bian Nights’ Entertainments ; and although I refer not my readers to such a work, yet to such as have read it, it will be sufficient to direct their attention to
♦ Ez. xxii. 42.
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this peculiarity of the Saracenic character, as it there appears drawn with historic truth and accuracy.
The fourth particular is, that their teeth were as the teeth of lions. It denotes their rapacity and cruelty ; and to see how fitly these are ascribed to the Saracens, we have only to peruse the history of their conquests. In Ps. lvii. 4, the wicked are com-pared to lions, whose teeth are as spears and arrows : accordingly, by the teeth of these mystic locusts may be meant their offensive arms, their javelins, spears, and arrows, the chief arms of the ancient Arabians. For defensive armour they had breast-plates, “ as it were breast-plates of iron that is, they were well armed, and had invincible courage: even as the natural locust has about its body a pretty hard iron-coloured shell.
In this fourth characteristic they resemble the Romans, of whom it is said that they had the teeth of iron ;* while, in Daniel’s vision of the great image, the whole kingdom is compared to iron. Both have one and the same characteristic of another sort pre-dieted of them ; for in Deut. xxviii. 50, the Roman power is foretold under the name of “ a king of fierce countenance and in Dan. viii. 23, the Mahometan power is foretold in the very same terms.t
Fifthly, the sound of their ״wings is said to be as the sound of many horses rushing to battle ; exprès-sing the swiftness of the Saracens in their career of
f Idem. ch. xi. p, 282.
* Diss. ch. ix. p. 209.
THE 80UNDING OF THE FIFTH TRUMPET. 161
conquest, and the great terror and consternation it would produce.
Sixthly, these locusts are further described as having tails like scorpions, and stings in their tails. The natural locust has no such appendage ; for what is called its tail is only the extreme part of the insect’s proper body, which ends in a sharp point. But these symbolical locusts are said to have tails like scor-pions, which are the only insects we know of that have tails containing both sting and poison. This peculiar description then denotes their unnatural and poisonous religion, which they infused as one great intent of their conquests, compelling the oppressed victims of their slavery either to turn Mahometans, or to endure the severest torments and most abject ignominy. “ In the field of battle, the forfeit lives of the prisoners were redeemed by the profession of Islam : the females were bound to embrace the re-ligion of their masters ; and a race of sincere prose-lytes was gradually multiplied by the education of the infant captives !”* In other words, men, women, and children, “ awakened by the trumpet of the Saracens,״t were compelled to abjure their own faith, and embrace the infernal J doctrines of their conquerors.
The seventh and last particular concerning these
* Gibbon.	f Ibid.
Î The infernal character of their doctrines is not redeemed by their teaching the great truth concerning the unity of the Godhead, in opposition to image worshippers. “ Thou believest that there is one God : thou doest well : the devils also believe and tremble. But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead.” James ii. 19, 20.
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locusts is, that of their having a king over them, the angel of the bottomless deep, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in the Greek tongue he hath a name, Apollyon. Either of these names implies destruction ; and it is remarkable that this should be expressed in Hebrew as well as in Greek, while it is not ex-pressed also in Latin; which seems intended to intimate that Mahometanism would more especially prevail over the Holy Land and the Greek Empire, and not over that of the Latins, or the Western Em-pire.* The signification of this name is another dreadful proof of the power of the Saracens to tor-ment; inasmuch as they had for their head one whose business of destruction was expressed by his very titles of eminence. He is also called the angel of the abyss. Now the term “angel” expresses office—as that of messenger, or pastor, especially in the Apocalypse. Mr. Faber appears to have hit the exact meaning of this symbol, and we therefore give it in his own words : " Since the locusts are at once secular conquerors, and the propagators of a new re-ligion, their king must stand to them in the double relation of a temporal and spiritual chief. Such ac · cordingly was Mohammed, and the Caliphs his sue-cessors, who must be viewed as jointly constituting the locust king Abaddon ; for, in the usual language of prophecy, a king denotes not any single individual, but a dynasty or kingdom. The chief of the locusts, when they first issued from the pit of the abyss, was Mohammed himself ; but, during the allotted period
* Properly, Abaddon signifies “ Destruction and Apollyon,
“ Destroyer.”
THE SOUNDING OF THE FIFTH TRUMPET. 163
of the woe which they occasioned, the reigning de-stroyer was of course the reigning Caliph. Yet Abaddon, by whatever individual he might be repre-sented for the time being, was invariably the head both of the Church and of the State,—was invariably at once both the Supreme Pontiff and the Supreme Emperor. The two-fold idea was aptly expressed by his single official denomination, The Commander of the Faithful”
Such were the instruments which God had suffered to become in due time the executioners of his wrath ; and their actions and rapid conquests answer to all that is predicted concerning them. It is an essen-tial feature in the peculiarities of this “ Woe,״ that it has not, like the former Trumpets, any mere third part assigned to it. And in fact it spread over the whole Empire, east and west, without any limitation, except that which will presently be noticed. Never-theless its commission was not to kill men—that is, not to destroy the body politic, but to torment them, by bringing against them fire, sword, and desolation. Accordingly the Saracens went forth conquering, proselyting, ravaging, and enslaving : victory in rapid succession followed victory ; kingdom followed king-dom in its fall. Asia was shaken to the centre ; Eu-rope was menaced by the same overflowing scourge ; while nation after nation was added to the rising em-pire of the Caliphs, till their strength was beyond our calculation. “ In ten years after the death of Mohammed, his followers had obtained the obedience
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and conversion of thirty-six thousand cities, destroyed four thousand churches, and erected fourteen hun-dred mosques ; they had overthrown, in twenty years more, the Persian monarchy ; they had torn from the Greek empire, Syria, Palestine, Egypt, and all the other civilized parts of Africa ; they had penetrated Europe, and invaded Tartary ; India was threatened with their encroachments ; the report of their pro-gress even stole upon the dull ear of China. Mil-lions of subjects paid them tribute ; the Roman Au-gustus quailed before them ; and Cyrus in the time of his greatest elevation, Alexander in the days of his vastest splendour, enjoyed no such extent of do-minion as the low-born Caliph Othman.* Each year added power to the Empire ; and its first century had not closed, ere Spain was a tributary kingdom ; and Sardinia, Corsica, Rhodes, and Calabria, were conquered by the Arab arms .”f Suffice it to say, that the commencement of the eighth century saw this Empire stretching from the Ganges to the At-lantic, and from the Pyrenees to the deserts of Africa.
Nevertheless, rapid and extensive as were these conquests, the imperial sun still abiding in the East was not smitten, but only fhe sun and air were dark-ened, or their power lessened; the kingdoms and monarchies which subsisted both in the East and West at the first appearance of the mystical locusts, continued to subsist even when the power of the
f Gibbon.
* See Diss. ch. xi. p. 279.
THE SOUNDING OF THE FIFTH TRUMPET. 165
latter was in its vigour ; and these were so far re-strained by the Apocalyptic prohibition, not to kill, but only to torment, that not one monarchy in Chris-tendom quite perished, as a nation, by their incur-sions. Every where, however, has the glory of the Saracens, great as it then was, faded away. The Arabs have even lost the moral power that adorned them. Their sciences and refinements have decayed with their disciplined valour ; so that their hand is once more against every man, and every man’s hand against them ; the Turk is their master, and the de-sert is their home !
We are to consider, then, the prophetic limitation put to this dreadful torment—a torment that was worse than death—one that was a constant harassing and horror of conscience ; a perpetual sting, like that of a scorpion. Although no limit of a “ third part ” is assigned ; yet one limit is assigned, and a striking one it is ; namely, “ it was commanded that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, nor any tree ; but only those men that have not the mark of God in their foreheads,”—intimating that by the grass of the earth, the green things, and the trees, are to be understood those who have the mark of God in their foreheads, and that they should be pre-served. We have already seen* that at this period, overrun as the professing Christian church was with corruption, wickedness, and idolatry, there was some “wine and oil,” which it was commanded should not be injured by the prevailing evils. This was to be
Chapter iv. p. 62.
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found chiefly in the districts of Savoy, Piedmont, Milan, and perhaps in the more southern parts of France, those regions having been eminently thehabita-tion of the two ancient churches of the Waldenses and the Albigenses ; for we have reason from history to believe that these churches were little, if at all, tainted with the general idolatry and corruptions of the age. Such wTere not to be hurt ; and therefore, though the Saracens had heretofore met with no obstacle to their long desolating tide of conquest ; yet when they came to this forbidden ground, the voice which speaks to the roaring waves of the sea, “ Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further,” stopped their impetuous course, and they were so terribly destroyed, that history can scarcely show a parallel to it. This great interposé tion of Providence is illustrated by the following striking words by Gibbon : “ A victorious line of march had been prolonged above a thousand miles, from the rock of Gibraltar to the banks of the Loire ; the repetition of an equal space would have carried the Saracens to the confines of Poland, and the High-lands of Scotland : the Rhine is not more impassable than the Nile or the Euphrates ; and the Arabian fleet might have sailed, without a naval combat, into the mouth of the Thames. ,Perhaps the interpretation of the Koran would now be taught in the schools of Oxford, and her pulpit might demonstrate to a cir-cumcised people the sanctity and truth of the revela-tion of Mahomet.”
Thus could the scoffing infidel speak of what the Holy Scriptures declare to be a smoke from the hot-iomless pit ; but the observation that led to it may
THE SOUNDING OF THE FIFTH TRUMPET. 167
afford matter of grateful reflection to those who know and can appreciate the sanctity and truth of “ the Revelation of Jesus Christ,” the truth of which is confirmed by the great deliverance we are speaking of. The Apostle John, in writing these things, speaks of them (Rev.i. 1) as “ the revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servant things which must shortly come to pass.” This very revelation speaks predictively of Mahomet ! and de-nounces him in his real character, not of “ sanctity and truth,” terms which were never more mis-applied,* but as in league with Satan, as “ the de-stroyer” of the human race, body and soul; and as a vile and licentious impostor.
“ From such calamities,” the historian goes on to say,” was Christendom delivered by the genius and fortunes of one man.” From such calamities, will the Christian say, was it delivered by “ the determi-nate counsel and fore*knowledge of God,” who nerved the arm of that one man with strength, and his heart with courage, to meet and repel the invading foe. Charles Martel, the father of Charlemagne, in the year 732, collected a large army, and having put him-self at its head, sought and found the Saracens in the centre of France, between Tours and Poictiers. His well-conducted march was covered by a range of hills, and the enemy appears to have been surprised by his unexpected presence. “ The nations of Asia, Africa, and Europe, advanced with equal ardour to an encoun-
* See Diss. ch. xi. pp. 287—291.
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ter which would change the history of the world !״ Gibbon affects to disbelieve the issue of this great battle, as having ended, according to Peta-vius,* with the slaughter of three hundred and seventy-five thousand Saracens, and with the loss, on the other side, of only fifteen hundred men ; and he calls it an incredible tale, ״ which the monks of Italy could affirm and believe !” He might as well disbelieve the unequal conflict, attended with similar results, al-though on a smaller scale, fought by our own Black Prince, near the same spot, six hundred years after-wards. He acknowledges, however, that “ the victory of the Franks was final and complete. The Arabs never resumed the conquest of Gaul, and they were soon driven beyond the Pyrenees by Charles Martel and his valiant race.”f Thus was the West set free; so that the allotted bounds of the Mahometan empire, as previously shewn,te towards the south, towards the east, and towards the pleasant land,” were strictly preserved.
The last matter here to be noticed, is the time during which those symbolical locusts were to tor-ment and vex the Empire, in the grievous manner above described. The prophetic duration was five months; which is twice repeated, probably for the purpose of drawing attention the more particularly to it. Many commentators have also thought it was for the purpose of expressing a doubled period ; that is to say, five months and five months—so as to have
* RationariumTemporum, 477. f See Diss.xi. 280—282.
THE SOUNDING OF THE FIFTH TRUMPET. 16
it in keeping with the analogy and decorum of the symbol or type ; five months being the time during which natural locusts live and commit their depreda, tions. These are the five summer months, from May to September inclusive, which they spend in con-suming and spoiling the produce of the earth wherever they alight, after which they disappear. And it is observed, that scorpions also hurt only during five months of the year ; and if so, the decorum of *׳his symbol also is the more striking. Had the period, however, been intended to be doubled, we cannot but think that such intention would have been more distinctly and definitely expressed. But inde-pendently of this consideration, the tenor of the prophecy, connectedly with history, will clearly shew that no more than one period of five months could be intended ; and this showing will, in return, accu-muíate proof to the correctness of having interpreted these symbols as predicting the incursions and severe inflictions upon the Roman Empire by the Saracens.
This is the earliest instance of symbolical chronology in the Apocalypse, or indeed in which the Scriptures at all use the term month symbolically ; and we refer the reader to our notice of it in a former work,* where it is explained to be thirty years, a day for a year. Accordingly, the five months here assigned to the power of the Saracens, (or in other words, for their making vigorous and tormenting incursions,) will de-
* See Diss. ch. iv. p. 80.
I
CHAPTER VIII.
!?O
note one hundred and fifty natural years. Now to shew how exactly the period so predicted agrees with history, we observe :
First, That the term was not intended to comprise the duration of their settled empire; concerning which, therefore, it is unnecessary here to inquire how long it lasted. The prediction containing the term is very precise and clear ; also, for the greater emphasis, it is doubled, and nearly in the very same words. The locusts had power given them, as the scorpions of the earth have power; yet was it given for a special purpose, namely, not to kill, but to torment and hurt men five months. The emphasis is evidently upon the duration of their power to torment and hurt ; namely, by their continual invasions ; so that men should desire death rather than such a mis-chievous and unsettled condition. It is the nature of a scorpion, during the season of its stinging, to be perpetually attempting to sting. Its tail, we are informed, is always striking ; as if designed to miss no opportunity. A state of things described by such a similitude, might well cause vexation and torment of mind, yea, miseries that would make men weary of their lives !
Secondly. “ It is observable that natural locusts are only taken notice of, while they are making flights or incursions to destroy the fruits of the earth.
“ As soon as they have settled, and begun to lay their eggs, their numbers quickly die away, and are no more regarded by men. So that the type of the
THE SOUNDING OP THE FIFTH TRUMPET. 171
locusts is only to represent a great multitude of ene-mies making incursions and ravaging countries ; but as soon as those enemies go off, or settle, and cease from such excursions, they can no more be repre-sented under the type of locusts. The Prophets, therefore, never use this symbol to explain a settled monarchy, be it ever so tyrannical and tormenting ; nor do authors who often compare plunderers to locusts, use such comparisons except to illustrate their incursive ravages.
“ While the Saracens, therefore, kept up their march of *plunder and spoliation, making numerous and prodigiously great incursions into Christendom, so long they were the locusts ; but when they left off that way, settled and erected monarchies, and endea-voured rather to preserve themselves in a quiet state, than to annoy Christendom at the old rate, and seek out new conquests and adventures, then they were no more like locusts—and then the work for which they were appointed, in relation to the term of this plague, was performed.״*
Now from a.d. 612, when Mahomet, having fled from Mecca to Medina, began to propagate his reli-gion by the sword, as well as publicly to preach it, an hundred and fifty years bring us to a. d. 762; in which year, the Caliph Almansor founded and built the city of Bagdad, calling it the City of Peace. Then did the Saracens, surrounded with the riches of the East, desist from their locust devastations,
* Daubuz. I 2
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and became a settled, lettered, and civilized people. “ The luxury of the Caliphs, so useless to their pri-vate happiness, relaxed the nerves, and terminated the progress, of the Arabian empire. Temporal and spiritual conquest had been the sole occupation of the first successors of Mahomet; and after supplying themselves with the necessaries of life, the whole revenue was scrupulously devoted to that necessary work. Instead of pursuing the great object of ambi-tion, their leisure, their affections, the powers of their mind, were diverted by pomp and pleasure; the rewards of valour were embezzled by women and eunuchs, and the royal camp was encumbered by the luxury of the palace. A similar temper was diffused among the subjects of the Caliph. Their stern en-thusiasm was softened by time and prosperity ; they sought riches in the occupations of industry ; fame in the pursuits of literature ; and happiness in the tran-quillity of domestic life. War was no longer the passion of the Saracens.”*
The testimonies of other historians is to the same effect, that from the building of Bagdad they ceased from their aggressive propensities, and only engaged in ordinary wars, like other nations. Mr. Hallam, after giving the outline of Saracenic history, says, that for three centuries after Mahomet, one was that “of glorious conquest; a second, of sta-tion ary, but rather precarious greatness ; a third of rapid decline.”־)־ Elmacin, a Christian Arabic writer
f On the Middle Ages, Vol. II. p. 176.
* Gibbon.
THE SOUNDING OF THE FIFTH TRUMPET. 173
of the thirteenth century, divides their history into three books : the first of which describes their origin and increase, from a.d. 622 to 746 ; the second, their declension ; the third, their distractions and dissipa-tions. Still more to the point, Mr. Mills, in his History of Mohammedanism, considers the founding of Bagdad as a marked chronological era in the Saracen empire ; the period which preceded it being that of the undivided Caliphate, or the rise of the Saracen power ; whereas the period which succeeds it, is that of the divided Caliphate, or the decline and fall of the Saracen power.f
Lastly. The very circumstance of a divided Ga-liphate shews that they were no longer the pro-phetic locusts ; for these had only one king over them ; whereas, after the foundation of Bagdad, the chair of Mahomet was disputed by three contem-porary caliphs, or “ commanders of the Faithful,” who reigned respectively, and with almost equal magnificence, at Bagdad, and Cairo, and Cordova. *
* Mills’ History of Mahommedanism, pp. 44, 104, 105, 132.
CHAPTER IX.
THE DIVINE VISITATIONS UPON THE ROMAN EMPIRE,
MORE ESPECIALLY IN THE EAST,
AT THE SOUNDING OF THE SIXTH TRUMPET;
IN
THE RISE AND ESTABLISHMENT OF THE TURKS, OR OTTOMANS.
The four horns of the altar—Second “ Woe ” comes at a cons¿· derable distance of time after the first—Decline of the Saracens —First Turkish Sultan—The Turks a great people before they were restrained or “ bound ”—Divided into four Sultanies on the Euphrates—Were u bound ״—By their own mutual con-tentions—By the Crusades—By the Moguls—Their loosing— Rise of the Ottoman power—Work it was to perform—Trepara-tion for it—Time of its continuance—Description of the Turks —Their demolition of the Eastern Empire in the fall of Con -stantinople—Establishment of Mahometanism on its ruins— Attempts against the West—Western Idolatry and wickedness.
176
CHAPTER IX.
THE SECOND WOE TRUMPET ; OR THE JUDGMENTS INFLICTED BY THE TURKS.
“ And the sixth angel sounded ; and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar, which is before God, saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet.״ (ix. 13,14.)
Concerning the four horns of the golden altar, see Exod. xxvii. 2. A description of the altar itself, in connexion with these Trumpets, has been already given.*
The horns of the altar were eminences or upright projections, not merely for ornament, but also origi-nally that sacrifices of animals might be bound to them ;—“ Bind the sacrifice with cords, even to the horns of the altar.”f But perhaps the more correct idea of the symbol is given in the margin of Ezekiel xliii. 15, where it is said, “ From the altar (or lion of God, or “lion of strength,” or of the “mighty,”) and upward, shall be four horns horns being thus
f P8alm cxviii. 27.
* Ch. vii.p. 125,
X See Exodus xxx. 10.
THE SIXTH TRUMPET—THE TURKS. 177
considered as expressive of strength, power, or king-doms.
A voice proceeding from such a place is not only “ a strong indication,” as Bishop Newton affectingly observes, “ of Divine displeasure, but plainly intimates that the sins of men must have been very great, when the altar (itself), which was their sanctuary and pro-tection, called aloud for vengeance.” The voice, moreover, as proceeding from the horns, denotes that the strength and majesty of the Most High are spe-eially pledged to the vindictive infliction; also it appears to intimate that no intercession should any longer prevent or delay its execution.
The command of the voice is :
“ Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates.” (ver. 14.)
Here it is requisite to notice several facts
1st. That a considerable time elapsed between the first and this second “ woe.” It would seem as if the patience of God had waited long, before He brought another such a scourge upon the backsliding church ; a fact which responds to the prophetic de-claration in the 12th verse, “ One woe is past; behold there come two woes more hereafter;”—the last word of this announcement appearing to denote a no inconsiderable interval.
Now we have seen that in a.d. 762 the Saracens ceased to be the “ locusts,” became settled, and built Bagdad, “the City of Peace.” Rahdi, who flou-
CHAPTER IX.
!?S
rished about a.d. 940, and was the thirty-ninth of the successors of Mahomet, was the last who would be called “Commander of the Faithful;״ the last who spoke to the people, or conversed with the learned; and the last who, in the expense of his household, represented the wealth and magnificence of the Caliphs. After him, the lords of the Eastern world were reduced to the most abject misery, and exposed to the blows and insults of a servile condi-tion.*
In this condition, now that their power was weak-ened, their empire diminished, their revenues taken away, and nothing of their former magnificence left them but the name, the rising power of the Turks broke in both upon them, and upon the world at large. This mighty people originated from a nation which dwelt north-east of the Caspian Sea. One of the greatest of their early princes was Mahmud, who reigned over the eastern provinces of Persia one thousand years after the birth of Christ, and about four hundred years after Mahomet. “ His father,״ remarks Gibbon, “was the slave of the slave of the slave of the Commander of the Faithful.״ In his conquests he surpassed the limits of those of Alex-ander,f and for him the title of Sultan was invented. The following account of him, by Gibbon, is deeply interesting. “ His behaviour in the last days of his life evinces the vanity of these possessions, so labo-
f Diss. ch. xi. 279.
* Gibbon.
THE SIXTH TRUMPET—THE TURKS. 179
riously won, so dangerously held, and so inevitably lost. He surveyed the vast and various chambers of the treasury of Gazna ; burst into tears ; and again closed the doors, without bestowing any portion of the wealth which he could no longer hope to preserve. The following day he reviewed the state of his mili* tary force, one hundred thousand foot, fifty-five thousand horse, and thirteen hundred elephants of battle. He again wept at the instability of human greatness.”
After Mahmud was removed, the Turkish princes of the race of Seljuk, by whom he had been defeated, erected a splendid and solid empire on the ruins of the Caliphate. The first of this dynasty was Togrul, or, as he is sometimes called, Tangrolipix, the grand-son of Seljuk ; he began to be famous about the year 1038. After conquering Bagdad, he was clothed with the imperial purple, by the caliph Cayem, a.d. 1055, and constituted the ruler of the kingdom, “ the temporal vicegerent of the Moslem world.” This inauguration was the grand downfall of the Saracen empire, and the first important rise of the Turks.
Secondly. The next fact of which we are reminded by this command, given to the sixth angel from the horns of the golden altar, is, that the people here sig-nified by “the four angels,” or messengers of Provi-dence, were prominently in sight, and had been let loose upon the Roman world before they were “bound;” that after the fall of the Saracens, they had begun their devastations, but were providentially
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restrained otherwise there appears no point in the expression. Now such was the fact with respect to the Turks. Under the successor of Togrul, they invaded the Roman Empire, says Gibbon, with ״ my-riads of Turkish horse;״ and he adds, that ״the blood of one hundred and thirty thousand Christians was a grateful sacrifice to the Arabian prophet.״ The Sultan^ passed the Euphrates at the head of his cavalry, and entered Cœsarea, the metropolis of Cap-padocia ; so that before his death the fairest provinces of Roman Asia were irretrievably sacrificed, and sub-ject to his laws ; while twelve hundred kings or chiefs stood before his throne, and two hundred thousand soldiers marched under his banners.
His son and successor was Malek Shah, who reigned from the year 1072 to the year 1092. He is said to have been the greatest prince of his age ; and ״ marched at the head of innumerable armies.״ From the Chinese frontier he stretched his immediate ju-risdiction, or feudatory sway, to the west and to the south, as far as the mountains of Georgia, the neigh-bourhood of Constantinople, the Holy City of Jeru-salem, and the spicy groves of Arabia Felix ;* and in his reign Asia Minor began to be known by the name of Turkey.
Thirdly. The third fact of which we are reminded by this command is, that those instruments of Divine vengeance were, at the time they were bound, not, as we have just contemplated them, a united but a
* Gibbon,
THE SIXTH TRUMPET—THE TURKS. 181
divided people, "Loose the four angels which are bound upon the river Euphrates.”
Accordingly, after the death of Malek Shah, a.d# 1092, the greatness and .unity of this race of the Turkish Sultans expired in the four-fold division of their hitherto united empire, and the vast fabric fell to the ground. "After a series of civil wars,” observes Mr. Mills, "four dynasties, contemporary, and not successive, were formed :״ all of the house of Seljuk. The first commanded Persia at large ; the second, that of Kerman, an extensive though obscure dominion on the shores of the Indian ocean ; the third, a large portion of Syria, including Aleppo and Damascus; and the fourth, Roum, or the Roman provinces of Asia Minor.* It is true that this qua-druple division did not long continue ; but from the circumstance of its being made at the time the re-straint was first put upon the threatening power of the Turks—in other words, at the time of their being bound—it is here brought forward as a mark of identity, in a similar manner to the fourfold division of the empire of Alexander the Great.
This mark of identity is further confirmed by those four divisions of the Turkish empire being all situated in regions bordering on the Euphrates, the utmost boundary of the Roman world in Asia, and from these regions, and the vicinity, continuing to be the place of their residence during the two hundred years they were bound or restrained ; a fact which makes the recognition complete.
* History of Mahom. p. 223. See likewise Gibbon.
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These instruments of destruction or judgment are called angels, as representing messengers who execute the providential designs of the Most High. In the Apocalypse they are frequently spoken of as messen-gers both of mercy and of anger, both of good and evil. In this place they appear to be employed much in the same way as those mentioned in the 49th verse of the 78th Psalm : “ He cast upon them thee fierceness of his anger, wrath, and indignation, and trouble, by sending evil angels among them.”
With these preliminary observations, we come to the more immediate identification in the text—their being bound· It is very evident, that with such an immense and victorious power as that of the three successive Turkish Sultans above described—viz. 1, Mahmud ; 2, Togrul : and 3, Malek Shah—whose armies were almost at the very gates of Constanti-nople, the Eastern Roman Empire must, to all human appearance, soon have fallen. Such, however, not being the decree of heaven, this great overthrow was deferred till the middle of the fifteenth cen-tury ; hence it behoved that their progress should receive an effectual check. And this it received, first, by their own fatal divisions, which weakened their Empire to that degree, that they at once lost their imposing and formidable attitude, and the Turkish veterans were employed or consumed in civil wars. The chief means, however, by which their power was restrained, so as to be confined for the space of two hundred years within the bounds of the Euphrates, were, secondly, the des-
THE SIXTH TRUMPET—THE TURKS. 183
perate, formidable, and enthusiastic attacks made upon them by the combined nations of the West, in what are called the Crusades; the first of which commenced a.d. 1095, about three years after the death of Sultan Malek Shah, that is, immediately after the fourfold division of his empire. Thus with strict propriety it may be said, the four nations of the Turks were then bound at the Eu-phrates.
The well known occasion of those romantic and deeply disastrous expeditions, was the maltreat-ment which pilgrims to the Holy Land had received from the hands of the Turks, and which caused Europe to resound with complaints. The Saracens, while that land was in their possession, had allowed them to visit the city of Jerusalem, on payment of a small tribute ; but the place being taken, in the year 1065, by the more fierce and barbarous Turks, it could no longer be approached with safety. There-fore it soon became the theatre of nations, the central point of the most destructive and long con-tinued warfare ; in the course of which, the power of the Turks was so completely broken, that they were almost removed from sight, and the only adversaries the Crusaders had to deal with, were at length the Mamelukes of Egypt.
A third cause, which contributed still further to weaken and restrain the power of the Turks, is seen in the various revolutions which Asia underwent during this period, and which were occasioned chiefly by the conquests of Zingis Khan, the first
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Emperor of the Moguls or Tartars, who reigned from a.d. 1206 to 1227; as also by the victories of his successors. In 1258, one of the latter extinguished the Saracenic Caliphs, who, subsequently to the fall of the Turkish Sultans, recovered the possession of Bagdad ; and about the same time, when the power of the Crusaders in the Holy Land was decaying, these Mogul emperors made such inroads upon the Turks throughout Asia, as to deprive them of every Sultany. They did indeed suffer a few of them to enjoy their sovereignty in some small part of their ancient dominions, but only as their slaves or tribu-taries. Gibbon, speaking of the Moguls, observes, that had they “ undertaken the siege of Constanti-nople, it must have yielded to the fate of Pekin, Samarcand, and Bagdad.”* Thus was the binding of the four nations of the Turks effected : 1, by their own divisions ; 2, by the Crusades ; and 3, by the invasions of the Moguls.
These observations then bring us at length to the commencement, or first action, of this great Wose ; namely, the removal of the above restraints : “ Loose the four angels that are bound at the great river Euphrates ”—was the high, the awful command to the sixth angel—
<f And the four angels were loosed !” (ver. 15.)
This important reaction in the state of the Turks, look place in the last few years of the thirteenth
* Gibbon, ch. lxiv.
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century. In the first place, the restraint caused by the Crusades was remoyed. The eighth and last left the west of Europe about a.d. 1279 ; and in the year 1291 the Mameluke Sultan took Acre by assault, and obliged the Crusaders to evacuate Asia ; since which period, though several Popes have made attempts to stir up their own adherents, no more of such expe-ditions have ever been undertaken for the recovery of the Holy Land; hence, from that time to the present, it has remained in the hands of the Maho-metans.
And then, at nearly the same time, the Mogul Tartars being defeated and divided among themselves, and Cazan, one of their greatest and most ac-complished princes, dying, the decline of their Khans or Emperors, together with their great local distance, soon enfranchised the Turkish name entirely from their controul.
Moreover, the restraint occasioned by divided sovereignty was removed from among the Turks themselves. The year 1290 was memorable for the rise of Othman, the founder of the present race of the Turkish Sultans, and of the Ottoman Empire : the progress of which is “ connected with the most important scenes of modern historyIts well known origin was as follows :—The fragments of the Seljuk monarchy having been disputed by the Emirs, who had occupied the cities or the mountains, they all confessed the superiority of the Khans. One of these Emirs, the grandfather of Othman, was drowned in the Euphrates, as he was passing that river in
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1214 with his three sons. One of these sons, Orthogrul, who was the father of Othman, remained in the vicinity of that river, while the other two returned to Persia. ״ Othman possessed, and per-haps surpassed, the ordinary virtues of a soldier ; and the circumstances of time and place were propitious to his independence and success. Besides the cessation of the Crusades, and the decline of the Moguls—both of which events gave a free scope to the rise and progress of his empire—all the Turkish kingdoms, families, or tribes, subjected themselves to him, either compelled by force, or of their own accord.
״He succeeded his father Orthogrul, about the year 1290; and, at first, under Aladin, the Sultan of Iconium, made some incursions and conquests on the Roman Empire. It was, however, on the twenty-seventh of July, in the year one thousand two hundred and ninety-nine of the Christian era, that Othman first invaded the territory of Nicomedia; and the singular accuracy of the date seems to disclose some foresight of the rapid and destructive growth of the monster.”* In his person, therefore, as the univer-sally acknowledged founder of the present empire of the Turks, and as representing the whole nation, were the four angels of the sixth trumpet loosed, and the sixth trumpet sounded !
-----------“Which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and
a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men/״ (v. 15.)
* Gibbon, ch. lxiv.
THE SIXTH TRUMPET—THE TURKS. 187
Three things are here especially to be noticed :— 1st. The work to be accomplished :
2dly. A time of preparation for it :
3dly. The period of its continuance.
1st. With regard to the work itself for which the Turks were loosed, it is said to be for the purpose of slaying the third part of men. To “kill” a body politic, is to make it cease to be, either by utterly destroying the people of it, or by subjecting it to a new authority, whereby it ceases to be what it was before. Thus to deprive of political life and government one-third part of men, must therefore signify, in this place, to consign to political destruction one-third part of the Roman Empire. The three parts of which the whole consisted, have been already noticed:* that which is here prophesied of, must, from all the particulars, but chiefly from its locality with respect to the Euphrates, be the Eastern portion. The other two parts had long ago changed masters and inha-bitants ; though it is true, that with such a change a new Roman Empire of the West had, as long as five centuries back, arisen under Charlemagne. The East alone had really survived unto this time ; and while the successive invasions of seven hundred years had lopped off all its limbs one by one, and the majesty and glory of the Roman name were now almost con-fined to the walls of Constantinople, still the pulse beat at the heart. The Turks were loosed for the purpose of striking at that heart, and piercing it:
* Ch. vii. p. 130.
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they were to kill where the Saracens had only hurt ; and their kingdom was finally to supplant the Eastern Roman Empire. This being the work they were to accomplish, we have next to consider,
2dly. Their preparation for it. It was not immediately on the rise of Othman, and the removal of the restraints that had confined them to the Euphrates, that they were to be in a position to strike this great blow, and to seize the destined victim of their future aggrandizement and splendour—the greatest prize in the diadem of Europe. There was to be the ״preparation מ of a century and a half, during which period a succession of warlike and active princes, who were also cruel and merciless tyrants, establishing and consolidating their revived empire, retraced the steps of the former Seljuk monarchs, nor stopped till the great object of their ambition was attained. In this interval they had occasionally to contend with powerful and active enemies, chiefly with the Latins of the West, against whom they were generally victorious ; as also with the Tartars, under the dread Timur, or Tamerlane. By the latter, was defeated in a very great battle, and taken prisoner, a.d. 1402, one of their most distinguished Sultans, Bajazet, who was called, from the rapidity of his conquests, the Lightning, Hence the fall of Con-stantinople was delayed about fifty years ; while the massy trunk of the Ottoman monarchy was bent to the ground ; but after that hurricane it again arose in livelier vigour than before.
189
PERIOD OF 391 YEARS.
3rdly. The period of its continuance ; “ an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year.”
The precision and minuteness with which this annunciation is made, bespeaks it to be for a very particular purpose; consequently it demands very particular attention. In fact, the very circumstance of a iveek being not included shews design. It is scarcely necessary to add, that, with the great body of commentators, we are to consider the period, as thus expressed, to be symbolical ; and that the usual mode of prophetic computation, which has already been explained and applied, is still to be adhered to. This will bring the day, the month, and the year, to 391 prophetic days, which are conse-quently to be reckoned as natural years.*
The great mistake which commentators appear to have committed with regard to this important period, whence also it has been computed to so little practical effect, is their anachronistic ap-plication of it. Instead of applying it to the action itself— which action is the great object of the vision— it has generally been mistaken to belong to the “ pre-paration” and the dates of events of minor importance have been strained thus to accommodate it. I am persuaded, however, that the true idea has been expressed by Dean Woodhouse in the following words: “The continuance of time to be measured is that during which the evil angels continue to slay the third part of men :”־־that is, during which the
* Sir Isaac Newton, p. 307.
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Turks retain their hold of Constantinople, the seat of the vitality of the Eastern Empire. Viewed in this light, the symbolical period has begun by this time almost to speak out its own interpretation. The whole 15 th verse will then be read in plain language, as follows : And the four nations of the Turks, which had been bound at the river Euphrates, were loosed, having been prepared to consign to political destruction the Eastern Roman Empire for S91 years and one fortnight. In other words, a great nation was prepared by God, to do a very great work, whic’1 work was to continue to be carried on during this specific period.
On the sixth of April, 1453, Mahomet IL, planting his standard before the gate of St. Romanus, sat down to the memorable siege of the devoted city ; while all Europe and the world awaited with intense interest the result. After fifty-two days—that is, on the memorable 29th of May—Constantinople was taken ! and thus the capital of the Eastern world, which, for so many centuries, “had defied the power of Chosroes, theChagan,and the Caliphs, was irretrievably subdued by the arms of Mahomet the Second.״ Constantine (Palæologus), the last of above a thousand years’ sue-session of the Byzantine Cæsars, was killed in its defence. The Turks entered the city, howling more horribly than beasts of prey. They slew the defence-less inhabitants without the least remorse, and with-out the least respect to dignity, age, or sex. The whole army had free permission to massacre, violate, and pillage for three whole days. Senators were linked
191
FALL OF CONSTANTINOPLE.
with their slaves ; the prelates with the porters of the church ; and young men of the plebeian class, with noble maids, whose faces had been invisible to the sun and to their nearest kindred. In this common captivity all social ranks were confounded : all ties of nature were cut asunder ; and the inexorable soldier was careless of the father’s groans, the tears of the mother, and the lamentations of the children.* No tongue can express the misery caused by some hundreds of thousands of merciless beings, thus satiating their avarice, lust, and cruelty, for three long days and nights. The Sultan, it is said, heard their cries in his camp, and they lulled him to sleep : the dogs ran into the fields howling with terror, or leaped into the sea.
This great and sad event is thus affectingly noticed by Mr. Hallam. “Before Mahomet the Second planted his cannon against the walls of Constantinople, he had completed every smaller conquest, and de-prived the expiring Empire of every hope of succour or delay. It was necessary that Constantinople should fall, but the magnanimous resignation of her emperor bestows an honour upon her fall which her prosperity seldom earned. The long deferred but inevitable moment arrived, and the last of the Cæsars folded round him the imperial mantle, and remem-bered the name which he represented, in the dignity of heroic death. It is thus that the intellectual principle, when enfeebled by disease or age, is said
* Gibbon.
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to raMy its energies in the ז resence of death, and pour the radiance of unclouded reason around the struggles of dissolution.”* It is thus—to carry further the same idea to its highest limit and most correct bearing—that often the principle of Christian faith, when the body is enfeebled by disease or age, rallies its energies in the presence of death, and the radiance of unclouded bliss opens around the struggles of dissolution.
The remaining fragments of the Eastern Empire were in due course overrun by the Turks, who from time to time spread their devastations and conquests to the very verge of the Latin kingdoms, even to besieging, on several occasions, Vienna, the capital of the Western Empire. As, however, in these attempts they were exceeding their prescribed bounds, they were, at length, finally stopped by Prince Eugene, in the fatal battle of Zenta, on the Teiss, in Hungary, fought a.d. 1697, two hundred and forty-four years after the fall of Constantinople. The results of this conflict were as disastrous to the Turkish invaders, in respect of numbers killed, as the great battle of Tours had been to the Saracens under the former woe ;t and it so far broke their power, that, although there have been, from time to time since this period, wars between them and the Western nations, the latter have generally had the ad-vantage. In short, it has confined them very much to their own proper limits ; for the peace of Carlowitz,
* On the Middle Ages, Yol. II. p. 193. f Ch, viii. p. 163.
FALL OF THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE. 193
consequent upon it, deprived the Sultans of nearly one half of their possessions in Europe ; and from this diminution of territorial sovereignty, the Ottoman empire, which once threatened universal subjugation, ceased to be formidable to Christendom.* Since that time their power has been on the decline ; and “ in the present day,” to use again the words of Mr. Hallam, “we anticipate, with an assurance which none can deem extravagant, the approaching subversion of the Ottoman power, which has long been nodding to its fall, and totters at every blast from the north.”
The work for which the Ottomans had been “ pre-pared ” of God, having been accomplished when they destroyed the vitality of the Eastern Empire, by the taking of its capital a.d. 1453, it is from that year, we conceive, that their allotted period of 391 years is to be reckoned. Accordingly 390 of those years are already past ; and surprising as this may be to many, yet when we consider that 1844 is the very year which, as we have before inferred, the Old Testa-ment prophecies point out for the fall of the Ottoman empire;—that such a conclusion is in harmony with the chronological application of our Lord’s parable of the fig-free, and with the present passing away of the “ Generation ” he there speaks of ;t—when, more-over, we consider to what a helpless and dying state the Turkish power is at length reduced, as may be
* See Cox’s History of the House of Austria.
t See Chapter V. above.
K
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seen from the quotations given in our former work;* surely it is not unreasonable to apprehend that its subversion may happen even next year, near as it is. Surely, all things considered, the probability is great enough to arouse every one of us to the most determined watchfulness and to the most fervent prayer, that we may be prepared for those stupendous events, both of judgment and mercy, which the fall of the Turkish power will most certainly usher in·
The next verse contains a very particular and ter-rible description of the symbolical “ four angels that is, of the Turkish invading forces.
“ And the number of the army of the horsemen was two myriads of myriads, and I heard the number of them. And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and those that sat on them having breast-plates of fire, of hyacinth, and of brimstone. And the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions ; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone.” (vv. 16,17.)
The action they were to perform having been men-tioned previously to this showing of how fully they had been prepared for it, may serve as an additional reason for referring such action on to the time when they had become thus prepared ; consequently not back to their incipient state under Othman, when they were merely “ loosed.״ The symbol of horsemen suggests the idea of veteran discipline, and accord-ingly would have been inapplicable to the Arabian invaders predicted as locusts under the fifth Trumpet, and still less applicable to the instruments of Provi-
See Diss. çh. vi. pp. 138—143, Third Edition.
FALL OF THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE. 195
dence employed under either of the four which pre-ceded it. The locusts are indeed described as “ like unto horses prepared for war/* (ver. 7 ) ; but the symbols of this sixth Trumpet are horses—nay more, “ an army of horsemen ? the superior descrip-tiveness of which expressions appears not to be without its meaning, namely, to bespeak superior tact, discipline, and material of military art.
Another intimation of the kind is their being definitely numbered. While their amazing multitude implies that there should be no lack of strength and force ; the definiteness of the number, uttered also by a symbolical voice, implies something very like a regular muster. “ I heard,” saith St. John, “ th number of them.” The whole conveys the idea of a vast army in the highest state of discipline ; and such was that of the Turkish Sultan at the siege of Constantinople, who, agreeably to these predictive symbols, brought into the field his hundreds of thou-sands of regular troops for the mighty work he was appointed to achieve.
The breast-plates of these mounted warriors were “ of fire, and of hyacinth, and brimstoneThe breast-plates of the Saracen “ locusts ” were de-scribed as iron.* The one and the other appear evi-dently to foreshew the most formidable and destructive weapons of warfare;—but the different prophetic description of these later ones, appears to point at a sort of arms strikingly different from those of the
* Ch. viii. 151. K 2
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Saracens. And strikingly different from them, in-deed, were the arms of the Turk. Among his im-plements of destruction, Mahomet II. studied with peculiar care the recent and tremendous discovery of the Latins—namely, gunpowder, and its use in war—so that his ordnance surpassed whatever had yet appeared in the world ; and it was applied with the superior energy of zeal, riches, and despot-ism. The heavy artillery of Mahomet II. was “an important and visible object in the history of the times." It is no far-fetched notion to believe, that these tremendous engines of destruction, which had only been brought to perfection about half a century before, and which had so effective and notable an influence in the success of the Turkish Sultan, are here foreshown by the breast-plates of fire, hyacinth, and brimstone :—of “fire," as signifying destruction, havoc, and war, and especially in this connection, by means of ordnance;—of “hyacinth," the blue tint of the discharged volumes of smoke ;—and “ brimstone ” as the main ingredient of gunpowder. As the imple-ment was altogether new, so nowhere, in any of the prophets, or of the sacred writings, do such represen-tâtions of hyacinth and brimstone previously occur.
The heads of the horses being as the heads of lions, expresses the great and untameable ferocity of the warriors ; and that out of the horses* mouths * issued fire, and smoke, and brimstone, appears to
* What the u chariots and horses ״ of former ages had been in battle, such from this period would 07dnance become.
197
MAHOMMEDANISM.
intimate that their offensive as well as defensive arms were of one and the same description—the latter being represented by breast-plates, the former by horses, with fire and smoke and brimstone proceed-ing out of their mouths.
״ By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and the smoke, and the brimstone issuing out of their mouths.” (ver. 18.)
These remarkable appellatives are here repeated for the third time; and from their being now so distinctly and emphatically mentioned as three— “ these three ”—we might with probability regard them as intimating three distinct operatives of de-struction, each exerting its influence to consummate the great catastrophe. In that case, the fire will designate the general havoc of war; th e smoke, having the same symbolical meaning as under the former Trumpet, will import infernal, darkening, and de-structive doctrines,* which of themselves are a visi-tation most grievous ; and the brimstone will indi-cate the peculiar kind of artillery that was now for the first time employed, and this successfully, in the fatal struggle : for by “ these three ” was Constan-tinople taken, with all the horrors of desolating invasion let loose upon the remnant of the Eastern Empire, and by “ theseמ was the infernal religion of Mahommedanism established there upon the ruins of adulterated Christianity.
“ For the force (or efficiency) of the horses is in their mouth and in their tails, for their tails are like serpents, (those tails) having heads, and with them do they injure.״ (ver. 19.)
* Ch. viii. p. 156.
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The locusts of the fifth Trumpet, or the Saracens, whom they represent, are mentioned as wounding with their tails ;* but here the horses, or the Turks, whom they typify, have force or efficacy but in their mouths and in their tails ; while with the latter, it is expressly said, they effect grievous injury. The great work for which the Turkish armies had been loosed and prepared, having effectually begun its career in the overwhelming destruction of Constantinople by Ottoman cannon, we are next told, that not only was her empire thus subverted, but that “her religion was trampled in the dust by the Moslem conquerors”! Before the expiration of the pre-ceding “ woe,” the poisonous religion of the Saracens had been taken up by those who were appointed to succeed them, in order to bring to pass the divine visitations of the sixth Trumpet.
“ The first of the Seljuk Sultans was conspicuous for his zeal and faith. The whole body of the Turkish nation had embraced with fervour and sincerity the religion of Mahomet thus their power, like that of the Saracens, was in their tails ; they not only injured or hurt with their mouth—their lion’s mouth, out of which issued fire and smoke and brimstone ; but they wrought most grievous oppression of another kind by their religion. This, it is well known, the Turks have done in an equal degree with the Saracens. “ Many indeed of the Greek church remained, and are still remaining, among them ; but they are made to pay
* See chap. viii. 151.	+ Gibbon, ch. lvii. t Bishop Newton.
199
IDOLATRY OF POPERY.
dearly for the exercise of their religion ; are subjected to a capitation tax, which is most rigorously exacted from all above fourteen years of age ; are burthened besides with the most heavy and arbitrary tax upon every occasion; are compelled to the lowest and most servile drudgery ; are abused in their persons and property; have not only the mortification of seeing some of their friends and kindred daily apos-tatize to the ruling religion ; but have had even their children taken from them to be educated therein, of whom the most robust and hardy were trained to the soldiery, and the more weakly and delicate were castrated for the Seraglio.״*
In closing this description, I would just remind the reader, that all the distinguishing peculiarities which Daniel predicted of the Mahommedan impos-ture at the conclusion of his vision of the Ram and of the He-goat, and which have been explained in our Dissertation, chap, xi., did most prominently come to light in the character and principles of the two great nations with whose history that religious imposture is identified, and not much less promi-nently in those of every other nation and people that have adopted it.
“ And the rest of the men who were not killed by these plagues repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devilsyi and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone,
* Bishop Newton.
f Dæmonology, or the worship of departed Saints, or beings made into Romish Saints, &c. &c.
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and of wood ; which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk : neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.” (vv. 20,21.)
The rest of the men who were not killed by these plagues, were the inhabitants of the Western Empire, the ten Latin kingdoms ;—inasmuch as the Saracenic plague had been stopped by the victory of Charles Martel, from being fatal to this part of the Roman Empire ; and the Turkish plague had been arrested, in like manner, by the heroism of Prince Eugene. Concerning these “ men,” (in whose number we, as a nation, are included,) it is here expressly declared, by the unerring voice of Almighty God, that such long and tremendous visitations produced in them no repent-anee of the works of their hands, that they should not worship idols, nor repent of their most wicked and deeply immoral conduct. The nations of the West therefore, in the eyes of God, are guilty of idolatry—and idolatry of the most revolting descrip-tion ; for nothing more strong could be said of the idolatry of Paganism. It matters not what sophistry has been invented to give colour to the use of images or pictures in religious worship ; images and pictures, the works of their hands, do these nations avowedly use for such a purpose; and God himself, who wrote the Second Commandment, which with impious con-sistency they expunge from the Decalogue, calls every such image—let it represent what it will— idols of gold, silver, brass, stone, and wood, which can neither see, nor hear, nor walk. A sin which could thus be denounced by Him who alone is en-
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IDOLATRY OP POPERY.
titled to the worship of His creatures,—a sin which could call for such animadversion as this, with an evi-dently implied reference to the third woe yet to be inflicted under that seventh Trumpet, which is yet to sound—must be a sin of the deepest dye. Like the idolaters of heathenism, both ancient and modern, men who practise it are given over to a reprobate mind ; accordingly they trample on the other commands of their Maker. They commit murders, and sorceries, and fornications, and thefts ; and these, too, under the licence of their priests ! How great the guilt, no language can express ! Neither can be expressed the greatness of its punishment ! Here then is a fearful, a most fearful, warning ; nor can we see how its force, as peculiarly applying to the ten Latin or Papal kingdoms, is to be evaded. Contrary to the express command of God, they continue to make images of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and wood ; contrary to His equally distinct and express commands, they dare His vengeance by granting in-dulgences and absolutions for the commission of all descriptions of crimes. So far this fearful warning applies not to the Jews, nor even to the Mahomme-dans ; for neither of these are idolaters. Respecting the latter, Gibbon observes, that “the intellectual image of the Deity has never been degraded by any visible idol! Thus it indubitably does apply to those men who were not politically killed by the Ma-hommedan plagues or woes ; and those men, let it be again repeated, are the ten kingdoms of the West; for they alone of “the men” here mentioned, they
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especially as “ the rest of the men/* make unto them-selves many graven images ; they bow down to them ; yea, they worship them.
In this tremendous guilt it is most painful to reflect that our own country and its dependencies are again fast returning to participate. Well would it be if our rulers would look to these things, so as to judge of them in the light of Holy Scripture, and not through the medium of a mere political, that is, a mere “ natural,״ understanding. But the hope is vain. All that can now be done, is, for those who truly fear God to take warning and stand firm,—to take instant warning ; for this animadversion upon the unrepented sins and idolatry of the Western nations is virtually a denunciation of judgment ; an announcement that their turn will come, yea that on them the next and final Woe will certainly fall !
CHAPTER X.
THE FALL OF THE PAPACY:
COINCIDENT WITH
THE CESSATION OF THE SIXTH TRUMPET; THE SEVEN THUNDERS; AND THE OPENING OF THE SEVENTH SEAL.
The Second Woe not yet past—Re-appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ—His description the same as in Rev. i., and why—As the slain Lambf and for what end—His opening the Seventh Seal, or the (( little book ״—The purpose of his present ap-pearing—The Seals and Trumpets here unite their histories— The Seven Thunders; what is to be generally understood by them—The death of the Duke of Orleans supposed to be one of them—Others of them supposed to be past—The Lord Christ’s solemn asseveration—same as described in Daniel—Import of it concerning the termination of the Papal power—Awful warning given against this apostacy—History of redemption as concerned with it here terminates—To be deeply studied and digested— Diversity of characters in which Christ appears—Observations on the little opened book, and the prophecies yet to be given.
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THE FALL OF THE PAPACY, COINCIDENT WITH THE CESSATION OF THE SIXTH TRUMPET, &c.
The detail of the fifth Trumpet was concluded with these remarkable words: “The first Woe is past, behold there come two woes more hereafter.” But it is otherwise with the sixth Trumpet ; for now that the general description has been here given, still its termination is suspended through nearly two ad-ditional chapters. Yes; and these contain visions of a great variety of events precursive to the an-nouncement that “The second Woe is past !”
Introductory then to such consummation of “ the second Woe,” is another glorious vision of our Lord Jesus Christ; for the following description, as compared with the former in Rev. i. 13—16, can apply to no one else.
“ And l saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud : and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire.7' (x. 1.)
We have already met with symbols of the same kind in the first chapter. If those could signify nothing less than the power and deity of our Lord Jesus Christ ; then these now before us, which are the same in substance, must denote the same. In
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RE-APPEARANCE OP CHRIST.
those, his countenance was ״as the sun shineth in his strength:״ in these, his face was ״as it were the sun.״ In those, his feet were ״like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace ; in these, his feet were as ״ pillars of fire whilst his being clothed with ״ a cloud, and a rainbow upon his head,״ are symbols that undoubtedly can apply to God alone. True then must it be, that since the former description represented the ״Son of man,״ as we are there expressly told by the text itself, the one here before us can represent no other.
The mutual relation of the several columns of this prophetic history will be the more strikingly per-ceived, if we bear in mind the specific acts which it respectively ascribes to the various inhabitants of the heavenly world ; and especially those which are appropriated here, and in other parts of it, to the Lord Jesus himself. The present instance of the kind requires our particular notice, and hereby we shall gain surprising elucidation of an obscurity which has always been accounted one of the greatest in the whole prophecy, and has hitherto much perplexed every commentator.
On referring, then, to the preceding manifestations of Christ in this wonderful book, we first behold him invested with the appropriate attributes of God-head, and exercising an ever-watchful superinten-dence over the most minute affairs of His church. (Chap. I. II. HI.) He next (in Chap. V. and seq.) appears as our atoning sacrifice, the Lamb that had been slain; and in this character, overruling all events for the benefit of that church up to the period
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we are still looking for, of its translation to Heaven ; and in particular, overruling to her advantage the continuation of the Roman empire, and of its ten Western kingdoms. And this he is symbolically represented as doing, by opening successively the seven seals of a seven-fold roll, in which her desti-nies are contained, and which, in presence of all the company of heaven, he took out of the right-hand of God, The periods of time occupied by this mys-tical roll, include those various stages of the visible church’s decay which were evolved by the respec-tive reigns of Constantine, Theodosius, Justinian, and Charlemagne; then the various phases of the Protestant Reformation; then the French Révolu-tion, and the subsequent calm under which we are now living—up to what shall be intended by the half ·hour3 8 silence of the seventh and last seal, the seal of the innermost volume of the seven-fold roll ; which innermost volume, as compared with the six preceding ones that involved it, is, in the chapter before us, called a “ little book.”
At the original opening of that little book, and at about the consequent conclusion of the series of events signified by the seals, the subject of them having been abruptly broken off, Christ, who had been exhibited in the character of the slain Lamb, with the little book already open in his hand, had ceased for a while to be exhibited ; and why ? lo it was for the purpose of inserting, from their com-mencement down to the self-same point of time at which we are here already arrived, the series of events signified by the trumpets ! We have just
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THE LITTLE OPENED BOOK.
been reviewing that inserted series, as far as the sixth Trumpet, which has long been sounded ; and now, having been brought onward to the critical moment which immediately precedes the sounding of the seventh and last, we suddenly behold Christ, no longer exhibited as the slain Lamb, but in another character, and for the performance of a very different work. The present dispensation being closed by the translation of the Lord’s rescued elect to the regions of bliss, the Saviour appears as ״a mighty angel coming down from heaven, clothed in a cloud, with a rainbow upon His head, and His face as it were the sun, and His feet as pillars of fire.”
“And He had in His hand ב little book open/’ (ver. 2.)
Or “a little book that had been opened” Respecting this, it has been appositely remarked,* that ״its having been opened, implies, that previously it must have been sealed. It seems, therefore, to have been a part of the book with seven seals, opened by the Lion of the tribe of Judah ; or otherwise there must have been two sealed books, which would imply that the original book was imperfect. But this would not comport with its emblematical description, representing it as containing seven parts under seven seals, the number of perfection, and therefore indicating that it would completely reveal the whole mystery of God.”
Here, then, ״ the little opened book ” being a por-tion of the book with seven seals, and, in the regular order of events, the seventh, or last portion,—here
* By Gauntlett concurrently with Scott.
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then it is that the two streams of prophecy unite, namely, at the close of the sixth Trumpet ; and now the whole prophetic history is carried on in the line of the Trumpets. So that, as if the Trumpets inter-vening had been omitted, we may here read on ac-cording to the following tenor : “ Immediately after the Lord Jesus had opened the seventh seal, and the suspension of action, the awful pause thereupon ensuing, had passed,—He himself, clothed with the attributes of Deity, and showing, by his thus having that seventh volume opened in his hand, that the unsealed contents of it had been disclosed,—
“ Set his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot upon the earth, and cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roareth.” (w. 2. 3,)
We cannot but view this remarkable symbol as that of a recognition of Christ’s absolute authority and dominion over the whole world ; or, in other words, that it will be a thing no longer questioned, after the great event that will have previously taken place, namely, the translation of the spiritual part of his church to heaven ; and after what will have been accomplished immediately thereupon, namely, that ruin of the apostate nations which we believe to be so near at hand. Men seem at the present day to be endeavouring to exclude God from this world, of which He is the Maker and Preserver ; and, be-cause his long-suffering is not yet ended, they imagine they can still go on with their own plans. At the awful crisis, however, which is here predicted, and which at this day cannot be very far from us, it will be made manifest to all the w׳orld, that “ the heavens do rule.” And the contents of the sixth vial, under
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THE SEVEN THUNDERS.
which we are confessedly living, may well teach us in what manner, and by what means, the voice of the Lord will speak. It will be ״ as when a lion roareth an allusion which but too clearly implies that, imme-diately after what is imported by the seventh seal, the Lord, by some tremendous providence, will make his voice to be heard in intense anger, as the loud roaring of a lion.
THE SEVEN THUNDERS.
“ And when he had cried, seven thunders uttered the:r voices. And when the seven thunders had uttered their voices I was about to write : and I heard a voice from heaven, saying unto me, Seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not.״ (w. 3, 4.)
Here we are assured there will be warning given of the storm by successive peals of thunder: the number seven, as usual, intimating the perfection of that storm : and I cannot but call attention to the grand analogy which is kept up by this symbol. Connecting it with that portion of the prophecy to which it belongs, and with which the little opened book has identified it, we may read as if it were said, —“ After the overturnings and alarms occasioned by the French Revolution, under the sixth seal, had ceased, a tremendous hurricane, to be caused as by the violence of the four opposite winds impetuously rushing together, is declared to be only suspended or restrained until ‘ the servants of God״ are sealed and preserved. Of this hurricane, during such sus-pension or interval of calm and sunshine in the political affairs of the world, it is further declared,
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that notice shall be given by seven peals of thunder ; after which there shall be no let or hindrance ; the four angels will relax their hold of the four winds, and they will rush forth in terrific fury.
It is clear that these seven symbolical thunders will cause no interruption in the great chain of events ; they most probably signify remarkable alarms or loud threatening reports of the approaching ruin —something will give immediate and distinct warn-ing of “the earthquake and great hail” of the seventh Trumpet ! It is not, as we well know, an uncommon thing in the prospect of great evils, to say, that we hear the thunder of them in certain ominous actions or signs : or to say, when news of an astounding nature is heard, that it came like a clap of thunder. Such would naturally be the effect of the order of Ahasuerus, when he directed Haman to honour Mordecai ; and such, in our times, was the news of the death of the Princess Charlotte of Wales.
The Apostle heard the voices which they uttered —he was informed of their ominous signification, and was about to write : a voice from heaven, however, commanded, “ write them not.” Perhaps the reason for this prohibition maybe, that the prophecy might there-by have been too plain and circumstantial; for since the storm which the thunders portended was to come as a “sudden destruction unawares” upon the world of the ungodly, the full writing of the voice, or the in-terpretation of those thunders, would not comport with such design. From the year 1815, twenty-eight years have now passed since the winds were held ; and the question which calls for our attention at this
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THE SEVEN THUNDERS.
stage of the investigation is, have any such like events during this period of stillness transpired ?
Soon after the sudden and unexpected stroke whereby the late Duke of Orleans, the heir ap-parent to the throne of France, had been cut off, and his own and the nation's hopes thereby pros-trated, I thought it right to turn public attention to what appeared to me to be the real nature of the astounding visitation, and to give a few reasons why I considered that event to be the voice of the first Thunder. The following were the arguments used. It was first observed that “ The present period is, above all others since the days of our Lord, one which has been signalized by prophetical events. Yet most remarkable is the fact, that, at the time of their occurrence, these events were almost entirely disre-garded and unobserved, as having anything to do with prophecy. How little was it suspected, at the breaking out of the French Revolution in 1789, that this was the ‘ noisome and grievous sore ' of the first vial ! and that the subsequent scenes through which that great crisis in the world's affairs passed, up to the time of the battle of Waterloo, were the accom-plishments of the four next of the ( seven last plagues !' How little was it suspected, during the career of the Emperor Napoleon, extraordinary as it was, that he was, in his own person,4 the king/ whose character, exploits, and policy, are so accurately drawn in Dan. xi. 36—39 ! And again how little was it suspected, that the great revolution, out of which he at length emerged, and of which he became
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the head, with its tremendous consequences to the world, was the fulfilment of the Sixth Seal ! And yet all this has proved to be true ! These things have happened in our own days, and those most important divine predictions have thereby, almost unconsciously to most men around us, become fulfilled.
“Nay more: in all the chief departments of public life at the present moment prophecy is still fulfilling before our eyes, yet its fulfilment is still unheeded in an equal and amazing degree. It is not only in the political world—in the wasting away of the Turkish Empire—in the conflict of parties—in the extraordinary suspension from war, that we may behold it :—it may be seen, as with a sun-beam, in the “ many running to and fro ”—in the rapid and almost superhuman “ increase of knowledge ”—and in “ the preaching of the everlasting Gospel, as a witness unto all nations, proclaiming “with a loud voice, that the hour of his judgment is come”
“ Clearly then, it is no argument against the deeply prophetical character of an event, that at the time of its fulfilment, its most essential bearing should escape public recognition, which nevertheless may be alive enough to its importance in every other respect. But then the familiar fact of its liability thus to be over-looked, is a most powerful argument for Christian watchfulness, with respect to passing occurrences that are of an importance universally acknowledged, and for sifting their character with a more than com-mon care and interest.
213.
THE SEVEN THUNDERS.
“ On this ground, and for this reason, it is, that I would claim serious attention to the awful and afflictive event above named, as being not only what indeed most persons seem disposed to own, an inter-position from the hand of God, but also one of a highly prophetical character;—as the first direct announcement of the coming storm of divine ven-geance on a guilty world !
“ One reason why I think this, is, because it so exactly corresponds to that dread symbol, a seven-fold Thunder, which it is declared shall characterize the succession of events that are immediately to usher in the Seventh Trumpet. I have stated above, what kind of events I consider to be intimated by such a symbol; and have instanced for illustration the death of our own lamented Princess Charlotte. If lier death—notwithstanding the acknowledged danger which in the course of nature attended her situation — still came as with the voice of thunder, sudden, loud, and fearful; how much more has that done so to which I am now directing attention ! Here there was no cause for alarm—no apprehension of danger—nothing from which so fatal a catastrophe could in the least have been apprehended. It was occasioned by one of the most common of accidents,—a fall from a carriage, without the shadow of a fault being attributed to any person, or even to the horses. So much the greater has been the shock to the public mind, so much the louder and the more clearly from God has been a the voice ” of this alarm ; nor can I conceive any pro-
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phetical event more pointedly answering to the sym-bol of thunder.
" A second reason why I regard this astounding affliction as an apocalyptic fulfilment, is, the series of consequences which it threatens, and this, even in the anticipation of those whom it more immediately con-cems. One of the controlling principles, which should ever be kept in mind in the interpretation of prophecy,—one which is absolutely necessary for ena-bling us to separate predicted events from the exten-sive mass of common history,—is, that such events should be of the most prominent and remarkable kind—that they should be such as originate new orders of things, new features in society, and have a permanent influence on the affairs of the world.
“ The death of the Duke of Orleans, in occasioning probably so wide an interval between the rule of Louis Philip and that of his grandson, in a great king-dom like France, torn and distracted as that kingdom is by intestine divisions, is an event of the character thus insisted on, even as it is likely to be attended with the consequences that form a prophetical era. The language both of the French and English Jour-nais speak of it as .‘a terrible event/—can astound-ing occurrence/ pregnant with more ominous fore-bodings than any other o’t modern times ; and much real fear is betrayed from the embarrassments it is likly to occasion.
(( In the excellent character, the accomplished po-litical education, the manly age, and the national feeling of the fallen prince, he was, says the Journal
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THE SEVEN THUNDERS.
des Debats, 6 the hope of his family and of France. The cruel event has bereft the Royal Family of the best son, the most tender husband, and the most affec-tionate of brothers.3
“‘ The hopes of our constitutional monarchy,3 says the Conner, ‘ were centered in the Duke of Orleans. The soundness of his judgment, the brilliant qualities of his head and heart, gave promise to us of a king such as the country desires. The prospect of a mi-nority, with all its attendant embarrassments, is cal-culated to create a just alarm in the public mind. The death of the Prince is assuredly a just cause for mourning.’
“ ‘ The death of the Prince Royal/ observes the Siècle¡ ‘is a most fatal event. It clouds the present in woe, and throws a dark shadow over the future.3
“ His qualities are thus summed up by M. Dupin :
‘ True son of France, pupil of our national schools, man of the epoch, and of the existing ideas, prince of the youth of France, imbued with national sentiments, dear to every citizen, friend of the soldier, esteemed and honoured by the chiefs of the army, full of affability and of natural eloquence, man of good taste, of grand and yet easy manners, hope of the country.3
“ Our English paper, the Times, in a valuable article on the event, adds the following solid observation : ‘ It is remarkable for its terrible suddenness—for the sympathy which the death of such a prince creates— the sense of common danger which it calls into exist-ence—the uncertainty of the future to all parties—
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and for that feeling of awe and humility of which the most irreverent can scarcely divest themselves in the presence of so great, portentous, and mysterious an act of God \’
66 A third reason why I consider it to be the voice of the First Thunder, is, because it has happened in that country which has been the focus of all the great prophetical events of our times. It was here, as in the great crater of a volcano, that Revo-lution burst forth upon the astonished world, sweep-ing with irresistible and desolating fury the sur-rounding nations. It was in France that the ‘ king who did according to his will, and who exalted and magnified himself above every God/ (see Dan. xi. 36—39), performed his surprising exploits. It was France that first felt the great earthquake, which was attended by the tremendous consequences detailed in the Sixth Seal. (Rev. vi. 12—17·) It was in France that for three years and a half, (from 1793 to 1796,) events so strikingly corresponding to those enlarged upon in Rev. xi. 7—13, transpired. And it was pre-eminently in France, as we have already intimated, that the predictions of the Five First Vials were accomplished : and, likewise, it was there, in the Revolution of 1830, which placed Louis Philippe on the throne, * chat there was the most striking manifestation of the collision of the three evil spirits spoken of in the Sixth Vial—that Vial under which we are yet living ! It is therefore in perfect keeping, that in France, the first act of that new series of events which is to give immediate
217
THE SEVEN THUNDERS.
and certain warning of the rapid close of the present dispensation of abused mercy, should in like manner transpire !
״And when—to say nothing of the political alarm evinced by the public press, by the foreign ambas-sadors in Paris, and by the unexampled depression of the public funds—when we turn our eyes to the palace of the present king of the French, we behold a burst of sorrow, scarcely surpassed by that which took place fifty years ago, in connexion with Louis XVI. and his family. If at that eventful epoch ‘ the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon as blood ; and the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig-tree casteth her untimely figs when she is shaken of a mighty wind so at the present moment, in keeping with the same symbolical language, the second brightest luminary in that heaven has been suddenly and violently arrested in mid course, and lost in the darkest clouds.”
A year has now passed since the above was writ-ten, during which time a sense of the importance of the event to which it refers has rather increased than diminished. The only doubt upon the authors mind now is, whether it be indeed the first, or one of the subsequent Thunders ! whether, in fact, it may not be nearly the last ! For the reason which he has above assigned—namely, that the most important prophetical events, as such, at the time of their occurrence were suffered to pass over unregarded and unobserved—it
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is possible, that some of the loud and sudden alarms which have from time to time shot athwart the poli-tical horizon since the peace of 1815, and which we briefly noticed in speaking of the suspension of the four winds * (Rev. vii. 1—3), may have been of a more portentous import, in connexion with this pro-phecy, than has been suspected. In fact our atten-tion would not now have been awakened to the Duke of Orleans’s untimely death being of this nature, had it not been for a most extraordinary occurrence, but one which it seems premature to relate here. I would again add—on what a verge we seem to stand ! !
But this apocalyptical re-appearance of the Lord Jesus Christ is to answer a further purpose, namely, to give us additional assurance that certain events, foreshown in the concluding scenes of Daniel’s pro-phecies, belong to the present time.
“ And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven, and sware by Him that liveth for ever and ever, who created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein, that there should he time no longer: but in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of Qod should he finished, as He hath declared to his servants the prophets.” (ver. 5—7.)
Could there have been any doubt whether this mighty angel were the Lord Jesus Christ, these
* See ch. vi. pp. 104 of this work.
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THE END OF THE PAPACY.
words must have removed it : for it is not only clear, by the whole description, from the beginning of the chapter, compared with Dan. x. 5, 6, that it is the same person as is described in ch. i. 13—16 ; but it is equally evident, from the attitude he assumes, and from the solemn asseveration he makes, that it is the same person who is so prominently brought for-ward in Daniel’s last vision (Dan. xii. 7)> and which is likewise proved to be the Lord Jesus Christ.*
To remove the obscurity of this august description, we must, as far as possible, divest it of metaphor, and expound it by the language and light of history, as also by the prophecies of the Old Testament. First, then, let us compare, side by side, the passage in Dan. xii. 7> with the above description by St. John.
John says—
a And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea, and upon the earth, lifted up his hand to heaven, and sware by Him that liveth for ever and ever, who created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein, that there should
BE TIME NO LONGER.”
Daniel says—
“ And I heard the man cloth-ed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and sware by Him that liveth for ever and ever, that it shall be for a
TIME, TIMES, AND AN HALF.”
We have already shewn that the first of these asse-verations must refer to the vision of the four wild beasts of Daniel, this being the vision wherein that remark-
* See Diss. ch. xii. pp. 382. L 2
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able term of ״ a time, times, and an half,” is first introduced, consequently where its proper meaning and application were to be ascertained ;* where, how-ever, there could be no hesitation in agreeing with nearly all commentators, that it signifies the duration of the Papal power. And now, can we doubt that the asseveration here compared with it from St, John relates to the very same thing? Surely the only difference is, that the former expresses this period of 1260 years as future, ״ it shall be for a time, times, and an half ;” whereas the latter expresses it as past ; ״time shall be no longer.”
It is clear that the terms in both are chronological ; and that as certainly as the former signifies (con-cerning the Papal power) ״ it shall be for 1260 years,” so certainly does the latter signify that it is those self-same 1260 years that ״shall be no longer,” or in other words, that their termination is close at hand. Here ״time” cannot mean time absolute,as the very next verse may convince us ; for it speaks of ״ the days of the seventh angel ” as still future.
This awfully solemn act, then, must be intended to assure us, that immediately upon ״the Seven Thunders ” ceasing, and the Seventh Trumpet sound-ing, ״ the mystery of God will be finished, as he hath declared for good tidings (so the Greek word properly signifies) to his servants the prophets;” that the anti-christian power, which in the seventh chapter of Daniel is so particularly described as the little horn,
* See Diss.cl). xiv. p.377, compared with ch.x. pp. 231—254·
THE END OF THE PAPACY.	221
will then be “no more ;מ and that this will have been accomplished “in the days of the voice of the seventh Angel (the third and last Woe !) when he shall begin to sound.” It will be, as foretold in Daniel, the first immediate act at “ the time of the end ;” which “time of the end” we have proved to be a period immediately consequent upon the “ time, times, and an half;” for then “shall the king of the South push at him” at the anti-christian power ; also “ the king of the North shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships, and shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and passover.”* This is the whirlwind-storm of wrath, of which the Seven Thunders give such fearful note— and this is the dreadful “ Woe ” that will come im-mediately upon the sounding of the seventh and last Trumpet ! And it verifies the alarming intimation which was implied in the animadversion that followed the détails of the Sixth Trumpet, namely, that “ the rest of the men who were not killed by those plagues ” of the former Woe, repented not, even as they still repent not, “ of the works of their hands, so as to cease from worshipping demons, and idols of gold, and of silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood, which can neither see, nor hear, nor walk ; neither do they repent of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts !” Oh ! let every one who has any regard to present or eternal happiness, attend to the deeply awful warn-
* Diss. ch. xiii. pp. 343—353.
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ing of God against this soul destroying apostacy, namely, the warning which is given in Rev. xiv. 9—12; especially as these divine words have direct reference to a time of trial which seems now so near at hand.
The mystery of God, however, in these present dark dispensations, will, it is declared, be then “ finished and the whole plan of salvation, with the reasons of all those events which now appear so in-scrutable, will be disclosed. The mystery will be to us no longer a mystery; it mil be finished! And wrell may it be called “ the mystery of God for the more it is unfolded to us, the more are we con-vinced of its deep contrivance, exact application, and high design ; the more also does it display the glorious character of God, the equity of His government, and the sovereignty of His grace ; yea, the more we see of it—and probably the contemplation of it in the history of redemption will engage our attention through eternity—the more shall we see that
“ Wisdom through all the mystery shines,
And shines in Jesus’ face;”
that it is in length, and breadth, and depth, and height, emphatically the mystery of God.
“And the voice which I heard from heaven spake unto me again, and said, Go take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel which standeth upon the sea and upon the earth. And I went unto the angel, and said unto him, Give me the little book. And he said unto me, Take it, and eat it up ; and it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey. And I took the little book out of the angel’s
THE LITTLE OPENED BOOK.	223
hand, and ate it up ; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey : and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter. And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings.״ (vv. 8—11.)
The first remark I would make upon these words is, that the voice which John heard, instructing him concerning the little book that was open, came di-rectly “ from Heaven,״ and not by either of the living creatures, or one of the elders, or of the angels. Thus is intimated the superlative importance of the communication. A voice from Heaven had before commanded him (ver. 4) not to write what the Seven Thunders uttered ; and it now commands him to take the little opened book from the hands of Christ, and to eat it up—that is, digest well its contents. His receiving it from the hands of Christ appears to sig-nify that the business to which it related was in the hands of Him alone whose kingdom it concerned, to the coming of which it was the immediate prelude. And in this view the change of character in which he appears is very significant. On opening each of the Seven Seals, it was that of a Lamb which had been slain, because the things to be typified were “ the things concerning himself” as our atoning sacrifice, our Redeemer, and our Saviour. But now that the dispensations of these things is about to close, and he is coming to be known by his church in another character—not as their priest, but as their king—he here appears in his glorious majesty. The propriety of such change in his appearance is familiar to our human and common ideas.
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The command given to the Apostle, as a prophet, by this voice from Heaven, to eat up the little book, should be the more carefully noticedby us, from the considera-tion that it is the only instance of the kind in the Apocalypse. In chap. i. 3, it is said, “ Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this pro-phecy, and keep the things that are written therein.״ That saying, however, is addressed to all in general. But this special command to an individual and to a prophet, particularly as given in such remarkable language, indicates reference to something of unusual importance, and not merely that the contents were to be well digested, studied, and understood. ״Thy words were found,״ says another prophet (Jer. xv. 16), ״ and I did eat them ; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart.״ Our Saviour also, when upon earth, symbolically enjoined the same spiritual act, when he spake concerning himself as “ the Bread of Life,״ in several passages of the sixth chapter of St. John’s Gospel. While then it should not be overlooked that in the same manner are we also doubtless here symbolically directed to digest the contents of the Seventh Seal, we should consider further—
The prophetic occasion of the above command ; for it is important. It is the point whereat the two parallel series of the Seals and Trumpets swell into junction like that of two mighty rivers just before they reach the ocean. For the opened book discloses the last act of the Roman Empire under its last head,—an act which is followed by “ silence in heaven
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for the space of half an hour.״ Now as this silence denotes something of a solemn pause ensuing im-mediately before that great catastrophe which is common to both series, the command to “ eat up ” the book appears strongly to signify that the events of this point of time must be well digested.
Many commentators have imagined that the little opened book comprizes a considerable portion of the predictions given in the subsequent apocalyptic chap-ters ; the half hour’s silence not seeming to represent any occurrence of sufficient magnitude to account for the importance attached to it. But all this is gratui-tous ; whereas, on the other hand, it is as certain that the half hour of silence marks a prophetical era, as that it represents an event in history as prominent as those of the other Seals, although it may seem to have but a negative character ; and that, like those respective events, it will be a hinge whereon a new order of things will turn. For instance, if, just im-mediately before the striking of the finally decisive blow, anticipated by the four winds loosed, pro-posais involving all the consequences attendant upon such a catastrophe should be made to that power which is to be the instrument of it, no human description could convey a just idea of the anxious general suspense, the awful and breathless silence, in which men’s minds would be held ! Such a universal breathless suspense, to the last decisive act of the head of the Empire, or rather to the only act which the yet-to־be־revived head of the Empire,*
* Rev. xvii. 8—14.
L 5
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will have to perform, would fully answer to the pro״ phetic meaning of this symbolical silence. I merely throw out such a hint in order to shew how possible it is that the symbol of this half hour’s silence, chro-nologically considered, may express a week or a fortnight’s anxious inaction ; a small period indeed, but big with results of unutterable moment !
However “sweet” the contents of this little book, or the knowledge of future events connected with it, may be to meditation, as honey is to the taste ; yet when more fully understood, and especially when experienced in the facts of this world, they must oc-casion “ bitter ” grief and anguish of heart.* It is as much as to say, that this symbolical period of si-lence is the immediate forerunner of that overwhelm-ing and final ruin of which the Seven Thunders directly give such fearful warning.
The remaining verse of the chapter appears to imply, that though the series of predictions signified by the Seven Seals has here terminated, yet the same historical ground, though in other connexions and re-lations, was to be traced over again, whereby it would be found to exhibit the future history of “ many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings” hitherto unnoticed ; while it further implies that be-fore the “ Second Woe ” can even yet be pronounced to be past, the prophet would have to go back, in order to foretell other events, whose series would again bring him down to the present point of time, and form the connecting link to other prophecies.
* Scott (with a few verbal alterations.)
CHAPTER XL
THE FALL OF THE PAPAL NATIONS;
THE WAR OF THE FRENCH ATHEISTS AGAINST CHRISTIANITY,
AND ITS SUBSEQUENT TRIUMPH,
IN CONNEXION WITH
THE CEASING OF THE SIXTH TRUMPET.
The symbols taken from Jewish worship—The True Church in-closed by the Providence of God—The Visible Church Pagan-ized—It possesses what is called the Outer Court for 1260 years—The variety of terms by which this chronological quan-tity is represented, and the use of that variety—The Two Witnesses—This appellation denotes the vitality and exhibition of real Christianity—Marvellous power of the same, as de no-minuted The Two Witnesses—Its depressed condition for 1260 years—Clothed in sackcloth—An emblem of sorrow—The Lord has always had personal Witnesses for True Christianity upon earth—Instanced in the Waldenses and Albigenses— The French Revolution—Its character—The Beast from the Abyss, namely, an organized Poiver of Infidelity—The Atheism of the French philosophers—Barruel's account of the chief authors of the Revolution—Voltaire—UAlembert—Frederic II. of Prussia —The Encyclopédie—Abolition of the Order of Jesuits—The French Academie becomes a club of Infidels—The French Press teeming with Atheistical works—Europe deluged with them—The infidel atrocities of the Revolution—The “ Great
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City” and uStreet of the Great City;”—Import of these symbols—The two Witnesses killed—Their dead bodies not suffered to be buried— Visitations upon the French people, and for what—Rejoicings at the imaginary reign of Liberty and Equality—England preserved—The Spirit of Life from God entering into the Witnesses—Their standing on theirfeet—The connection between the “ War ” against the Witnesses and the u Great Earthquake ”—Reflections on the French Revolution— Mr Burke—The ascension of the Witnesses to Heaven.
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THE TRUE CHURCH DESCRIBED AS THE TEMPLE ; THE HEATHENIZED CHRISTIANS AS ITS “OUTER COURT יין AND CHRISTENDOM, WITHIN THE GEO-GRAPHICAL LIMITS OF THE HEATHEN ROMAN EMPIRE, AS “THE HOLY CITY.”
We have not yet reached the announcement, that ״ the Second Woe is past !” Important disclosures have yet to be made, as belonging, first retrospectively, and then immediately, to that termination. They are ranged in a fresh series of prediction, which we anticipated at the close of our last chapter, and they relate more strictly to the internal history of the Church. The series, then, is introduced here, by the Divine arrangement, in order that its termi-nation may be seen exactly to synchronize with the dissolution of the Mahommedan power ; or, in other words, with the cessation of the Sixth Trumpet. It opens as follows :
“ And there was given me a ieed like unto a rod : and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein. But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not ; for it is given unto the Gen-tiles : and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.” (Rev. xi. 1, 2.)
The symbols here employed are again taken from
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the typical objects of the Jewish Ritual ; the Temple of God ; the Altar ; the Outer Court ; the Holy City : and they are applied to the spiritual worship of the Christian dispensation. The “ Temple of God ” is here intended to designate His militant family on earth, in whom He abides by the indwelling of His Spirit, even as he once dwelt by sensible tokens in the Holy Tabernacle and Temple of Israel ; whither their tribes went up, on that account, to worship. The Jewish Temple, then, as having been consecrated, or set apart, to God, and honoured with extraordinary signs of His mercy and truth toward the house of Israel ; containing also the Ark of the Covenant as the depository of his laws ; the Shechinah, or visible cloud of glory; the Urim andThummim; and the fire from the Holy One ; and as having been the seat of Israel’s most solemn public worship; is here assumed as the fittest emblem of the spiritual church in the Roman world. The Apostle Paul, using the same emblem, speaks of the militant Saints of God as “ built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner-stone ; in whom all the building fitly framed together, groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord.” Eph. ii. 20, 21. See also 1 Cor. iii. 17, and vi. 19; likewise 2 Cor. vi. 16 ; where it is said, “Ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them.” So true is it that spiritual worship-pers of God collectively constitute that spiritual temple which is here represented in symbol; while their spiritual worship itself is represented by the altar ;—nor less is every holy person, sojourning here on earth, to be
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THE SPIRITUAL TEMPLE.
regarded as a member of, and a ״ worshipper in,” that spiritual temple.
Such, then, are the people, with their worship, whom, under the figure of the temple, the altar, and them that worship therein, the Apostle was command* ed to “ measure ” with his emblematical instrument, the reed like unto a measuring-rod, that was put into his hand : which signifies, that this people were to be viewed and treated as distinct from the rest of the world, by the special providence of Christ, and to be secured as His peculiar inheritance and care. The expression, as may be seen from other prophecies which employ the same emblem,* imports a decided se-paration, and as it were inclosure, between the merely professing church and them. Hence the command— which, let us observe, is given by Jesus Christ him-self, the same mighty angel, as described in the pre-ceding chapter—directs the Apostle to take no such account of the outer court, but to ״ throw it out, yea measure it not.”
The outer court of the Jewish Temple was called The Court of the Gentiles, because the Gentile ״Proselytes of the gate” were forbidden to tread the inner court, which was set apart for genuine Is-raelites ; it being separated from the outer court by a very low wall, “ the middle wall of partition,° to which St. Paul is supposed to allude in Eph. ii. 14. By all which particulars it is given us to understand, that the merely nominal church throughout the whole
* Ez. xl. ; xliii, 10; xlviii. 8; Hab. iii. 6 ; and Zech.ii. 1, 2.
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Western Roman Empire would, during a long period, denoted “ forty and two months,” stand in no nearer relation to the real church, or spiritual seed of Abra-ham, than did the Gentile proselytes, by their wor-ship in the outer court, to Israel as Abraham^s chil-dren after the flesh : or, in other words, that as the proselyted condition of those strangers did not really incorporate them with the twelve tribes, as to inhe-ritances and other privileges ; so the Christian pro-fession of by far the greater part of the visible church in after ages would be merely nominal, and would therefore leave it vitally and essentially dis-tinct from the Israel of God. Here, then, we are informed, that a vast multitude of professed Chris-tians would be fallen away so far from the simplicity of the Gospel, as to be accounted, by its Author and Finisher, no better than heathens as to spiritual cha-racter ; even as those Gentile proselytes of the gate were still heathens by natural birth, and aliens from the commonwealth of Israel in many civil and eccle-siastical privileges. Now all this has for ages been going on in fulfilment to the very letter;—indeed the fact is so palpable, that Gibbon himself, though he had blinded his own eyes to any regard for the true tabernacle and temple, the true altar and spiri-tual people of God, could yet see the real character of the outward visible church. “ The Christians of the seventh century,” he says,a had insensibly relapsed into a semblance of Paganism ; their public and pri-vate vows were addressed to the relics and images that disgraced the temples of the east ; the throne of
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THE OUTER COURT.
the Almighty was darkened by a crowd of martyrs and saints and angels, the objects of popular venera-tion ; and the Collyridian * heretics who flourished in the fruitful soil of Arabia, invested the Virgin Mary with the name and honours of a goddess.”
All this is in exact accordance with what the symbols of the Second, Third, and Fourth Seals pre-signified as coming gradually, like the darkness and corruption of death, upon the external church. The whole period, moreover, which is here symbolically assigned to its duration, is no other than the very same which, in Daniel’s vision of the four wild beasts, is assigned to the duration of the “ little horn,” (the Papacy,) namely, “ forty and two months making, as before explained, according to the Jewish reckoning of thirty days fora month, 1260 prophetical days—that is, 1260 natural years. It follows, then, by this col-lation with Daniel, that the heathenized Christians of the outer court are those nations and peoples who have acknowledged the Papacy ; and that the holy city, which for so long a period they tread under foot, signifies that main territory of the visible church, which is either trampled on by their tyranny, or overrun with the vestiges of their apostacy.
Here we have met with a chronological expression of the same value with that made use of in Daniel, but of a different form ; nor is such difference without its
* The Collyridian heretics were so called from xoMCpa, a cake of cylindrical form, which they offered to the Virgin Mary as “ the queen of heaven.”	f Gibbon, Ch. L.
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special design. For, by this simple expedient, the various aspects in which Popery is foreshown, are preserved clear and distinct from each other. Those aspects are threefold. For,first. Popery appears under the actual domination of its ecclesiastical head, the period of whose continuance is signified in Daniel by the expression ״ a time, times, and half a time ; ” (viz. three times and a half;) the amount of which is clearly no other than 1260 natural years. Secondly, Popery appears, as the text we are now considering represents it, under the secular thraldom of those ten Western powers, which are known as the ten papal kingdoms ; the duration of which thraldom is signi-fied by another equivalent expression already inter-preted, namely, ״forty and two months/5 Thirdly, Popery appears—and in this aspect our text will presently call us to consider it—as witnessed against by pure genuine Christianity, or by the spiritual part of the Church, (which is here pre-signified by the two witnesses, as previously by the temple and its inner court,) and this for " one thousand two hundred and threescore days” Thus we see that the nota-tion of that one and the same period in three different forms, is not without its own significant import. Indeed the papal world itself may be regarded as having always consisted of three dis-tinct classes of persons:—first, the Pope and his clergy: secondly, those who obey them, and who are here called ״ the Gentiles and thirdly, those who obey them not ; but, walking according to the
235
CHRONOLOGICAL TERMS.
truth of the Gospel, are hated and persecuted by them. These three classes are all along viewed in prophecy as distinct, and are severally identified by the above respective chronological expressions.
In like manner, the expiration of the Mahometan imposture is characterized as the time of the end.* Thus, upon meeting with these respective modes of notation, if we observe their classifying use, we keep the prophetic history of the several classes respectively under more distinct recognition. In the present instance, the term " forty and two months,” not only gives the time during which the papal “ Gen-tiles” shall tread under foot, and stamp with ignominy, whatever is lovely and excellent in the Christian name ; but forasmuch as that chronological notation identifies also the duration of our first class, the papal worldly hierarchy ; it of course intimates what we find elsewhere confirmed, that this hierarchy itself will not survive the secular thraldom of our se-cond class, but that its extinction will form one of the concluding scenes belonging to the cessation of the Sixth Trumpet, the passing away of the Second “Woe”
The imagery of the next verses is, with like decorum, borrowed, partly from the Jewish Temple already noticed ; partly from the ancient prophetic honours put upon that Temple; and partly, for still more
* See Dissertation, ch. xi. p. 305.
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236
forcible illustration, from other wonderful facts of sacred Jewish history. It also includes an additional and most remarkable event, which is connected with those seen under the Sixth Seal, and which was to be brought to pass as a consequence of the French Re-volution. That event is styled “ a great earthquake ;” and was to stand forth as another most prominent sign of the last times.
Great difficulty has all along been experienced by commentators about finding a satisfactory interpre-tation of that leading symbol—the two witnesses—and also of the war waged against them ; nor can any have experienced this difficulty more than the author of these pages. He did indeed, in the former edition of this work, express his opinion, that ״ the beast out of the bottomless pit was a power already known by its actings ; ” and that it was dominant from about the middle of May, 1793, to the end of 1796 ;—that its principles ״were those of perfect undisguised Atheism, shewn in every possible contempt and de-secration of the Holy Scriptures,—and that ״ every thing was done that could be thought of to obliterate the memory both of creation and redemption.”* Nevertheless he then considered that this was but an incipient fulfilment of the prophecy, and that it “ had not yet performed the part which is here assigned it.”
Y ery soon however after that edition had come out, in proceeding with the exposition of the twelfth chapter,
* See Exposition, 1st Edition, pp. 242, 243.
237
CHRONOLOGICAL TERMS.
he perceived that the explanation which he, in com-mon with most other commentators, had given of the witnesses as literal, could not be sustained ; and this for the following reason. In applying the principle of. interpretation above laid down, with respect to the forty and two months—viz., that the three different chrono-logical terms in which the 1260 years are expressed, have the special design of classifying the different aspects in which Christianity appears during this long period—it seems conclusive, that what the term “ a thousand, two hundred, and three score days,״ signifies in its connexion with the symbolical woman, chap, xii.,* the same must it signify in its connexion with this symbol of the two witnesses ; consequently that what the former symbol means, the same is meant by the latter. Analogously as " the Gentiles” who tread under foot the outer court,f are the same persons as are meant by the beast with ten horns in the thirteenth chapter, because the chronological term of forty and two months is used in reference to both ; so the “ Woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and having upon her head a crown of twelve stars,״ who unquestionably symbo-lizes the religion of Jesus Christ, must be identical with “ the two witnesses,״ these being not personal witnesses, but the truth itself—not the branches but the root—in other wOrds, pure vital Christianity, with its spiritual glories and blessings as made known to the Church by the Word, and by the Spirit.
Sec ch. xii. ver. 6.	+ Ch. xi. 2.
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With this view we regard the events of the French Revolution as forming the concluding article in the prophetic series here before us ; and as doing this, not incipiently, as We had supposed in our former edition, but fully and completely ; so that no part of it remains to be accomplished with the ceasing of the Sixth Trumpet, when it shall be said, “ The Se-cond Woe is past.״ Let us now adduce the text of all that portion of the series which remains to be re-viewed, that we may enter into its particulars.
Ver. 3. “And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.
4.	These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks stand-ing before the God of the earth.
5.	And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies : and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed.
6.	These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy : and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will.
7.	And when they are about to finish their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them.
8.	And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.
9.	And they of the peoples, and kindreds, and tongues, and nations, shall see their dead bodies three days and an half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves.
10.	And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another ; be-cause these two prophets tormented them that dwell on the earth.
11.	And after three days and an half the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet ; and great fear fell upon them which saw them.
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THE TWO WITNESSES.
12.	And they heard a great voice from heaven, saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud ; and their enemies beheld them.
13.	And the same hour was there a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake there* perished names of men seven thousand : and the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven.” (vv. 3—13.)
Taking it then for granted, that our interpretation of that master-symbol, “ the two witnesses,״ signifies Christianity itself, or the religion of Jesus Christ, we proceed to apply this interpretation to history. In so doing, we shall not jar with the interpretation we have formerly given, but only take a more com-prehensive range ; including not merely, as heretofore, God’s personal witnesses to His truth ; but also their vital principle, namely,His truth itself, as manifested in the gift of His Son to them, and His Spirit in them. But though our interpretation of the symbol thus remains unaltered ; yet this our enlargement of it will produce an entire alteration in our exposition of the predic-tions which accompany it ; so as to leave us no room to doubt whether the events of the French Révolu-tion were not the very events which those predic-tions had in view. Now the whole prophetic pas-sage before us comprises the four following parti-culars :
* ¿״roxTe.vojuc״, to die, to perish, Rev. ix. 18, 20 ; and also to be destroyed or abolished. See Eph. ii. 16; Psalm Ixxvii. 47, Sep-tuagint, for הרג» Ps. lxxviii. 47.
־ T
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First, A description of the principle, the effects, and the power of Christianity; ver. 4—6.
Secondly, The assurance that during a period of 1260 years Christianity should exist in a state of depression ; verse 3.
Thirdly, The relation of certain events which were to befal the Christian profession at the time when the above period was drawing toa close; ver. 7—12.
Fourthly, The contemporaneous political events ; verse 13.
First. In the fourth, fifth, and sixth verses, we have a symbolical description of the vitality, the exhibition, and the power of real Christianity.
(1.) Its vitality is expressed by the witnesses being said to be two olive trees. Here is evidently a spe-cial allusion to those two olive trees which the Pro-phet Zechariah saw in vision standing on either side of the golden candlestick, and supplying it with oil for the light. On his inquiring what these meant, the angel gave such an answer, as not only bespeaks them correspondent to the two witnesses, but also most strikingly displays a holy and awful radiance belonging to them. “ Knowest thou not what these be? These are the two anointed ones, that stand by the Lord of the whole earth/’*
Here it is plainly intimated that the witnesses are replenished with gifts and graces from the Holy
♦ Zech. iv. 11—14.
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CHRISTIANITY.
Spirit, as the humble and graceful olive is, with what the prophet styles its golden, that is, its invaluable oil. Accordingly, when he asks respecting them, “ What are these?” an answer to that very effect is given : “ This is the word of the Lord unto Zerub-babel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts.” And because it is from the “ Spirit of grace” that they derive all their power, strength, and excellence, therefore all is here ascribed to sovereign triumphant grace ; so that,it is immediately added, “he shall bring forth the head stone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it.”* Thus distinctly and unequivocally is the influence of the Holy Spirit declared to be the spring of all spiritual as well as natural power, iri every member of the true church, from age to age.
(2.) The exhibition of Christianity to the world is signified by the Two Witnesses being the two candle-sticks standing before the God of the earth ; for these represent the churches f by whom the light of the Gospel is manifested to public view ; and through the various branches of which “the golden oil״ circulates. The saying, that they stand before the God of the earth—which is only responsive to that uttered by the angel in Zechariah J—imports that they constantly minister to Jehovah-Jesus himself, and give light to all upon earth around them.§ One intent of the apocalyptic allusion to these symbols of both the candlesticks and olive trees in
* Zech.iv. 6,7. ־f Rev. i. 20. j Zecli. iv. 14.
§ Luke viii. 16.
M
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Zechariah, evidently is, that we may be instructed to look for the Two Witnesses in the Temple ; even in that mystical temple of whose sacred light they are the bearers and instrumental sustainers. They are spoken of as two, because two witnesses, at the very least, did the Mosaic Law require for confir-mation of any public testimony ; and a single witness was not allowed to suffice.*
(3.) One more characteristic for insuring our re-cognition, is the marvellous power of these “ Two Witnesses,” which, as it implies certain attributes of Omnipotence, can invest a religion only Divine, hence only that Gospel which is the power of God unto salvation. The symbolic terms by which this power is denoted, are borrowed from the sacred records, both historical and prophetic:—from those of the former kind, as referring pre-eminently to the times of Moses and Elijah; and from those of the latter kind, as referring to the penal de* nunciations of the Seven Trumpets and the Seven \rials. In all these we perceive that the great power of “the Two Witnesses,” is expressly involved in the religion of Jesus Christ; is employed against the enemies of that religion ; and will further be ex-ercised in the coming judgments of the Seventh Trumpet and the Sevènth Vial. Thus at the out-pouring of the Third Vial, “upon the rivers and fountains of waters,” and thus turning them to blood —which is predicted almost in the same words as
* Deut. xvii.6; xix. 15.
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THE TWO WITNESSES.
those here used concerning the witnesses, viz., “ they have power over waters to turn them to blood,״—a special reason, in behalf of Christianity, is assigned for this plague ; “ they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink .״ Here, then, it is to be observed, that what God doeth by his servants, whether miraculously or other-wise, is often said in Scripture to be done by them.״ “ Behold,״ said the Lord to the Prophet Jeremiah, (i. 9, 10) “ I have put my words in thy mouth. See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out,and to pull down,and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant.״ So like-wise in Hosea, (vi. 5), “ Therefore have I hewed them by the prophets ; I have slain them by the words of my mouth.״ Moreover, when God in any remark-able manner .vindicates the injured honour of His servants, or interposes by his particular providence for their protection and benefit, power is attributed to those servants themselves in similarly figurative language. Nor does the attribution we are now considering exceed similar language in other books of Scripture ; though this has more the show of direct personality than of figure. But if fire, air, water, and earth, were here meant to be even literally at their control, let us not forget that likewise it is written, “ All things are your’s ; whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come ; all are your’s : and ye are Christ’s; and Christ is God’s.״ Beyond such a climax, language cannot go !
μ 2
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Thus is Christianity guarded, with respect both to the honour of God, and that of His servants ; and thus is His Word magnified. Men, in their wisdom, are apt to attribute fire and sword, pestilence and famine, with all other evils and plagues that collec-tively or individually come upon the human race, to merely second causes, beyond which they are not disposed to look or to consider ; but the word of God teaches that such second causes are immediately and inseparably connected with His own supreme go-vernment of the world, and with the special vindi-cation of His Gospel.
Secondly. It was here foretold, that during the long period of 1260 years, Christianity would be in a state of general depression.
From the four first Seals, we learned that the state of society would gradually decline from bad to worse, till it should subside in that gross religious ignorance, corruption, and misery which we saw so clearly adumbrated in the last of the four.* We further learned that the Reformation, as couched in the events of the Fifth Seal, would considerably lengthen out the season of persecution which had even long before commenced. And now that pro-tracted period of wretchedness to the Church is here next defined in the symbol of the outer court of the Temple being given to be trodden under foot by the Gentiles, or heathenized Christians, for the space of 42 prophetic months, or 1260 years. This is only
* líev. vi. 7, 8·
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CLOTHED IN SACKCLOTH.
in accordance with all that had been before predicted concerning the state of Christianity, namely, that during a long period, the length of which is here distinctly stated, it would abide under mourning and depression ; “ I will give unto my Two Witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and three score days, clothed in sackcloth.”
Sackcloth is a common Scriptural emblem of mourning and trouble : therefore to prophesy in sackcloth, signifies to bear testimony in an afflicted and poor condition. In Psalm xxx. 11, it is set in contrast with a joyful one; “Thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness.” As to the “ prophesying ” here spoken of, though neither the Christian Church, nor any of its enlightened and faithful members, have ever, during this period, professed to have the power of predicting future events ; yet the Word of the Father, as given them by Christ, has always been in them as a standing prophet, and as such it still continues. Hence how great soever, under the Third Seal, was the “famine of hearing” that Divine Word, it still existed—the “oil and the wine were not” to be “hurt;” and Christianity, even at periods of its deepest depres-sion, has all along glistened with prophetic light through the Scriptures of truth, and publicly pro-phesied by the lives and conduct of those who made a faithful and uncompromising avowal of their faith in Christ. Indeed it is well known to the devout reader of Church history, that the Lord has never been without such witnesses upon earth. Even during the dark ages of almost universal Popery, in the very
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midnight of this long and predicted apostacy, there were those who bore a noble testimony, both with-out, and even within the pale of the Romish Church. Without, were the Churches of the Walden ses and Albigenses ; the former in the valleys of Piedmont, and the latter in the South of France. These Churches, ever since the actual rise of the Papal power, have witnessed unto death ; and partly from them, and long before the Reformation, many other Churches, though perhaps less pure, had spread abroad in the neighbouring regions of Hungary, Bohemia, and Germany.
These, though not beyond the bounds of the Roman “ earth,” were without the pale of the great organized Apostacy : and yet it is also a matter of fact, that another such Church, worshipping God in much truth and simplicity, existed within the Roman pale itself ; and though of quite another complexion, yet was it enriched with an equal degree of vitality, and diffused its bright and heavenly lustre amidst the surrounding darkness. This spiritual Church was contained within the Roman pale itself ; inas-much as members of its own communion were raised up from time to time to expose, and make a stand against, its corruptions and errors, and have left good evidence of having kept the faith in truth and uprightness. Of such a spiritual Church were the celebrated Bernard ; Claudius of Turin ; Bradwar-dine and Grosseteste,in England; and many besides, who are mentioned by Bishop Newton, Milner, and other writers.
The period of 1260 years not having as yet found
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its full termination, though there is reason to believe this to be now very near at hand, Christianity is still, in its depressed condition, witnessing before God and the world. Of the ten Roman kingdoms, England, which alone had hitherto been wholly Pro-testant, is beginning apace to revert to Popery; while Austria, France, Spain, Portugal, Sardinia, Naples, and the Papal States, persist still, as ever hitherto, in their apostate character ; crushing, with hardly an excepted instance, any attempt at their reformation. We proceed, however, to observe,
Thirdly. That an astounding event which had been here predicted to befal the Christian religion, and to take place when the above period should be drawing to a close, has indeed come to pass ; thus compelling us to infer, agreeably to what we have already advanced in our present work and preceding volume, that the long, melancholy depression of Christianity will very soon terminate.
We have had frequent occasion to observe, that the breaking out of the French Revolution was the beginning of the days of vengeance ; and that the variety of forms in which Holy Scripture foreshows that remarkable event, appears expressly designed to draw our more fixed attention to those great con-summations in the world’s history, of which it is the prophesied signal. We enlarged on its overwhelm-ing importance, (1.) From its close connexion with the great period of seven times, or 2520 years ; called
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by our Lord, “ the Times of the Gentiles ״—in re-ference to which, it seems to say, with respect to the Jews, “ Let my people go.2) ״.) From the career of the Emperor Napoleon, its chief actor, which is specified, with its peculiarities, in Daniel’s last “ great vision,״ as that which should immediately precede “ the Time of the End,״ and also conduce to the deliverance of the Jewish people. (3.) From what we find, under the Sixth Seal, was to form the last grand epoch of the Western Roman Empire, and supply the important “ signs ״ to which our attention is bespoken by the Saviour himself. And now, (4.) here in the chapter before us, the French Revolution is again brought into prophetic review, not only with an adumbration of its horrors, but also with respect to its origin, namely, as having originated in an avow-ed and open hostility to Christianity ; and all this, as it should seem, for the purpose of showing that so daring an act of rebellion against God, is a self־ sufficient cause why the judgments of the “ Seventh Trumpet,״ of which we here see it to be the imme-diate prelude, should no longer delay.
Christianity had frequently been assailed in its members by a variety of terrible persecutions, both Pagan and Papal. But in the war which prophecy has here foreshown, a new enemy appears; and makes a deadly onset, not so immediately upon per-sons as upon principles ; and that, with an avowed intention of erasing the name of the Lord Jesus from the memory of man.
In comparing the prophetic with the actual history
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of this audacious and blasphemous conspiracy—a conspiracy which formed the distinguishing feature of the age immediately preceding the French Revo* lution of 1789—we notice:—
First, The agency employed. That agency the Apocalypse denominates, “ the beast out of the bot-tomless pit.”
By such a symbol—for it is one with which we are familiar in the book of Daniel—we understand a cruel and tyrannical power, domineering by the impulse of natural brutish passions ; and the bottomless pit, or the abyss whence it was predicted to come forth, we interpret to signify the immediate essence of wicked-ness, or the depths of Satan. It is not surprising, that commentators have been at some difficulty to decide what it is that a beast of such origin repre-sents. The unassisted mind of man was not likely to have imagined a distinct aml definite power, a national power, arising in the world, the principles of which should be so utterly diabolical, that it should be characterized as proceeding directly from the abyss of wickedness. The Mahometan delusion was seen as a smoke from the ׳well of that abyss ; and of that imposture we read, “ it cast the truth down to the ground ; and practised, and prospered but the very name of a wild beast from the abyss itself, inti-mates something much stronger, and still “ more the child of hell.”
And now, even with a mere glance at recent public records, we find that the symbol truly represents
* Dan. viii. 12.
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what has actually taken place within the yet shud-dering recollection of many amongst us ; and that the age of miseries which, to the terror of all Europe, and indeed of the world, overtook France and Western Europe during the latter part of the last century, was brought on by one long-maturing, deep-laid plot of gigantic iniquity, which originated in the prevalence of atheistical principles. “Many years be-fore the French Revolution, men who styled them-selves philosophers, conspired against the God of the Gospel, against Christianity, without distinction of worship, whether Protestant or Catholic, Anglican or Presbyterian. The grand object of this conspiracy was to overturn every religious system wherein Christ was adored. It was the conspiracy of the Sophisters of impiety, or the Anti-Christian Conspiracy.”
Thus speaks of it the recorder of the day ;* who, in four octavo volumes, enters into the most minute details of its progress, and develops its wide-spread ramifications. His annals of Jacobinism appear to be already well nigh forgotten, though we are living in the very next generation ; and indeed they were only imperfectly known to the author of this treatise when lie published his former edition ; he therefore deems
* Barruel ; a Frenclrecclesicstic of some note as a man of let-ters during the Great Revolution. He had been for several years the Editor of “Le Journal Ecclesiastique,” but as the princi-pies he there advocated were opposed to the Movement, he was obliged to fly to England, where, in 1794, he published “ A History of the French Clergy.״ IIis bst known work, however, is that from which we have here quoted, viz. “ The History of Jacobin-ism, or the Anti-Christian Conspiracy.״ He returned to France in 1802, and died there in 1820, aged 79,
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it necessary here, with such valuable help for illus-tration of his subject, to give a brief outline of that great conspiracy.
Its chief authors—the men who originated this “ war ” against Christianity, and then took the lead in carrying it on, made their appearance about the middle of the last century, and were notorious infi-dels. First and foremost was Voltaire, next to him D’Alembert, then Frederick II. king of Prussia, and then Diderot; to these might be added the name of Rousseau, with numerous others who were drawn into the conspiracy. Their atheistical principles and diabolical designs may be seen in their letters, and numerous writings, which they and others published to the world ; and which, while supplying incontro-vertible testimony of their design, conduct us to such a scene of wickedness and blasphemy, as was never before exhibited in profane history. Its parallel, indeed, is only to be found in the conduct and lan-guage of Satan himself, his fallen angels, and his most immediate associates. Horrible as is the recital, yet, as establishing a great historical fact predicted in the Word of God, we shall produce a few extracts from those infidel letters and publications.
It appears that Voltaire, who was born at Paris in 1694, had entered upon this career of guilt at an early period of his life ; so early, as to draw upon himself the following rebuke from his College Professor, “Un-fortunate young man, at some future day you will be the standard-bearer of Infidelity.” About the year 1730, when M. Hérault, the Lieutenant of the Police,
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upbraided him with his impiety, saying to him, “ You may do or write what you please, but you will never be able to overturn the Christian religion;״ Vol-taire, without hesitation, answered, “ We shall see thatOn another occasion he said, “ I am weary of hearing people repeat that twelve men were suffi-cient to establish Christianity, and I will prove that one may suffice to overthrow it.” His private watch-word with his followers, was “ Ecrasez l’Infame,” which, in his mouth and that of his co־adjutors, signi-fied, Crush Christ, crush the religion of Christ, crush every religion that adores Christ. Accordingly, when he had passed the 67th year of his age, he, in a letter to D’Alembert, dated April 20, 1761, expresses the horrible wish that he might die on a heap of Chris-tians, immolated at his feet.
Such are only specimens of the kind of language which, for nearly half a century, pervaded the writ-ings and correspondence, and influenced every action of the life, of him whose age, reputation, and genius made him the chosen chief in this mad and atrocious (( war ” against the Son of God. That of his followers was of a similar cast. Frederick thought, “ We have a sufficient degree of probability to constitute a cer· tainty, that post mortem nihil est, or that death is an eternal sleep using the same contemptuous exprès-sions in speaking of the blessed Saviour and his reli -gion, as did Voltaire himself.
That the object of such men really was, as they pro-
* Life of Voltaire, Edit, of Kell.
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d’alembert.
fessed, to crush Christ,* is not too strong a thing to say of them. The Romish Church being that by which they were surrounded, was all they saw of Christianity ; and it presented on every side but too many weak points of attack. But their grand scope was the annihilation of all Christian worship ; and though they necessarily honoured the Popish Church with their chief hatred, yet “ with them the Churches of London or Geneva, of Stockholm or Petersburg, were to share the same fate with those of Paris or Madrid, of Vienna or Rome.”
The design of their operations was to strike home so great a blow before their aim should be publicly per-ceived ; hence the annals of the day exhibit à conspi-racy, the subtlety of whose intrigues is unparalleled in the deeds of man. “ The monster religion must fall,” exclaims Voltaire, “ pierced by a hundred invisible hands ; yes, let it fall beneath a thousand repeated blows.”t And one chief reason of this secrecy was, not merely to disguise the wish of annihilating Chris-tianity, but the fear of the severity of the laws on the one hand, and the contempt and infamy with which the impudence of their falsehoods and the effro n tery of their calumnies would brand them on the other. “ Speak your mind boldly ; but when you strike, conceal your hand. You may be known ; I am willing to believe there are people sufficiently keen-scented ; but they will not be able to convict you.” The blasphemous parts of these quotations are too horrid to be repeated. We are told that it was in this art of secrecy, and the
* To D’Alembert, May 1, 1768. f To D’Alembert, May 1, 1768.
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skill of concealing his steps, that D’Alembert so much excelled. This mode of proceeding was also under-stood and approved by Frederick, who wrote to Voltaire,* that to undermine the edifice in silence, is to oblige it to fall of itself . When the latter, with his associates, feared an excess in their zeal, he would encourage them by letters in his own handwriting to this effect, that in the war they waged, they were to act as conspirators, and not as zealots.t
The means employed by them in this slow, silent, tortuous course, were admirably adapted to their ob-ject, as the event proved. The first thing which the conspiring chiefs projected, was the Encyclopédie, which was ushered into the world as the aggregate, the complete treasure of all human arts and sciences, of religion, divinity, physics, history, geography, astronomy, and commerce ; in a word, of whatever can constitute a science : of poetry, oratory, gram-mar, painting, architecture, manufactures, and what-ever can be effected by the useful or pleasing arts. It was to be an immense library, and to be the work of scholars the most familiar with every branch of know-ledge. The prospectus which announced it to Europe, from the pen of D’Alembert, was so cleverly written, that it was esteemed a master-piece; and the real design of the undertaking, which was to constitute a vast em-porium of infidelity, had been so artfully kept out of sight, that the completion of the work filled “ the post-horns of all Europe,” the journals teemed with the praises of so great a literary achievement, and
* Aug. 13,1795.	f Sept. 19, 1764.
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EXTINCTION OF THE JESUITS.
the learned themselves were fascinated and duped. Everybody would possess a copy of the Encyclopé-die. Numerous were its editions, of all sizes and prices ; and the hypocrisy of Voltaire and of D’Alem-bert had so entirely triumphed over every obstacle, and so perfectly succeeded in writing down all who dared oppose the work, that this impious digest came to be looked upon as a necessary appendage to every library. The cautious deference that had been shown by it to religion when it commenced, gradually wore off with each renewed edition ; and greater boldness was gradually assumed by it, till at length, to such a pitch of open infidelity did its last edition attain, that just before the outbreak of the Revolution it had exceeded all bounds of restraint. “ Hereby,” observes Barruel, “ was perfected the first tool of the anti-christian conspirators.”
We have said that the view which the conspirators took of Christianity itself, was only through the medium of the Papal Church. Their attacks, there-fore, being necessarily connected with the institutions of that church, their next means for carrying on this war, was, to bend all their energies towards the ex-tinction of the Jesuits, styled by Frederick, “the lifeguards of the court of Rome, the grenadiers of religion.” Persons belonging to this order, which at that period comprised about twenty thousand, were specially preferred as learned and accomplished in-structors of youth, and were otherwise employed in defence of the Papal system, without any scruple as to what measures they adopted for it. As they were eminently zealous against Voltaire and his party, so
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it was conceived that their destruction would power-fully conduce to the destruction of Christianity. Every engine was therefore set at work for that pur-pose ; and more particularly by gaining over to their cause the Duke de Choiseul, the King’s minister, who really held the destinies of France, and was also Voltaire’s faithful adept and admirer; nor did they remit their efforts till at length Rome was forced to decree abolition to the order of Jesuits.
This barrier removed, the next object in pursu-anee of their plan was the destruction of all other religious orders. The whole design of this sort had been conceived by them as early as the year 1745, but they sagaciously enough refrained from at-tempting to execute it, till, by a long course of preliminaries, they had prepared the way. Frederic, on the 24th of March, 1767, wrote, “It is not
the lot of arms to 6 crush the-------------\!) I have
remarked, that the places where convents are the most numerous, are those where people are the most blindly attached to superstition. To destroy those who stir up the fire of fanaticism in the hearts of the people, is the first step ; and when the people are cooled, the Bishops will be but insignificant person-ages.” To which Voltaire responded, that this plan of attack against the Christian superstition, was worthy a great captain. Before this, however, could be ac-complished, which was not till the Revolution had actually broken out, other means were resorted to. Indeed, the enmity which these unhappy men were permitted to harbour against Christianity was so great, that their wits seemed perpetually on the rack
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THE FRENCH ACADEMIE.
to devise new expedients for its extinction ; and as the work proceeded, their language appeared to rise in awful blasphemy, such as, I once more observe, cannot be quoted.
With much difficulty, and by deep hypocrisy, the conspirators made their literary way into the French Académie, where “ glory seemed to be enthroned and where a membership was the grand pursuit of all distinguished men. And now so successful were their intrigues, that the Académie gradually, within a few years, became a club of infidels; and the name of Académicien and Atheist were synonymous. Soon did the Académie thus infect the whole literary community ; who, in their turn, perverted the public opinion by that torrent of im-pious writings which by and by deluged all Europe. The press teemed with atheistical publications, and produced, monthly or weekly, some new ones of the most shameless aggressive infidelity. Voltaire writes, 26th Sept. 1766, that it was out of these works that all the German youth learnt to read ; that they were the universal catechisms from Baden to Moscow. In the following year, he wrote to Frederic, to have some of the Berlin booksellers encouraged to reprint them, and to distribute them throughout Europe at a price low enough to ensure their sale. To which the King replied, “ You may make use of our printers at your pleasure ; they enjoy perfect liberty ; and as they, are connected with those of Holland, France, and Germany, I doubt not they have means of conveying books whithersoever they may think proper.” In these printed works, from which large quotations are
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given by Barruel, the conspirators were far from aiming solely at the Romish system, much less at a few abuses; but at the Lord Jesus Christ himself! against whom they ejected more blasphemies and calumnies, than Celsus and Porphyry, and all their followers, had ever thought of. Embittered with rage, and breathing the wish of crushing Christ, their arch-leader, Voltaire, would thus write : “ I finish my letters, as Cato was used to finish his harangue; 6Let Carthage be destroyed.'” The historian observes, that66 Satan could not have been more ardent, when, in the war of hell with heaven, he sought to stir up his legions against the Word,” than was that prodigy of infidels against the name of Jesus Christ.
We might adduce a variety of other particulars to the same effect, but enough has already been cited to show the fact that at this period a blasphemous conspiracy was formed, and that hence an aggressive and desperate war, beyond any example of former times, was waged against Christianity itself, upon the declared principles of Infidelity. We proceed then to notice,—
Secondly, The consequences of that agency. It succeeded. The witnesses were, as the prophecy before us speaks, 66 overcome” This happened at the crisis of the French Revolution. The nations then beheld a scene as unprecedented as unlooked for. Its actors were professed Atheists, wielding the desti-nies of a great central nation, and having almost the whole of Europe with them. The main plot of the drama was to abase to all possible contempt and de-secration the authority and teaching of the Holy Scrip-
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RELIGION ABOLISHED.
tures ! These were publicly declared by them to be a fable ! The Bible was ignominiously trailed through the streets, consigned to the flames with the most marked disgust, and its authority, as far as it was possible for human power to accomplish it, was pub-licly annihilated. It was deemed an insufferable fatuity to betray the slightest respect for Christianity, or even to keep a copy of the Scriptures on the shelf ! Death was voted to be an eternal sleep ! and upon the high altar of the church of Notre-Dame was enthroned the naked person of a prostitute, who was worshipped as “ the Goddess of Reason !” What-ever had been regarded as sacred to religion, was now cast out as abominable, and execrated ! Nothing of the kind was spared, either in persons or things : even the graves were violated, and the bodies of the royal and the great were torn from their long repose, and igno-miniously consumed. Finally, in the mad frenzy of the moment, the Sabbath was abolished ! The division of the year by weeks was converted into that of “ dt-cades the year of the Revolution was substituted for the year of our Lord ; and everything was done that could be thought of, to obliterate the memory both of creation and redemption ! An ex-Jesuit had uttered before the king, but a short time previously,* “Thy temples, O Lord, will be destroyed, thy worship abo-lished, thy name blasphemed ; to the holy strains which, beneath our sacred roofs, rise to thy praise, shall succeed profane and licentious songs ; the infamous rites of Venus shall usurp the place of the worship of the Most High ; and she herself shall
* On May 20, 1789.
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sit on the throne of the Holy of Holies to re-ceive the incense of her new adorers.” All this actually came to pass. Persevering in their design of an exterminating war against Christianity, they attached and confiscated all church property, broke asunder the sacred bonds of marriage, expatriated all whom they suspected to be ministers of religion, and positively throughout that great country left only the blank of atheism.
Such were the matured fruits of infidelity, and thus were “ the Two Witnesses”of the God of the whole earth, not only “ overcomebut, as in a strong figure the prediction emphatically adds, “ killed ;” i. e. the religion of Jesus Christ in France, that “ street of the great city,” ceased publicly to exist.
As it was in France that this sad scene appeared, even as it was there where the far radiating furnace of infidelity stood kindled from the infernal abyss ; yea, as it was there that this great and unprece-dented conspiracy or “war ״ was projected, carried on, and brought to maturity ; we are hence obliged to conclude, as now we have concluded, that the apoca-lyptic “ street of the great city ” is France, and not England. That by “ the great city ” was meant the Roman Empire in its ten kingdoms, maybe seen by the following characteristics. (1.) Because the Witnesses bear their testimony in the presence of the worldly and heathenized Christians, who tread under-foot “the holy city ” forty and two months, and who by the agreement of their allotted period with the (t time, times, and half a time ” of the Roman little horn of Daniel, can well be no other than subjects of those
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SODOM AND EGYPT.
ten kingdoms. (2.) As the “ great city,״ which is called in the second verse “ the holy city,״ is evi-dently no literal city, but an empire ; so from what has just been said, we may fairly conclude that either expression means the same empire. Only in the second verse it is called “the holy city,״ in an eccle-siastical sense ; while this in the eighth verse, “the great city,״ has a secular signification. (3.) This brief but most pregnant and appropriate expression can be applied to the empire of the Papal Roman king-doms, and to no other; for no other empire within the compass of the prophecy has subsisted for a period of 1260 years.
That “the street,” or rather “the wide street״ or “broad way,״* (analogous to market-place) of this great city, must be one of the ten kingdoms of the empire, appears from the names which are symboli-cally and spiritually given it. For on closer exami-nation, these names of Sodom, and Egypt, and— Jerusalem! no; this sacred name must not beso applied ; nevertheless the place is meant, or rather the reprobated citizens of that place ; for it is where our Lord was crucified ; and the omission of the name is more expressive than had it been mentioned ;—these names then, and these references to Sodom, Egypt, and the nameless city, appear, on closer examination, to be strikingly appropriate to the broad street of the great city, and not, as wre supposed in the former edi-tion,to the whole city itself. Therefore, as they are here introduced to characterize that particular kingdom among the ten wherein Satan was permitted to obtain
* η 7τλαTítXf SC. ¿Sôç,
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such an apparent triumph over Christianity, they are intended specially to designate the kingdom of France. Accordingly the name of Sodom refers to that entire public corruption of morals and manners for which France has ever been, and still is, so disgracefully dis-tinguished; nor could a more significant symbol be em-ployed to denote a state of filthiness and habitual un-cleanness. Its resemblance to Egypt must then consist in its often repeated and grinding oppressions of the Church of God ; Egyptian bondage being as prover-bial a term for such oppression, as the wickedness of Sodom is for lewdness. But as if that appellation were not sufficiently comprehensive, as also lest it should be applied to a wrong locality, another feature of recognition is expressly introduced. It was to be as another Jerusalem —Jerusalem ! “ where even their* Lord also teas crucified thus identifying it as a place of j9re־eminent persecution of His people, and of j9re-eminent hatred to His truth. For it is expressly premised that what is done to these is done to Himself. ״.Why persecutest thou me ?” was the challenge given to Saul on his way to Damascus. And as it thus implied that Christ’s servants are the mystical parts of his own body ; so those who perse-cute and kill them, are considered as persecuting and killing Him. The same may be said of apostacy from His Truth. The Apostle calls it crucifying the Son of God afresh, and putting him to an open shame. We have already noticed, in explaining the cry of the martyrs for judgment and avenging of their
* The reading “ their ” instead of t{ our,” says Griesbach, is
Lectio indubie genuina.
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ATHEISM.
blood under the Fifth Seal, that in these two respects —viz., first in popishly persecuting God’s Saints, and then in open infidelity—France is shown by history to have been pre-eminently guilty above the other ten kingdoms. By transferring, therefore, the interpre-tation of these marks of recognition from “ the great city,״ to “ the broad street of the great city,” we make the application more close, as belonging only to France; for however Spain, or Austria, or Naples, or England, might here compete with it in one respect, none of these, much less the remaining kingdoms, can do it equally in both particulars, namely, in popish persecu-tion and nationally professed infidelity : not to men-tion, that even in the first of these respects, none of them equals France, as to extensive destruction and extreme cruelty towards God’s people, any more than in respect of its being the market-place of Europe’s profligacy, the emporium of its luxurious fashions and manners.
Under the deplorable treatment to which Christi-anity was thus reduced in France, it was to continue to suffer, during three prophetic days and a half—that is, three and a half natural years ; and this not in a covert manner, much less in oblivion, but exposed to scorn and contempt from not a few “ citizens ” of the surrounding nations.
Here, by the way, is another and very strong proof, accumulative to those we have before produced that the “ great city ” must signify a great empire, and none other than the Roman empire ; else the “ fallen body”*
* Πτ¿¡xa (not πτω'ματα) here, says Griesbach, is Lectio indubie genuina.
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of the Witnesses could not be seen as here described by those of the peoples, kindreds, and tongues, and nations ; which, throughout the Apocalypse, denote the several component sovereignties of that empire.
But let us further just notice that course of events, which at length resulted from this truly infernal conspiracy against Christ the Lord. It wTas not per-mitted to its chiefs to witness the accomplishment of their deep laid and persevering schemes, or to be-hold the terrific consequences of a nation robbed of all religion. Before this came to pass, they had all been summoned into the immediate presence of Him, whose great and adorable name they had so audaciously spent their lives in blaspheming; and though in goingthrough the portals of death, they had been spared the bloody end which awaited, on the scaffold of the guillotine, those who were infected by their mania and carried on their work, yet some of them, and notoriously Voltaire himself, expired amidst the agonies and hor-rors of an awakened and guilty conscience. Still the deadliest triumphs which their most sanguine hopes could have looked for were ultimately achieved ; the experiment of Atheism was permitted in France to run the whole length which its votaries intended ; and the world beheld what a nation really is when it has thrown off the restraints of religion, and how, with all the external advantages accruing from refinement of manners and cultivation of intellect, its moral cha-racter must needs sink below that of any the most savage and barbarous countries.
It appears to have been about the end of Novem-ber, 1791, that this consummation, as symbolized by
THE DEAD BODIES OF THE WITNESSES. 265
the death of the Witnesses, took place ; yes, that agreeably to the ordinary import of “ slaying,” in the language of this book, the extinction or suppression of everything that had the name and appearance of Christianity was completed. It had been unremit-tingly aimed at from the very commencement of the Revolution, which was now upwards of two years. The abolition of tithes, the barter of church plate, the suppression of the clerical order, the sale of church property, the separation of religion from the State, the prohibition of clerical dress, the shutting up of all public seminaries, the forbiddal of private worship,—these, with other measures for the further-anee of the one end in view, followed step by step in quick succession, till at length it was decreed that all who should refuse the oath of the revolution-ary constitution, should be declared guilty of treason, and forbidden the churches. Thus was public wor-ship abolished, and every external sign of religion utterly erased !
As to the prediction concerning the dead bodies of the witnesses being not suffered to be put into a monumental sepulchre, but to be seen as a carcase for three days and a half, and be thus seen by men of “ the people and kindreds and tongues and nations —it means, that during three natural years and a half the Christian religion would, in that “ broad place,” i. e. that nation, be kept in a visible, though ruined and ignominious condition—beneath such public insult as would best evince the malice of its enemies, and display to the whole world the surprising and
N
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awful triumph which God would permit those enemies to obtain. The records of the French Revolution, and of the contemporary state of Europe, show all this to have been fulfilled to the very letter. Such scenes occurred during that brief period, as far surpassed in impiety, folly, and ferocity, whatever had been witnessed upon earth, except at the literal crucifixion of our Lord himself. It is a period generally denominated “ the reign of terror ”—and may truly be called another reign of the power of darkness. As instances of the spirit then prevailing, we may notice, that some of the leaders of the municipality publicly expressed their determination to dethrone the King of heaven, as well as the monarchs of the earth. The Christian religion was openly and solemnly abjured. Even in a church might be uttered with impunity the most audacious blasphemies against the Majesty of heaven. Among other mad actions, in November 1792, a discourse in favour of Atheism was pro-nounced, and applauded by the Convention ;—also one in February, 1793, on universal fraternization in irréligion and anarchy. In August of that year, a child was permitted at the bar of the Convention to say, that instead of preaching up one self-made God, they had established gi^ds on the principles of equality and the rights of man. In October, the inscrip-tion was ordered to be set up over all burying places, teaching that death is “ eternal sleep.” In November it was decreed, that a municipal officer, wearing the red cap of liberty and equality, should perform the burial of the dead. In December, a
JUDGMENT ON THEIR ENEMIES. 267
festival in honour of the Goddess of Reason was cele-brated in all the cities of France. In April, 1794, Danton, who had been one of the chief leaders of the Revolution, being asked his name, as a preliminary formality of consignment to the guillotine, replied, “A being now, that in a few hours will be a non-entity.” In May, Robespierre was bold enough to propose and obtain a decree to admit the existence of a Supreme Being, and of the immortality of the soul ; and, some months after, Le Sage denounced the wind for blowing down the flag from the Convention Hall.
In this manner, during the years 1792, 1793, and 1794, was Christianity exposed to the national derision of France ; and in every way that human wit, flashing with the fire of hell, could devise, was the Name of the Lord Jesus, and the Majesty of heaven, insulted. But that name never was, nor ever can be, insulted without Divine rebuke. “ Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker ! ” Deluded men ! to dare to lift up their arm of flesh against Him who is “ King of kings, and Lord of lords ! ” What other end could they expect but that which befel them ? What, but that the extremities of the guilt and horror of that reign of terror should overtake themselves, when the cup of infidelity had been drained tó the very dregs by every grade of society! Voltaire could even write of Louis to Frederick, soon after the accession of the former, “I know not whether our young king will walk in your footsteps, but he has taken philoso-phersfor his ministers” Thus even the unhappy French N 2
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monarch himself, in successively calling to his coun-sels the Turgots, the Neckers, the Lamoignons, and Briennes of the day, assuredly made himself a party to the maturing and diffusing of those principles to which he so soon became the most splendid victim. Now looking at this deed of national parricide, and at the other unnumbered deeds of blood that were perpetrated by the revolutionary tribunal—when roy-alists and constitutionalists, laity and clergy, princes, nobles, men of letters and of science, multitudes of both sexes, and of every rank and period of life, were indiscriminately slaughtered by massacre upon mas-sacre,—we see only the natural and necessary result of that impious ״war’’ against the Truth of God, in wrhich all parties had more or less engaged. The Lord Christ was, with awful blasphemy, invoked by one member of that infatuated confederacy ״ to avenge his injured name;” and verily he thus an-swered such defiances with blood! He was chai-lenged to “ hurl his thunders, if he dare and thus, by the righteous indignation of him that sitteth in heaven, were the ghastly heads of hundreds of bias-phemers, both noble and ignoble, struck off on the scaffold, and hurled to the pit of corruption !
The ranks of the conspirators being thus thinned, “ the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven.” It soon became evident that their leading object had failed, and that the insane attempt against Christianity must be renounced. Accord-ingly, on May 28, !794, exactly three years and a half from the date above noticed, Lanjuinais obtained a decree for freedom of religious worship, respecting
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WAR AGAINST CHRISTIANITY.
which the “ Annual Register99 of that year contains the following paragraph : “ An object of more im-portance than any other whatever, was the entire and uncontrolled liberty of religious opinions and worship, that had often been promised to all men indiscrimi-nately, but which, from a variety of causes, had not been established in that complete and explicit manner which might remove all complaint. The Convention noto solemnly secured it by a special decree, which placed all individuals beyond the reach of any species of persecution upon spiritual accounts."
But it was prophesied (verse 10th) that such sup-pression of religion in France should be the subject of congratulation and rejoicing among “ them that dwell upon the earth that is, among a large pro-portion of the Roman world. And this prediction was also very strikingly fulfilled. The rejoicing of not a few among “the peoples and kindreds and tongues and nations/’ throughout all the kingdoms of the West, at the imaginary commencement of the reign of liberty and equality, was intense ; nor can our own country be excepted from this remark. In January 1792, there existed, within our own Metro-polis, an Association called “The London Corres-ponding Society which had its affiliated Societies in every principal city and town of Great Britain ; to all of whom the proceedings of France constituted “a day of gladness and feasting, and a good day, and of sending portions one to another.”* These Societies, with their proceedings, were notorious at the time ; and some few of the distinguished actors in them are * Esther ix. 19, 22.
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27O
still living : —־ neither has that generation entirely passed away ! England however, in her royal head, had a host against all the machinations that were levelled at her religion and institutions ; indeed Barruel remarks, that " Among the kings in whose protection the conspirators so often exult, the name of George III. is not so much as mentioned and that “ this silence is above all the encomiums they could have bestowed.” Hence, while at the end of the three years and a half the fell swoop of war, with the career of Napoleon, which commenced just at this season, soon put an end to the impious rejoicings of other nations, England, under her truly religious sovereign, was saved. The spring-tide of infidelity on her happy shores was not only permitted to roll back, and the Christian religion to rise from its temporary depression ; but in her, the contents of the eleventh and twelfth verses of this chapter were, and have been, even until now, accorded in an eminent degree to our experience ; in so far as they can as yet be realized.
The infidels of France had conspired and con-federated to destroy all fellowship and name to the profession of Christ’s religion. Had not that religion been divine, had it not had the truth and Spirit of God within it, they must have succeeded. The con-sequences, however, were such as could not but ensue. When its enemies had just attained the height of their imaginary triumph, the power of our holy re-ligion not only destroyed them, but arose from its depression as more than conqueror. u The Spirit of life from God,” which had not forsaken it, again
ו27
REVIVAL OF CHRISTIANITY.
manifested himself as “ entered into ” it, and it“ stood upon its feet,”—in order to its “ ascension heaven-ward in a cloud.” To understand the full import of these symbolical terms, we have only to behold the aspect which Christianity assumed before the world, when it stood again upon its feet in the year 1795, and which it has ever since retained ! In that very year did the whole state of Christ’s Church militant here on earth begin to awake and arise unto the formation of the earliest of those leading Societies which soon appeared one after another, and which have to this day been so remarkably distinguished in the diffusion of pure Christianity in every quarter of the habitable globe. The Missionary cause took the lead, and thus were formed in succession the Baptist, the Wesleyan, the London, and the Church Mis-sionary, Societies. These were speedily followed by the Bible Societies, the Religious Tract Society, the Society for Promoting Christianity among the Jews, the Sunday School Union, and others of a similar nature. Many religious periodicals were also esta-Wished; and a wonderful variety of means for the dissemination of Christian truth have been ingeniously devised and successfully employed, which together have decidedly given a character to the age we live in. Christianity has even begun its ascendant in France itself ; while the amount of re-ceipts for the religious institutions of the past year (1S42) in Great Britain alone, was, according to a detailed statement in the Christian Spectator, above £800,000 ! The spectacle is indeed most sublime. On the one hand may be seen the emissaries of Satan
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plotting in every possible way the subversion of man’s single hope for time and for eternity ; and on the other we behold, not only the failure of the atrocious enter-prise, bht the Ark of Safety riding in more than triumph over the dark surges of Atheism and “ Phi-losophy.” Even in France—in infidel France, at the present time, there are stated to be not less than ninety consistorial churches, with 404 pastors, assisted by the Government, besides 233 attached to the Con-fession of Augsburg ; moreover the number of copies of the Scriptures circulated already by “ The French and Foreign Bible Society ” amounts to two millions. And so rapid has been the advance of Protestantism in that country since the resuscitation of Christianity there in 1795, that not less than a million and a half of French subjects are now reckoned to profess the Reformed religion.
With the evident intent of more palpably defining the exact period of that infernal “ war,” the pro-phecy proceeds to notice, that “ at the same hour there was a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain seven thousand names of men.” Accordingly, as its pro-jectors themselves anticipated, the result of their sue-cessful onset against the only true religion, was to lay the nation in ruins: For we repeat again, what has been too generally overlooked by the mere his-torians of the day, that war against Christianity was the main-spring of the horrible French Revolution. Voltaire, writing to Frederick, Aug. 3, 1775, says: " This is the commencement of a great revolution” He had said to his followers, “ Let us crush the altar,
THE FRENCH REVOLUTION.	273
let the temples be destroyed, and let not a single worshipper be left to the God of the Christians ·” hence, by and by his school re-echoed with the cry of, “ Let us break the sceptres, let the thrones be destroyed, and let not a single subject be left to the kings of the earth” The same Voltaire, in a letter written many years before his death, to the Marquis de Chauvelin, says : “ Everything is preparing the way for a great revolution, which will undoubtedly take place, and I shall not be fortunate enough to see it. The French people arrive at everything slowly, but still they do arrive. Light has so gradually diffused itself, that on the first opportunity the nation will break out, and the uproar will be glorious(!) Happy those who are young, for they will behold the most extra-ordinary things.״ It was remarked by Condorcet— who not only saw, but bore a conspicuous part in these extraordinary events—that “ the first author of the great revolution, which astonishes all Europe, which infuses hope into all nations, and disquiet into courts, was, without doubt, Voltaire. The reflections of the sage prepare political revolutions, but it is the arm of the people which executes them.” Thus, many years before the “ mighty concussion took place, the productions of that arch-infidel and his associates had teemed with everything that a Pétion, a Robespierre, or a Marat could have invented in their frantic rage against sovereigns. By the secret society in Paris, by numerous impressions of infidel and seditious writings in the provincial towns, by hawkers of them in every part of the country, by d’AlemberPs office of N 5
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instruction and tutors in wealthy families, and by country school-masters in the villages, and among the workmen and day labourers, did the principles of Atheism and Anarchy spread throughout the whole kingdom, and indeed throughout Europe, most rapidly and uniformly from the palace to the cottage.
So close was the connexion between “the war against the Witnesses,” and the great political “ Earthquake.” In the same hour that the Witnesses were slain, it came to pass that “ the tenth part of the city fell ”—that is to say, infidel France, one of the ten kingdoms, lost everything, and was reduced to a mass of anarchical ruins. In the figurative language of the Sixth Seal, which equally foretells the same event, “ the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon as blood, and the stars of heaven fell to the earth.” The stars of heaven falling to the earth are of the same import as the slain names of men next mentioned in the prediction we are now considering; and here I cannot refrain from quoting out of the Evangelical Magazine for March 1796, a beautiful and correct interpretation of this passage, were it only to remind Dissenters that the important subject which they call “ unfulfilled prophecy” was not always so distasteful to a large number of their body as it lamentably is at present. “And in the earthquake were slain of men—(Greek) names of men—seven thousand. Had this expression, names of men, been an Hebraism, it would have been (in the Greek) ‘ men of name / that is, 4 men of renown/ men famous for great achievements ; but names of men can only signify titles of men, or men distinguished by mere titles.
275
ALL TITLES ABOLISHED.
Of these, seven thousand were to be slain. Seven is a complete number. And have we not seen in one of the ten kingdoms a most astonishing revo-lution? And what was the peculiar character of this revolution ? Were not all titles in Church and State politically slain or abolished;” with more to the same purpose ? It was on the 23rd of July, 1790, that this total abolition of all the distinctions of nobility and titles took place. On that day Lameth proposed “that the titles of Duke, Count, Marquis, Viscount, Baron, and Chevalier should be sup-pressed and although both the nobles and the clergy resisted it, it was carried by an overwhelming majority.
(t And the remnant were affrighted ״י—that is, (again in the symbolical language of the Sixth Seal) they “said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb : for the great day of his wrath is come ; and who shall be able to stand ?” or in the literal language of our Lord’s prediction, “ Men’s hearts failed them for fear, and for looking after those things which were coming upon the earth.”
I cannot dismiss this “war of conspiracy against the Two Witnesses,” without noticing, that in accord-anee with the critical rules laid down by Mr. Addison in his remarks on Paradise Lost—to which, indeed the whole plot bears a near resemblance—we find that its historical facts remarkably exemplify the qualifi-cations requisite to his beau ideal of a great fable. 1. It is one action; that is, it has no episodes but what naturally arise from the subject ; and yet, when
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unfolded, it is filled with such a multitude of asto-nishing incidents, as awaken, at one and the same time, most lively perceptions of the greatest variety and greatest simplicity. 2. It is an entire action ; complete in all its parts, consisting of a beginning, a middle, and an end. 3. It is a great action ; a thing of so much consequence, that it embroiled all the kings of the earth, and seemed to involve the existence of the religion of Jesus Christ in the world. It called into highest exercise the abilities of men the most eminent and renowned, both good and bad ; and exhibited one more effort extraordinary of Satan to recover his tottering dominion in our world. Mr. Burke says respecting it, “ Before this of France, the annals of all time have not furnished an instance of a complete revolution. That revolution seems to have extended even to the mind of man. It has this of wonderful in it, that it resembles what Lord Verulam says of the operations of nature : It was perfect, not only in its elements and principles, but in all its members and its organs from the very beginning.”* The last, the greatest, and the most glorious adjunct of this era remains yet to be experienced; namely, the transcendent honour which the religion of Jesus Christ shall receive in full gaze and to the amazement of its enemies, by the Church’s translation to Heaven, as enlarged upon in the seventh chapter ; and which here we view as predicted in the 12th verse, where it is written, “ And they heard a voice from Heaven, say-ing unto them, Come up hither ; and they ascended up to heaven in a cloud ; and their enemies beheld them.” * Letter to a Noble Lord.
CHAPTER XII.
THE
CESSATION OF THE SIXTH TBUMPET;
IN THE
FALL OF THE OTTOMAN POWER;
AND THE
ULTIMATE VISITATIONS UPON THE TEN KINGDOMS OF THE WESTERN EMPIRE.
THE SEVENTH TRUMPET, OR 66 THIRD WOE.״
Expiration of the Ottoman Power—Harmony of various inter-prefers upon this subject—The prophecies of the Old Testament, a peculiarity of-—The mystery of God finished—The Third Woe —The duty of giving heed to prophetic warnings—DanieVs pro-phecies upon the judgments of the latter days—The first resume-tion—Toplady9 an extract from his writings—The destruction of those who destroy the earth—The temple of God opened in heaven —A warning to rulers.
2/8
CHAPTER XII.
THE CESSATION OF THE SIXTH TRUMPET, IN THE FALL OF THE OTTOMAN POWER; AND THE ULTI-MATE VISITATIONS UPON THE TEN KINGDOMS OF THE WESTERN EMPIRE.
If the foregoing interpretation of the prophecy respecting “the Two Witnesses״ be correct;—if the beast from the abyss was indeed the organized infi-delity of France under Voltaire, his associates and successors ;—if the war which it was ,predicted that it would make was the atrocious conspiracy they carried on against the very existence of Christianity ;—if the slaughter of the Witnesses was the total extinction of religion, which was fearlessly decreed and effected by the government of that kingdom between November 1791 and May 1795 ;—and finally, if their predicted resurrection and ascension were not only the new life and vigour with which the glorious Gospel has subsequently appeared before the face of its enemies, but also its most astonishing and unprecedented diffu-sion in all parts of the world ever since, unto this day ;
279
THE TURKISH EMPIRE.
—then have the denunciations of the Sixth Trumpet already issued to their full accomplishment, save that we are awaiting the announcement that “ The Second Woe is past —and that announcement will be no other than the dissolution of the Ottoman power, which is even now tottering to its fall !
In commenting on the particulars of this Trumpet, as given in the ninth of Revelations, I have consi-dered the hour, day, month, and year (i. e. the 391 natural years) therewith connected, to take their date from the sacking of Constantinople by the Turks on the 29th of May, 1453 ; consequently they expire sometime in 1844. Yes, within but a few months from the present moment! I can only add, that from whatever point of view I look at such a con-elusion—whether as regarding its consentaneousness to the present circumstances of Turkey—its entire harmony with all the other prophecies—or its position in reference to that immediately before us,—I can at present see no reason to doubt of it. We profess not to speak with the absolute decision of dogmatism ; but if there be any great future event of a secular nature within the reach of probability, surely it is this ; and all who give due attention to the Divine testimony will perceive, that here that testimony is sufficiently clear and express to excite in us most wakeful ex-pectations of all-important results as near at hand, and even at the doors.
Indeed, with every additional reflection, clearer and clearer is it that the prophetic period is most
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pointedly defined ; so that whatever prejudice there may be against “ understanding by books ” before-hand the expiration of prophetical periods, it seems difficult to neglect the present, or to sophisticate it in any way. That commanding event, the fall of the Eastern capital of the Caesars, stands forth so pro-minently in the records of Europe, as one of surpas-sing importance, as one of those great overturnings that shake the stability of surrounding nations, and make the world to tremble ; it agrees so exactly with the prophecy that announced it, even down to the minuter features of the siege, wTith its tremendous re-suits—and exhibits so strikingly all the distinguish-ing properties we before noticed as requisite to con-stitute a prophetic era ; that there appears no ground for doubting it to be the very event predicted as the commencement of the Second Woe. All previous aggressions of the Turks, how much soever they may have attracted the notice of former commentators, are now out of the question ; as 391 years, reckoned from any one of them, probable or improbable as such reckoning might seem at the time of making it, must have long ago expired : whereas the Ottoman empire yet remains. Nor is there any subsequent event of Turkish history which is not totally eclipsed by the one here in review. Gibbon’s opinion of its magnitude was such, that he regards it as putting the grand close to what he styles “ the memorable series of revolutions which, in the course of thirteen centuries, gradually undermined, and at length de-
281
THE TURKISH EMPIRE.
stroyed, the solid fabric of Roman greatness ; that series of revolutions he traces from the age of Trajan, a.d. 98, to the fall of Constantinople in 1453.
As I am anxious to bring fairly forward a subject which appears so momentous, I would further re-mark that the Turkish Empire may emphatically be called the Empire of the Second Mahomet, in-asmuch as from his having achieved so important a conquest, he is the acknowledged founder of its greatness ; and hence is called by Knolles and other historians, the first Ottoman Emperor. In the same respect is Cyrus considered the founder of the Per-sian Empire, and Alexander of the Grecian, Each of those powers had existed for centuries previous to their commanding position relative to the church of God, and to the “ earth ” of prophecy. They had each become gradually prepared for the work they were appointed to accomplish ; but prophecy noticed them merely as engaged in such work itself. There-fore it seems but reasonable that the periods respec-tively assigned them should be reckoned from the com-mencement of their respectively appropriate work. Now as if to mark the pre-eminent distinction of the period we are here reckoning, it is set forthwith more particularity than any in the whole book, namely, as ‘*an hour, and a day, and a month,and a year;” and ap-pears placed in the connexion wherein it stands, viz. with the Sixth Trumpet, for the purpose of rallying
* See Preface to Decline and Fall.
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as it were, to its own position, all the other great synchronizing fulfilments. For let only its amount and application be correctly ascertained, in which there seems to be no difficulty, and it will follow by Rev. x. and xi., independently of other concurring prophecies, that “ the time of the end ,״ the restoration of the Jews, the fall of the Papacy and of the Western nations, and the deliverance of the Church, are all to take place within one and the same period ; for it is after the distinct enumeration of most of these, yea, it is after direct or indirect reference to them all, and not before, that we find announced “The Second Woe is past.״
Indeed it is particularly observable that the signal symptoms of the fall of Mahometanism as a religious imposture, are adverted to in the prophet Daniel’s repeated expression, “ the time of the end ;מ and by the Apocalyptic prophet, where he speaks of “the Second Woe ״ as “ past.״ By such indications they point at something that was to be very visible to all, and which should portend the certain and near ap־ proach of the great consummations above enumerated. The reason probably is, because the Ottomans possess the land of Israel, whose restoration to their inherit-anee will be a crisis to the nations. Therefore is it that the fall of the Turkish Empire is pointed at, both in the Old and New Testament, as the sign of “the times of the Gentiles״ being fulfilled. It is not, then, without reason that the present critical situation of Turkey, and the thoughts of sagacious politicians concerning the strong probability of its speedy down-
283
THE TURKISH EMPIRE.
fall, excite in the present day such pointed observa-tion from those who turn their attention to these subjects, as affecting the future history both of Jews and Gentiles. There are indeed many other signs of the times which are sufficiently alarming. Some of them have already occupied our pages, and others yet remain to be considered. But the one now noticed is the most clearly observable of all in respect of time and circumstance, as compared with the symbols and chronology of prophecy. I close these remarks with a quotation from the late Charles Buck, who appears to have seen, more than thirty years ago, the chronological bearing as thus represented ; and I cite it especially because he was a Dissenting minister, and one of great reputation. Speaking of the hour, day, month, and year, during which the four angels loosed should slay the third part of men, he says, “This period, in the language of prophecy, makes 391 years, which being added to the years when the four angels were loosed (prepared) will bring us to 1844, or thereabouts, for the final destruction of the Mahometan Empire.”*
This important epoch, then, “ the cessation of the Second Woe ” appears to be very near at hand—and if not exactly according to the above date, yet very soon after it ; and this because of its connexion with theWitnesses* “ascensionto heavenJ’f Hence we infer it to be the very next great national event that shall happen. And who, in the face of such cumulative evi-
* See Back’s Theological Dictionary ; Art. “ Mahomet.”
f Rev. xi. 11, 12.
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den ce, can venture to say beforehand, that it will not take place within the year 1844 ? I am aware that we are constantly met with our Lord’s declaration, ״ Of that day and that hour knoweth no man ; no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son,but the Father.״ But it is impossible that we ought to view this as con-tradicting His omniscience, or as opposed to other parts of the written Word ; and even to the immediate context. “ But ye, brethren,״ says the Apostle, “ are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the chil-dren of the day.”* And I think it may well be ques-tioned whether the condition of ignorance mentioned by our Saviour was intended to be perpetual; for, as the late Rev. John Fletcher of Madeley observed, “ If he told his disciples that it was not theirs to know the times when these things should be accomplished, it does not follow that it should be hid from us, who are far more nearly concerned in them than they were.”f He adds, “ If we are mistaken in forming conjectures—if the phenomena we hear of everywhere are but common providences—if these things happen not to us but to our children, as they certainly will before the third generation is swept away, (this was written in November 1755, now eighty-eight years since !) is it not our business to prepare ourselves for them, to meditate on them, and to warn as many people as we can prudently, lest their blood should
* 1 Thess. v. 4, 5.
f Bengelius expresses himself to the same effect: (See his Memoir.)
285
THE THIRD WOE,
be required at our hands, were they to fall because of a surprise.”*
I repeat, therefore, that as far as we can under-stand these divine predictions, it does seem most probable, that Turkey will very soon fall. Next to such great event it follows :—
“ Behold, the third woe cometh quickly!״
“ Behold !”—not as many persons in the present day would tell us, that we are going to have war no more ; that men have now grown wiser; with more to the same effect. Such assertions can be of no weight with those who, by the light of God’s word, know but too well the direful power of “original or birth-sin” in human nature ; much less by those who attend to what God says He will do. No ; when they hear him thus calling for their serious attention, with the word “ Be-hold !” they know that war must not only needs come, but come quickly ; come in its perfection of evils ; which is but too truly the import of that sad exprès-sion, “the Third Woe.” But they know also, and every child of God may take the fullest comfort from the assurance, that before this storm of Divine wrath shall be permitted, their complete “ redemption ” will have been experienced ! and that looking back on their deliverance out of such a tribulation, they shall “ cry with a loud voice, The salvation be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb,״
Oh ! did we only every one believe concerning the
* Letter on the Prophecies, Vol. X. of his Works,
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286
preparations which cannot but be even now making for that surpassingly great crisis and consummation ! What though the pulpits are silent respecting both the one and the other ; what though the actions and events of the world appear to be proceeding as if no such crisis and consummation were ever likely to arrive ; what though amidst all the dreams of futurity that men indulge, they never contemplate anything of the kind ;—will, then, the truth of God be disannulled ? Will the promises and the threaten־^ ings of the Almighty come to no effect ? Will our silence, our schemes, our indifference, turn aside the purposes, the declared purposes, of Him who is not a man that he should lie ? Verily, the Seventh Trumpet must sound, and this at its own due moment ; which every consideration of Scripture, and of the signs of the times, bids and compels us to regard as nearly at the point of its arrival ; so that soon, very soon, will that announcement be fulfilled, “ The Second Woe is past !”and on this being past we are bidden to behold, to be apprized, and to expect that “ the Third Woe cometh quickly ! ”
And now, can the generally prevailing indifference upon these absorbingly practical subjects excuse itself by the plea of no warnings having been given, or of no signs having been manifested, in order to prepare men for an event of such unutterable import-anee ? A plea of this sort has not the slightest founda-tion ; for most certainly no event that ever happened in man’s history, not even our Saviour’s first advent itself, was ever ushered into the world with so many evident
287
THE LAST TIMES.
presignifications and positive warnings, as have already been given from generation to generation, and are still pouring in upon us. If we referred to no-thing more than the great, the marked, the extraor-dinary events of Europe which have been multiplying around us now during more than half a century, we should even then be referring to something far more comprehensive and comprehensible than abstract calculations of prophetical periods, though even these speak out with a clearness which the most sceptical ought not to despise. To these, then, as answering so exactly to Divine predictions concerning “ the last times,מ would we arouse the most wakeful attention of the Church. Mistakes may have been made in their particular application ; but their general appli. cation has commended itself to almost every person who has taken up his pen to write upon the subject. There is scarcely one of them but perceives that we are living amidst the all-important scenes of the last times, whatever difference of opinion they may entertain respecting a few years in determining the prophetical periods ; meanwhile we witness how each new turn of affairs is apparently bringing society into that position which prophecy has long foreshown. Well may it, therefore, be asked, what more signs we require, or what further warning we could reasonably expect, from God. The age is not one that will attend to Scriptural signs, however significant they may be, when at least they pro-phesy evil ! Nevertheless that sure word abideth, “whereunto we do well that we take heed.״
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That “ sure word,” as we have already noticed, has intimated, by way of structural anticipation,—namely, where the Lord Jesus, as the “ mighty angel,” ap-pears with the little book, or the roll of the Seventh Seal, opened in his hand, and thereupon, in the most solemn manner, virtually pronounces the Papacy to be at an end,—that “in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God is finished, as He for good-tidings announced to his own servants the prophets” Upon thus much we had concluded by direct reference to predic-tions contained in the Old Testament itself. Here, then, first, let us briefly recapitulate, that we may the better have in view what those “ prophets ” dis-close respecting the finish of God’s mysterious dis-pensations. This mighty angel’s reference to predic-tions in the Old Testament concerning “ the latter days,” is exquisitely apposite ; because upon the inter-mediate ages which we have been now reviewing under the Seven Seals and the six first Trumpets, Old Testa-ment prophecy touched but lightly, and only, as it were, in broken outline. Our remark applies generally to whatever events, subsequent to the Christian era, would be less strictly interwoven with concurrent Jewish history. Thus the great apostacy of the visible church, foreshown under the four first Seals, was predicted, indeed, by Daniel, but in a very few words ;* and had also been implied by him in the rise of the twro “ little horns ” of Popery and Mahomme-
* See Dan. xi. 31,32 ; Diss. ch. xii.
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danism. The Reformation likewise, with the persecu ־ tions provoked by it, which are the subject of the Fifth Seal, was foretold by Daniel with similar brevity.* The chief actor in the events which arose out of the French Revolution is also presently foreshewn in the same prophecy,t with somewhat greater detail, on account of his being the more immediate precursor of those last times which we have seen portrayed under the Sixth Seal, and shall further see particu-larized under the first five Vials.
Likewise, in reference to the events which are symbolized by the first six Trumpets, the Old Testa-ment prophets spake in the same cursory manner. Thus are those events sweepingly alluded to in that comprehensive sentence, “ Hew down the great tree,” &c. (Dan. iv. 14) ; and in that brief foreshewing of the rise and progress of Mahommedanism, Dan. viii. vv. 9—12, and 23—25. Moreover, their perspective vision darted across the long interval of all those im-portant matters contained in the eleventh chapter of the Apocalypse which extend to the fourteenth verse. The reason is obvious. These matters were not immediately connected with the latter-day glory of the Messiah, and the restoration of Israel, the darling themes of the Jewish prophets.
But concerning “the days of the voice of the Seventh Angel, when he shall begin to sound,” the case even with those prophets is very different. Here they become emphatic and copious, insomuch that
* See Dan. xi. 33, 34. f Ibid. xi. 36—39 ; Diss. ch. xii.
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it is to them we are referred for particulars ; while in the Apocalypse, upon the actual sounding of the Trumpet, we find very little more than the grand result of the whole ;—which is as follows 2
“ And the Seventh Angel sounded ; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdom * of this world is become the king-dom of our Lord, and of his Christ ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.״ (ver. 15.)
Divine wisdom is apparent in this economical summariness ; for had the substance of all that the prophets foretell about God’s mystery being finished, and which it requires some patient investigation properly to apply, been here dilated on, it would have rendered the whole too plain.
What it has seemed good to the Holy Ghost to intimate, in the immediately subsequent Song of the Elders, is amply sufficient to point out what portion of the Old Testament prophecies we are referred to in Rev. x. 75 particularly as in the reference express mention is made of the finishing of the mystery. Therefore, in inquiring of the Hebrew prophets what God hath “ declared as good tidings ” for the Seventh Trumpet, it behoves us to turn more especially to the concluding subjects of their testimony.
We have already hinted at another important reason why events * of the latter days might be the more fully revealed to the Jewish prophets ; namely, because at this seventh and last period the Jews come into sight again : and because those events are so many indications of Israel’s restoration, which we
* *yfviTo η β&σίλίίοι—“ Lectio indubie genuina.’’ (Griesb.)
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know is to be brought about at this last period; hence that remarkable expression, “ he hath declared as good tidings ” Therefore do those events concern them no less than us ; and this apocalyptic reference to their own prophets stands in the Christian Scrip-tures as a call to that nation, from the Spirit of God himself, to turn their serious attention to what is declared in the Hebrew Scriptures respecting the finishing of his mystery ; that is, respecting the con-summation which shall ensue when the Seventh Angel shall begin to sound ; a consummation to which they themselves will be signal contributors.
Concerning the mystery of God, as we have here had to notice it as connected with the Jews, we may further observe, that the Lord’s casting them off, and grafting in the Gentiles, is itself termed a mystery ! Further, that he should have permitted, and borne with, an almost universal apostacy of the visible Christian Church ; and have suffered his own pure worship to be supplanted throughout the whole range of the prophetical earth, yea, and far beyond it, by those two great powers—namely, that of Popery, and that of Mahometanism—and this for so many hundreds of years, is indeed a mystery. But, to particularize no further, the whole scheme and his-tory of redemption, from the fall of Adam to the present moment of time, is an unfathomable depth of mystery. Nevertheless, “in the days of the voice of the Seventh Angel, when he shall begin to sound, the *
* See Romans xi. 75. ' o 2
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mystery of God will be finished.״ The veil will be rent; and not only will the last consummate and consummating scenes be displayed, but the spiritual and true church will then know the why and the wherefore—the mystery will be over !
“ And the Seventh Angel sounded.״ It will be well to consider what is implied by this sounding of the Seventh Angel. On the Apostle’s being commanded “ to eat/’ or to digest, the little opened book, the taste of it was sweet to him. So is it sweet to us, as followers of his example, to digest that great predicted truth, “ The kingdom of this world is become the king-dom of our Lord, and of His Anointed One.״* But the bitterness follows, when we come to reflect what else the Seventh Trumpet announces ; for it is “ the third ” and last “ WOE.״ It is diffictlt for us who have so long and so happily lived in “ peace and safety,״ and who are comparatively so little familiar with the horrors, miseries, and destructions com-prised in the two former Woes, to figure to ourselves even a portion of what is implied by this most expressive term. Indeed I believe that no mere language can adequately represent the import of “ a woe !”+ and therefore, while the approach of such a thing is either distant, or supposed to be dis-tant, the most faithful descriptions of what the for- *
* Here appears an allusion to the second Psalm throughout ; and in particu'ar to the words “ against the Lord and against Ilis Anointed One,” (or Messiah).
f See Diss.ch. viii. p. 192·
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mer ones have been, will make little or no impres-sion upon men in general. But the true reason why it will not, is, after all, the infidelity of the human heart. God himself is not believed, though his word be declared unto this generation. That vital faith is wanted, which, receiving “ all Scripture as given by inspiration of God,” regards its promises as the substance of things hoped for, and its threatenings as the evidence of things not seen as yet. It is God, then, who hath said, “ The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all nations that forget him.” It is God himself in man’s nature—yes, it is God incar-nate, the Saviour of the world—who hath said, “ He that believeth shall be saved ; and he that believeth not shall be damned.” Now these, and many other similar announcements and denunciations, sparkle and radiate in the Holy Scriptures throughout ; but still how little effect do they produce ! People con-tinue so to live as if the truth of God could be changed into a lie ! They do not live as if they verily believed that he will certainly fulfil his word !
Yet shall never one jot or one tittle thereof be found to have failed of its accomplishment. Even so will it be experienced in the days of that coming ״* wrath.”* But though he here declared so plainly that “the Third Woe cometh quickly” after the Second Woe shall be past ; and though all considerate readers and commentators are alike agreed that the Second Woe is all but past ; still how few amongst us are living as if we expected the Third Woe to come quickly after !
* Rev. xi. 18.
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It may with truth be said, that in no part of the Apocalypse are interpreters so unanimous, as upon the meaning of the Second Woe. Even Dr. Walmsley, a Popish Commentator, agreed with them concerning its reference to the Turks. Again ; in the whole range of political speculation, there is nothing more unani-mously believed, than .that the power which that nation founded upon the ruins of the Eastern Roman Empire, is now at the very point of dissolution ! Must not then the Third Woe be just at hand ? Will not God in very deed fulfil His word ; and the event of Constantinople becoming losttoits presentpossessors, be the certain signal of at least as great calamities immediately coming upon the nations, as were brought to pass under the two former Woes ?
Nothing can be more certain ; and we are called upon by the inspired warning before us, to take particular notice of it ; —yea, to give it our most serious attention : “ Behold ! the Third Woe cometh quickly !” The word “ Behold ” is a com-mand ; therefore to obey it, is our duty ; and to take the benefit of it, our unspeakable privilege : yes, to be warned, and this effectually, by the present gradual cessation of the Second Woe. Indeed, one reason for that very announcement, “the Second Woe is past,” (even as of the first) appears to be such gradual cessation. And ought we not, instead of witnessing the careless or unbelieving silence of all parties—yea, as if all men were deaf to this terrible announce-ment from our Lord Jesus Christ himself—ought we not to hear it reverberated from the pulpit, the platform, the press, and even from the benches of the
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Senate ? But,“ O Lord, though thy hand is lifted up, they will not see !” therefore “ as a snare shall it come upon all them that dwell upon the face of the whole earth yea, “ as travail upon a woman with child ; and they shall not escape !”
What a contrast to all this indifference is the adoring interest expressed about it by the blessed in Heaven—for upon the voice of the Seventh Angel sounding, it is written :
“ And the four and twenty elders, which sat before God on their seats, fell upon their faces, and worshipped God, saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come ; because thou hast taken to Thee thy great power, and hast reigned״ And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great ; and shouldest destroy them that destroy the earth.׳ (vv. 16—18.)
As this song of praise evinces that what is coming upon the earth is fully known to the “ spirits of just men made perfect ” in heaven ; so is it another exemplification of the deep interest they take in the affairs of the church militant. Let us now turn to “ the Prophets,” and see how far the things which God “ hath declared to them as good tidings,” confirm, and harmonize with, the various particulars enume-rated in this song.
We begin with “the mystery” of Providence, as signified in the symbol of Daniel’s Great Image. ,The “finishing” of this is, that it shall be smitten upon the ten toes, broken to pieces, and become like the chaff of the summer threshing floor.* Horrid * Diss. ch. viii. p. 186.
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wars therefore, as announced by this Trumpet, are what we are to understand by that tremendous blow which performs such destruction upon the ten king-doms. And these are alluded to in the Song of the Elders, when they say, “ The nations were angry, and thy wrath is come.” The sceptre of mercy and forbearance, which had been held out so long, and to us is still held out, will then be withdrawn, and the door will be shut ; only “ wrath,” “ the wrath of God,” “the cup without mixture,” henceforth re-mains ; for all that could hold it back is now removed. “ I cannot do anything,” said the Lord to Lot, “ until thou be come thither,” (viz. to Zoar ;)* and when he and his family were accordingly escaped thither, i. e. beyond the confines of the guilty and doomed cities, then instantly did the Lord rain upon those cities brim-stone and fire from the Lord out of heaven. Precisely in like manner, the rescued remnant of the Church having been now transplanted from the earth, there will be no further preventive to the coming wrath of the Lamb, the righteous and justly offended Lord God Almighty.
Daniel moreover foretells, that the kingdom of Christ will be established on the ruins of that great image of empire.f Accordingly, on the opening of the Seventh Trumpet, there are great voices in heaven, saying, “ The kingdom of this world is become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign for ever and ever.” And the elders here respond to it, and give thanks to God, because he hath “ taken to himself his great power, and hath signed !”
* Gen. xix. 22. f See Diss. ch. vii. p. 193—196.
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Daniel’s last vision.
Daniel's vision of the four wild beasts is the next thing that claims our attention as to the finishing of the mystery of God. And now, as that finishing has immediate reference to the termination of the Papacy, and of theCt time, and times, and half a time,” the awful phrase becomes clearer and clearer in ap-propriateness. For the 6th and 7th verses of Rev. x. teach, that after the Lord Jesus Christ shall have virtually proclaimed the time, and times, and half a time, to be actually no longer, this mystery of God (of which the Papal power is no small part) will be finished, as He hath announced for good tidings to His servants the prophets.*
But the fullest detail of the ultimate scenes of this “ mystery,” is to be found in the last “ great vision ” of that greatly beloved prophet ; to the exposition of which in our former volume, at Chapters xii., xiii., and xiv., the reader is referred. The coming judg-ments upon the world may there be seen indubitably to synchronize with the period of the Seventh Trum-pet, inasmuch as there they are so expressly indicated to happen at “ the time of the end,” the time of the cut ting offof the little horn, that is, of Mahometanism, f So plain does this appear, that I conceive it is the same thing as if those words in the 10th chapter of the Apocalypse had run thus : “ And in the days of the voice of the Seventh Angel, when he shall begin to sound, the king of the South, and the king of the North, shall unite their forces against the kingdoms
t See Diss. ch. xi.
o 5
* See Diss. ch. x.
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of the West : and the king of the South shall ‘ push5 against them ; but the king of the North shall come against them, c like a whirlwind, with a very great army and navy, and shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow, and pass over.* ”*
It is not necessary to specify the other numerous predictions in the Old Testament, which relate to these self-same events. But let us not overlook what a harmony is here discovered between them and those of the New Testament, and what a weight of evi-den ce the one Testament thus imparts to the other ! In a word, those very days of the voice of the Seventh Angel are likewise foretold by the rest of the prophets, particularly by Moses, Samuel, David, Isaiah, Jere-miah, Ezekiel, Joel, Zechariah, and Malachi : and if they speak with less arrangement, or if they point at such distant periods of history with less definite-ness, still their descriptions are only the more vivid, varied, and full. We close this part of our subject with inferring, that the time will assuredly come, and is even near at hand, when it will be as true of the Seventh Trumpet, as verily it is of all the former ones, that St it hath sounded !” and it will be then manifest to all men that God hath fulfilled His own Word !
But as the onward qourse of events, which at the present day are developing so visibly for that great crisis of all time, will bring about the finishing of the mystery of God, so this will be for the reward
* See Diss. ch. xiii. p. 343—363.
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OLD TESTAMENT PROPHECIES.
of the righteous, as well as for the punishment of the wicked. The four and twenty elders, in their song of thanksgiving, after praising God for having taken unto himself His great power, and reigned ; and after having proclaimed that the time of His wrath was come ; proceed to celebrate another most important event, which is to ensue upon the sounding of the Seventh Trumpet ; and that is, (according to what we find also in Rev. xx.) the resurrection op the righteous dead ! They say, ״We give Thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come ; because the season of the dead is come, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give the hire* unto thy servants the prophets^ and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great”
One of the allusions, in the Old Testament pro-phets, to this great event, is in Dan. vii. 9, as connected with the destruction awaiting the ״lit-tie horn ” of the Papacy, where it is said, ״ The ancient of days did sit.״ By this expression, we can understand nothing less than the commencement of the Almighty's final session in judgment; the description of which, being there given in terms adapted to our comprehension, renders the whole most awfully intelligible. ״ I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of
• Comp. Matthew xx. 8, (Greek) where the very same term occurs.
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his head like the pure wool : his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire. A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him : thou-sand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him: the judg-
MENT WAS SET, AND THE BOOKS WERE OPENED !”
(Dan. vii. 9, 10.)
In the business of this great session, the first thing noticed is, that, because of the great and blasphemous words, “ which the horn spake,”* (i. e. because of the great “blasphemy” of the papal power “ against the Most High ”f) its destruction is inflicted with that of the nations which gave it power. “ I beheld,” says the Prophet, “ even till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame ;” implying most certainly, that if the beast be slain and consumed, both the ten horns, as well as the little horn that sprung up among them, must share the same fate.
The next thing ensuing from this great session, is the delivery of the kingdom to Christ ; which is an-nounced in the following sublime language, “ Behold one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.” Concerning the exact harmony
f Verse 25.
* Diss. ch. ix. p. 219, 263.
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THE FIRST RESURRECTION.
of all this with the opening of the Seventh Trumpet, it is superfluous to remind the reader, since the whole subject has been so frequently before us. We there-fore pass on to what here more immediately demands our attention ; namely, the resurrection of the righ-teous dead.
Speaking of the little horn that had 66 eyes, and a mouth that spake very great things, whose look was more stout than his fellows,” the Prophet adds, “ I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them ; until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the Most High ; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom.”* From which words it is evident that at this time a the saints " will be judged and rewarded. Not a word is here said about judg-ment being given to the wicked ; therefore the pro-phecy does not bring us at once to the business of the universal judgment. Indeed what is now done, is long before what is commonly understood by the end of the world; for another kingdom has yet to be established upon the earth ; as it is written in ver. 27, “ And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.”
Here again it is unnecessary to remind the reader how exactly all this likewise coincides with
* Dan. vii. 21, 22; see likewise verses 26 and 27.
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what is announced at the Seventh Trumpet, namely, “the season of the dead is come, that they should be judged,” and that “ the hire ” should be given to all the righteous dead—not only to “ His servants the prophets,” but ״ to the saints, and them that fear His name, both small and great.” All of the redeemed church therefore, whose ashes áre as yet in their graves, shall then be judged, so as to enjoy a happy resurrection. No longer does the Apo-calypse there show them under the similitude of the four living creatures ; for, after the sounding of the Seventh Trumpet, it is only the four and twenty Elders that are seen to fall down and worship God, thanking Him> among other things, for the resurrection of “the general assembly and church of the first-born,” not who are in heaven, but “ who are written in heaven.”* With such exact appropriateness of distinction do we see the several parts assigned to the respective characters in this great prophetic drama! Daniel himself, in his last “great vision,” has a second notice of this first resurrection; showing that in its application to the Jews, it will extend to a por-tion of the wicked, as well as to the righteous. “ Many of them,” he writes, “ that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firma-ment ; and they that turn many to righteousness, as the stars for ever and ever.”t For our observations
־{־ Dan. xii. 2, 3.
Heb. xii. 23.
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THE FIRST RESURRECTION,
upon this passage, see the former volume, ch. xiii. p. 365—367. Yet here it may be worth while to insert some remarks to the purpose from a speech delivered by the excellent Mr. Toplady, in which he says, “ I believe the doctrine of the Millennium : and that there will be two distinct resurrections of the dead : first, of the just : and secondly, of the unjust : which last re-surrection of the reprobate, will not commence till a thousand years after the resurrection of the elect. In the course of the present argument, I have been forced to take the doctrine of the ״Millennium for granted : time not allowing me to even intimate an hundredth part of the proof by which it is supported. I would only observe, to those who have not considered that subject, that it would be prudent in them to suspend their judgment about it, and not be too quick in determining against it, merely because it seems to lie out of the common road. As doctrines of this kind should not be admitted hastily, so they should not be rejected prematurely. Upon the whole, I give it as my opinion, that “ the reward”* of the saints, during the personal reign of Christ upon earth, will be greater or less, in proportion to their respective labours, sufferings, and attainments: but that, seeing they are loved alike, with one and the same everlasting love of God the Father ; that their names are in one and the same book of life ; that they are all justified by the same perfect righteousness of Christ, redeemed
* fiurfa, “the hire,” Matt. xx. 8; compared with Rev.
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and washed from all their sins in the blood of the same Saviour, regenerated by the same Spirit, made partakers of like precious faith, and will in the article of death be perfectly (and of course equally) sane-tified by Divine grace ; for these and other reasons that might be mentioned, I am clearly of opinion, that in the state of ultimate glory, they will be on a perfectly equal footing, with regard to final blessed-ness, both as to its nature and degree: and, as the parable expresses it, ‘ receive every man his penny.’ ”*
But there is another commanding event celebrated in this Song of the Elders, and that is, the destruction of those who destroy the earth—in other words, the destruction of those very persons who shall be made at first the instruments of God’s wrath. This part of the “ finishing of the mystery of God99 was also declared unto his servants the Prophets, and is pre-dieted in its more special particulars by Ezekiel, (as may be seen in our former volume, chapter xiii., p. 359—365,) upon the termination of the career of the king of the North ; of whom we read in Daniel, ch. xi. 45, that ״he shall come to his end, and none shall help him.” A passage from Zechariali may also be cited to the same effect, where, alluding to the Lord’s destroying them, which destroy the earth, he says, “ Behold the day of the Lord cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee. For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle;
See Toplady’s Works, Vol. III. page 470.
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THE DESTROYERS DESTROYED.
and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished ; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city. Then shall the Lord go forth, andfight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle”* It is on this occasion that the destruction will be so great, that the house of Israel (as we learn from Ezekiel, ch. xxxix. ver. 12.) will be seven months in burying their slain.f This fearful slaughter is again adverted to and described in the 14th and 19th chapters of the Apocalypse (see ch. xiv. 19, 20; and ch. xix. 1721־־.)
The whole information which has thus far been given us respecting the contents or consequences of the Seventh Trumpet, has been indirect or inferential. First, We were referred to the anticipations thereof in the writings of the Prophets, (ch. x. 7) ; then to what was announced by the great voices in heaven, as that Trumpet’s ultimate result, (ch. xi. 15) ; and then to its general topics in the Song of the four and twenty Elders. We now, however, come to the direct description—
“And the Seventh Angel sounded!—And the Temple of God was opened in Heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his Testament : and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail.״ (ch. xi. 15. 19.)
What first commands our attention, as of the most consequence for us to know, and what confirms all our
f Diss. ch. xiii. p. 360.
* Zech. xiv. 1 — 3.
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preceding conclusions upon the subject, is, that here, the complete and glorious deliverance of the church by its translation to Heaven, is the first thing inti-mated. “And the Temple of God"—that Temple of God which, in the beginning of the chapter, is spoken of as measured, or enclosed, by Divine providence, while the outer court is given up to the “Gentiles"*—“was opened in Heaven ! And there was seen in His temple the ark of His Tes-tamentHence we may learn, not only that the mystical temple of God, the Church of Christ, will by this time be in heaven—not only that his spiritual worshippers will have been all collectively trans-planted from earth to heaven, but that within that pure and holy temple Christ Himself will be per-sonally seen—for 10 ! what was symbolized under the Jewish church by the Ark of the Testament, and concealed from public view, is now beheld openly by all. Then will there no longer be any mere type or shadow, or any further seeingbya mirror enigmatically, but then face to face shall we see him as he is, and know even as we are known ! In a word, we under-stand by the above symbol, that during the period of the Seventh Trumpet there will be no spiritual temple of God on the earth, but that it will be openly dis-played in heaven.
After this prophetic notice of the safety of the church as already effected at the opening of the Seventh Trumpet, it is added, “ And there were
* Ch. xi. of this work, p. 230.
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THE TEMPLE IN HEAVEN.
lightnings, and voices, and thundering s, and an earth-quake, and great hail” This is properly the sub-ject matter of the Trumpet itself, as a Trumpet or “ Woe” The other facts we have been considering are but concomitant, although of such magnitude that they overpower the event about which they cluster. The sort of symbols that are here chosen to represent it, we have already become so familiarly acquainted with, as to be able to perceive at once how clearly they refer to the most dreadful wars and “ overturnings.’* Thus, an earthquake is again men-tioned, which can be no other than a great revolution ; and which, forasmuch as to us the Seventh Trumpet has not yet sounded, must be future. Unlike the revolution which has lately past, and in which only one of the ten kingdoms was to fall, and did fall, this appears to be a general overthrow. As here no such limitation is intimated, we can only consider it to be the same as the one described hereafter in such fearful terms, upon the outpouring of the Seventh Vial ; for the time is the same ; it also hap-pens immediately after the drying up of the Euphrates, (the gradual dissolution of the Ottoman Empire) which is foreshown under the Sixth Vial, and which is the same as the end of the Sixth Trumpet. Hence, whatever appearances of révolu-tionary movements there may be at present in any of the ten kingdoms, we have no apprehension of their being permitted to take that effect which their wicked plotters may intend, as long as the Ottoman Empire yet stands, or, in other words, while the Seventh Trumpet has not yet sounded !
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But that the fall of that empire wjll immediately bring on the most tremendous consequences, we may learn from the circumstance, that the “great earthquake ” is predicted in both passages (viz. Rev. xi. 19, and Rev. xvi. 18—21), and this, as followed by a great hail ; and as attended with lightnings, and voices, and thunderings. That is, we are to imagine in the natural world,—first, the dreadful effects of a great and general earthquake ; then, the clouds darkening, the thunders rolling, the lightnings flashing, and the loudest expressions of consterna-tion; and lastly, the storm itself—of hail—of great hail—of great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent, sweeping all in its resistless course with utter desolation.
Such is what the above symbols give us to under-stand will shortly happen in the political world. I need scarcely remind my readers how exactly this conclusion harmonizes with all that we have previously learnt from the Apocalypse, and from the Books of Daniel and Zechariah. “ Hail,’* as was seen in the details of the First Trumpet, sig-nifies a furious invasion from the North, where natural hail is generated. Accordingly, that Trum-pet predicted such an invasion, or rather inva-vasions, from the Goths, and other barbarian tribes, who inhabited the cold northern regions. Therefore the symbol signifies the same thing in the present instance ; and the epithet “ great ” being added to it, denotes the most furious and dreadful invasion from that same quarter of the earth. Let us then throw the whole into connexion, one part with
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SYMBOLS.
another, and it will show the intelligent reader, from what human power the tremendous ruin will most probably come. On the fall of Constantinople, and the consequent extinction of the Turkish Empire, in whatever particular way this is destined to happen, ״the Second Woe” will not only be past; but that period, which in Daniel’s prophecy concerning the Eastern “ little horn,” is denominated “ the Time of the End,” will have arrived. Now in Daniel’s last “ great vision ״ (ch. xi. 40.) which we have already considered at large, it is written that, ״ At the time of the end, the king of the South will push at him : and the king of the North * will come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships ; and shall enter into the coun-tries, and overflow,״ and pass over.”
It would be well if all rulers and people of these kingdoms would, in reference to the alarming pros* pect before us, seriously attend to the following warning from Gibbon. Speaking of the overturning of the Western Empire by the Goths and Vandals, he says with as much of truth as of point, ״ The awful revolution which was the consequence, may be usefully applied to the present age.” And after remarking in his dayt the condition of the
* It has been observed by Mr. Faber, as we noticed in the former volume, that the power of Russia cannot be inter-preted as the “ King of the North,” unless it become possessed of Syria.
f Gibbon began his (i History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire ” in the year 1770, and published the last volume in 1778. He died in 1794.
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principal powers of Europe, he adds, “Yet this apparent security should not tempt us to forget that new enemies, and unknown dangers, may possibly arise from some obscure people, scarcely visible in the map of the world. The Arabs, or Saracens, who spread their conquests from India to Spain, had languished in poverty and contempt, till Mahomet breathed into their savage bodies the soul of Enthusiasm and it may be added, thereby accomplished the purposes of God in forming by them the First Woe. But enough has been already advanced by us upon this topic ; and we may be well assured that God will not want instruments to perform his own work; so that this symbol of a great hail-storm will be verified in the most complete and awful manner.
Unto such effect then is it that the Seventh Angel will sound ! The particulars of its dire accompani-ments will, moreover, be seen predicted in the three last verses of the fourteenth chapter of this inspired book ; in the contents of the Seventh Vial ; and in the eighteenth and nineteenth chapters ; which denounce unsparing vengeance indiscriminately upon the conquerors and the conquered—all being found alike destitute of the seal of the living God in their foreheads ! Meanwhile let His faithful servants know that “ the harvest ’* will have been gathered in (Rev. xiv. 15, 16); the day of the Lord will have come as a thief in the night (1 Thess. v. 2, 3;
• General Observations at the end of ch. xxxviii.
311
SYMBOLS.
compared with Rev. xvi. 15, and Rev.xix. 11—16) ; also “ the temple of God will be opened in heaven, and there wUl be seen in his temple the ark of his Testament.” After which, “ there will be great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdom of this world
IS BECOME THE KINGDOM OF OUR L0RD, AND
of His Christ; and he shall reign for ever AND ever!”
END OF VOL. I.
LONBON :
C F. HOBOSON, PRINTER, 1 GOUGH SQUARE, FLEET STREET.