^ PRINCETON, N. J. © 'Part of the t ADDISON ALEXANDER LIBIlAJn, ^ t\ which was presented by /| 11 MEiSKS.' R. I-. AND A. Stuarv. ^ .L^9 1 - /"t^r -v:^ /.r/ f THE BOOK OF REYELATION EXPLAINED BY HISTORY. A COMMENTARY, BY REV. J. b/l'HOTE, FORMEKLY PBIEST OF VILLEFAVARD, FRANCE, NOW A MISSIONARY OF THK GOSPEL OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, AND PROFESSOR OF LANGUAGES, IN LAAVRENCEVILLE, N. J. PHILADELPHIA: LIPPmCOTT, GRAMBO & CO. 1854. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1854, BY LIPPINCOTT, GRAMBO & CO., In the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the Eastern District of Pejuisylvania. PREFACE. Keader : — I have studied, many years, this prophecy of the beloved disciple of Jesus, not to comment upon it, or to write a book, but for my own enjoyment and delight. And now, I publish this book, because God has enabled me to understand this wonderful Revelation, and because I desire to impart to others the fruits of my labors. I am well aware of the imperfections of this book, which originate from my limited knowledge of the English language. I know the evils which have been brought upon some of our fellow-men by false interpretations of the sacred emblems of this prophecy, and I am not ignorant of the prejudices, which both Christians and infidels entertain against any interpretation of this wonderful book of God. But, on the other hand, I have long felt that it is a shame for a minister of the gospel, or for any professor of Christianity, to acknowledge that it is an inspired book, — a part of the sacred volume, which they hold to be the foundation of the religion, which they teach or profess, — and, at the same time, to acknowledge, that they do not understand its mysterious language, and to entertain against it such prejudices as do infidels them- selves. Therefore, I publish this exposition ; and do not hesitate to say, that it is logically and historically demonstrated to be true ; consequently, that it will prevent any further abuse of its emble- matic language, and will prove to be a powerful instrumentality to silence infidelity, to put down popish arrogance and delusion, and to advance the kingdom of our Lord. Voltaire says of Newton : ^' The greatest geniuses may have an VIU PREFACE. erroneous judgment about a principle, wliich they have received without examination : Newton had it, when he commented upon the Apocalypse/' Reader, carefully peruse this book, which I oflfer you ; and then, you will decide whether Newton, or Voltaire, had an erroneous judgment of " a principle, received without examina- tion/' This prophecy will no longer be to you an obscure and unintelligible book; and you will confess that it is the most wonderful of all miracles. The explanation, which I give of this book, is not an arbitrary one. It is founded upon the nature, use, and functions of its emblems, and upon the illustrations, given by the prophet himself. Thus explained, these emblems represent to us the true condition of the Church, during eighteen centuries, and all the important events of history, in such a manner, that, with the monuments of history which we now possess, it would be impossible for us to represent the same events, in figurative language, clearer and better, than that of the prophecy itself. There is, then, no other explanation to be given of this prophecy, — and if, against my belief, there is another, let those upon whom weigh the curses of this book, hasten to give it. Many passages and emblems had been understood by those who have, in all ages, commented upon this book ; but only as many as were necessary, under the providence of God, to prevail with Christians to preserve this sacred book in the Church, with a holy reverence, notwithstanding the dark cloud which surrounded the other parts. But these difficulties, which they were obliged to pass over in every chapter (mistaking even the whole of the seventh, eleventh, twelfth, and twenty-first chapters, which have never been understood according to their true meaning), were as many chasms, which they could not fill up, and which rendered their commentaries a chaos of opinions, of systems, and of insigni- ficant quotations; so that the prophecy itself, becoming more obscure by these systems and opinions, provoked the derision of infidels, and the indifi'erence and disgust of Christians.* • As the writer has no book, when writing this exposition, he cites PREFACE. IX My purpose, in writing this book, is not to expatiate on the common words, which present no difficulty, because the reader can comment himself upon them, and be benefited thereby : I will only explain the meaning of the emblematic language of the pro- phecy, and show the connection between every part of it, and its fulfilment as it is recorded in history. As I have been greatly blessed by the reading of this book of Revelation, I am confident that the serious perusal of this exposition will impart to the reader the same blessings. The author of the prophecy declares himself, that " Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein." Notwithstanding the imperfections of this commentary, every Christian will be strengthened in his holy faith, by the reading of it; every infidel will learn how great our God is; and every Catholic and every priest will be taught, that Roman Catholicism has been long ago spewed out of the mouth of the Grod of Chris- tians. All will learn that the Reformation, which has so long been called " a heresy," was the work of the Lord ; that on the 25th of April, 1529, when the rulers of this world met together at Spires, to give the Reformation the name of " Protestantism," it was the Lord who overruled their counsel, and prevailed upon them to give his faithful Church this new name, which he had adopted, in order that there should be a distinction between his true Church and the spurious one, which had defiled the Christian and Catholic name. Therefore, he wrote upon the Reformation " the name of God," by whom it was adopted as his own work, and '^the name of New Jerusalem," showing, in this manner, that the Reformation shall be henceforth " the city of his God, which cometh down from heaven," and in writing "upon him that overcometh" popery "the name of God and the name of the city of God," and making him " a pillar in the temple of God," he acknowledges the Reformers to be, like the apostles, "pillars" in this new temple-of God; and Henry's and Scott's expositions from memory; and he regrets that he is thus unable to refer to the parts by which he has been benefited, when he consulted them to understand this prophecy for his own delight and grati- fication. X PREFACE. the Reformed Churches, to be ^^ the holy church/' which he had built up in Jerusalem (see 3 : 12). And so, Protestantism is vindicated by the Lord himself from the reproach of heresy : Pro- testantism is the new name of the Church of the Lord; and the Reformers were the new pillars of this New Jerusalem, as it came down, at first, from heaven. Would to God that the priests, and the bishops, and all those who are born Catholic, might read this short exposition of this wonderful prophecy, with the desire to be taught by the Holy Ghost in the way that they shall choose ! May they abandon the papal church, from which they can receive no benefit, except childish honors and worldly distinctions ! May they proclaim the word of God as the only true standard of faith, and Jesus, as the only bishop of souls and the only head of his Church ! The writer lived once, like them, in the darkness of popery. He was first awakened from his popish slumber, when reading in the ecclesias- tical history, that a Franciscan friar, incensed that the pope had decided in favor of the Dominicans a controversy debated between them and his order, wrote a pamphlet, in which he asserted, that the Pope was the Antichrist, the beast of the Apocalypse. From that time, he began to examine the doctrines of the mother church; he took notice of the innovations introduced every year into the church; he ceased, henceforth, to sanctify the crimes of the Popes, and he denied their assumed power and the claims of their priesthood. But, being deprived of the word of God, and having no Christian friend to lead him to Christ and his word, he wandered alone until the great Shepherd, the bishop of our souls, came to rescue him from his wanderings, to show him the beauty of holiness, and to introduce him, through the gates, into his holy city. " How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out ! Blessed are all they that put their trust in him !" The book of Revelation was judged, in a council held about A. D. 360, in Laodicea, on account of its obscure symbols, unworthy of a place in the canon of the sacred books. Nevertheless it was not held in less reverence by the Church, and its authenticity has been in- PREFACE. XI vincibly vindicated by all the authors who have commented upon it. But the best and the only proof needed to establish its au- thenticity, is to explain its emblematic language according to its nature and its meaning in the word of God, and to show that it gives us a true and faithful picture of the principal events of history, and of the state of the Church from the time of the prophet to our days. It follows from the teachings of this Revelation that all events have been foreordained, and that the names of the elect have been written in the book of the Lamb before the foundation of the world. The same word of God teaches the foreknowledge of God and the election of his people. But to this, it is objected that, if such be the case, there is, then, no liberty to act otherwise, and conse- quently that the preaching of the gospel to perishing sinners would be a mockery, because they cannot resist the decrees of God. It will not be amiss, therefore, to answer briefly this objection, which originates from a wrong knowledge of the nature of the eternity of God. Let the line a — h represent the eternal existence of God. Every event, the lives of men, the existence of empires, may be represented by m, and their duration by the liae m — n, taken at any point of the line representing the eternity of God. Now, the existence of God docs not consist of days, hours, and years. There is no time, no past, no future, for God : all things are actually present before the eternal eye of the Almighty. Therefore, though, at the point a of the line representing his eternity, he saw and knew, as if they were presently accomplished, all events, the lives of men, and the existence of empires, his seeing beforehand these events does not prevent our liberty any more than our seeing afar oif a drunkard rushing to his ruin, or an imprudent man exposing himself rashly to a precipice, has any influence upon their conduct and destruction. In this manner, the lives of Jacob and Esau, re- presented by the line m — n, were known of God, at the time of their birth, represented by m; and the foul act of Esau selling freely his birthright was known and present, under the eye of the eternal God, at the time of his birth. Therefore, before they were born and had done any good or evil, God could say without impairing XU PREFACE. their liberty, " The elder shall serve the younger .... Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated." There is, in God, a foreknowledge of the character of the elect ; for, in the golden chain of salvation, " the knowledge of God" is the first link of the chain, according to St. Paul, saying, " For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the first-born among many brethren. Moreover, whom he did predestinate, them he also called : and whom he called, them he also justified : and whom he justified, them he also glorified." Jesus Christ died for all, and the means of grace have been provided for all ; but as God fore- knew that the wicked would not choose the fear of the Lord, because " their soul delighteth in their abominations," and because they love darkness rather than light, because their deeds are evil, their names are not written in the book of the Lamb. But that does not impair their liberty any more than if the eternal God were taking presently notice of their wicked ways (Prov. 1 : 24-33). COMMENTARY. CHAPTER I. TITLES OP THE PROPHET — POWER AND MAJESTY OF. JESUS CHRIST THE MYSTERY OF THE SEVEN CHURCHES. "Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those tilings which are written therein : for the lime is at hand." — Rev. 1 : 3. The first chapter of the Book of Revelation, whicli is like an exordium of all the prophecy, declares that this Revelation pro- ceeds from God, and that, '' Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein;" therefore it is important to read it, and meditate upon it. It is* all grand and majestic; it is all worthy of the great revelations which are to be laid down and explained before us, Jesus Christ, the source of grace and peace, and the author of our salvation, appears there with his different titles ; and in a subHme apparition, he is clothed with the emblems of the power that he will exert in the seven different ages of the universal Church, represented by the seven spirits, which are the same spirit operating variously in these seven ages, and by the seven churches of Asia Minor, to which this prophecy is addressed. V. 1-3. " The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to show unto his servants things w^hich must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John, who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw. Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein, for the time is at hand." The knowledge of future events belongs to God alone. All ages are before him, and all the events which come to pass, being set in order before him from eternity, unite to accomplish his glorious 2 14 C O M M E N T A R Y, purpose and eternal decrees. He can raise up, as he pleases, either a hardened Pharaoh, to show his power, or a Nebuchadnezzar, to punish the sins of his people, or a Luther and a Calvin, to remove the darkness of this world, to purify his Church, and revive his people, in giving honor and glory to the word of his grace and power. The future is surrounded with an impenetrable veil for mortal eyes, and it is impossible for us to see through this dark veil, or to reach beyond the compass of the present, unless it pleases God to unveil it before our eyes. Blessed be our God ! the veil has been removed, and the things which belong to our peace and eternal hopes, have been revealed to his servant John, who has fulfilled, in the Church of God, the three principal offices of an apostle, of evangelist, and prophet. There are blessings promised to those who read this book; let no one, then, neglect the reading of this Revelation, under the pretence that it is obscure, or that many have abused its mysterious emblems : men abuse everything. The reason for which it is of the greatest consequence for us to read this book, and keep the things which are revealed to us in this prophecy, is that, '^ the time is at hand," not of the second coming of our Lord, but of the scourges by which God will visit his enemies, in all ages, to the event called ''the great day of the Lord." Therefore, our interest is to stay far from his enemies, whatever may be their rank and power in this world; and it is by the reading of this book that we shall know them, and shall escape /rom their ruin. V. 4-6. "John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come ; and from the seven spirits which are before his throne ; 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 blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father, to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen." Though the prophet be the beloved disciple of the Lord, having reclined in his bosom, and followed him to the foot of the cross, where he received his last words, and was intrusted with the care of his mother — though an apostle, evangelist, and prophet, he does not assume the title of a prince of the Church — he calls himself simply ''John." All that he says of himself (v. 2, 9), is that he is a servant of Jesus, a witness of the truth of his word, a brother and a companion of all Christians in tribulation, in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ. Peter himself, who has been made "a prince of the apostles," after the famous text, "Thou art Peter" (Matt. IG : 18), which ambition forbids to understand according to its true signification, takes only the title of "Peter, an apostle," COMMENTARY. 15 and an "elder/' as the others, and "a witness of the sufferings of Christ." All the pompous titles of "Pontiff, Prince, Cardinal, Pope," were only assumed in the Church, when she had been in- vaded by corruption; and the title of "Lord" (Monseigneur), was even unknown in the Church before Louis XIV., when the French bishops,, at the imitation of this king, who gave this title to his son, called one another "Monseigneur," that is, My lord. It was in vain that people laughed at their vanity; they knew that this title would be consecrated and revered with time, like the other assump- tions of their Church. All our blessings come from Grod, the Father, from our Lord Jesus Christ, and from the Holy Grhost. The word "^race" means forgiveness, favor. The malefactor, condemned by the law, receives a grace when he is forgiven by the chief of the state. He who can do nothing of himself, and receives from the fulness of Him who is almighty, the means and power to accomplish everything, receives also a grace, a favor. Such is the meaning of this word. As sinners, under the curse of God, we want this grace to obtain mercy, to be holy, and to become partakers of the heavenly kingdom, not by our deeds, but by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Rom. 5 : 12-21.) The fruit of this grace is ^^ peace.'' As soon as our hearts have been filled with faith, as with a precious perfume, the tears of re- pentance begin to flow. We love Grod, his word, his people, his Church and holy Sabbaths. Our revolt against God and his com- mands ceases, and peace reigns within us, in our families and with our fellow-mortals: we enjoy peace even when we encounter death, the king of terrors. From that peace springs the calm of the soul, and joy in the Holy Ghost. These blessings, granted to us in consequence of the plan of salvation, decreed by the blessed Trinity before the foundation of this world, are obtained from God the Father, as the fountain and author of every blessing ; from the Son, who, after having fulfilled and magnified the law, suffered death and hell in our stead on the cross; from the Holy Ghost, who continues the work of our Redeemer, through his divine agency, disposing our hearts and minds to accept with joy this plan of salvation, and to be faithful unto death. The Father is represented as the eternal Jehovah, one with the Son, "which is, and which was, and which is to come," being eternally the same gracious and merciful God. The Holy Ghost is called here "the seven spirits," for the diversity of his gifts, and for the seven churches of Asia, which he will guide, in a different manner, according to the different condition of the Church, in the seven ages of which they are the types. The Son 16 COMMENTARY. is called 'Hhe fliitliful witness, and first begotten of the dead; and the prince of the kings of the earth.'' 1. He is "the faithful witness/' because the Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, and who was the bright image of God, has faithfully revealed unto us his will and eternal purpose. 2. '^The first begotten of the dead," because he triumphed over death by his resun-ection from the dead, having bruised the head of the ser- pent in his own dominion ; and, as he arose from the dead, so his redeemed people shall rise up in the same manner, having the promise of eternal life. He is called also "the first-born," to indi- cate that to him belong all the blessings which, according to the ancient usages of people, appertained by birthright to the first-born. 3. "The prince of the kings of the earth," because he overrules all the kingdoms of this world by his providence, until they shall be broken in pieces and consumed, that his kingdom should be set up on their ruins. He was arrayed as a mock-king, having a purple robe on him, and a crown of thorns on his head, when Pilate brought him forth unto the Jews ; but in the great day of the Lord, when the kingdoms, represented by the toes of the feet of the great image of Nebuchadnezzar, which were composed of iron mixed with miry clay (the civil power mixed with an earthly re- ligion, Dan. 2 : 27-45), shall be broken, at the battle of Armaged- don, he shall have on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, *a^ing of kings, and Lord of lords." (Rev. 16 ri6; 19 : 11-21.) "Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father, be glory and dominion for ever and ever." 1. He loved us. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. The same exclaims with astonishment, "Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God." God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. " He washed us from our sins in his blood." The blood of Jesus cleanscth us from all sin; and all the saints who surround the throne of God have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. It is this good news which the Apostles were commissioned to preach through- out the world. "To him," says Peter, "give all the prophets wit- ness, that through his name whosoever believcth in him shall receive remission of sins." "And by him," says Paul, "all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses." (Acts 10: 43; 13: 38; 26:18; Luke 24: 47.) The Apostles were sent to the Gentiles, not to give them the abso- lution of their sins in a tribunal of confession, but to preach them, COMMENTARY. 17 in the name of Jesus, repentance and remission of sins ; to open tlieir eyes; to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they might receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith. When it is said (Matt. 18 : 18), '' Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven ; and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven," these words are addressed, not to a priest, but to all the members of a particular church, who receive or reject a pro- fessed Christian, reproved for his sins, according to his submission or resistance to the judgment of this Christian assembly, whose judgment shall be sanctioned in heaven. The Roman Church has corrupted the foundation of Christianity, by substituting for this grace, which Grod grants to repentant sinners, a confession made to a man, from whom they are to receive an absolution. Confession, invented in 627, in a synod composed of fifty-two bishops, at Chalons-on-the-Marne (France), was then imposed only upon the monks, and upon the priests in the eighth century, and finally on the laymen in 1215. It is one of these burdens of slavery, of which Paul (Col. 2 : 16-23) admonishes Christians to beware, — which, under the appearance of good, have taught impurity to youth, inspired contempt for the religion of Jesus, and propagated infidelity in all ranks of society. 3. '' He has made us kings and priests.'^ God says of the Jews, ^^ Ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation ;" and of Christians it is said, '^ Ye, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to ofi"er up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to Grod by Jesus Christ.'' (1 Peter 2 : 5-9.) He has made us kings in receiving us by adoption, instead of sons and daughters and joint-heirs with Christ of the kingdom of heaven. As soldiers of Jesus Christ, we must fight the good fight of faith, to overcome sin, Satan, and the world; for it would be unbecoming for kings and sons of kings to lead a sinful life, and to be the vile slaves of Satan. Christians' lives must be pure, noble, and holy. He made us priests, not to offer sacrifices, as the Jewish priests, for they ceased at his coming (Dan. 9 : 27); and we have but a holy high priest, Jesus, who was once offered to bear the sins of many; and we are sanctified through the offering of his body, once for all (Heb. 10 : 10); but to offer to God spiritual sacrifices, the incense of our prayers and supplications, and to show forth the praises of him who hath called us out of darkness into his marvellous light. Jesus Christ established in his church apostles, prophets, evan- gelists, pastors, and teachers, for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ (Eph. 4 : 11, 12); but there is no other priest, no sacrificator, than 2* 18 COMMENTARY. himself, and no other sacrifice than the sacrifice of himself on the/ cross, once for all (Heb. 7 : 23-29). The Greek word ^'j€ros,"x which means a priest, is only employed three or four times in the New Testament ; and it is applied, not to a privileged class of men among their brethren, as were the Lcvites among the Jews, but to all Christians in general. Consequently, the popish priesthood is a daring usurpation of the priesthood of Jesus Christ; and the un- bloody sacrifice, which its priests offer daily for money, for the quick and dead, is but a criminal parody of the sacrifice of our Lord; and whoever attends such a sacrilegious sacrifice is partaker of the sins of these new Korahs, Dathans, and Abirams. As we are indebted to our Lord for our redemption and privileges, let us ascribe to him glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. V. 7, 8. "Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty." The prophet, with his prophetic eye, sees already the coming of our Lord with the clouds (political storm), in that day called -' The great day of the Lord,'' when he shall strike through kings in the day of his wrath, and shall wound the head (popery) over many countries (19 : 11—21). Every eye shall see him in his glory and power ; and they also which pierced him : the Jews who put him to death — the infidels and scornful, who boasted to be freethinkers — the hypocrites and traitors, who have dishonored the Christian name, shall see him ; and, in their confusion and distress, shall wail because of him. Even so. Amen : It is the expectation of all his people. AVho could prevent his triumph over his enemies? He is the Alpha and Omega — a metaphor taken from the first and the last letter of the Greek alphabet, to signify that he is the beginning and the ending — the eternal God, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty. These last words are pronounced by Jesus Christ himself,^as to ratify the words spoken by the prophet. This revelation is like a notarial deed. In the beginning, the prophet explains what are his titles and his commission, as would do a notary. In the last chapter, from the fifth to the last verse, Jesus, as the angel of the covenant giving mission to his prophet, and the bride and the spirit, as witnesses, are speaking by turns, as to sign, approve, and ratify, as it were, all the words, written by the prophet in this pro- phetic deed, signifying, by that, that all the things spoken of in this revelation, are decreed by the Almighty, and that they shall COMMENTARY. 19 certainly come to pass as they are foretold by the prophet, who has received his mission from God himself. V. 9-11. " I, John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribula- tion, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet, saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, and, what thou seest, write in a book and send it unto the seven churches, which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and imto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea." The most favored Christian is but the first among his brethren, and the servant of aH. If the prophet boast of anything, it is that he is the brother of all Christians, their companion in tribulation, in the kingdom and patience of Je.sus Christ. 1. The kingdom of Jesus Christ is that glorious kingdom of grace, and peace, and joy, which the Grod of heaven shall set up, and which shall consume and break in pieces all the kingdoms of the earth — and this king- dom, in which there shall be any more, neither death, neither sorrow, nor crying; neither pain, nor tears, shall stand forever. (Dan. 2 : 44.) The gospel is the law of this kingdom, Jesus is the King, and his redeemed are the subjects of this everlasting kingdom. 2. Companion in tribulation. Christians must go through trials, afflictions, and persecutions, from this world into the heavenly kingdom. For whom the liord lovcth, he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth (Heb. 12 : 6-11 ; Am. 4 : 6-13); afflictions are like the troubled waters of the pool of Bethesda ; they cure those who are thrown into them ; but then, Jesus is like the wood by which the bitter waters became sweet. 3. The patience of Jesus Christ. Patience is the art of suffering, and waiting with an undaunted courage for the accomplishment of the promises. The seed, cast in the ground by the husbandman, springs up and blossoms before yielding any fruit; the husbandman waits patiently for the fruit of his labors. He does not cut a tree, because it is first covered with leaves and flowers, before giving him ripe fruit. But the impatient man is unable to wait, and to overcome the obstacles which he encounters on his way. Christians must wait with patience for the precious fruit of the promises, which become more and more sure, in proportion as they advance to the end of their course. If they find thorns and rocks in their way, they must look unto their Master, who is crowned with thorns, and oppressed under the heavy burden of his cross. They must expect to take it and bear it, in their turn, if such is the will of the Master; and whatever may be their trial, either in their family, or in persecutions, in dungeons and at the stake, they must be faithful 20 CO M M E N T A R Y. unto death. Jolin, the prophet and beloved of the Lord, waits with patience for deliverance from his sufferings, in the Isle of Patmos, one of the Cyclades, in the iEgean Sea, where he had been banished, in 94, by the Emperor Domitian. " I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day." John Jacques, an infidel of the last century, did not deny the existence of prophecies. He supposed that some persons, having their imagination excited by fastings and watchings, could be exalted to such a degree as to discover the future. On that account, he assimilated prophecy to the illumination of a fanatic person, and to the extravagance or frenzy of a heated imagination. If such is the true origin of prophecy, infidels must be satisfied that none of them has ever been a prophet, to foretell the vain attempt of their systems, either to explain the mysteries of this world or to destroy Christianity. John was in the Spirit, that is, his spirit was, as it were, free from the body through the powerful agency of the Holy Ghost, who established a close relation between him and God; and this favor was granted to him, not because his imagination had been heated by fastings and watchings, but because he was a faithful servant of the Lord, bearing his cross with love and patience, as all the prophets of old. "It was on the Lord's day," or the great day appointed to celebrate the triumph of the Lord over death, and his rest, after having accomplished the great work of our redemption. This day was substituted for the Jewish sabbath, b}^ the Master of the Sabbath himself. He raised up from the dead, the same day — he appeared to his disciples — he sent them the Holy Ghost — and the gates of the kingdom of heaven were opened the same day, by the preaching of the gospel. We find it celebrated, instead of the Sabbath, by the apostles (Acts 20 : 6-7; Col. 2 : 16-17), and Paul says: "Let no man judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holy day, or of the new moon, or of the Sabbath days, which are a shadow of things to come." This day, instituted, by the in- stitutors of Christianity, is the true antitype of the trumpet of the ancient jubilee, proclaiming salvation and liberty. It is not of the consecration of the first instead of the seventh day of the week, as of the errors of the Roman Church. Though we have no positive order for this substitution, we find its institution in the Bible, whilst the traditions of the Iloman Church are condemned there, and the records of their inventions are written in the annals of history. The prophet heard a great voice " as of a trumpet, saying, I am Alpha and Omega." This voice is that of Jesus himself, taking, as previously, the titles of Alpha and Omega, meaning the first and the last, the Eternal .Jehovah. His voice is piercing as the sound of a trumpet, because, at the sounding of the seventh trumpet, COMMENT AH Y. 21 when the seventh vial of the wrath of God, which is contained in that trumpet, shall be poured out with its dregs upon his enemies, his glorious name and power shall be proclaimed with magnificence, and his kingdom established forever. He orders the Prophet to write in a book the things which he will show him, and to send it unto the seven churches of Asia Minor, whose names are the types of seven different states or ages of the Church. V. 12-16. "And I turned to see tlie voice that spake with me. And 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 v/ool, as white as snow ; and his eyes tvere 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 counte- nance ivas as the sun shinetli in his strength." The sublimity of this glorious apparition of our Lord cannot be equalled by any invention of men. Had not Jesus been before the eyes of the Prophet, no human imagination could have invented such details, and described them with so much accuracy, simplicity, and sublimity. He saw seven golden candlesticks, wliich are the seven churches, and which represent the spiritual light, which they shall shed in the seven ages, of which the seven churches are the types. In the midst of the seven candlesticks, he saw ''one like unto the son of man ;" but what a difference he observes in his magnificence, and in the emblems of his strength and power ! He was ''clothed with a garment down to the foot," as King and Lord of lords (Is. 6 : 1-7). He was " girt about the paps with a golden girdle," indicating the truth of the prophecy which he is about to reveal, and the righteousness and faithfulness, with which he main- tains the cause of his people (Eph. 6 : 14; Is. 11 : 5). "His head and hairs were white as snow," not as signs of old age, but to shoAV that he is the Ancient of days (Dan. 7 : 9—14 ; 10 ; 5-12). " His eyes were as a fiame of fire," indicating his wrath against the enemies of his church, and his knowledge of the hearts and thoughts of men. " His feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace," represent his strong and irresistible power, to destroy his enemies and sustain the interests of his people. '' His voice as the sound of ?nany waters," shows the energy of his word to save or destroy. The voice of his words, says Daniel (10 : 6"), is like the voice of a multitude ; for he speaks, and the nations, figured by the waters (17 : 15), unite together to destroy his enemies, and in their wrath their voices are like the roaring of the sea. " He had in his right hand, seven stars," which repre- 22 CO M 31 E N T A R Y. sent the seven anc^els or pastors, of tlie cburclies of the different ages of his church. "And out of his mouth went a sharp two- edged sword," which is the emblem of his word (Heb. 4 : 12-13), like a sharp sword, with which he shall slay the nations in the great day of God Almighty. " His countenance was, as when the sun shineth in his strength," indicating that, after having broken his enemies in pieces, he shall shine, at the sight of all the earth, with all his glory and majesty, as the sun of righteousness, en- lightening and vivifying all the nations of the earth. Mark that each of these characters, with which he is clothed in this sublime apparition, shall be manifested in each of the ages of the Church, figured by the seven churches of Asia Minor. V, 17-19. " And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last: I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for ever- more, 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 hereafter." Whatever may be the power and glory of Jesus, the disciples of Jesus have nothing to fear. Fear not, I am the jBrst and the last, the Eternal God. "Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter." 1. The things, which he hath seen, are the sublime apparition of Jesus clothed with power and glory and majesty, giving him the commission to write this prophecy. 2. " The things which are," are Christianity as it has been first established, and the Homan pagan empire, opposing Christianity. 3. "And the things which shall be hereafter," arc the destruction of the Roman Empire. The great apostacy of the lloman Church, setting up an image of this pagan Roman Empire, whose provinces shall become kingdoms, the kings of which shall be as vassals of popery. The persecutions of Christians under this new form of a pagan empire. The scourges by which it shall be destroyed, and the final triumph of the Church over her enemies. Let Christians be faithful unto death, the things which the Lord is to reveal to his churches shall certainly come to pass; for he says: "I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive forever more, and have the keys of hell and of death." I shall be in the midst of my churches in their trials and tribulation ; I shall know their faithfulness, their luke- warmiiess, and backslidings. Let them be not afraid of death ; of the anathemas of their enemies ; for I am God ; I have been put to death and have overcome death in his dominion ; I have the keys of hell and of death ; it is I who save and destroy, and I will give COMMENTARY. to my servants eternal life ] and tliough men will condemn tliem to hell, I will receive tliem into my glorious kingdom and have them to sit with me on the thrones of the kings of the earth. o V. 20. " The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches; and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches." This verse is connected with the preceding, and it is like an explanation of the words : '' Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter; the mystery of the seven stars." That is, the things which are and shall be, are typified, represented by the mystery of the seven stars, " Which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven can- dlesticks." The mystery of the seven stars and of the seven golden candlesticks does not consist in their representing the seven churches of Asia and their angels or bishops ; but, it consists in their typifying seven distinct periods or ages of the Church — the things that are and shall be — before the coming of our Lord, as it is clearly indicated by this admonition, addressed not to one parti- cular church, but to all the churches. " He that hath an ear, let him hear what the spirit saith unto the churches." Besides this, there are several characters, in every epistle, addressed to the churches, which can in no wise be applied to them, whilst they present to us a faithful picture of the different states of the uni- versal Church ; and they are like the canvas, which the painter has prepared, and upon which the picture of events is to be drawn. These letters thus explained, preserve the unity of the Revelation, which does not exist, if they are exclusively applied to the churches of Asia. And again, the texts declare positively that the mystery of the stars and candlesticks, representing the churches and their bishops, consists in giving us a picture of the things which the prophet has seen, and which are and shall be hereafter. Therefore any other exposition of the seven churches is erroneous, as it will be seen in the exposition of the seven letters. The ob- jections against their interpretation have no other ground, than the wrong explanation of their emblems, and the false classification of the periods which they represent. 24 COMMENTARY. CHAPTER 11. LETTERS TO THE ANGELS OF THE CHURCHES OF EPHESUS SMYRNA PERGAMOS AND THYATIRA. /. The Church of Ephcsns, a type of the state of the Church, front the founda- tion of Christianity to the Diocletian Persecution in 303. V. 1-7. " Unto the angel of the Church of Ephesus write, These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks ; I know thy works, and thy labor, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil ; and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars; and hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name's sake hast labored, and hast not fainted. Novertlieless, 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 Nicolaitanes, which I also hate. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the Churches ; to him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of (jlod." As the names of places, cities, and persons were significative, among the ancients, and especially among the Hebrews, and re- minded some events, as the names of Abraham, of Israel (Gen. 17 : 4-5; 32 : 28), so the names of the seven churches, to which the letters were addressed, have been chosen by the Holy Ghost, be- cause they represent by their Greek etymology, the character of every age, which is typified by the names of the churches. The name '' Ephesus," from the Greek "Ephesis," means " desire," and characterizes consequently a church such as Jesus Christ desires that she should be; were it not for the reproaches which are spe- cified in the letter. This church is the type of the primitive Church so far as to 303, and includes the events which are coinci- dent to those which are contained in the four first seals (G : 1-8). 1. " Jesus holdeth the seven stars," (the pastors of his Church) in his right hand, giving them understanding and wisdom accord- ing to their circumstances, and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost, if they are faithful ; for he walketh in the midst of the churches, as the good Shepherd of souls, as he promises his disciples to be with them always, even unto the end of the world. He protects them from devouring wolves ; and, if any one hurts them, he has COMMENTARY. 2o his bow to pierce the adversaries in the day of his vengeance. The civil wars of the Roman Empire, the cruel Neros and Caligulas, the famine and pestilence which wasted this empire, were as many scourges, by which he avenged the blood of his martyrs. 2. The good Shepherd knows the works, and labors, and patience of the churches during the persecutions by which they were tried. Chris- tians, instead of being afraid of death, rejoiced that they had been judged worthy to suffer for Christ's sake. Many a time, their calm and firmness in the midst of torments, wearied their bloody execu- tioners; and many a time the pagan witness of so noble heroism exclaimed: "And I also am a Christian!" Hence it was said that the blood of martyrs was a seed of Christians. Their zeal for the glory of their Master was such that the greater part of the vast Roman Empire had become Christians, at the end of the third century. 3. "Thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars." When the Jews and the heathens became Christians, they refused to renounce entirely the prejudices of their religion and the errors of their former education ; hence originated the struggles which the primitive Church had to sustain against the false apostles. The writings of the apostles teach us that the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth from all sin, that we are saved by grace and not by works ; but the Jewish doctors maintained that works are the efficient cause of salvation and eternal felicity. Plato's followers taught their philosophic opinions, — those of Pythagoras prescribed a rigid temperance, — Marcion rejected the manger and the cross of Christ, — Valentine added to the gospel passages to favor his errors, — Manes or Manichee attempted to unite together Manicheism and Christianity, — others composed new writings, under the names of the apostles, which they entitled " Letters or Acts of the blessed Peter, Paul, James !" and such was the origin of those spurious gospels, of which thirty and sometimes fifty are reckoned by infi- dels, though they know very well that they were rejected by the primitive Church, like their authors, as soon as they appeared. Nevertheless, these errors did not interfere with the administra- tion of the Church or the exercise of brotherly love. x\.t first, the government of the Church was in the hands of the people, elders, and deacons. The people elected to the offices, judged all cases, and gave a final judgment. The elders were the council board. Their chief, named at first the angel of the church, and afterwards bishop or pastor, administered the affairs of the church, taught the people, celebrated the divine mysteries, and oversaw the relief of the poor. To the deacons was given the function of providing for the wants of the poor and maintaining order and decency in the 26 COMMENTARY. temples. In the second century, they formed ecclesiastic pro- Yihces, Vvliieh the Greeks called " dioceses. '^ These provinces were independent one of another ; but, as confederated states, they sent delegates to the assemblies held at fixed times to deliberate upon the common interest of the churches. The Greeks called these assemblies '^ synods,'' and the Latins, '^councils." The laws discussed there and decreed were called ^' canons," or rules by which the whole body of the Church ought to be governed. As these assemblies were entirely composed of_^ecclesia§ties, they degenerated into r^nions- in which they worked to diminish the privileges of the peSple, and to increase the authority of the ministers. 4^t first, they professed to be the delegates of the pro- vinces, to act only in the name of the people and by their approba- tion. But soon after, they asserted that Jesus Christ had given them the power to establish rules of morals and faith. They de- stroyed even equality among themselves by the distinctions of ^' Patriarchs and Metropolitans." The deacons wished to have also inferiors ; and they created what they called '• the four minor orders." At the end of the third century, the people had lost almost all their privileges. The councils of elders were despised by the bishops, — and the bishops of Rome, Antioch, Alexandria, as chiefs of primitive churches, attempted already to arrogate to themselves a sort of pre-eminence over their colleagues. It was to quell this ambitious spirit that Saint Cyprian of Carthage exclaimed afterwards : ''Is it also written that there shall be bishops of bishops :" The ambition of pastors weakened the brotherly love of Christians, and it is the reason for which the Lord reproves them and invites them to repentance. The commentators, who attempt to apply the contents of this letter to the Church of Ephesus, are greiitly perplexed to explain v/hat were the deeds of the Nicolaitaues, spoken of here and in the third letter, v. 15. According to them, the Nicolaitanes were followers of Nicolas, a deacon of Antioch. But is it not said of him, as of the others, that he was a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost ? (Acts G : 5.) They say, without any proof, that they were an avowed sect of the most abominable x\ntinomians, without law and teaching the community of women. But history dues not speak of such a sect; and it is certain that, had they been such men, who by the fact have no part with the people of God, Jesus would not say of them, as of people, good yet in some respect : " Bat this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitanes, which I also hate." The word "Nicolaitanes" is composed of two Greek words, which, according to their etymology, signify " Domineer over the COMMENTARY, 27 people." Therefore, the Lord reproves, under this name, these ambitious pastors, who had excluded the people from the adminis- tration of the Church — who had created laws to overrule them as they pleased — who attempted to domineer one over the other, and prepared in this manner the way for the man of sin, the great Antichrist. He praises the churches, because they hated the usurpations of these ambitious men, who, as the son of perdition, exalted themselves above their brethren, and attempted to sit as gods in the temple of God (Thess. 2 : 3-12). The same word is yet found in the letter to the Church of Pergamos, which is the type of the Church, exalted by the favors of Constantine ; and there as here it represents the same ambition, which was the cause of the spiritual death, or apostacy of the Roman bishop. If there were not a mysterious meaning under this name, as in every letter to the churches, the Lord would not say immediately after, as at the end of his parables : '' He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith uuto the churches.'^ Therefore, we want understand- ing to hear the sense of these words, and nevertheless there is no diiRculty, if they are to be understood according to their literal sense. The^defectjof this age of the Church is the ambition of eccle- siastics, and the leaving of the first love (Acts 2 : 42—47). To him who overcometh this ambitious spirit, and continueth in the first love, the Lord will give eternal life, and restore him in the possession of heaven (22 : 1-5). If the churches do not repent, he will remove tlie candlestick, which is the emblem of the grace and spiritual light, which the Holy Ghost sheds upon the churches, from which men receive the light and wisdom which lead to eternaL life. They did not repent. Popery came out of the bottomless \ pit, and with it the Middle Age ; and the Koran took the place ^ of the"gosp'eTin~A!^a^ Africa, and part of Europe. Note. — It is supposed that St. John was the first pastor of Ephesus. This city is famous for two councils held there, in 431 and in 449. In the first, Mary was proclaimed the mother of God, notwithstanding the protestations of Nestorius, the Patriarch of Constantinople, who contended that Mary could not be, at the same time, the mother of God the Father, and God the Son. That it would be imitating the folly of the heathens, who gave mothers to their gods. In the second, Eutyches and his followers maintained that Jesus Christ has but one nature. This heresy was condemned, two years after, in the General Council of Chalcedon. This second council; at Ephesus, is called, ^^ A gang of felons." This church. 28 COMMENTARY. as well as the six others which we are to examine, is under the power of the Turks, and it is in a state of ruins. II. Letter to the Jlngel of the Church in Smyrna, a type of the Second Age of the Church, from 303 to 313. Diocletian Persecution. V. 8-11. "And unto the angel of the church in Smyrna, write: These 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 blas- phemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan. Fear none of those things which thou shalt snfler. Behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried ; and ye shall have tribulation ten days. Be 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 word Smyrna means ^^ bitter myrrh/' according to its etymology, and represents very well the affliction of the Church during the Diocletian Persecution, which continued ten years. It gives a picture of the events contained under the fifth and sixth seal, to wit : the pagan persecutions, and the destruction of pagan- ism and its supporters, by the victories of Constantino the Great. The Jews, being envious of the progress of Christianity, ceased not to oppress the Christians with the most unjust accusations and odious calumnies. The pagan priests, incensed also by a fury which seemed unknown to them before, accused them to be the cause of the plagues which wasted the empire. They set on fire the palace of Nicomedia, then inhabited by Diocletian, and charged them with this crime. The Roman people, united in a spectacle, given them by the Emperor Maximian, cried twelve times: "Death to the Christians !" and the Emperor answered as many times : "Let there be Christians no more !" A medal was stomped with this inscription : " Christianorum fiomine (Jdeto," that is, for the remembrance of the destruction of the Christians' name. The persecution began on the day of the passover. The edict, which the Emperor Diocletian had made in Nicomedia, enacted that the churches and houses, where the Christians assembled, should be demolished. That they should be forced to deliver up their divine books to be burned. That the pastors or bishops should be put to death or in prison. That none of the Christians should be admitted into any office, trade, or science, and they were to be obliged by torments to sacrifice to the gods. Sulpicius Sevcrus speaks in this manner of that persecution : — " There was," says he, *' under the Emperors Diocletian and Maximian, a most bloody persecution, in which a great slaughter COMr.IENTxillY. 29 of the people of God was perpetrated during ten consecutive years. In that time, almost the whole world was inundated with the pre- cious blood of martyrs ; for they ran emulously into glorious com- bats ; and, then, they were more ambitious of the honors of mar- tyrdom, than, at present, of the bishoprics that they seek after by unlawful solicitations. The world was never so much exhausted by any war, and we have never gained by our victories more glo> rious triumphs, than when we were not conquered by the mas- sacres of ten years/' (Hist. Sacr., lib. 2, cap. 32.) Now, we can understand why our Lord takes the title of " the first and the last, which was dead, and is alive.'' It is because a dreadful persecution is foretold here ', and he strengthens his ser- vants against the terror of torments and death, by reminding them that he is Jehovah, the prince of life. He reminds them of his triumph over death by his glorious resurrection ; and then he in- vites them, at the end of the letter, not to fear the things which they shall suffer ; for the devil will cast some of them into prison, that they may be tried. They shall have " tribulation" (persecu- tion) ^' ten days," which, in the prophetic style, are taken for years (Ez. 4-6). They ought not to be afraid of these persecu- tions ; they must be faithful unto death, and he will give them the crown of life. He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death, which is the agony of the soul in eternal torments. And for the death of the body, which is the first death, he will raise them up, as he raised up himself, triumphing over death in his dominion. The Lord is not ignorant of the sufferings of his people ; he is 4iear bj^them; he is witness of their labors, combats, afiiictions, aiKpapparent poverty (for they are rich before Grod) ; he knows also the slanders and blasphemies of their enemies. " They say they are Jews (the people of God), and are not, but are the syna- gogue of Satan," united with the devil and all the enemies of God, to destroy his people. ! how wir and unfortunate the martyrs of the Lord appeared to mortaT^ye&y—when they were taken away by night from their families, to be cast into prison, and to be put to torture and burned at the stake ; or when, in escaping from their persecutors, they carried away their children through the ice and snow of the winter, to go and live in the forests with wild beasts ! But how rich and happy to the eyes of God and of his saints, and how preferable their condition was to that of their ferocious oppressors ! Persecution, in the Church of God, is like the fire by which Christians are tried, as gold and silver are tried. This Church in Smyrna is spotless. There is here no Nicolaitanes ; there is no 30 COMMENTARY. other ambition than to die for the Lord. Nevertheless its candlestick has been removed as that of the other churches, thoucrh it is yet a large and prosperous city. The reason is, that it was by its name, a type of the state of the church, as it is clearly delineated in his- tory ; and it was not a prediction of persecutions appointed for this particular church. The ten daj^s of tribulation point out clearly this persecution of ten years ; it was the tenth persecution, and it continued ten years; after which the persecutors were themselves destroyed (see the fifth and sixth seal, 6 : 9-17). III. Leiier to the Church of Pcrgamos, a type of the Third A^e of the Church, from 313/0 006, when Boniface III. became Pope. The Church exalted. V. 12-J7. "And to the angel of the church in Pergamos, write: These things says he which hath the sharp sM-^ord, with two edges ; I know thy works, and wliere 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 ivas my faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth. But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast tliere them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to com- mit fornication. So hast thou also them that hold the doctrines of the Nico- laitanes, which thing I hate. Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will light 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 hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it." The word " Pergamos," according to its etymology, means a ^^ fortress; elevation." JEJenry confesses that there is no city of this name. Some suppose that it was a city, built on the ruins of the ancient Ilion, whose fortress was called by this name ; and some others suppose it may probably be Bergamo, a city situated at about sixty-three miles north of Smyrna. And to explain how this city is the seat of Satan, they are obliged to suppose again, that there was a most wicked Roman governor living there. Therefore, the contents of this letter can only be explained by the history of those times, which followed the victories of Constantino, from 813 to 006, when the bishop of Home was proclaimed "universal bishop, or pope," by the Emperor Phocas. And this age of the Church figured by the Church of Pergamos, synchronizes with the sealing of the servants of God (7 : 1-8) and the events, sounded by the four first trumpets, namely, the decay and fall of the lloman Empire (8 : 7-13). Now, after the events of this time, we can explain why Jesus Christ takes here the title of him y. C0M3IENTARY. 31 '^ which hath the sharp sword, with two edges/' — where is Satan's seat, — who was his faithful martyr Antipas, slain where Satan dwelleth, — what is the doctrine of Balaam, and that of the Nico- laitanes, — and finally, what is this manna, and this white stone, which are to be the reward of him that overcometh. 1. As soon as Constantine became the master of the throne of the Roman Empire, he declared that Christianity should be the religion of the empire : this is the Church of Pergamos, the church exalted and surrounded with riches, honors, and gran- deurs. The bishop of Rome, especially, has but one step more to advance and to ascend up to the throne. The simplicity of the primitive worship, in spirit and in truth, did not any more suit a church so highly favored ; and the evangelical poverty seemed to be unbecoming for ministers surrounded with such earthly gran- deurs. Therefore, they established a pompous, pagan worship, and invented human teachings, according to their worldly circum- stances. The temples were adorned with magnificent pictures, representing the constancy and death of martyrs. Soon after, it was said that those pictures performed miracles; they went by multitudes to the tombs of those they represented ; and, in the midst of the fifth century, it was publicly admitted that prayers should be addressed to them. In .431, Mary was said to be the mother of God; the relics became objects of idolatry; feast-days were established in honor of the saints, and molten images were introduced into the temples. It was in this manner that Satan's seat was raised up in the midst of Christians, who had henceforth to worship as many saints, their new mediators, as the heathens had semigods. This is not all. The Sacrament of the Lord's Supper, this simple and touching commemoration of our Saviour's death, was invested by vain and pompous ceremonies, borrowed from the Jews and from the heathens, and it became what they call ^^ Mass," a sacrifice that is offered for the living and the dead, and even in our days for the healing of animals. When Jesus Christ takes the title of him "which hath the sharp sword, with two edges," the emblem of his word, he warns us that in this age, represented by the church of Pergamos, the purity of the Chris- tian doctrines shall be corrupted by human devices. But, as, by his word, he caused heaven and earth to come forth from naught, he can, by a single word, bring out of the deserts numberless armies to punish unfaithful Christians, and overthrow Satan's seat. They did not repent : he fought against them " with the sword of his mouth ;" and at his word ten barbarian nations came out of their forests, and destroyed the Roman Empire. 2. Where is Satan's seat, wherein the fiiithful martyr, Antipas, 82 CO 31 MEN TAR Y. was slain? The propliet himself tells us (17 : 1, 9, 18), that it is in that city which is built on seven mountains, and which reigfneth over the kings of the earth, and peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues. Now, by this description, every one recog- nizes the city of Home. It was, then, there that Antipas, this faithful martyr, was slain. But, if we consult tradition, so fecund in inventions, we find lio bishop, no martyr of this name, either in Rome or elsewhere ; and, if any martyr of that name were to be found there, the Holy Grhost would not designate him by his name. Therefore, it is spoken here of an extraordinary martyrdom, — of the spiritual martyrdom or spiritual death of the bishop of Rome, who was before a faithful witness of the truth. But Satan has killed him by his riches and worldly grandeurs. He was seduced by worldly grandeurs, and, in his apostacy, he became the enemy of all true Christians, as it is indicated by the name ^^ Antipas." For this name is composed of two Greek words, ^' aiiti" (against; opposed to), and of ^^ pas" (all); and this name, Antipas, cnarac- terizes in this manner the nature of his apostacy, or of his spiritual death, which shall consist, in the time of its fulfilment, in his being opposed to all Christians, depriving them of the word of God, and forcing them either to obey his worldly authority, or to perish in dungeons, or at the stake. 3. Notwithstanding that apostacy, ^Hhou boldest last my name, and hast not denied my faith." This Church does not renounce Christianity : it is but an impure alloy of paganism with Chris- tianity; and the authors of this alloy are like Balaam, who being unable to curse the people of God, persuaded King Balak to put an offence before the children of Israel, to cause them to fall into impurity and idolatry, knowing that God himself would curse them, if they fell into fornication and idolatry. To teach men to kneel down before images, and to pray to the saints, is, according to the prophetic expressions, to teach them "to eat things sanctified unto idols, and to commit fornication," as to eat the flesh of Jesus Christ is to believe on him (John 6 : 50-50); it is to overthrow Jesus Christ from his mediatorial throne to enthrone the demons or the souls of dead men, who have been canonized. He who teaches such doctrines, and he who practises them, ^t, that is, bglieye, as the heathens did, things sacrificed unto idols, and commit spiritual fornication : they have been slain where Satan dwelleth, though they hold fast the name of Jesus, and have not denied his faith. 4. .We have seen, in the letter to the Church of Ephcsus, that the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes, — a name composed of two Greek words ^^nikaJ^ (victory) and ^Uaos" (people) — characterizes the COMMENTARY. 33 ambition of the ecclesiastics, who, after having deprived the people of all their privileges in the administration of the Church, attempted to domineer the one over the other. As the existence of such heretics is unknown in the history of the primitive church, Eusebius says that they continued but a short time, and Tertullian says that their heresy existed under the name of "Cainists," having probably changed the name of their sect. It is, then, evident, that all that is supposition, and that this sect is known only by this Revelation. I dare even say, had such a sect existed, it would not be mentioned here by its proper name. These Nicolaitanes have disappeared during the persecution, represented by the letter to the Church of Smyrna; for ambition is silent, when persecution rages; but it is awakened in these prosperous days of the Church. Besides this, it is necessary that a chief should be raised up at the head of the great apostacy, to guide and manage its progress : for the time, when the man of sin, the son of perdition, should be revealed, is at hand : he who opposes him will be taken away very soon : Constantinople contends with Rome for that pre-eminence; but Satan has given the preference to Rome, the city in which all the pagan gods had their throne. 5. " To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth, saving he that receiveth it.^' This manna, promised to faithful Christians, is not that manna that the Israelites ate in the wilderness, and which did not prevent their death : it is the possession of Himself, of the grace which is in Him, and the spiritual nourishment of his word, from which sources of living waters spring forth to give eternal life. This spiritual nourishment and its secret delights are hidden from the eyes of the semi-Christian and of the stranger. It may be seen that there is here an allusion made to the sealing of the hundred and forty-four thousand servants of the Lord, to be his witnesses during the Middle Age (7 : 4-8); for it shall be demonstrated, in the eleventh chapter, that the first witness has been sealed, about 425, Protestantism, as Reformed churches, being the second, and the Albigenses and Waldenses, as primitive churches, being the first witness, nourished, as the Israelites, in the wilderness, by the word of God. And, as the Greeks used to give to him that had overcome in their games, a white stone upon which were written his name and "the sort of games in which he had obtained the victory, so the Lord will give to him that overcometh the ambition and idolatrous inventions of this epoch a white stone upon which shall be written his new name " heretic or Protestant," according to men, but son of God by adoption, and entitled to his heavenly 81 C O M M E N T A R Y. heritage. No man knoweth this name of Protestant, saving he that rcceiveth it j for to others it is a damnable heresy, tlioiigh they are not ignorant of the abominations of popery, which they hold to be the true Church of Grod (see this new name in the Church of Philadelphia), All the characters of this letter give us a faithful picture of the Church after the victories of Constantino to the reign of the usurper Phocas. The Church was exalted, as it is signified by the name of Pergamos. Rome, as it is avowed by the popish doctors themselves, is designated to be the seat of Antichrist ; it is this mystic Sodom and Babylon, where Jesus Christ has been crucified. Its bishop, surrounded with worldly grandeurs, abandoned the purity of Christianity, raised up molten images in the temples of Grod, ordered a pompous worship, at the imitation of paganism, and substituted saints and saintesses to be worshipped, like demi- gods, so that a learned Spanish doctor, Louis Vivos, declares, that he cannot see what may be the difference to be established between the pagan demi-gods and the saints, except, perhaps, he says, that saints are real beings, whilst the pagan gods were imaginary ones. Idolatry being introduced into the temple of God, the bishop of Rome, the faithful martyr, Antipas, ki^lled by the devil, became Antichrist. He attempted to arrogate to himself the title of uni- versal bishop, granted to him by a decree of Justinian, which was published in 53o, according to the records of Bucholcer and Sigo- nius. But the churches, still animated by the Spirit of God, dared then to deny it to him. In 587, a great contest arose in a council at Constantinople, concerning this title, which the bishop of that church tried to attribute to himself He attempted again, in 69-1, to entitle himself "universal bishop;" and the bishop of Rome, Gregory the Great, wrote to him, in 602, a letter, in which he says, that the bishop, who should usurp this title, would be by his pride, the forerunner of Antichrist, if he were not the Anti- christ himself Four years after, in 606, his successor, Boniface III., was proclaimed universal bishop, by the favor of the usurper Phocas. IV. Letter to the Church in Thyatira, a type of the state of the Church from GOG to the destruction of the Mbigcnscs in 12G0. V. 18-29. "And unto the angel of the church in Thyatira wiiie : These things saith the Son of God, who hath his eyes Uke unto a llaiue of fire, and his feet arc like fine brass; I know thy works, and cliarity, and service, and faith, and thy patience, and thy works; and the last to he more than the first. Notwithstanding, I have a few things against thee, because thou sufterest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach eind to seduce COMMENTARY. oO my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed nnto 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 adidtery with her into a 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 ac- cording to your works. " But unto you I say, and nnto 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 I will give him the morn- ing star. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches." The name of . " Tliyatira'^ is composed of two Greek words^, \ " thuGs" (incense, perfume, victim), and of " teiro'' (to afflict, i torment, destroy), and signifies, according to its etymology, aground 4ncensev4u:^consumption of yictims. It is the type of the Church, aMtcted, perseSttteeHbytHe man of sin, to whom it was given to tread under foot the Holy City, forty and two months (11 : 2). This period synchronizes with the fifth trumpet, and contains the manifestation of the man of sin, in Boniface III. — the incursions of the Saracens, followers of Mahomet — the middle age and the crusades against the Turks and the Albigenses. The Roman bishop has been put to a spiritual death, by Satan or by worldly OTandeuj:&. He has made an odious alloy of paganism and Christianity^pile has been sustained in his impure innovations by those ambitious, designated under the name of Nicolaitanes, who hoped to share in the favors which he received from the emperors. The Lord is angry with them: they are no more his people; he will fight against them with the sword of his mouth, and he will abandon them into the hands of the master which they have chosen. Satan cast out of his mouth (paganism) hordes of savages, the armies of the Goths under Alaric, — the Vandals under Genseric — the Scythes, called Huns, under Attila, — and the Heruli, under Odoacre, to accomplish, by turns, the vengeance of the Lord. The powerful Roman Empire, figured by the fourth beast, in the vision of Daniel (7 : 1-26), became the prey of ten barbarian nations, which raised up ten kingdoms out of its ruins. And thus ended the first part of the Antichristian Empire : the first times are passed; the last are at hand. The key of the destruction of the Roman Empire is in the hands of the Bishop of Rome. Everything favors the ambition of the Roman bishop. The emporurs have but a shade of authority. The pageantry by which 36 COMMENTARY. this bisliop is surrounded, and the pompous ceremonies in the temples, moved with awe the barbarians; and he became, between them and the emperors and the provinces of the empire, which had to ask for favors or the redress of their complaints, a powerful mediator, who in advocating their causes, did not forget to profit, by his mediation, to succeed in his ambitious designs. The in- famous Phocas, having caused the Emperor Mauritius and all his family to be slaughtered, took possession of the empire. He felt that he needed the favor of the Roman bishop, to be sustained in his usurpation, and he bought it, by investing him with the so long coveted title of Universal Bishop, in GOG. The ambitious Nicolaitanes have now a worldly king, to overrule the Church. In 607, according to Sigebert and Polonus, he ordered a feast day for all the dead ; but, according to other annalists, it was only instituted in 993, by Odilon, an abbot of Clugny. The following year, he obtained from Phocas, the pos- session of the Pantheon ; and this famous temple, consecrated to Jupiter and to all the pagan gods, had henceforth this new inscrip- tion : ''To the Virgin Mary, and all the saints." Every year, new feast days, new dogmas were instituted, and the worship of images was nearly established everywhere. In 723, the Emperor Leon attempted to stop the progress of idolatry : he ordered to break in pieces all the graven images, to which a religious worship was rendered ; but he was excommunicated by the Pope G-rcgory II. In 754, a general council, held in Constantinople, condemned the worship of images and their worshippers ; but their worship was re-established in 787, by the Council of Nice. In 793, a numerous council, held in Francfort, condemned the Council of Nice, as " an impertinent, absurd council, held to order the worship of images and paintings." This idolatrous worship was again condemned by another council in 814; but it was finally sanctioned in 842, by the council held in Constantinople, which condemned, as damnable heretics, the enemies of this idolatry, known and persecuted under the name of " Iconoclasts." The worship of the saints was also condemned, in a council held in Cordova, in 852; but the popish party began to overcome every- where the small number of faithful Christians. The abuse which the popes made of their usurped authority, went so far, that Saint Bernard himself, opposed the canonization of the saints, and wrote to the Pope: "Now, when you have canonized St. Anna, the mother of the Virgin Mary, what reason have you for not canoni- zing her grandmother and all her ancestors, up to Eva herself?" The kings themselves favored the ambition ot the Roman bishop. This false successor of Peter had no earthly patrimony, and the COMMENTARY. 37 King of tlie Lombards, Aripert, gave him the Celtic Alps, in 704. Three years after, he asked for and he obtained an exemption from all imperial jurisdiction for his new temporal dominion. The king Pepin, having been released by the Pope Zachariah, from his alle- giance to his king Childeric, granted him the Ravenna's exarchate, the dukedoms of Mantua, Spoletta, and Benevent. Charlemagne, crowned emperor of the Western Empire, in 801, added again new gifts to popedom, and pledged himself to destroy with his sword, all the ancient liturgies in France, Italy, and Germany, and to oblige all the churches to adopt the Roman liturgy, in order that a unity of worship and faith should be established everywhere. The power of the popes was soon unlimited ; and the kings themselves were very soon the humble vassals of popery. The monk, Hilde- bvand, Gregory VII., imposed upon them a yoke which they were not able to break, even when the dark days of the Middle Age had passed away. The people were plunged more and more into the deepest ignorance ; and the flatterers of the popes extolled, more and more, the popish pretensions, so that the power which was first looked upon as ridiculous, was, after some years, far behind their wishes and pretensions. False decretals were invented to conse- crate their ancient usurpations, and to grant them new prerogatives. The courtesans Theodora and Marosia, her daughter, placed on the papal throne their vile lovers, and the spurious offsprings of their debauchery, scarcely twelve years old. There were fifty popes, from the beginning of the eleventh century to the midst of the twelfth, and the historians say that there were not two of them, who could be called men, for they were all monsters. The money of the people went by thousand streams, called : '' St. Peter's pence, investitures, annats, licenses, donations, &c. &c.," to be ingulfed into the papal strong box, as into a bottomless abyss. The people and the kingdoms were exhausted and miserable, whilst these mon- sters were living in luxury and lewdness. Nevertheless some few men dared to raise up their voice to op- pose the torrent, by which all were carried away. The Bishop of Florence dared to maintain, in 1105, that Antichrist was manifested ; the Archbishop of Lyons was killed in Rome, in 1124, for having blamed the brutish depravity of the dignitaries of the papal court; Arnold of Brescia, was burnt for having revealed the papal tur- pitude ; Peter Waldo, from Lyons, and the Albigenses and Waldenses, protested loudly against popery and its innovations. And when, in the ninth century, Paschasius Radbert proposed the monstrous dogma of transubstantiation, an army of defenders of the evangelical truth arose to oppose it: they were Rabanus, Walafrid, Heribald, Prudentius, Florus, Scotus, and Bertram, who were the 4 38 COMMENTARY. lights of their century. But soon after, the people were plunged into the deepest ignorance ; the pope was looked upon as God on earth. Some doctors, then, went so far as to maintain that, should the pope decree that vice is virtue, and virtue vice, it would be so ; for God would confirm his words. Transubstantiation, so power- fully opposed, became a sacred dogma in a council, held in the Lateran's palace, in 1215, and the auricular confession, born in 627 at Chalons on the Marne, in a synod of fifty-two bishops, was then imposed upon the laymen, as at first upon the monks, and upon the priests in the eighth century. As the Albigenses had long been opposed to the papal pretensions and innovations, the same council was summoned to crush them; and, in 1260, about one hundred and twenty thousand of Albigenses were massacred by the Papists, under the command of St. Dominic and the Earl Simon of Montfort. They were besieged in their cities and villages, and hunted, as wild beasts, in the mountains and forests. Neither children nor women were spared ; the women were the victims of the most atrocious brutality of the soldiers, in the sight of the monks, who commanded them. Now, let us examine the emblems of the letter to the Church in Thyatira. 1. It maybe understood, now, why Jesus appears with "eyes like unto a flame of fire/' which is, in a man, the sign of indigna- tion and wrath. It is because the man of sin, the son of perdition, sitteth as God in the temple of God ; it is because his throne of Mediator has been overthrown in the temples and given to Mary, and to the multitude of saints and saintesses ; it is because the sublime m3'steries of the gospel have been parodied, and the blood of his saints shed like water on the earth. At the sight of those abominations, established in the holy place, his eyes are like unto a flame of fire, which devours his enemies, and he reminds his Church that he is the Son of God, God himself, to strengthen his servants; " For his feet are like fine brass" (1 : 15), showing the strong foun- dation on which his Church is built, and the power of his wrath to crush down his enemies, who cannot prevail against him. 2. Though the Church in Thyatira be scattered throughout this new Egypt, and hidden in the desert of popery, the Lord knows her faith, patience, and charity : he declares that her last works are more than the first. These words mean either that the perse- cutions she sufl'ers from Papists are more cruel than those which the first Christians sufi"ered from the heathens, or that the Church, at the end of this period, showed more zeal and courage to op- pose popery than at the beginning; for it was but in 1194 that they began to be persecuted as heretics ; and in consequence of their silence, they have been supposed to bo a new sect, unknown COM ?.I E N T A R Y. 39 before the nintli century. But the first meaning maybe true also, for the heathens did not invent the horrors of the Inquisition, nor its torments, and did not raise armies of crusaders, to exterminate the Christians. 3. Jezebel was not, as it is supposed by Scott and Henry, the wife of the Pastor of this Church ; but the wife of Ahab, King of the Jews. (1 Kings, 16 : 29-34.) And, as she built an altar to her god Baal, in a temple at Samaria, and caused the children of Israel to turn to idols; as she persecuted the prophets of the Lord, Ahijah and Elijah, to put them to death, and ordered Naboth's death, to take possession of his vineyard (1 Kings, 21 : 1-16), so the Papal Church, whose type Jezebel is, draws the servants of the Lord to idols, persecutes them, and puts them to death, to take possession of their heritage. The Lord reproves this Church, because she suffers that woman, Jezebel (the Roman Church likened to a great whore 17 : 1), which calleth herself a prophetess (infallible, speaking as inspired with the Holy Ghost), uttering the oracles of God, " to teach and seduce his servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols.'' The word fornication must be un- derstood in a spiritual sense, as the word adultery, which is applied to unfaithful churches, to Jerusalem and Samaria. As an un- faithful wife commits adultery, when she prostitutes her love to a stranger, so an unfaithful Christian, wedded to Christ, commits a spiritual adultery, when he kneels before the stone and wood, and prays to the saints or semigods. Here, it is only spoken of forni- cation, because the Roman Church is not ihe bride of Jesus Christ. This proneness of our nature to idolatry is very strong, and however light a sin it may appear to worldly philosophers, it was the sin which was the cause of all the scourges of the Jewish people. To eat things sacrificed unto idols, means to believe and worship like the heathens (John 6 : 50-56), as to eat the body of Christ is to believe on him. 4. "And I gave her space to repent of her fornication." This time given to the Roman Church to repent, is marked in different manners in the word of God. Sometimes, it is expressed under the emblems of ''a time and times, and the dividing of time," vfhicli make 1260 years, a time being taken for the lunar year, or 360 days, which are as many years, according to the prophetic style. Sometimes, it is expressed under the emblem of forty-two months, and sometimes, when it is applied to the faithful Church, under that of 1260 days, the number of years being the same ; but, as an idolatrous church is emblematically represented by the moon, her years are reckoned by months or times, revolutions; and for the faithful Church, which walks in the light, her years are reckoned 40 C O M M E N T A R Y. by days, which make as many years. Now, the Roman Church has continued, in her errors and extravagant pretensions, more than twelve centuries, "and she repented not," though she has been often "cast into a bed,'' as a sick person, feeble and ready to die. It is not said that it is in this age of the Church that the Lord will cast her into a bed of sickness, but it is in future times, as she was very weak and infirm, wlien she had two, and, sometimes, three popes, at the head of arinies, excommunicating one another, and draining the purse of the poor victims of their superstitions and idolatry ; and when the intrepid Ziska, at the head of the Bohe- mians, avenged the death of John Huss, and of Jerome of Prague, and defeated the papal armies; and when Luther unchained the Bible, and wounded popery in such a manner that it is more and more weak, until another wound shall put it to death. 5. " And I will cast them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation. And I will kill her children with death." Those who commit adultery with her are the kings and the people, supporters of popery, who receive and profess her idolatrous re- ligion. The kings were crushed down under foot by the popes, whose humble vassals they were, being obliged to hold the stirrups to their master, and to kiss his feet to obtain his favors. He had only to say: "I excommunicate you,'^ and the monarch, aban- doned by his superstitious subjects, asked in vain from his servants for the succor which they denied him. One, shut up in a dark room as a wild and infectious beast, received through a hole the meals which two faithful servants were willing to give him with trembling ; another, abandoned even by his wife and children, was obliged to put a cord around his neck, and to go barefooted in the snow of the winter, to kneel down three days, at the gate of the palace, where the arrogant master, revelling in debauchery, re- fused to receive him. The kings had forged themselves their chains, in forging those of their people, who had willingly sub- mitted to the will of their masters; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. They were all punished by the avarice and ambition of the popes, by the bloody wars, undertaken either to sustain their pretensions, or to destroy their competitors, during their schisms ; and above all, by the wars of the crusades, against the Turks, in which millions of Papists, her children, were destroyed, during 150 years. From these curses upon papists, kings and subjects, the faithful churches should know that Jesus is "he which searcheth the reins and hearts," who pro- tects his servants and breaks his enemies with an iron rod, giving unto every one according to his works. G. " But unto you I say, and unto the rest in Thyatira, as many COMMENTARY 41 as have not tliis doctrine (popish doctrine), and which have not known the depths of Satan, as they speak ; I will put upon you none other burden,'^ The depths of Satan are, as the Albigenses and Waldenses used to call them, the cunning policy and the stra- tagems, by which popery, guided by Satan, was enabled to draw to its idolatry all the people, which were enslaved by its satanic delu- sions. Christians have nothing else to do than to be faithful, and to contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints, to hold it fast till the Lord comes ; for his work is to believe on him whom he hath sent (John 6 : 29). *' And he that overcometh, and keepeth my words 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 I will give him the morning star.'' If Christians are, now, trampled under foot by the Papists, called " the nations,^' the time will come when they shall have power over them. And, as Jesus has received power over the nations, to rule them by his providence, with a rod of iron, with wars, famine, pestilence, and tempests, which are the rod of the Lord, so Christians shall have this power to break them with a rod of iron in the great day of the Lord, called " the vintage/' in Armageddon, the mountain of de- struction. This day is called: ^'The marriage supper of the Lamb" (19 : 9-21). Christians of every age have a share in the combat and triumph ; for they shall follow their Master upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean ; as they are, now, living in the night of popery, they receive the morning star, shin- ing in the firmament, before the rising of the sun, to scatter the darkness by which they are surrounded. This morning star is, for the conqueror, the token of the light and glory by which he shall be surrounded, when the sun of righteousness shall arise and shine with all his strength, though he is now, in his present condition, as in a wild desert, a prey to distress and misery. The words : '' But unto you I say, and unto the rest in Thya- tira," are addressed to the churches, as they were before the crusade against them, and to the "rest," which had escaped from the massacre. It is of this rent that the Church of Sardis is the emblem^ in the following chapter. 4* 42 COMMENTARY. CHAPTER III. THE SEVEN CHURCHES CONTINUED — THE CHURCHES OF SARDIS, PHILADELPHIA, AND LAODICEA. V. Letter to the Church in Sardis, a type of the state of the Church from the destruction of the jilbigenses, in 12G0, to the Reformation in 1517. V. 1-6. " And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write : These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead. 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 shah 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 wiUi me in white; for they are worthy. "He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches."' The name '^Sardis" is composed of two Greek words, '^ sarx^' (flesh, imperfection), and '' deos" (fear, ten'or, apprehension) ; and, then, according to its etymology, it means " terror of the flesh," and indicates that this church is afraid of persecution and death. This letter synchronizes with the sixth trumpet, and contains the incursions of the Turks, the destruction of the Greek churches, and the taking of Constantinople in 1453. At the reading of this letter, we feel pained, and we have a just idea of the condition of the Church in the 14th and 15th centuries. During the preceding ages of the Church, though Christians were hidden among the Papists, as in a wilderness, like the seven thou- sand, who, in the time of Elijah, had not kneeled down before Baal, when Israel went astray, there were to be found men full of energy and Christian life, to contend for true Christianity, and to oppose the overwhelming papal heresies and idolatry. When the Bishop of Rome attempted, at first, to usurp the title of universal bishop, all the churches opposed his usurpation ; the sword of Charlemagne was required to impose the Latin liturgy upon the churches of France, Germany, and Italy. A crowd of athletic champions arose to oppose transubstantiation, as soon as the monster appeared. All the German churches protested against C M M E N T A R Y. 43 celibacy, and many dared even to proclaim that the popes were Antichrist. But in these centuries, the ignorance and degradation of mankind are at their worst. Superstition or the terror of tortures has enchained the voice of men. All the clergy, monks and priests, are prostituted to lewdness, the fruit of celibacy, and the popes hold undisputedly the universal sceptre. Nevertheless, in the midst of the general corruption, there are yet some few learned men, as Gerson, president of the faculty of Paris, and some others, who seemed to have preserved a Christian life and faith in its purity ; but the most of them had but a vain piety ; and their science in divinity was but the pedant jargon of the school of Plato. When these men saw even three popes contending, at the same time, for popedom, as wild beasts for their prey, they asked with loud cries the reformation of the Church in her chief and members. It was for that object that the Council of Constance was held, in 1414. But if they had courage enough to depose John XXIL, as a heretic^ an adulterer, and a. murderer, they had the baseness — Gerson himself — to condemn John Huss and Jerome of Prague to be burnt at the stake. It is to be noted that Gerson, having witnessed the fluth, virtue, and holy eloquence of these martyrs, left his public office and passed the remainder of his life in retirement, when he probably wrote the book of the imitation of Jesus Christ. Had these men had living faith in the Council of Constance,* they could have delivered the people from the papal bondage. For Philip the Fair of France, by putting the Pope, Boniface VIII. , into prison, had dreadfully wounded papacy, which was cast, then, into a bed for some days (2 : 22), as a sick person ; and their schisms and mutual excommunications, as well as their crimes, had begun to open the eyes of the people. But they did not get any- thing by the circumstances, for 'Hhey had a name that they lived, and were dead." 1. Jesus Christ takes the title ^of "he who hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars,'' ^'s In the first chapter, to show that he is the dispensator of the gifts of the same Spirit, which is manifested more or less, according to the aptitude of the seven angels or pastors of the churches. As there are seven churches, directed by seven angels, it maybe said that there are seven spirits to show the special dispensation of the same Spirit to every minis- ter and every church. As Jesus knows the works of the mini.'^tors of this period, he declares that they are dead, though they were * According to Helvidins, this council was composed of the emperor, of 4 patriarchs, 29 cardinal?, 34(3 prelates, 5G4 abbots and doctors, 1G,000 secular princes and noblemen, 4500 prostitutes, GOO barbers, and 320 musi- cians and mountebanks. 44 CO M :»I £ N T A R Y. looked upon as learned divines. Their writings were deprived of the unction of grace ; for the witnesses had power to shut heaven, that it rained not in the d-djs of their prophecy (11 : 6) ; and beiug dead in faith, they could not receive the heavenly dew to impart a true knowledge of Christianity. Therefore he invites them to be watchful, and to strengthen the things which remain, that is, the little faith which is ready to die, in their hearts, divided between God and man, or to strengthen the rest of Christians, who have escaped from the destruction of the Albigenses, and of the Mora- vian churches, 2. They must " remember how they have received and heard, and hold fast, and repent.'' They must render an account of the talents, which they have received, and again, they must remember how they have heard. — But what have they heard ? Does not the Holy Ghost remind here these men, who were representatives of the Church, at the Council of Constance, how they were many times astonished by the discourses, full of the Spirit of God, of John Huss and Jerome of Prague ? They heard these servants of Christ, describing the corruption of the clergy, and standing with heroism for the purity of the Christian faith, without being frightened by the terrors of death. They wondered at the faith, virtue, faithful- ness, and courage of these martyrs; but, instead of imitating their faithfulness and virtue, they flattered them to obtain from them a shameful apostacy. They repented not. They condemned to be burnt at the stake these two faithful defenders of the expiring faith in the Lord. But the Lord came soon upon them, as a thief, to avenge the blood of his servants. John Huss and his friend Jerome of Prague were looked upon as saints even by Catholics. John Trocznow, surnamed Ziska, was the instrument with which the Lord punished the crimes of the persecutors of the Church in Sardis. He destroyed, during five years, all the powerful armies, which the I]mperor of Germany and the Pope could enroll in the papal kingdoms, to sustain the anathemas, which heretic Bohemia rejected with contempt. After having defeated, with glory, during twelve years, all the armies of the Emperor and of the Pope, with iron flails for arms, the deputies of Bohemia entered triumphantly into the Council of Basle, with swords in hands, in the midst of a multitude wondering at their heroism. They obtained from that Council the permission of reading the Scriptures and continuing the use of the cup in the communion of the Lord's Supper. 3. The few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments, are the scattered remainders of the Albigenses, the Waldenses, in their mountains, the disciples of Wickliffe, Cobham, in England, Paul Craw, in Scotland, John Huss, Jerome of Prague, COMMENTARY. 45 and their followers in Bohemia and Moravia. They shall walk with the Lord in white raiments, ^'for they are worthy.'^ The white garments are the emblem of holiness, and of the adoption of sons of God. They are garments of honor and glory in heaven (7 : 13-15). These servants have not denied the Lord before men, therefore Jesus will not deny then] before his Father, and he will not blot their names out of the book of life. Let worldly men strive, if they wish, to have their names inscribed on the marble of pompous edifices, or at the head of difficult enterprises and glorious deeds, for me, son of God, my only ambition shall be henceforth that my name should be written in thy book of life. VI. Letter to the Church in Philadelphia, a type of the Reformation in 15 il to 1G88, when England bccaine Protestant, after the destrv.ction of the two tvit nesses at the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. V. 7-13. "And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth ; and shutteth and no man openeth ; I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name. 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 v^-orld, to try them that dwell upon the earth. Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast 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 upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, ichich is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God : and / will ivrite vpon him my new name. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches." The name of Philadelphia, composed of two Greek words, ''philos'^ (friend), and " adcljjhos" (brother, equal), signifies ''bro- therly love," and represents the state of the Church from the Ee- formation to the reign of the Prince of Orange, King of England, in 1688, when he proclaimed Protestantism the religion of his kingdom, and checked all persecution against Protestantism. It synchronizes with the Ileformation in the tenth chapter, with its progress in the fourteenth chapter, verses l-lo, and the slaying of the witnesses in the eleventh, verses 1-14. 1. Let us remember that the Bishop of Home, since his apostacy, has seated himself in the temple of God, as vicar of Jesus Christ, or 46 COMMENTARY. Grod on the earth; that he has ordered that he should be called the " Holy Father — Holiness j'^ that he has been proclaimed " infalli- ble/' or true ; that, by the power of the keys of Saint Peter, he opened or shut heaven — canonizing his idolatrous subjects, and sending to hell the heretics; that he placed the people and kingdoms, rivers and beastSj under the protection of his saints and saintesses. Let us remember all these things, and we shall understand why Jesus Christ entitles himself " he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth and no man shutteth, and shutteth and no man openeth/' Is it not the Master who comes and strips the usurper of his titles ? Thou sayest, pope, that thou art holy — it is I who am holy ; that thou art infallible — it is I who am true and my word ; that thou hast the key of the son of David, of his eternal kingdom— it is I who have it. If, as an un- faithful servant during the absence of his master, thou couldst impose upon men and tell them that thou art the master of the house, and open the door to a murderer Dominic and to thy vile and idolatrous flatterers, and shut it to my servants, who protested against thy criminal usurpations and idolatry, there is appeal from thy judgment ; for it is I that open and no man shutteth, and that shut and no man openeth ; for it is by the seed of Abraham, the son of David, that all the nations of the earth should be blessed and saved. 2. The Lord knows the works of his Church ; he knows with what intrepidity the Hussites fought in Bohemia to keep his word; how the rest of the Albigenses forsook all, to keep his name and his commandments ; how the Waldenses and Lollards, surrounded with cruel enemies, wished for better days, and tlie Lord will set before them an open door — the lleformation — and no man, king or pope, can shut it. For they have but a little strength. The rest of the Albigenses, being scattered in the woods, they could not stand against their powerful enemies. The Hussites were exhausted by a long war of nearly twenty j^ears ; their pastors had been burnt at the stake, and the others were obliged to study the art of war instead of studying the word of God; but notwithstanding all, they had kept his word, and had not denied his name. Therefore, the Lord, merciful unto them, will open a door, to escape from their enemies, and give them fellow-Christians. But how shall it be done? Listen ! 3. "Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan (Papists), which say they are Jews (the people of God, his true church) and are not, but lie ; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee." There is some mystery in these words of our Lord ; for he repeats COMMENTARY. 47 many times the word '^behold/' to render us attentive. Are not those of the synagogue of Satan the same men whom we have seen seduced by the woman Jezebel, in the letter to the Church of Per- gamos, where Satan's seat is, and where Antipas was slain ? They are the same persons, the Papists, whom the Lord will draw with the chains of his love to worship at the feet of his faithful servants, the rest of his Church, to whom he will give more strength. They shall learn at their feet, as Paul at the feet of Gramaliel, to worship and serve God in spirit and truth; they shall have the same faith, the same worship, and the same Lord. They shall know that the Lord has loved these long-persecuted servants, who have been sealed to keep his word, and to inherit his eternal kingdom. Papists say that they are Christians, the true Church of Grod ; but they are not, they lie : They are the synagogue of Satan. 4. ^' Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I will also keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth." Compare this verse with 7 : 9-17 ; 11 : 7-14 ; 14 : 12-13, and you will under- stand that these passages synchronize one with the other, and point out the great persecution of Louis XIV., when the two witnesses were slain, as it shall be proved hereafter. They were tempted, being forced by torments to submit to the Roman Church, to confess, and go to mass, or to be ruined and destroyed by the dragoonings, or armies of dragoons. " -_ ._. As soon as the Reformation was proclaimed, the pope and the kings, his vassals, tried to put it down. But it was in vain ; for it was the Lord who had set this open door before his Church, and no man could shut it. Then the woman Jezebel said unto her king : ''Dost thou now govern the kingdom of Israel? Arise, and eat bread, and let thine heart be merry ; I will give thee the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite" (1 Kings 21 : 7). She wrote letters to the governors of the kingdom, and poor Naboth was slain. They celebrated a feast-day, called in the annals of history '' St. Bar- tholomew's Massacre," in which eighty thousand Protestants were massacred, in 1572. But this was not yet the hour of tempta- tion; nor was it, when, in 1641, two hundred thousand Protestants were slaughtered in Ireland by Papists. It was at the revocation of the Pjdict of Nantes by Louis XIV., when about five millions of Protestants were obliged either to leave France, or to turn Papists, or to die. They chose rather to abandon France, or to die, and no man could take their crown. Persecution was raging, at the same time, among the Waldenses ; and James II. of England was also prepared to destroy Protestantism in his kingdom. (Sec the death of the witnesses, 11 : 7-14.) 48 COMMENTARY. The Lord had promised to come quickly to relieve them. He had endowed a young hero with his most precious gifts ; he had nourished him from childhood^ with the milk of his word ; he had saved him from the slaughter of St, Bartholomew's Day, in order that he should be the avenger of the blood of his brethren. Henry IV., with fifteen hundred men and the protection of God, came, besieged, and desolated by the most fearful famine, the city which had shed the blood of the saints ; but he was unfaithful to his mission, and for the reward of his apostacy, he fell by the dagger of the Lord's enemies. Louis XIV. had pronounced that Protestantism was at an end; but a greater than the great Louis XIV. told them "Come up hither!" and they ascended up to the throne of England, before their enemies, to show, as by the Dioclesian Persecution, which was followed by the destruction of paganism, that, notwithstanding the savage persecutions of men, the Lord will bring forth out of persecutions the triumph of his Church over her enemies. 5. " Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out ; and I will write upon hira the name of my Clod, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God ; and I will write upon him my new name." Who overcame popery ? Luther, Melancthon, Calvin, Zuingle, and all their fol- lowers. Have they been made pillars in the Reformation ? It is in vain that they have been slandered and cursed by popery ; their memory has come to us brighter and brighter. The name of God is written upon them. Popery could blot out the teachings of the apostles, and set up idolatry over the ruins of Christianity, as it had been taught by the apostles; but it shall not be the same with the Reformation and its authors. The Lord will seal them with his name, and acknowledge ''Protestantism" for the bride of the Lamb, the new Jerusalem, coming down from heaven ; for it is built up upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets. '' I will write upon him the name of the city of my God, and my new name ;" I will sanction and ratify the work of the Reformers ; I will write my new name " Protestant" upon them, and upon their work ; I acknowledge them as my apostles, to be pillars of my Church; and their reformed religion for the new Jerusalem, instead of Catholicism corrupted by popery, which I have spewed out of my mouth. Therefore we see evidently that Jesus, the angel of the Reformation (10 : 1), ratifies here the work of the Reformers, and acknowledges them to be, as the apostles, entitled to build up his Church upon the old foundation. And, if men refuse them the nameof (Christians, and call thorn " I^otestants," and their religion C M M E N T A R Y. 49 ^'Protestantism," the Lord adopts these new names, and seals them with his own name, declaring that the former Christianity, esta- bhshed by the apostles, having been corrupted by popish errors and superstitions, he adopts Protestantism for the new Jerusalem, as she came down at first from heaven, from God ; and she shall be acknowledged publicly for the Lamb's wife, in the great day of the destruction of his enemies (19 : 7-9), which is the marriage supper of the Lamb. VII. — Letter to the Church of the Laodiceans, a type of the state of the Church from IGSS i'o the coming of the Lord, iindthe Millenniuin. V. 14-22. " And unto the angoi of the churcli 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 woukl thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will spew 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 ; 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, therefore, 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 name '^ Laodicea" is composed of two Greek words, " laos'^ / (people), and "dike" (judgment, sentence), and means therefore '^ the judgment of the people." This period of the churches is thus called, because, at the end of this age, the people shall be in the hands of God, the instrumentality made use of to destroy great Babylon (17 : 16, 17 ; Dan. 7 : 26). This period synchronizes with the seventh trumpet, which contains the seven vials of the wrath of God, represented, the six first, under the emblem of harvest, and the last, under that of vintage (11 : 15-19; 14 : 9-20; 16 : 1-21; 18 and 19), which are the scourges by which the enemies of the churches shall be destroyed. 1. Jesus Christ takes here the title of " the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God," because he is the long expectation of Israel, the chiefest among ten thou- sand, and the pearl of great price, which we should buy with all we have. He is the faithful and true witness, because he knows the will of the Father, and his word is true and immutable. He 50 C O M M E N T A R Y. is tlie beginning of the creation of God, the first born, to whom all the blessings belong. Therefore, we must receive the testimony, which he has given us, in his word, and we ought not to be tossed about as children in the faith : we must trust in him ; for he is our God, our righteousness, wisdom, sanctification, and redemption. If his testimony be certain, and his promises sure ; if he be, indeed, our God, our Redeemer, and our hope of happiness and glory, our lukewarmness and indifference are unpardonable sins. Our religion is either true or false ; if it is true, it is our most precious treasure ; if it is false, it is the most audacious imposture ; and, then, we must stand for or against its author, , He that is slothful in his work is brother to him that is a great Master.^ If worldly men are cold for religion, they are consequent with their principles ; and Jesus de- clares that their condition is better than that of lukewarm and in- different professors of his religion. 2. 'M know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot." The distinctive character of this age of the Church is lukewarmness. The languor of the Protestant churches, since persecution has ceased, is known to everybody. Hence the Socinians, Universal- ists, Unitarians, and the Puseyites, spewed out of the mouth of the Lord, came out of these lukewarm churches. These churches did nothing, during the eighteenth century, either to enlighten the un- fortunate victims of popery, or to carry the gospel into pagan coun- tries. It was but in the beginning of this century that some few Christians, awakened from their slumber, formed the Bible Society in England; and soon after, the Missionary Societies. And yet how many churches and pastors look upon that work with in- difference, not to say, with hostility. This lukewarmness is grounded upon a false presumption, enter- taining high thoughts about themselves and their privileges, with- out respect to their obligations, and responsibility. They have the word of God; they enjoy the liberty of worship ; they are not trou- bled with persecutions; the ministers are paid like public officers ; why should they raise difficulties on their way ? Why should they go to preach the word of God to the Papists or to heathens? " They are rich, and increased with goods," not by their own works, but by those of their noble ancestors; and, because they do not worship images, and are not deceived by the priestly quackery, and enjoy the favors of men, they suppose that they have need of nothing. But Jesus, the true witness, declares that they are ''wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked" — wretched and miserable, because they do not know their true con- dition, which is worse than that of worldly men and great sinners — poor, because they have no provision for their soul, being full of C U M MEN T A 11 Y. 51 presumption, and of that sufficiency, winch gives the Pharisaic spirit ; blind and naked, because they do not consult the word of God to see their poverty and nakedness. " I would thou wert cold or hot : so then because thou art lukewarm, I will spew thee out of my mouth." 3. The word "mouth of God" represents the religion of God, as the " mouth of the serpent" (12 : 15), represents " idolatry, paganism," the religion of the devil. Therefore, as lukewarm water provokes vomiting, lukewarmness in a Christian provokes the heart of Jesus, and he will cast him out of his Church. They are not the Socinians themselves, neither the Universalists, nor the Puseyites, who abandon Protestantism : it is Jesus, who spews them out of his mouth. They suppose that they are rich, learned, full of knowledge, merits, and the Lord abandons them to their Satanic illusions, and spews them out of his Church. No other cause can be imagined to account for the apostacy of a man, enjoying his un- derstanding, being acquainted with the word of God, and with the crimes of popery, and professing to believe in the divine authority of the Bible. The Lord, who knows the condition of their hearts and thoughts, invites them to buy from him gold tried in the fire (the righteousness of the cross. Is. 55 : 1-3), that they may be rich • and white raiment (emblem of holiness), washed in the blood of the Lamb (7 : 13-17) ; and to anoint their eyes with eye-salve (medicament to cure the inflammation of the eyes), that they may see their poor condition, and submit themselves, as little children, to the teachings of his word, and to the agency of the Holy Ghost, who will open their eyes and give them the true riches, righteous- ness and holiness, without which no man can see the Lord. 4. "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten : be zealous there- fore, and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock." The Lord loves Protestants, because their ancestors suffered persecution for his word, and his name's sake. But he cannot bear with their lukewarmness; therefore he rebukes them. They want repen- tance, and they should have more zeal for the salvation of their fellow-men, to whom mercenary .shepherds say : " Peace, peace ! and there is no peace." '• Behold, I stand at the door and knock : if any one hear ray voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me." Behold, the signs of the times ! Behold, the kingdoms of the world are shaken. Here is the time when he will take possession of his everlasting kingdom : he ad- dresses them an appeal ; will they come and take a part in his great work ? Behold ! examine, and learn what are the signs of the times ! Do you not see that I stand at the door and knock ? Do you not see the storm ready to burst over the old Europe? If any ^Z CO M M E N T A 11 Y. one hear 1113^ voice, and open the door, I will sup with him, and he with me, as two friends at the same table — he shall be admitted to the marriage supper of the Lamb, for his v/ife hath made herself ready (19 : 7—9), and to the marriage of the king's son ; but he ought to have on the wedding garment (Matt. 22 : 1—14), and oil in his lamp. It is evident that these words, '^ I stand at the door and knock,'' "I will sup with him and he with me," synchronize with the nineteenth chapter, in which the enemies of the Lord are destroyed, and his eternal kingdom set up on the ruin of the king- doms of this world, which ruin is called the marriage supper of the Lamb (19 : 7-9), because in that great da}'-, he acknowledges publicly his long-persecuted Church as his bride. 5. " To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne." The reward, promised here, proves also evidently that the Lord is at the eve of taking possession of his kingdom. For that reason, he invites his disciples to fight with him, in order that they should triumph with him and sit with him in his throne. Compare these texts with the fifteenth verse of the sixteenth chapter, and from the sixth to the twenty-first verse of the nineteenth chapter, in which the battle of Armageddon is described under the name of vintage, and you will be convinced that all these passages synchro- nize, and consequently that the letters are types of seven different ages of the Church, as the admonition, repeated at the end of every letter intimates it : " He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. '^ This explanation agrees with his- tory, and presents a perfect picture of all the events, which shall be more fully developed in the course of the prophecy, of which it is like an exordium. There is, therefore, no other consistent expo- sition to be given of these letters.* * In reference to tlie present condition of tlie-^e cities of Asia Minor, it is said, in a letter of Irenaus, from the East, New York Observer, March 2, 1854:— '• The scholar is interested in Smyrna (which possesses ISOjOOO inliabitants) as the reputed birthplace of Homer, — this being one of those of which it is said : — 'Seven cities claiineri tlie Momer dead, Tlirougli which tlie living Homer begged his bread.' The ancients celebrated it under the names of The Lovely, the Crown of Ionia, the Ornament of Asia, and perhaps we should have admired it more, had we not recently come from the Bosphorus, where nature has done more to beautify the site of a town than in any other region which I have yet seen, in any part of the world. But the chief interest in Smyrna, which the Cliristian traveller finds, is in the fact, that here was one of the eeven churches of Asia, of which mention is made by St. John in the Apocalypse, COMMENTARY. 58 And now, before showing us, under emblems and images, the events which shall come to pass in the seven periods of the Church, which have been delineated in the picture of the seven churches, the prophet introduces us to the foot of the throne of Jehovah, holding, in his right hand, the book in which these events are contained. Jesus comes and takes the book out of his right hand, to open it and to loose its seals, intimating that it is God the Father who holds the series of all events, and that Jesus overrules them by his invisible power, until his enemies shall be subdued, and his kingdom set up on the ruins of the kingdoms of this world. the others being in the same region, and accessible by journeys of a few successive hours. Ephesus, where John resided, is only twelve hours off, and near the coast, but the ruins of the great temple of Diana of the Ephesians, one of the seven wonders of the world, are no longer to be seen ; even the site is not to be pointed out. It was burnt by an incendiary who wished to make his name immortal in connection with "the ruin of such a temple. The wild beast prowls now, where once was the most splendid edifice of its time on the face of the earth. Laodicea, another of the seven, is now deserted, though the ruins of temples and theatres plainly mark the site. Philadelphia has three thousand houses and is the residence of tlie Greek bishop. Sardis consists of a few shepherd's huts, and a mill on the river Pactohis, where golden sands were once so famed. Thyatira is full of ruins; the mouths of the wells are made of the capitals of beautiful columns, and the streets in many parts are paved with fragments of carved stone, relics of the ancient city. Pergamos is a magnificent tomb of former great- ness ; arches half buried, and columns in the sand, are the mournful memo- rials of the place, where the faithful martyr Antipas suffered, and where Satan's seat was when the Apostle John wrote his letters to the seven churches. Smyrna is the only one of the seven cities that continues to be a place of importance. And even Smyrna of the present is not on the site of the former. It is hard to make it a fact, that time can work such changes, eo that places which knew these vast cities know them no more. Open to the second and third chapters of the Revelation, and read the prophecy and warning there uttered, and observe the wonderful fulfilment of every word. All this eastern world abounds in lessons of light and instruction on the pages of sacred truth, and every day of travel among the islands of the Archipelago, or the cities of Asia Minor, invests those pages with a reality that they never possessed before. All this is more than classic, it is hal- lowed scenery." 6* (\ 54 CO M iM E N T A R Y. CHAPTER IV. THE THRONE OF GOD AND HIS HEAVENLY COURT. V. 1-5. "After this I looked, and behold, a door teas 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 show the things which must be hereafter. 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. And round about the throne icere 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 : and there ivcre seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven spirits of God." We are witnessing, in tlie fourth and fifth chapter, with what solemn majesty all things are performed in the court of the great king, the Lord of lords, how millions of saints and angels surround the throne and give equal praises and glory to the Father and the Son, that liveth for ever and ever (Is. 6 : 1-12 ; Dan. 7 : 9-10). 1. " A door was opened in heaven." The knowledge of future events belongs to God alone : though they have been decreed from eternity, and written as it were, in a book, they are hidden from our eyes. We cannot search out the eternal purpose of God, unless he is willing to open the door of heaven, and permit his ser- vants to have a glimpse of the things which shall come to pass hereafter. We have already been permitted to contemplate, under the symbols of seven letters, the picture of seven different states of his Church, either oppressed by her persecutors, or seduced by the woman Jezebel to commit a spiritual fornication and to sacrifice to idols. Now, the same voice of the Son of Man, which was like the sound of a trumpet, because he was to reveal to his prophet scourges, which shall be heard of at a great distance, said unto him : " Come up hither, and I will show the things which must be hereafter." 2. "And immediately I was in the Spirit;" that is, his spirit was set free from the body (1 : 10; Ez. 8 : 1—4); he was in a close comnumion with God, through the powerful agency of the Holy Ghost, and he became insensible to all the terrestrial objects by which he was surrounded. " And, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne. And he that sat was to look COMMENTARY. 56' upon like a jasper and a sardine stone; and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald.'^ These precious stones, jasper and sardine, of a purple and trans- parent color, are the emblems of the perfections of God, who is like a consuming fire for unrepentant sinners. But there is a rain- bow round about the throne, which is the sign of his covenant with Noah, to remind us that in wrath he remembers mercy, and that we can come, at all times, to his throne of grace, notwithstanding our sinful condition, in the name of Jesus, the angel of his cove- nant, of which the rainbow is the emblem. The twenty-four elders, sitting around the throne, are the patriarchs and the apostles, the representatives of the triumphant church of the ancient and of the new covenant. The white raiment, with which they are clothed, is the emblem of the righteousness and holiness of Jesus imputed to them (7 : 13, 14) ; and the crowns of gold, which they have on their heads, are the signs of their victory over the prince of this world, and the emblems of their kingly priesthood at the throne of God (2 Tim. 4 : 7-8). 3. " And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunder- ings and voices.'^ The lightnings and thunderings are the fore- runners of storms, and men understand very well their language. They are here the emblems of the dreadful judgments, by which God visits the sins of men, and their language is not often under- stood. History tells us of famine, pestilence, civil wars, defeat of powerful armies, and of the overthrow of kingdoms ; but it does not show us the invisible hand of God, which punishes the sins of nations, by those awful calamities. The prophet teaches us liere that all those terrible events proceed from the throne of God ; that good and evil, the prosperity or the fall of empires, proceed from the same hand. For God reigneth ; the iniquity of the wicked is not hidden before his eyes, and the cries of the poor and of the op- pressed are heard at his throne. The seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, are, as it is said, " the seven spirits of God," or the same Spirit, manifested, in a special manner, during the seven ages of the Church. The prophet Zechariah (4 : 10) says that they are the eyes of the Lord, which run to and fro through the whole earth. Therefore there is no darkness, no secret places before him : the storm closely follows the sin committed either under the cover of the night, or in the inmost recess of the forests. V. 6-8. '■ And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crj'stal : and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind. And the first ivas like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourtli beast u-os like a flying eagle And tlie four beasts liad eacli of them six 56 COMMENTARY. wings about /am ; and they tvere full of eyes within : and they rest not day or night, saying, holy, Holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come." 1. " And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal." It may be said that this sea of glass, figured by the molten sea, wherein the priests were obliged to wash themselves, lest they die, before entering into the holy place appointed to offer sacrifices to God, is the emblem of the grace and of the blood of Jesus Christ, in which we ought to be washed to have a free access to the throne of Grod. It is like unto crystal, to show that the righteousness of Christ, imputed to his redeemed people, is perfect, pure, and spotless. But it is rather the emblem of the kingdoms of this world (15 : 1-3), represented as a sea, for the commotions by which they are overturned, and out of which others rise (Dan. 7 : 2-8). They are like "a sea of glass, like unto crys- tal/' to show their brittleness, like potter's vessels, and to indicate that God is acquainted with their deeds and perverse policy, which he sees as through a glass. The second verse of the fifteenth chapter shows evidently that such is the meaning of this emblem ; for, at the time of the pouring out of the vials of the wrath of God, the prophet saw ''as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire" (the fire of wars), and those who had obtained the victory over either pagan or papal Eome " stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God," and singing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb. The song of Moses (Ex. 15 : 1-19), reminds us, by this sea of glass, of the Red Sea, in which Pharaoh and his army perished, while the people of God escaped and praised the Lord for their deliverance. In the same manner, the new Pharaohs, who have held in bondage the people of the Lord, shall perish in this sea mingled with fire, whilst the redeemed, who shall have gotten victory over paganism and popery, shall escape and praise the Lord for their deliverance. 2. " And in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind. And the first was like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle." The Roman Church thinks, without any foundation, that these four beasts are the emblems of the four evangelists. It is supposed, from the office which they hold (5 : S), that they are the emblems of the true ministers of the gospel; but they are rather the emblems of the militant Churcli ; for all Christians, without dis- tinction, are kings and priests unto God. But how is it that they are represented under the emblems of four beasts? It is in the same manner as the four irreat monarchies, from Nebuchadnezzar C M M E N T A R Y. 57 to our days, are represented and characterized by four beasts, the first a lion, the second a bear, the third a leopard, and the fourth, diverse from the other, had no name ; but had an eagle on its stan- dards (Dan. 7 : 1-8). The first, being an animal strong and generous, is preserved to be the emblem of the courage and gene- rosity of Christians. But the others, the bear and the leopard, being wild beasts, could not be in any wise the emblems of the people of God. The Spirit of God has substituted in their place some other emblems more congenial to the characters of Christians, as the ^' calf," which is the emblem of an unwearied zeal and pa- tience, and '^man,'' as the emblem of reason, understanding, and wisdom ; and the eagle, as that of the elevation of their feelings, thoughts, and affections, raising up their minds to heavenly things, and looking at the most adorable mysteries, as the eagle looks at the beams of the sun. They had each of them six wings about him ; the wings are the emblems of their disinterestedness, protec- tion, grace, and charity. The prophet Isaiah, who calls the same beasts "seraphs," that is, burning, to indicate the nature of their zeal, says that they " covered their faces with twain" of their wings, for unto us belongs the confusion of faces before the Lord ; "and with twain they covered their feet;" for the walks and deeds of the saints are not without spot before the Lord ; " and with twain they did fly," showing that it is upon the wings of grace and mercy that they were permitted to ascend to heaven (Is. 6 : 2). The prophet Ezekiel calls them " cherubs," which means husbandmen, to indicate their works and patience during the captivity of the people of God, in Babylon. These beasts or seraphs, are not angels ; for celestial spirits do not borrow strange forms in heaven ; and vet angels do not call themselves " the redeemed of the Lamb" (5 :'%=10). Though the cherubs are spoken of as having only four wings (Ez. 1 and 10), they are not different beings, as it may be seen by their description and office. They do not represent the militant church in heaven, but in a hard captivity ; therefore they do not cover their feet with wings. The Church of God, in Jeru- salem, had provoked the wrath of God, who was "over them as it were a sapphire stone, as the appearance of the likeness of a throne;" and so the Lord filled his hand with coals of fire (the emblem of his wrath), and scattered them over the city; and " then the glory of the Lord went up from the cherub," from the church (Ez. 10 : 1-4). The chariot and the wheels, in the first and tenth chapter, are nothing else than an allegory of the providence of God, showing the connection of the events with their causes, of our chas- tisements with our sins. The cherubs are said to have each the four faces of man, lion, ox, and eagle ; because each member of the 58 C M M E N T A R Y. militant Cliurcli, as member of the same body, is rendered partaker of all the gifts granted by the Holy Ghost to each individually, and of which the lion, man, calf, and eagle are the emblems. From one, they receive courage, from another patience, from others, wisdom and discernment, and from the fourth, clear ideas of the most awful mysteries ) so that each member, sharing thus in the gifts of his brothers, possesses for himself alone, all that which belongs to many ) and the dispensation of the providence of God toward his Church is conformed to their deeds and to the improvement of the gifts imparted to them. It is in that sense that it is said of the two witnesses (11 : 5-6) that they have power to shut heaven that it rain not (prevent the effusion of grace), and to change water into blood (as Moses, to punish the hardened Pharaoh), and to send curses upon earth. Therefore, we infer that the seraphs and cherubs are the same as the beasts spoken of in this chapter. " They were full of eyes within," to show that they possess a clear knowledge of their sinful nature ] watching upon themselves, and knowing the terror of the Lord. The book of past ages is opened before them ; the}^ know that God overruled the events re- corded in history; and from the knowledge of the past, they judge of the future. The secret of the Lord is with them ; and they walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise ; for they are full of eyes before and behind. They are in the midst of the throne, be- cause they are in communion with God, and speak in his name, preaching to sinners repentance and remission of sins, and eternal death, to unrepentant sinners ; they are around the throne, to plead with God for the reconciliation of sinners, and to offer up to him their prayers and requests, and praises and thanksgivings. And these four beasts, representing the militant Church, full of the knowledge of the word of God, of his judgments and mercies, ''rest not day and night, saying. Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come." V. 9-11. "And when those beasts give glory and honor and thanks, to him that sat on the throne, vidio Hveth forever and ever, the four-and-twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, 'Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: lor thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.'" There is joy in heaven, says our Lord, over one sinner that re- penteth j so, when the four beasts, representing the living who are not yet glorified, and whose condition it is to work, to suffer, and fight to conquer (1 Cor. 7 : 46), render glory and honor and thanks to God, saying : " Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty," C O M M E N T A R Y. 59 the twenty-four elders, representatives of the triumphant Church, manifest their joy and gratitude, by falling down upon their faces before the Almighty, casting their crov/ns before the throne, to testify that the glory of the conversion of sinners is due to him, as well as the glory and happiness enjoyed by his redeemed people in heaven ; and they say : " Thou art worthy, Lord, to receive glory and honor and power : for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created/^ CHAPTER V. V. 1-4. "And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne, a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals. 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 foimd worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon." We are permitted to witness, in this chapter as in the preceding, how things are performed in the court of the great King of the universe, — how God the Father gives all power and authority to the Son of his love, — atid how the saints and angels render equal praises and glory to Grod the Son, with God the Father. God the Father, sitting on his throne, holds, in his right hand, " a book written within and on the backside,'^ that is, written on both sides, to show that it contains a great many events. The books, called rollH among the ancients, Feeause' after their reading they "Wfe rolled up like maps or music books, consisted of several leaves united together and usually written only on one side. This book was sealed with seven seals, to show that it contained seven great events with their consequence, or rather all the important events, which shall come to pass during the seven ages of the Church, — that these events are known only to God — that neither men nor angels can search out his unsearchable decrees, and, again, that men shall not look at the hand of God, to understand the true cause of these scourges by which he visits their sins and idolatry. A strong angel invites with a loud voice, those, who should be able to open the book and to loose its seals, to come and take the 60 C M M E N T A R Y. book, to open it and loose its seals, that is, to understand its myste- rious symbols, and to-^^verrule - the events described under its em- blematic language. But fliere was no man, either among the saints in heaven, or among the living and the dead, who could find out its mysteries, or x)verrule the events which were contained in the book of God. And the prophet was sorrowful for that, and wept much. This book — thanks be rendered to the Lamb slain for our sins — passed from the hand of God the Father, into the hand of God the Son; and the Son, who is the friend of men, revealed its contents to his prophet. This book I we possess i^j; we can read it; and know what are the secret events, which the eternal God had written and sealed with seven seals. V. 5-7. " And one of the elders saith unto me: Weep not: behold, the Lion of tlie tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hast prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof. And 1 beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of tlie 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." Weep not, says one of the elders to the prophet, Jesus, the angel of the covenant of God with men, to whom the will of God the Father is known from eternity, is worthy to open the book and to loose its seals. He has already prevailed over the powers of dark- ness to reconcile men with God, as the Lion of the tribe of Juda (Gen. 49 : 9-10), and having been faithful in all things unto the death of the cross, he has received a name, which is above all names ; he is then worthy to take the book and to ,ovei-rule .the events, by which the ruin of his enemies ought to be accomplished, and the final triumph of his Church secured. The prophet looked unto the throne, and he saw the Saviour; not under the form of a terrible lion — for he is terrible only for his enemies — but under the form of a " Lamb as it had been slain" (see xii chap, of Ex.). Mark the place which he occupies in heaven. He stands in the midst of the throne, as Mediator between God and the representatives of his militant and of the triumphant Church, as the King and (Captain of their salvation. He is there as a *'Lamb slain;" for he is the High Priest of his people, and the victim off"ercd up from before the foundation of the world, to take away the sin of the world, and reconcile sinners with God. He had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the emblems of his almighty power andj>cienQe, to open the book and overrule the events written in it, during the seven ages of the Chwrh". He came, then, and took the book out of the hand of God; therefore, COMMENTARY. 61 he it is who governs this world, who raises up or abases according to his will ; for all power was given unto him in earth and in heaven, and he must reign till he hath put all his enemies under his feet (1 Cor. 15 : 24-28). V. 8-10. '• And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odors, 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." In reading this heavenly song we are reminded of these words of the Apostle, " And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth;" and we are constrained involun- tarily to bend our knees before this Son of God, who took upon him our humanity, as a veil, to dwell among us, to teach us and die for us. Nothing can equal the simplicity and beauty of this heavenly song unto the glory of the Lamb, which the representatives of the Church sing and accompany on their harps, the emblem of praises, as the vials full of odors are the emblem of the prayers of saints. As soon as he had taken the book, the four beasts, representa- tives of the militant Church (thus represented because her members have not yet put on incorruption and immortality; 1 Cor. 15 : 40- 46), and the twenty-four eiders, the representatives of the trium- phant Church, fell down before the Lamb, to worship him ; and they sang a new song, unknown to the Jewish church, which sang the glory and praises of Jehovah, and to the infidels and to the heathens, 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, and hast made us unto our God kings and priests, and we shall reign over the earth.'' Dost thou understand that, immortal soul I The subject of the song of saints and angels, in heaven, is the redemption of mankind by the blood of Jesus ! Thou wert sold, as a slave, to Satan and sin, and Jesus has redeemed thee ; hear, at what a price, — by his blood I He endured the tor- ments of death and hell in thy stead ; he broke the chains of thy captivity ; and when he ascended on high up to heaven, he led captivity captive, and received gifts for men, yea, for the rebellious also. He made us kings and priests unto our God, and we shall reign on the earth (1 : 0). Behold to what dignity he has raised thee up ! 0, hold fast the profession of thy faith without waver- ing ! Do not tread under foot the Son of God, and do not count the 62 COMMENTARY. blood of the covenant, wherewith thou wert sanctified, an unholy thing, and beware to do despite unto the Spirit of grace. Look unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, with love and gra- titude, and unite thy songs with the concert of saints and millions of angels who sing his praises and glory. V. 11-14. "And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne, and the beasts, and the elders : and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands ; saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing. And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, /;e unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb, forever and ever. And the four beasts said, Amen. And the four and twenty elders fell down and worshipped him that liveth forever and ever." Millions of angels, who have always kept their former purity and obedience before God, share in the joy of the saints, and applaud the power and glory, which God the Father gives unto the Re- deemer, saying that he is worthy to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing ; that he is worthy to receive all power from God to accomplish the triumph of his Church over her enemies ; and every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are buried in the sea, and all that are in them, repeat their song as to unite in concert with the saints and angels and to ratify their re- quest and testify their consent, and to ascribe equal power and glory to the Lamb and to God the Father, saying " Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb forever and ever.'' Let this song of the saints in heaven and of -millions of angels, repeated as in a concert by every creature on the eartlr,~be compared with the sublime vision of Jesus in the first chapter, and with the titles of the Almighty, the eternal God, which he attributes to himself, and no one shall dare to deny that the crucified Jesus on Calvary, is truly the Son of God, the Redeemer of our fallen race. For it is to him that the saints and angels and all the earth unite to ascribe honor and glory, even before the throne of God, the Father. Had not the divinity of Jesus absorbed his humanity, which was but as a veil for him, this wor&^trp rendered to him by the saints and angels, before the Almighty God of heaven, would have been an act of the most daring idolatry. And now, my soul, since Jesus is thy God and Redeemer, let others place their ambition in searching out the most secret COMMENTARY. 63 mysteries of sciences, hidden to tlie eyes of the common people ; for thee, redeemed soul, be satisfied henceforth to glory in his cross, and to study and search with the poor inhabitants of cottages, the history of Calvary, which is always ancient and always new ! Let others be ambitious of pompous titles, if they wish, a crown of thorns is enough for thee. If they boast of their riches and of the short enjoyment of happiness which they aiford, thou hast the in- exhaustible riches of the tomb of Christ. Thy riches and glory and happiness are there. Reign, Son of God ! the Father has consecrated thee with his own hand on the IMount Sion ; and the inhabitants of heaven and earth applauded thy power and glory. Reign ! submit all the nations of the earth under thy power; let every one learn of thee that thy yoke is easy, and thy burden light ; and let all the ends of the earth acknowledge thy power and unite their voices to sing thy praises and glory, in the concert of the saints and ano;els. Amen. C -■/ CHAPTER VI. THE SEVEN SEALS CIVIL WARS OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE FAMINE PESTILENCE — PERSECUTIONS, AND FALL OF PA- Ga5v"ISM. ^yE have now to explain the emblems, under which the events recorded in history, are described in the book which the Lamb took out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne. Many systems have been invented to explain this book ; and, when we read, at the end of Henry's exposition, an abridgment of the principal systems, invented by learned men to explain it, we are no more astonished that this prophecy has always been looked upon as inexplicable. True, they have found out the meaning of many emblems, but they have abandoned themselves to their imagination, — they have confounded the seals with the trumpets, — they have transferred from the beginning to the end, and from the end to the beginning, the emblems which were necessary to complete their systems. Mede and Newton suppose that the first four seals designate four epochs of the history of the last times of the Roman empire. Keith supposes that they represent respec- tively the four religious systems, Christianity, Mahometanism, Popery, and Infidelity. More has formed an apocalyptic plan ; he 64 CO M M E N T A R Y. traced straight and curved lines, designated with letters and numbers, from one to six, and again from one to seven, and he pretends to arrive, by such geometrical problems, to the solution of the difficulties of this book. A plan of Denderah's zodiac has even been inserted there, doubtless, to find in its hieroglyphic symbols the explanation of the symbols of the Apocalypse. For us, let us put aside this great display of science, and above all, our imagination. Let us not look for a system; for there is none : it is history written under a figured language (1 : 1, 19); therefore, history alone ought to resolve all its difficulties. And when, in following step by step the picture of history, we shall find that the events recorded there, give us the solution of the corresponding emblems, as the original is found out by its image and picture, without forcing the explanation, without overturning the order followed by the prophet, in his emblematic language — and when we shall see that there is as much order and precision in this book as in the best and most exact historians, — we shall be permitted to say that this book is no more inexplicable. First Seal V. 1, 2. "And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals; and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see. And I saw. and, behold, a white horse; and he that sat on him had a bow ; and a crown was given unto him : and he went forth conquer- ing, and to conquer.-' The bow, which is in the hands of this conqueror, is the emblem of wars, of scourges, and destruction ; and the croAvn, which was given unto him, is the emblem of royalty, of victory, and triumph. The white horse may indicate the justice and holiness of his cause, and the rapidity of his conquests. But who is this conqueror? and what are the conquests which he has to achieve? The read- ing of verses 11-16 of the nineteenth chapter, where wc again find the same conqueror treading under foot the kings of the earth and the false prophet, and binding Satan with chains, shows us that he is called "the Word of God; the King of kings, and Lord of lords ;" therefore, we may infer that this conqueror is Jesus Christ, and that the first seal, — the emblem of the progress and triumph of the gospel, — includes and overrules all the events described under the other seals, under the trumpets and vials of the wrath of God, to the entire ruin of the enemies of Christianity and the setting up of the everlasting kingdom of Jesus Christ (Dan. 2 : 44). For he goes forth conquering and to conquer; he has then to C il M E N T A R Y. 65 accomplish many victories and triumphs to make his enemies his footstool to his throne, to fill the places with dead bodies, and to wound the head (popery) over many countries (Ps. 110 : 6). All shall be accomplished at the pouring out of the seventh vial, in the battle of Armageddon (the mountain of destruction), called "the vintage" (14 1 18-20), and "the great day of the Lord" (16 : 14-16), described in the nineteenth chapter. The enemies of the word of God should have understood, from the progress of the gospel, that it was the work of God, that by opposing its progress, they were making war with God himself; but all that was sealed to their eyes, and they could not see, though some one of the representatives of the militant Church, figured by the beast, cried at all times, saying : " Come and see." Come and see how twelve unlearned men, poor and ignorant fishers, have spread the gospel throughout the world, — how they have triumphed over the oppositions and persecutions both of the Jews and of the Gentiles, — how this powerful word has changed the face of the earth, removed the darkness of idolatry, and spread everywhere the principles of civilization and liberty. Come and see how, through the torrents of blood, Christianity ascended to the throne of the Ceesars, when its powerful enemies thought to have crushed and destroyed it forever, — how it triumphed during the Middle Age, over the crusades, and dungeons, and torments of the Inquisition, and ascended up to the throne of England, to go thence throughout the world, conquering and to conquer. Come and see ! Do you not know that it is the hand of the Almighty, which performs all these things? Cease, then, to oppose his work. But all that was sealed before their eyes, and they could not see. Even at this day, the enemies of the word of God can see nothing, notwithstanding so many vain attempts to destroy it : they suppose that their predecessors have failed in their criminal contest with God, only for want of skill and craftiness. All these things are yet sealed for their blind and stubborn hearts; but, in spite of their stubbornness, the victories of Jesus go on, and his final triumph is at hand. Second Seal. V, 3, 4. " And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see. And there went out another horse that was red 5 and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword." The emblem of this seal is easily understood. The red horse, 6* 66 COMMENTARY. a bloody color, represents tlie shedding of blood ; therefore, the horseman has the power, 1. To banish peace from the earth; 2. To cause that men should kill one another, that is, to excite civil wars, in which the citizen fights against a citizen, and the brother slaughters his brother. The great sword, given to him, is also a clear emblem of the torrents of blood shed at that time; 1. By the revolt of the Jews in 98 to 138 ; 2. By the civil wars of the Roman legions from 138 to the reign of Constantine, in 313 ; all these scourges, which desolated, by turns, the Roman Empire, are represented under the emblem of horsemen, to show with what rapidity they came to execute the revenge of the Lord. One of the beasts, a representative of the militant Church, says, "Come and see," to invite us to examine attentively all these scourges that we are witnessing, and to know the unseen hand, which inflicts these awful chastisements. When the prophet wrote this vision, about 94, two persecutions against Christians had already been decreed : one under Nero, in 65, and that of Domitian, by whom the prophet had been banished into the island of Patmos, in 93. The other persecutions suc- ceeded each other rapidly. The third took place in 107, under Trajan; the fourth, in 163, under Antoninus; the fifth, in 202, under Severus; the sixth, in 235, under Maximilian; the seventh, under Decius, in 250, was the most cruel of all : Christians were expelled out of their houses, stripped of their property and ex- posed to the most savage tortures. The eighth, in 256, under Yalerianus; the ninth, in 273, under Aurelian; and the tenth, under Diocletian, in 303, and continued ten years. It may be seen by this picture of pagan persecutions that Chris- tians did not enjoy much rest and peace. But the Grod, who reigns in heaven, and looks down upon his servants, did not give any more rest and peace to their persecutors. The atrocious cruelties of their emperors, Nero, Commodus, Domitian, Helio- gabalus, Caracalla, and others, were already, by themselves, a visible revenge of God to punish their persecutors. But yet there is not to be found, in the third century, which historians call " military anarchy," an epoch in which we do not read of some of the scourges, which desolated, by turns, the Roman Empire, and hastened its decay and ruin. If they stripped Christians of their property, the Lord overthrew the tyrants from their throne and sent famine to the people ; if they delighted in shedding the blood of martyrs, the Lord gave them blood to drink ; if they feasted upon their torments, God sent them pestilence, and wild beasts, and tyrants to devour them; and, from 98 to 138, the Roman history gives us only the picture of insurrections, bloody battles, and atrocious massacres. C M M E N T A R Y. 67 The Jews had refused to receive the true Messiah : an impostor, one of the robbers, who plundered Judea, called Casiba, re- nowned for his daring, proclaimed himself to be the long-expected Messiah. To secure his success, he took the name of Barcocheva, alluding to the star foretold by Balaam, and promised these unfor- tunate Jews to render them their ancient glory and liberty. God, in his judgments, permitted that they should believe in an impostor. Therefore, at his voice, they revolted in all the countries in which they had been scattered, and they slaughtered more than six hun- dred thousand men, either Greeks or Romans. The Emperor Adrian raised up an army and marched against Barcocheva. The impostor took refuge in a city called Either, in which he was killed. The city was besieged and taken, and there was an awful massacre. The Jews themselves confess that about six hundred thousand of their people were destroyed for the defence of this flilse Messiah, and some historians go so far as to set the number to twelve hun- dred thousand. We have then, in this event, the accomplishment of the first part of the seal : '^ And power was given to him that sat on the red horse, to take peace from the earth;" here are now the civil wars, the military anarchy from 138 to the reign of Gonstantine. The Roman legions revolted, and refused to submit themselves to their lawful emperors. They chose for emperors the general or the daring soldier, who promised the most to their ambition. Hence the difterent interests of the legions, caused them to take up arms the one against the other, and they slaughtered each other, upon the battle field, to sustain the respective chief, which they had chosen. In about seventy years, there were more than twenty emperors, who reigned in Rome with tyranny, and exercised the most atrocious cruelties over the subjects of the empire ; and at the same time there were, in the provinces, more than thirty usurpers, proclaimed by their armies, who caused their followers to be slaughtered, to sustain their respective usurpations. The horse- man who sat on the red horse had a great sword : he banished peace from the earth, and caused men to kill one another. Third Seal V. 5, 6. " And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the tliird beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo, a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measnre of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a peimy ; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine."' At the opening of this seal there appeared a black horse, which 68 COMMENTARY. is a fair emblem of the distress of the people in a time of calamity. The pair of balances and the measures of wheat and barley for a penny, indicate clearly what shall be the nature of that calamity, to wit, the famine, showing that they shall be obliged to eat their bread sparingly (Lev. 20 : 26j Ez. 4:16), and by hard labor. For the measure, according to some historians, was the quantity given to a slave for his daily food ; therefore, it is intended to show that they shall be obliged to acquire it by hard labor. The penny, worth, then, sixteen cents of our money, was the daily wages of a workman. Nevertheless, it is evident that God does not intend to destroy them by the scourge of famine ; for he forbids to hurt the oil and the wine, which afford the delights of the rich, who can mock at the famine with their treasures. But their treasures can- not save them from the pestilence, which devours the rich and the poor, at the opening of the following seal. When David sinned against Grod, by forcing Joab to number the people of Israel, it was said to him : " Shall seven years of famine come unto thee in thy land ? or, wilt thou flee three months before . thine enemies, while they pursue thee ? or that there be three days' pestilence in thy land ?'' So David was permitted to choose one of these scourges of the Lord. But the Roman people have not to choose : all the scourges of the wrath of God fall one after the other, and all at the same time, upon the persecutors of his ser- vants. Though famine and pestilence are, in some measure, the consequence of civil wars, — for husbandry is abandoned during the wars, which desolate the country, and unwholesome food eaten during the famine, produces pestilence — they are here special scourges of God. The famine laegan to afliict the lioman Empire, under the reign of Antoninus, who succeeded to Adrian in 138; and the famine is placed after the civil wars, only because the slaughter of the Jews took place before this scourge. The Emperor Antoninus, surnamed ^^ the pious,'' is said to have bought victuals with his money, to relieve the distress of the people. The famine broke out again, the first year of the reign of Marcus Aurelian, and continued its ravages to the end of the second century, in such a manner, that Sicily could no more afford wheat enough to supply their wants, and that the emperors were obliged to have some from Egypt. Therefore, history unites with the emblems of this seal to point out this scourge of God. C M M E N T A R Y. 69 Fo7irih Seal. V. 7, 8. " And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see. And I looked, and behold a pale horse; and his name that sat on him was Death, and hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourlh part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth." At the opening of this seal, all the scourges, death, famine and pestilence, the sword and wild beasts, meet together, and are followed by hell, the emblem of confusion and torments. No pic- ture could give us an idea more frightful and just of the state of the Roman empire in those days of heavenly revenge. Desolation is general. Pestilence, figured by the "pale horse" and its horseman, Death, ravaged the empire during twelve consecutive years, from 251 to 263, under the reign of Gallus and Yolusianus, his son ; and, when it was supposed that the scourge had abated, a pestilential fever broke out in Ethiopia, and hence it went on to the north, desolating all the eastern provinces of the empire. Besides this, swarms of barbarians, from every country, appeared at its frontiers. The Persians and Scythians, invaded its eastern provinces. Carus, proclaimed emperor by the soldiers, who had killed their emperor, Probus, gained over the Sarmatians a victory, which cost him sixteen thousand men killed, and twenty thousand prisoners. He was killed in his tent by lightning, and his son, Numerian, was slaughtered by his father-in-law, who attempted to reign after him. The father-in-law himself was killed by Diocle- tian, who usurped the government of the em23ire. Under his reign all the hordes of northern savages, Scythians, Goths, Sarmatians, Alains, and the Gatts, invaded the empire at the same time. For that reason, Diocletian associated in the empire his friend, the General Herculius Maximian ; and soon after, he conferred also the title of emperor, but subordinate to his power, on Constantius Chlore and Galerius Maximian. The empire v>^'\s thus divided into four parts, and so we have the explanation of these words of the prophecy : " And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with the sword," that is, over Illyria, Thracia, and Asia Minor, which formed the fourth part of the empire, under the government of Galerius 3Iaximian. Constantius Chlore had the Gauls, Spain, and Britain ; Severus had Africa and Italy, and Valerius Maximinus, Egypt and Syria. Maxentius, son of Hercules, in 306, and Licinius in 307, received also the title of For " the beasts of the earth," by which the ferocious tyrants of the empire might be also designated, we can judge of this scourge 70 COMMENTARY. from the description of the triumphal procession of Probus, for his Yictories in the Gauls and Grermany. It is recorded by historians, that besides a multitude of deers, ostriches, and boars, there were three hundred bears, two hundred lions, and as many leopards. All these scourges should have opened the eyes of the pagan Romans, and shown them the true cause of these calamities, which suc- ceeded each other and increased every year. But, though they had shed by torrents the blood of Christians, upon the altars of their gods, they supposed that these scourges were inflicted upon them, because Christians did not resort any more to their temples, to offer the blood of victims upon their altars. Therefore, they accused them of having provoked the wrath of their gods, and when the Emperor Maximian appeared at the theatre, they asked with cries for the destruction of Christians (see the Church of Smyrna, 2 : 8-11) ; and then, the Diocletian Persecution was decreed, as we find it under the following seal. Fifth Seal. V. 9-11. " And when he had opened tlie fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held : and they cried with a loud voice, saying. How long, O 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 v/as 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." The meaning of this seal is clear ; there is no emblem : they are the martyrs of the ten pagan persecutions, who cry for deliverance from their enemies. But it w^as said unto them to wait a little longer, until their fellow-servants should be killed as they were ; for the Lord is slow to anger, and there is an appointed time to the wicked for repentance. It is not as malefactors that these martyrs were put to death : it is for the word of God and for the testimony, which they render to Jesus, the Son of God. Whoever enjoys his good sense and reason could scarcely understand how there have been such ferocious tigers among men, as to shed the blood of more than fifty millions of unfortunates, who had no other crime imputed to them, than the religious principles which they held, if we were not witnessing, in our days, the same spirit of persecution. But, let persecutors remember that the martyr of Jesus, though cut off from this world, is not for that destroyed, helpless, and forgotten : he is living in heaven ; white robes, washed in the blood of Jesus, COMxMENTARY. fj are given unto him ; and there is a time appointed of God for the revenge of his blood which, as that of Abel, crieth unto God from the ground. Though revenge may be delayed for a season, it will come soon or late; for the quiver of the Lord is full of arrows to pierce the enemies of his name. 1 ^.hf ^/;f tyr^a^Vot, evidently, those of papal persecutions : we shall find them in their places with the chastisement of their op- pressors. Those spoken of here are the martyrs of the ten pagan per- secutions. They are under a seal, because their persecutors did not imdei^tand that the cries of the martyrs were heard from God that God avenged their blood with his scourges, and that he would shn^l^'''' oppressors m pieces like potter's vessels, when they should have exerted all their power to destroy the work of the Lord undei the altar upon which they had been slain. In their impa- tience they asked for the revenge of their blood ^^ on them that dwell on the earth,- who exercised their tyrannic power over his own heritage. At last, the Diocletian Persecution, called 'the era of martyrs,- was ordered in 303 (see 3: 8-11); and when after ten years ot massacres, the persecutors had shown thai th ' wrl of man is impotent against the Lord, the Lord arose and he disced ^"^^^^.'"^''-'^^^^ - ^^ ''-' '^ -^-^^^ -^^^l-i of Sixth Seal The picture, which is given under this seal, does not represent either the end of the world, as I hare many tiiies heard it aXd to that event by popish priests, or the dcstmction of Jerusalem as .s supposed by Henry, for it had been accomplished! and oud be no more the subject of prophecy; but it represents evidentlv^he victories of Constantino over Maxentius and Licinius, and the de! ■.♦♦ 72 C O M IM E N T A R Y. struction of paganism and its supporters. It is the revenge asked for by the martyrs who were slain lor the word of God, as we have seen in the preceding verses. Before passing to the exphination of this seal, let us suppose that we have to predict the fall of a false religion — the massacre of its priests, pontiffs, and followers, and the overthrow of the empire by which it is sustained. That we have to predict it in such a manner that those, who are to be the victims of its ruin, could not under- stand their destiny in the reading of our prediction, we could not use the ordinary language; otherwise the accomplishment of our prophecy would be counteracted by those who would see their doom foretold there. Therefore, we should be obliged to borrow, from nature, images and expressions, equivalent to those of the common language, and clear enough to be understood after the event de- scribed in our figurative language : such has been the case with the prophet ; and thence the obscurity, which this prophecy presents to our understanding. A change in the celestial bodies represents very well the change of the political and moral world. An earthquake gives us a fair image of the convulsion of an empire. Heaven may repi'esent the empire, of which the sun, moon and stars, represent the king, the religion, and the chief officers, either captains, priests, augurs, and pontiffs. The moon, which shines only with a borrowed light, is a fair emblem of a false and idolatrous religion ; and the stars, of its false gods worshipped under their names, as Venus, Saturn, &c. According to this figured language, or allegory, " the sun black as sackcloth of hair," would indicate the distress and ruin of the emperor — "the moon became as blood," would give us the image of the destruction of the priests, augurs, pontiffs, followers, and supporters of this ido- latrous religion — " the stars of heaven falling unto the earth," would indicate the violent fall of the chiefs of this empire, and of the false gods of the pagan religion, who are gods no more. In continuing the allegory, in this manner, " the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together," would represent a state of things which is past, and put aside, as a book which wc close and put aside, when we have done reading it; '^ every mountain and island were moved out of their places," would also signify that the king or emperor has been dethroned, and the subaltern authorities, as governors, pontiffs, and priests have been turned out of their offices, to which others have been appointed. Now, if to that figured language we should add in common expressions : " and the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every freeman, hid themselves in the dens and the rocks of the mountains; and said to the niountains C O M M E N T A R Y. 73 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," we should under- stand easily the meaning of this figured language, and we would see the distress of a routed army, fleeing before its victorious enemy, into the mountains, and calling, the mountains and the rocks to fall on them, and to hide them from the revenge of their conqueror, and from the wrath of the Lamb, whose servants they had killed without mercy. Now, such is the use made of these emblems by the prophet; and if we examine that the event thus described follows immediately the scourges related under ibhe preceding seals, we shall be convinced that it is spoken here of the victories of Constantino over the supporters of paganism, in the mountains of the Alps, and in Thracia, over Lucinius. Every one is acquainted with the history of the triumph of Constantino over his enemies. When he was advancing towards Rome, at the head of an army of ninety thousand foot-soldiers and eight thousand horsemen, he inscribed upon his flags, according to a vision, which had appeared to him, at the setting of the sun, the image of the cross, with these words : " touto nika" (conquer by this sign). On the other side, Maxentius advanced from the city with an army of one hundred and seventy thousand foot-soldiers and eighteen thousand horsemen. The engagement was for some time fierce and bloody. The cavalry of Maxentius being routed, victory was declared upon the side of his opponent. Maxentius was drowned in his flight, by the breaking down of the bridge, as he attempted to cross the Tiber. The Emperor Maximian marched also against Licinius, and his army suffered a total defeat : the most of his soldiers were cut to pieces, and those who escaped submitted to the conqueror. Licinius marched then against Constantino, to contend with him for the government of the empire. His army was strengthened by all the supporters of paganism; and previous to the battle, they invoked their gods. Constantino with his army begged the assistance of the God of Christians : success was on his side. Licinius was entirely defeated; and it was in vain that the fugitives sought a refuge in the mountains of Thracia; they were pursued in their retreat ; and Licinius surrendered himself up to the victor. Constantino declared Christianity the religion of the empire, and paganism, mortally wounded in the mountains in the north of Italy and in Thracia, became weaker and weaker, and ex- pired under the reign of Theodosius the Great. We may add that Diocletian died, one year after, in the torments of a disease attri- buted to poison or madness, after having seen his statues over- thrown and Christianity flourishing. Maximian was obliged to hang himself, after having attempted to kill Constantiiie. and 74 COMMENTARY. Galerius expired in the torments of a sickness which baffled all the skill of his physician. Now, it is easily understood that these great events, which fol- lowed immediately the Diocletian Persecution, and caused the ruin of paganism and the overthrow of the pagan empire, by which it was supported, are really designated by the revolution, figured by this great earthquake. That the distress and doom of the Roman pagan emperors are clearly represented under the emblem, "the sun became black as sackcloth of hair;" that the destruction of the priests, augurs, pontiffs, and all the followers and supporters of paganism, is fairly represented under the image, '' and the moon became as blood;" that the fall of pagan gods, worshipped under the names of stars, and turned out of the temples, is also repre- sented by "the stars of heaven fell unto the earth," being gods no more ; and the violence of their fall, when they hoped yet for a long existence, is figured with energy by the fig-tree, which "casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind." No image could represent better the end of the Roman pagan empire than that of a book or scroll rolled together, and put aside, after we have done reading it. The mountains are figures consecrated by writers to designate the rich and powerful of this world — kings and emperors. The islands are types of independent terrestrial powers, but having re- lation with other powers, as an island has with the mainland. The kingdoms of the earth, being like an agitated sea by their convul- sions, the religious powers, which are immovable in the midst of revolutions, are very well figured by an island unshaken in the midst of tempestuous seas. Therefore, the civil and religious powers passing from the heathen to Christian emperors, officers, and ministers, could not be better represented than by this emblematic image, " and every mountain and island were moved out of their places." Mark well this language ! These powers, royalty and priesthood, were not destroyed, but moved out (changed out) of their places ; they passed from paganism to Christianity. If such is, as it is really, the meaning of this figured language, the same emblems "and every island fled away, and the mountains were not found," which we find in the twentieth verse of the sixteenth chapter, at the pouring out of the seventh vial of the wrath of God, called " the vintage — the great day of the Lord" — the mean- ing here is that " the ecclesiastic powers, priests, monks, bishops, and Pope, shall flee away, and that the kings and tyrants, their sup- porters, shall be overthrown from their thrones," in order that all the kingdoms of the earth should be the Lord's. The last verses, "and the kings of the earth and the great COxMIMENTARY. 75 men/' &c., are clear and without emblems. They are added to the emblematic language, to render it more intelligible. They come to sustain the explanation, which we have given here, point- ing out, as it were with the finger, by these words, '' and 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," to the place where the events took place ; to the con- queror Constantine, by whom they were destroyed ; and to Jesus Christ, whose wrath they had provoked for their own destruction, by the shedding of the blood of his servants. I am confident that there is no other explanation to be given of these first six seals. They give us the true picture of the scourges which desolated the Roman pagan empire, from 98 to the over- throw of paganism, and of the emperors by whom it was supported. The emblems, explained according to their natural meaning, agree with history. Therefore, put in your mind that such is the true explanation of this chapter. Do not employ any more the emblems of the sixth seal for the last judgment, except by comparison of distress and agony. Do not mix any more the papal with the pagan persecutions, for the prophet has described them separately ; and as we have now a new state of things, which will soon degene- rate into a great apostacy — popery, which shall come out of the bottomless pit of the Roman Empire — the Lord provides, during the peace enjoyed under Constantine, for the preservation of true Christianity, in those woful days, by the sealing of a number of servants, as we shall see in the following chapter. CHAPTER VII. THE SEALING OF THE TWO WITNESSES THEIR MARTYRDOM AND GLORY. This chapter, which is like an episode or a digression from the exposition of the events contained in the book sealed with seven seals, presents us a picture of the Church in the future ages, from 425 to 1688, when Christianity became the religion of England. The conqueror, who, at the opening of the first seal, went forth conquering and to conquer, has indeed overcome paganism and its supporters, and the Roman Empire enjoyed a peace for thirty years under the reitrn of Constantine and some of his successors. But 76 COMMENTARY. Satan is not yet vanquished. lie can deceive the ministers of the gospel, and cause them to apostatize ; and again, he can destroy the Roman Empire by the instrumentality of his idolatrous subjects in every part of the world, and iu^pose upon the vanquished, the religion of the conquerors (12 : 11-17, which synchronize with this chapter). The Lord, the angel of the covenant, to whom the designs of Satan are known, provides here, during the peace, which he has the power to command, a means of escape for his Church during the woful ages, which are at hand. He seals a number of servants of God, called the two witnesses, to preserve the word of Clod in all its purity, during the Middle Age, and to hand it to the follow- ing generations. The last part of the chapter gives us a picture of the destruction and holiness of these servants of God, put to death, when they had accomplished their testimony, at the Revo- cation of the Edict of Nantes, in 1685, as we shall see in the eleventh chapter. V. 1-3. "And after these things I saw four angels standing on tlie 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 front 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 foreheads." In the prophetic style, fJie icinds represent the armies, because they are like a whirlwind, which shakes and overturns the kingdoms of the earth, (^Ts. 21 : 1; Dan. 7 : 2). The armies, which execute the judgments of God, are called also " auf/eh" (9 : 14) ; therefore, the four angels, standing on the four corners of the earth, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, are the four chiefs of the barbarian nations, Alaric, Genseric, Attila, and Odoacer, hold- ing their armies (the winds), on the frontiers of the empire, until the angel of the covenant should have sealed the servants of God. To seal the servants of God means to preach to them the gospel ; and whoever receives the word of God in a pure heart, is sealed by the Holy Ghost for eternal life (2 Cor. 1 : 21-22; Eph. 1 : 13-14). Peace was necessary for the preacliing of the gospel, in the Western countries, to the Albigenses and Waldenses, as it had been first preached in the East, at Jerusalem, whence Jesus, as the sun of righteousness, ascended to carry life and immortality to light to the Western nations. " The angels holding the four winds of the earth" present to us a proper emblem of the peace enjoyed about thirty years, through- out the Roman Empire. The barbarians, who, under the reign of C M M E N T A R Y, 77 Diocletian, threatened at every moment to invade the Empire, seemed to have been enchained. The Goths alone dared to attack the frontiers towards the end of the reign of Constantino ; but they were pressed so hard, that about one hundred thousand perished by hunger and cold. Nevertheless, the four angels, commanding the armies of the barbarians, have received the power " to hurt the earth and the sea." The earth, miry clay (Dan. 2 : 33—43) is the emblem of an earthly, apostate religion, which shall be broken as a potter's vessel ; the sea is also the emblem of the kingdoms of this world, the convulsions of which are like the storms of the sea (Dan. 7:3); and the trees represent the inhabitants of these king- doms, who have received the seal of God (9:4; Ps. 1 : 3 ; Jer. 11 : 19 ; 17 : 7-8) ; mark, that it is not said that the four angels have received the power to hurt them, but only the earth and the sea ; and we shall see them, in the following chapter, accomplishing, by turn, their mission. V. 4-8. " And I heard tlie number of them vi'hich were sealed : and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel. Of the tribe of Juda were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Reuben were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Gad were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Aser tvere sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Nephthalim were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Manasses icere sealed tu'elve thousand. Of the tribe of Simeon were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Levi were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Issachar ivere sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Zabulon were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Joseph were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Benjamin v:ere sealed twelve thousand." It maybe inquired, 1. For what reason the prophet does not pre- serve the order in which the tribes of Israel were classed in the ancient Testament? 2. What is the meaning of the numbers twelve and one hundred and fortij-foxir thousand? 3. Who are these servants of God, who are sealed in their foreheads ? 1. The names of the tribes of Israel have been preserved by the prophet, with some modification, to show that it is the same work of salvation, continued by the Lord, the prince of the two cove- nants. There is no distinction made between the bond or free women, because in Christ there is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither bond nor free, but we are all one in him. The tribes of Dan and Ephraim are not spoken of, because they fell into idolatry ; and God shows us in that manner that the popish idol-worshippers shall be cut off from among his people. The tribe of Levi is reckoned here among the others, though they had no terrestrial heritage, because under the covenant of grace, we are all priests unto God and the Father, and we are all partakers of the spiritual 7* /8 COMMENTARY. heritage, preserved in lieaven for the saints. The tribes of the New Jerusalem have no other chief, no other patriarchs, than the twelve apostles of the Lord. 2. The numbers. — The number twelve is evidently taken by the prophet for the doctrines of the apostles. The New Jerusalem (21 : 12-21) having twelve gates, twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles, is nothing else than an allegory, representing Christianity, or the true Church of Grod, built upon the foundations laid down by the twelve apostles. The expressions ^'the city lieth foursquare" (Eph. 3:18) 'Uwelve thousand fur- longs," and ''the wall an hundred and forty-four cubits" are all emblems of the doctrines of the apostles, the word furlongs being added to preserve the allegory ; and the number thousand (Is. 60 : 22) indicates that the true believers shall be increased as from one to thousand. The square of twelve, making one hundred and forty-four, indicates also that the doctrines of the apostles shall be transmitted, in their primitive purity, to the future generations, by the preaching of the gospel, as by a multiplication of the doctrines by themselves. Therefore, the number "an hundred and forty- four thousand," spoken of in our chapter, being the square of twelve, indicates clearly, — not that such a number of servants of the Lord have been sealed, — but that an indefinite number of servants have been sealed, to preserve the teachings of the apostles in all theii* purity, — that these servants will hand them down to others, to a larger number of persons, in the same manner as a, number multiplied by itself preserves always the same root, and continues always the same, except that there is an increase of servants, indicated by the number thousand added to the square of twelve. The multiplication of a number by itself, as well aS the lighting of a candle by another, gives us a beautiful image of a doctrine transmitted to others and multiplied, as it were, by itself, by the preaching of these doctrines, which continue always the same, as the root of a number multiplied by itself (see the explanation of the wall of the city, 21 : 9-15). 3. Who are these servants of God, sealed in their foreheads ? Are they servants chosen among the tribes of Israel? The apostle Paul answers, that in Christ there is neither Jew, nor Gentile, that we are all one in him, having been graffed in the olive tree among them. Therefore, it is spoken here of the redeemed of the new covenant, whether they be Jews or Greeks, bond or free. At the time of the great lleformation, and of its progress, described in the fourteenth chapter, we find again the same number, ''an hundred and forty and four thousand" servants of God, standing with the Lamb on the Mount Sion, to erive the COMMENTARY. 79 hand of fellowship to the Reformers of the sixteenth century. Is it not, then, evident that these servants are the Albigenses, the Waldenses, the Lollards, and Moravians, — composing the first wit- ness, as primitive churches, — and the Protestants, composing the second witness, as Reformed churches, chosen from among the apostate papists ? This assertion shall be demonstrated hereafter (11 : 7-13, and especially in the description of the wall of the holy Jerusalem ; these two churches being the two towers of the wall of the Gentiles broken down, or the two breasts spoken of in the Song, 8 : 8-10). V. 9-12. "After this I beheld, and, lo, a great muhitude, 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. Salvation to our God. which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb. And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the ehlers and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God, saying. Amen : Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honor, and power, and might, be unto our God forever and ever. Amen." This great multitude of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes and palms in their hands, are not, as it is supposed, those who were faithful unto death in the preceding persecutions; for the dead are no more the subjects of prophecy, and we have seen them in the sixth chapter. The same umltitude of nations, kindreds, people, and tongues is always spoken of, in the course of the prophecy, to indicate the barbarians, who, after having destroyed the Roman Empire, submitted to the sway of popedom (10 : 11 ; 11 : 9 ; 13 : 7; 17 : 1, 15); therefore, they are the Protestants, who were put to death in the papal persecutions, as we may infer from their song and from the answer of the elder : ^^ These are they which came out of great tribulation." As a new state of things has been established by Constantine, and as Christians supposed that the final triumph of the Church had been accomplished, the prophet shows us in the picture of this chapter, what shall be the condition of the Church in the ages to come. The white robes, with which these martyrs arc clothed, are the emblems of purity and holiness ; and the palms in their hands, are the symbols of their victories over Satan and popery. In their song, they confess their Protestant principles. Their enemies forced them to profess that salvation comes by good works, fastings, penances, confessions, pilgrimages, and by the mediation of saints, relics, and the power of popes; and these servants of God cried with a loud voice, saying in dungeons, in torments, and 80 COMMENTARY. in the siglit of their executioners : " Salvation to our Grod, which sitteth on the throne, and unto the Lamb/' Salvation comes from God, as the author of all good, and the source of the living waters. It comes from the Lamb, as the channel through which the blessings flow, having covered our sins with the blood of the cross. The angels, who surround the throne, and the elders, and the four beasts (the representatives of the militant and triumphant Church 4 : 4-11) applauding the faithfulness of these martyrs, fall before the throne on their faces and woi-ship God, saying, as to approve their firmness and confession of faith : '^ Amen : Bless- ing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honor, and power, and might, be unto our God forever and ever : Amen." So, all our blessings, graces, joy, peace, and eternal hopes come from God and the Lamb, slain for our sins ; and to God alone we must ascribe praises, and glory, and thanksgiving, forever and ever. V. 13-17. "And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes 1 and whence came they ? And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 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 ; neither 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." '' What are these which are arrayed in white robes V The answer of the elder, ^' These are they which came out of great tribulation,^' spoken of already as '' the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world" (3 : 10), in the letter to the Church of Phila- delphia, which is the emblem of the Reformation, and alluded to in the fourteenth chapter, verse 12, 13, where its progress is de- scribed, shows evidently that they arc the martyrs of the papal per- secutions, called " the two witnesses,'' from the destruction of the Albigenses in 1194 and 12(30, — from St. Bartholomew's Day, in 1572, — and the massacre of Protestants in Ireland in 1(341, and es- pecially to the dragoonades of Louis XIV., at the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, in 1(385, — persecution which is properly called " the great day of tribulation," in which the two witnesses were put to death (11 : 7-13), and after which, in 1688, the spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet, and they ascended up to heaven in a cloud, that is, to the throne of England, when there was a great earthquake — a great revolution, the Prince of Orange having proclaimed Protestantism the religion of his kimrdom. COMMENTARY. 81 The last verses, <^they shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them nor any heat," indicate what were their sufterings. Their persecutors refused them water and fire, and deprived them of their property: the kings, repre- sented by the sun, and their persecutions, by the heat, shall have no more the power to persecute them, and to put them to death ; for the Lamb will dwell with them, and give them a powerful king- dom, to protect them : he will feed them, and lead them unto living fountains of waters, under the protection of the Christian laws of England. In the prosperity which they shall enjoy, they will for- get their fiery trials ; for God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. It is evident that these promises are made to the living Protestants, as a reward for their faithfulness, as composing the same body with the martyrs, who " washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.'' Mark what expressions, " they have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb." Heaven only could teach such a language ! Such an idea, as to wash and make white his robe in the blood, could never enter into the mind of a man. But, with what -energy it represents the cleansing of our sins by the atonement of Jesus Christ ! These living Protestants, having come out, escaped from the great tribulation, are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple, and they "shall go no more out" (3 : 12) by persecutions ; for the Lord that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them, after their final triumph (21 : 1-9). At what time were the servants of the Lord sealed ? It is evi- dent, that it was during the peace enjoyed from the overthrow of paganism, under Constantino and some of his successors, to the time of the incursions of the barbarians, described in the following chapter. If the witnesses finished their testimony, which is of twelve hundred and sixty years, at the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, in February, 1685, it follows that they began to accomplish their testimony in 425. And, it was, in fact, towards the end of the fourth and the beginning of the fifth century, that the mira- cles of saints and relics were spoken of — that prayers were ad- dressed to them, and heresies were, introduced into the Church. The bones of St. Stephen, Nicodemus, and Gamaliel, were found in 420, and were said to perform miracles ; the mass was intro- duced the same year, though it was only in 1090, that it arrived at its perfection. Prayers were addressed to the Virgin Mary in 425; and the title of "Mother of God" was applied to her in 429. The heresy of Pelagius was promulged in 412. The feasts of Advent, and Palm-Sunday, and the superstition of Ash-Wednesday, were commenced about the year 430. Soon after came the graven JiZ COMMENTARY. images, and the Iconoclasts were persecuted as heretics. There- fore, we may say, that the witnesses began to accomplish their testi- mony in 425, and finished it in 1685, at the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. When Protestantism became the religion of England, Christians were no more witnesses in the wilderness, but an established church, a Christian kingdom. CHAPTER YIII. THE FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE. At the opening of the first seals, we have seen in the sixth chapter, the scourges which caused the decline of the Roman Em- pire, and the destruction of paganism. The four winds, the emblems of the four armies, held on its frontiers, until the servants of God should be sealed (7 : 1-3), are going to be let loose, to destroy this empire, which has been weighed in the balances, and found wanting. The historian of the popes, Machiavel, reckons ten different barbarian nations, which came, by turns, to invade the empire, under the command of four principal chiefs, namely : Alaric, Genseric, Attila, and Odoacer. According to Machiavel, these barbarian nations were, 1, the Huns; 2, Ostrogoths; 3, Visigoths ; 4, Franks ; 5, Vandals ; 6, Suevi ; 7, Burgundians ; 8, Heruli; 9, Saxons; 10, Lombards. (There arc also the Alains, the Ostrogoths and Visigoths, being the same people.) At the death of Theodosius, in 395, the storm, so long threaten- ing in the north, burst out on the borders of the Upper Danube. The savage warriors of Scythia came out of their forests ; and, this river being covered with the ice of a sharp winter, they were enabled to cross this barrier, by which they had been so long de- tained. Hence the Goths, under Alaric, fell upon Thracia, Mace- donia, and Grecia; and following the coasts of the Adriatic Sea, they ravaged Pannonia and Noricum; then, having crossed the Alps, they overran, like a torrent, the fertile valleys of Italy, and besieged Rome, whilst the feeble Honorius remained shut up in Ravenna. Rome was soon reduced to the last extremity. Its walls were filled with a multitude of persons, who fled before this fero- cious enemy. Hunger and pestilence disputed for their victims. Their haughty con((ueror, to raise the siege and retire, asked nothing less than all their riches and slaves. And when they in- COMMENTARY. 83 quired what he would leave to the conquered, lie replied : " Life." The Romans gave him their gold and silver; and, at this price, Alaric consented to raise the siege and to go away. But, soon after finding that he might become master of Home, whenever he thought proper, he returned to Rome, besieged it, took it in 410, and gave the soldiers liberty to pillage. In the mean time, other barbarians overran the western provinces in 407, and built up there new kingdoms. The G-auls and Spain were divided among the powerful monarchies of the Franks and Visigoths, and the dependent kingdoms of the Suevi and Burgun- dians. Africa became the prey of the Vandals and of the savage Moors. In 455, the Emperor Valentinian III., having been killed by Maximus, the Empress Eudoxia, his wife, to avenge the death of her husband, invited Genseric, King of the Vandals, to come and take possession of Rome, promising him an easy victory. Genseric crossed the sea at the head of three hundred thousand men. Vandals or Moors, captured Sicily, burnt the Roman fleet in the port of Ostia, invaded Italy and plundered Rome, which he abandoned fourteen days to pillage, and to the unbridled license of the soldiers. They respected neither sex nor age, neither religion nor public monuments ; and then they returned to Africa, with the spoils of this capital of the world. At the same time, Attila, called " the scourge of God,'' came out of the Caucasian mountains, at the head of the Huns. He passed by Constantinople, from which he exacted a heavy tribute, and fell like lightning upon Piedmont and Lombardy, and was threatening Rome with a general destruction, when a sudden death arrested at once the course of his triumphs and devastations. On the other side, the Saxons contended, in 476, with the native in- habitants of Great Britain, for the possession of that country; and the Allemans, so called because they were a people composed of men of every nation, seized also upon Germany. Notwithstanding these awful calamities and this dismembering of the provinces, there was still iii Rome the shadow of an empire. The tottering colossus was still standing, and waited, to fall, a last blow, which was given, in 476, by Odoacer, general of the Heruli. He took, then, the title of King of all Italy, under the reign of Momillus, surnamed by derision " Augustulus," who was obliged, in 480, to abandon to Odoacer the government of the empire. Some other changes having yet taken place, the ancient form of the empire was utterly destroyed, in 566 ; and Rome, the mistress of the world, was reduced to be only a poor dukedom, tributary to the exarchs of Ravenna. Let us examine, now, the emblems and images by which these events are represented in the prophecy. 84 COMMENTARY. Seventh Seal. V. 1-5. " And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour. And I saw the seven angels which stood before God ; and to them were given seven trumpets. And another angel came and stood at the altar, bearing a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should oifer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel's hand. And the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire of the altar, and cast it into the earth : and there were voices, and thunderings and lightnings, and an earthquake." These five verses are like the preface to the events proclaimed at the sounding of the trumpets. The silence in heaven (in the empire) ^^of about the space of half an hour," may represent the peace which was enjoyed under the reign of Constantine, when the four winds were held, until the servants of God should be sealed (7 : 1-3). But the emblem '^of half an hour" is too short to repre- sent this peace, which continued about thirty years. Therefore it is evident that the prophet alludes to the peace enjoyed by the Church from the time of the victories of Constantine over Maxen- tius and Licinius to the time when the heresy of Arius broke out, in 319, and disturbed the Church and the empire. The devil be- ing expelled from the pagan temples invaded Christian temples. Constantine, by proclaiming Christianity the religion of the empire, contributed a great deal for the temporal prosperity of the Church, which was made free from the yoke of the heathens; but his favors were pernicious to the purity of the doctrines and to the discipline of the Church. As soon as the Christians were delivered from the fury of tlic heathens, they began to quarrel and persecute each other. Ammian Marcellian, a witness of their discords, in the fourth century, says that the fury of wild beasts was less to be feared than the hatred of Christians against one another; whilst, in the second century, Tertullian says, that the heathens, at seeing the mutual love which reigned among them, exclaimed : '' Behold, how they love one another I" The fixvors with which the Christians were henceforth surrounded, introduced into the Church worldly and ambitious men, who did not care much about either the sanctity of morals or the purity of the evangelical doctrines. As they did not know the importance of the teachings of the word of God, they submitted them to the tribunal of their reason, and borrowed, from paganism and Judaism, everything they thought proper to render the worship more pom- pous, and to form a religion more suitable to their ideas. The word of God being once put aside, the innovations went on swiftly. COMMENTARY. 85 Molten images succeeded to the pictures representing tlie agonies of the martyrs. From the honors rendered to the martyrs, they passed rapidly to the prayers which were addressed to them, and to the temples which were consecrated to their worship. The worship of saints took the place of that of the demigods; and for the word of God were substituted the legends of the saints. Hence- forth salvation was no more the price of the blood of the Saviour, but of fastings, mortifications, austerities, and penances. Perfection does not any more consist in walking faithfully before God, but in a useless life, shut up in cloisters, and in the vows of a celibacy, which became the source of all immoralities and the curse of the world. God was no more the master of this universe ; they banished him from its government to place it under the protection of the saints and saintesses. And, as among the pagans, the fields, public edifices, rivers and fountains, cities and kingdoms, were under the protection of the pagan gods. Pan, Neptune, Mars, Venus, Jupi- ter, &c., so they changed the names, and placed them under the patronage of the saints Peter, Paul, Lawrence, Denys, Martin, &c. Again, as the Romans had a Jupiter Amnion, Jupiter Olympian, Jupiter Feretrian, Jupiter Capitolinus, Jupiter Hospitable, Jupiter Inventor, Jupiter Sponsor, Jupiter Imperor, Jupiter Sower, Jupiter Victor, Jupiter Avenger, &c., they invented a Mary, Our Lady, Our Lady of Lauretta, Our Lady of INIontferrat, Our Lady of Liessa, Our Lady of Thorns, Our Lady of Good Succour, Our Lady of Good News, Our Lady of Recoverance, Our Lady of Healing, Our Lady of Virtues, Our Lady of Fevers, Our Lady of Hermits, and even Our Lady of the Snows ! All these innovations began to appear under the reign of Constantine, and were propagated, in the following centuries, in such a manner that a Pope confessed that in reading the theologians — their doctrines being grounded on traditions — he no more understood anything in the gospel, and that in reading t^ie gospel, he could understand nothing in the writings of the theologians. Let us, now, examine our texts. After this silence of half an hour, seven trumpets were given to the seven angels which stood before God, and which were commis- sioned to execute the judgments of God, on account of this idola- trous worship introduced into his Church. And, as the trumpet is made use of to give the signal of the combat, we are informed thereby that it is related of bloody wars and of far-resounding events, as the sound of the trumpet. At the same time, the pro- phet saw another angel, which stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should olFer it with the prayers of all saints (Christians) upon the golden altar which was before the throne. The smoke of the incense, 8 80 COMMENTARY. wliicli came witli the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God. But the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire of the altar, and cast it into the earth ; and there were voices, and thun- derings, and lightnings, and an earthquake. This angel, Henry says, is the Lord Jesus, the High Priest of his Churcii, giving efficacy to the prayers of Christians. But, if this angel be Jesus Christ himself, how is it that he filled his censer with the fire of the altar, which is the emblem of the wrath of Grod ? There is evidently in this fact of the angel an insult offered to God ; for in consequence of this outrage, there were voices, and thunder- ings, and lightnings, which are the forerunners of the storm, and an earthquake, which is the emblem of political convulsions. There- fore this angel is not Jesus Christ ; but this angel is the very angel of the Church of Pergamos (2 : 12-17), and his acts here are an image of the conduct of the Church, exalted by the favors of Con- stantino. When the Christians were made free from the yoke of the heathens, they thought that the kingdom of Christ, the Millen- nium, had come. The temples were filled with faithful disciples of Jesus, offering up the incense of their prayers and thanksgivings to the God who had delivered them. Then, the temples resounded with the songs of joy and cheerfulness, and the angel of the Church — the emblem of bishops and pastors — standing, that is, ministering at the altar, could off"er much incense with the, prayers of the saints, upon the golden altar (Jesus Christ who is our golden altar), before the throne of God. As long as the pastors were faithful, the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, ascended before God. But, like the sons of Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, they took their censer, they put fire therein, and offered a strange fire, by sinning against the altar itself, Jesus Christ; whence it is said that " he filled his censer with fire of the altar,'' with the wrath of their outraged Mediator and Redeemer, and cast this fire, the emblem of wrath, into the earth, that is, in the midst of this earthly religion, which had raised up again the altars of the demigods by praying to the saints. Therefore, the wrath of God, provoked by this idolatrous worship, which detracted from the glory of our Mediator, slain as the Lamb of God for our sins, manifested itself from the outraged altar, the emblem of the atonement of Christ, our altar — and the ruin of the Koman Empire was decreed in consequence of the unfaithfulness of his Church (of Pergamos). It is Hiiid (12 : 13-lG) that it w^as Satan, who cast out of his mouth (p'lganism) the hordes of idolatrous barbarians against the Roman Eiupire, supposing that they would impose upon the con- quered, their gods, religion, and morals, and that they would destroy. COMMENTARY. 87 in tliis manner, the very name of Jesus Christ. It is because Grod, to avenge the sins of his people, has only to abandon us to the wrath of the wicked one, who is always ready to destroy. We live only by the continual protection of God ; and, when he is willing to punish us for our iniquities, he has but to withhold the hand by which we are sustained. Nevertheless, He it is who overrules the chastisement, and our enemies are not permitted to go be3^ond the limits which He has prescribed. First Trumpet. V. 6. 7. " And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound. The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth : and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up." The Groths began to ravage the Empire, as soon as the Emperor Theodosius was dead, in 395, and they took Rome in 410. Their incursions, under Alaric, are represented under the emblem of a storm, which destroyed the third part of trees, and all green grass, and in which there was hail and fire mingled with blood ; and they were cast upon the earth — upon the earthly religion, the miry clay (Dan. 2 : 33-43), which is the emblem of a worldly religion. As the storm and hail destroy the harvest, so the armies destroy the cities and their inhabitants. The fire may represent the burning of the cities and villages ; and the blood, the destruction of their inhabitants ; but it may be also the fire of the wrath of God, with which the angel of the Church of Pergamos filled his censer and cast it into the earth, reminding the inhabitants that they expe- rienced these calamities on account of the idolatrous worship, which they had established in the temple of God. The fourth verse of the eleventh chapter shows evidently that the words " trees" and " green grass," represent the old and the young Christians ; but they represent only, in this text, the men who were able to make war, and the children, who were massacred by these barbarians, who, after having reduced to ashes the cities and villages, carried away their spoils, and their cattle, with a multitude of women. So, the countries, which were invaded by the savages, were desolated, as the fields are wasted by hail : the fire was mingled with the blood of the inhabitants, and everything which pleases the eyes — ■ the trees and all green grass (men and children) — was burnt up. We have seen in the sixth chapter that the Empire was divided into four parts under the reign of Diocletian -, but, after the death of Constantino, in 337, it was divided among his sons, into three parts. Flav. CI. Constantino, by his surname Constantino the 88 COMMENTARY. Junior, had Spain, the Grauls, and Great Britain ; Fl. Jul. Val. Constantius had Asia and Egypt ; and Fl. Jul. Constans had Italy, Illyria, and Africa. Therefore, when the prophet says that '- the third part of trees was burnt up," he designates Italy, as forming a part of the Empire, divided among the three sons of Gonstantine, which part had to suffer the most from these barbarians. Second Trumpet. V. 8, 9. *' And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea ; and the third part of the sea became blood. And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed." The image of a great mountain burning with fire, which was cast into the sea, gives us a just idea of the invasion of Genseric, in 455 ; but it could not represent that of Attila, which took place in 441. The reason is, that Genseric began to ravage the empire with his Vandals in 407, when he passed through the Gauls and Spain, to go to Africa, where he had laid the foundation of his kingdom. He had, thus, the right to appear before Attila in this theatre of destruction. He came from the burning countries of Africa, and he fell suddenly into the sea, as it were a great mountain burning with fire — as the Mount Etna — and the sea became blood. He was at the head of three hundred thousand men, either Moors or Vandals ; he destroyed the Roman fleet in the port of Ostia ; he took Rome, and abandoned it to pillage and to the unrestrained licentiousness of his soldiers. No mention is made of the city, because it was not destroyed, the barbarians having been satisfied with the spoils of the conquered. But they spared so little the monuments of arts and sciences, that, the name of " Vandalism" has since been used to designate those, who, like them, are ignorant of their value, and care little for their preservation. In this short incursion of one year, the Roman fleet was de- stroyed, as it is represented by "the sea which became blood;" and the sailors, the creatures, which were in the sea, were killed. The words : "the third part of the ships were destroyed," point out the event, designated by " the mountain burning with fire cast into the sea," which became blood ; and the " third jmrt of the sea — of the creatures," indicates, as the theatre of this event, Italy, one of the countries of the Empire divided into three parts. Third Trumpet. V. 10, 11, "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 COMMENTARY. 89 rivers, and upon the fountains of waters; and the name of the star is called Wormwood; and the third part of the waters became wormwood, and many- men died of the waters, because they were made bitter." The Huns, a people from Scythia, hold the third rank in the prophetic picture of the desolations of the Roman Empire ; because their incursions under Attila, began only in 427, and continued to 441. The countries upon which this ferocious conqueror fell, as it were a burning lamp, are clearly designated as the source of rivers and fountains of waters. For, if we take a geographic map, and look for such a country in Europe, we see that the prophet has evidently pointed out the mountains of the Alps, in the north of Italy, in Piedmont and Lombardy, from which spring the Rhone, Rhine, Po, and Danube Rivers (see the same country pointed out as the dwelling-place of the prophets of the Lord, 16 : 4-7). Attila, surnamed by the historians '^the scourge of God," and by the prophet " Wormwood," for the cruel and bitter desolations which he caused everywhere he led his triumphant army, came from the east and fell upon these countries, threatening Rome with an utter destruction ; but his life ended with the same rapidity, with which the meteors* by which he is represented, disappear from our eyes. It is easily understood what sufferings the inhabitants of these countries had to endure from these barbarians, who, after having lost their chief, abandoned themselves freely to pillage with all their brutish ferocity. But nothing can give us a more vivid picture of their calamities, than the emblems by which they are represented : " And the third part of the waters became worm- wood ; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter." Fourth Trumpet. V. 12. " And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun -was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise." The prophet gives no image to represent the incursions of Odoacer : he gives only the results of his conquests. Likewise, if you read history, you will find nothing positive about the incursions of this chief of the Heruli. The very name of the countries, from * A princess of Burgundy, called Hildegonde, having married him, in order to deliver the world from that terrible enemy, as well as to avenge the city of Aquilea, which he had just reduced to ashes, poniarded him. He ravaged Venice, in 450, and the islands at the foot of the Adriatic Gulf. 90 COMMENTARY. which these barbarians came, is unknown, except that it is said that they came from the west, in -1:76 — that Odoacer took the title of King of all Italy, under the reign of the feeble IMomillus, called by derision " Augustulus" — that the same Odoacer took the govern- ment of Kome itself in 480. And thus ended the colossus of the Roman Empire, by the hands of this chief of barbarians, supposed to have come from Prussia. '^ The third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of. the stars ; so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise.'^ The sun, being in the prophetic language, the figure of the chief of the state ; and the moon, the emblem of a false religion, shedding but a borrowed light ; and the stars, repre- senting the subaltern chiefs, either civil or ecclesiastic (6 : 12-17), we have, in this emblematic language, a fair picture of the western empire, — Italy, the third part of it — after this invasion of the Heruli. The words, ^'the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise," signify, therefore, that the Roman Empire, being smitten by Odoacer, the emperor and "the inferior chiefs had neither power nor glory, and that its religion lost likewise all her heavenly light. This pagan empire, the fourth monarchy spoken of by Daniel, under the emblem of a dreadful and terrible beast (7 : 7-26), has been wounded to death, and has become the prey of ten barbarian people, represented by the ten horns of the same beast. Now, he who hindered the man of sin — " a king diverse from the others" — from being revealed, has been taken out of the way ; and we shall soon see this son of perdition exalting himself above all that is called God, and as God sitting in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God (2 Th. 2 : 3-12). An angel flying through the midst of heaven admonishes us — by the thrice repeated cry: '^ Woe, woe, woe," — of the long and dreadful calami- ties of his reign, which shall continue 1260 yeare. V. 13. " And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth, by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound." Men did not repent during the calamities which we have just examined. On the contrary, instead of teaching these barbarians the pure and holy truths of Christianity, to raise up their feelings and thoughts to the true God, they endeavored only to enchant them, with bright ornaments, and pompous ceremonies; they stooped to their level, and abased Christianity to the level of paganism, exchanging their saints with their gods, to have their COMMENTARY. 91 names registered in their degraded Christianity. It was in this manner that the moon, the emblem of this pagan Christianity, as dark as the night, '' shone not for a third part of it." Therefore, new calamities are at hand, as we are admonished by the angel, saying with a loud voice, "Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth !" Mark these words, ^^ the inhabiters of the earth,'^ which we find again in the twelfth verse of the twelfth chapter, where it is said, " Hejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the in- habiters of the earth and of the sea I" The meaning of this verse is: rejoice, ye who dwell in a civil and Christian kingdom or empire (of which the '^heaven" is an emhleni); woe to the inhabi- tants of a kino;dom in which the church and the state are united (the earth, or miry clay, being the emblem of an earthly religion, and the sea, that of the civil powers Dan. 2 : 33-4:5; 7 : 2-13). Therefore these words, " the inhabiters of the earth," mean : woe to the inhabitants of the kingdom or empire, when it shall be under the government of a false, earthly religion. Here, religion stands alone; for the civil power has been destroyed. Rome is but a dukedom tributary to the Ravenna's exarchate; the Bishop of Rome will soon take possession of the throne of the Caesars, and open the bottomless pit (the destTuction of the Roman Empire), out of which shall come the three woes, which are, 1st., Popery and the Middle Age, with the incursions of the Mahometans ; 2d, the Cru- sades, with the destruction of the Eastern Empire by the Turks ; and 3d, the infidelity of the eighteenth century, with the anarchy which brought forth the French Revolution of 1793, and which will end only by the destruction of the kingdoms of this world, that they should be the Lord's. CHAPTER IX. POPERY AND THE MIDDLE AGE — BONIFACE III., THE FIRST POPE, IN 606 MAHOMET AND HIS ARMIES THE TAKING OF CONSTANTINOPLE BY THE TURKS, IN 1453. The Roman Empire is no more. But, according to the pro- phetic teachings, the ten barbarian people by which it was de- stroyed, ought to raise it up out of its ruins, by dividing its pro- vinces among themselves, and giving their power to the man of sin. 92 COMMENTARY. called, " the great Antichrist," to whom the way to the throne of the Caesars is now opened. The fourth monarchy, represented in the seventh chapter of Daniel, under the emblem of a dreadful beast with ten horns, has evidently two distinct existences, figured, the one, by the beast itself, and the other, by the ten horns. '' The fourth beast," the prophet says, " shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces." This is the Empire, which has been destroyed by the four chiefs of the barbarians. The prophet adds: '' And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise : and another shall rise after them ; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings. And he shall speak great words against the most high, and shall wear out the saints of the most high, and think to change times and laws : and they shall be given unto his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time ;" that is, 1260 years. Such is the character of the second part of this Empire, " wounded to death," according to the expression of Saint John, by the same barbarians, who shall raise it up out of its ruins, with the other who shall rise after them, and who " shall be" — mark it well — " diverse from the first ;" and who can be no other than a king-priest, and whose kingdom is popedom, as it shall be proved hereafter. The two ages of the Church, figured by the letters to the churches in Thyatira and Sardis, synchronize with the events included in this chapter, which contains four distinct parts. 1. At the sounding of the fifth trumpet, a star fallen from heaven unto the earth, receives the key to open the bottomless pit, representing the utter destruction of the Roman I^mpire ; and out of the pit arose a smoke, as the smoke of a great furnace, by which the sun and the air were darkened. And this smoke is the emblem of Popery and of the Dark Ages, which arose out of the ruins of the Roman Empire, the key, or power, of which was given to the Bishop of Rome ; verses 1, 2. 2. Out of the smoke came locusts upon the earth; and unto them was given power to torment men five prophetic months, that is, 150 years. Their king, the angel of the bottomless pit, sent to punish the churches for this apostacy, is called in the Hebrew tongue " Abaddon," and in Greek " Apollyon," the destroyer, — and represent the Saracens, and Mahomet, spoken of by the prophet Daniel (8 : 23-26) ; venses 3-11. 3. At the sounding of the sixth trumpet, four angels, bound in the great river Euphrates, and ready to accomplish the command of God, are let loose, to slay the third part of men ; that is, Con- COMMENTARY. 93 stantinople, ^'hj fire and smoke and brimstone," representing the artillery, by wliicli the Turks took Constantinople ; verses 12, 19. 4. The prophet teaches us in the last yerses that these calami- ties have fallen upon men for their worshipping devils, and idols of gold, silver, brass, and stone and wood, and for their being mur- derers, sorcerers, fornicators, and thieves. Fifth Trumpet. V. 1,2. "And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth : and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit. And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of tbe pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit." Instead of, "and I saw a star fall from heaven," the Grreek, " eidon astera peptokota,'' indicates that the star was already fallen (see 8 : 3-5). The stars are the angels or bishops of the churches (1 : 20) -, therefore this star, fallen from heaven unto the earth, from the heavenly religion of Jesus unto an earthly and idolatrous religion, cannot be the emblem of the person, spoken of (verse 11) as the angel of the bottomless pit. For the one who receives the key to open the pit, can in no wise be the one who comes out of it with his armies. The angel of the pit, who is the instrumentality of the vengeance of the Lord, cannot be the one who has provoked them. Besides this, the prophet would not re- present in the same picture the same person under the two different emblems of " star" and " angel." Therefore, if Mahomet, who never professed Christianity, nor taught his followers to worship devils, or deified souls of men, or to kneel down before idols of gold and silver, be this angel of the pit, this Apollyon, the destroyer, as he was indeed; Boniface III., an apostate bishop, fallen from the faith, who consecrated the worship of devils and of idols of gold, of silver, of stone and wood -, who, by the favor of the tyrant Phocas, usurped the title of universal bishop and laid thus the foundation of popery ; is himself that fallen star, to whom the key of the bot- tomless pit was given. His predecessor, Grregory. the Great, said in a letter, written in 602, to the Bishop of Constantinople, who was attempting to usurp the same title, '' that any one who should usurp the title of uni- versal bishop, would be the forerunner of Antichrist, were he not Antichrist himself." Four years later his successor, 13oniface III., received from the bloody hands of the usurper Phocas, the key of the bottomless pit, out of which came the Dark Ages, represented 94 COMMENTARY. by the smoke of the pit and by the darkeninp: of the "sun and of the air/' which are here the emblems of light, science and under- standing. The Devil, who is the prince of darkness, destroys light and knowledge, and favors error and ignorance, in order that men should be blinded and easily led astray. The papal pretensions, flivored by the dark smoke of the pit, by the false decretals, by legends of saints and lying miracles, increased more and more in proportion as the people were sinking into such a deep ignorance that they seemed to have fallen into infancy, and that they could have been prevailed upon " to feed upon straw," says a German philosopher, "and to ruminate like beasts, had not Luther come to open their eyes." " And to him was given the key of the bottomless pit." This expression, "the bottomless pit," cannot represent hell, as it has been imagined by commentators ; for it is a prophecy, and the prophet speaks of things which take place, not in the invisible world, but on the earth, in the Roman Empire, which is the heaven spoken of in this prophecy. The same expression is employed (20 : 1-3) to represent the utter destruction of the king- doms of this world, at the coming of the Lord ; but there the key of that destruction, of that bottomless pit, is given to an angel from heaven ; and in opening that abyss, he brings forth the king- dom of the Lord; whilst "the fallen star," in this chapter, brings forth out of the ruins of the Empire, popedom, and the Dark Ages, aud all the calamities represented by the smoke of a great furnace and by the darkening of the sun and of the air, which are the symbols of knowledge and understanding (see the state of the Church before the Reformation, chap, x.) Popery was a curse of God on account of former transgressions against the teachings of the word of God. The Bishop of Rome, this once faithful martyr, Antipas, had been already killed by riches and worldly grandeurs, in the city where Satan dwelleth. The ambitious Nicolaitanes (2 : G, 13, 15), who deprived the people of all power in the administration of the Church, had made ready the way for the manifestation of the man of sin. Every pagan innovation, the idolatrous worship of the saints, images, and relics, every superstitious practice, and antichristian dogma, were sanc- tioned as teachings of the word of God; and soon after, the decretals and the legends of the saints were the only rules aud teachings of the Church, and the holy city was trodden under foot of the Gentiles. But the rod of the Lord was ready to chastise men for this apostacy ; and he cliose for the avengers of his despised covenant the Saracens, whose description is given here under the emblem of locusts prepared unto battle. C O IvI M E N T A 11 Y. 95 V. 3-12. " And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth : and imto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. And it was commanded them that they sliould not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree ; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads. And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months : and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man. 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 unio horses prepared unto battle ; and on their heads were as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men. And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth Avere as the teeth of lions. And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle. And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: and their power was to hurt men five months. And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon. One woe is past ; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter." This description of tlie locusts points out tlie armies of tlie Saracens, led by the caliphs, successors of Mahomet. They are represented under that emblem, because there come, every year from May to October, that is, during five months, clouds of locusts out of the deserts of Arabia, the native country of the Saracens, which waste in one night the fields upon which they fall. They " came out of the smoke" of the great furnace, the emblem of the wrath of God on account of the mystery of iniquity, T>diich has been revealed by the manifestation of the man of sin, the great Antichrist; and they fell ^' upon the earth," upon the countries in which Christianity had been corrupted. " And unto them was given power as the scorpions of the earth have power." The Saracens had power to 'set up the Crescent instead of the Cross, wherever their arms were victorious, and so the Gospel candlestick was removed out of its place. As the scorpions slay the body, the Saracens have in the same manner power to destroy the soul, by taking away from them their Mediator and lledeemer. Nevertheless, their power was limited : " And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only" — mark these words, which are in a common language, and give us evidently the meaning of the figures "grass of the earth, green thing, and tree;" — "but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads." Consequently, if they had only power to hurt those who had not the seal of God in their foreheads, as the nominal Christians, the worshippers of saints, of images, and relics, the shaved heads, and 96 COMMENTARY. generally all the corrupters of Christianity, it follows that they had no power to hurt (to force to embrace Islamism) the true Chris- tians, either old or young, represented by the grass of the earth, the green thing, and tree (Jer. 11 : 19 ; 17 : 8), who had been sealed in the seventh chapter, to be witnesses of the Lord, during the reign of popery. Again, "they should not kill them" (the nomi- nal and apostate Christians); for they are preserved for the last vial of the wrath of God, but it was given them " that they should be tormented five months;" that is, 150 years (Ez. 4:6); "and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion;" for they were obliged to apostatize, to turn disciples of Mahomet. And, though they were but nominal Christians, it remained in their conscience, after their apostacy, a sting which was striking and tormenting them, as " when a scorpion striketh a man," so that they desired to die, to be delivered from their devouring remorses, and death fled from them. " And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle ;" because the Arabians are ingenious in the art of breaking a horse for the combat ; and becavise their principal forces consisted in cavalry. "The crowns like gold on their heads," are the yellow turbann, which the Mahometans wear still in our days. " The hair as the hair of women" are the tails with which their equipment is ornamented, and by which the pachas are still, at present, distinguished. " Their teeth were as the teeth of lions," to show forth their strength and invincible courage ; " their faces of men, their breastplates of iron, the sound of their wings as the sound of chariots of many horses, running to battle," are as many characters, given by the prophet, to show that he has represented, under the emblems of locusts, the numerous and invincible armies of the Saracens rushing to the battle, out of the deserts of Arabia, as the clouds of locusts fall in the night upon the harvest, which they destroy in a moment. "The sound of their wings" is the image of their military movements, with their chariots drawn by many horses; and, for "the tails like unto scorpions," which they had, the prophet Isaiah (9:15), gives us the true meaning of this emblem, when he says : " The prophet that teacheth lies, he is the tail." Therefore, the tails like unto scorpions, represent the Koran, the religion of the prophet Mahomet, that teacheth lies, which was imposed upon the conquered, and which continued its fatal effects, after they had left the country. " The stings in their tails," may represent either the remorse which followed the apostacy, or the swurd with which the ferocious IMussulmans forced the deger.cvated Christians to embrace the religion of their prophet Apollyon, the destroyer. COMMENTARY. 97 Mahomet is called "the angel of the bottomless pit/' because he was, in the hand of Grod, the instrumentality made use of to punish the apostates who had chosen another head of the Church, and had formed other mediators than Jesus Christ, who is alone the Head and Mediator of his Church. The Saracens, conducted by the Caliphs, were the rod of God to punish the churches, in the East and the West, for their unfaithfulness to the word of Grod. The Turks, their successors, under the sultans, destroyed the Eastern Empire and the rest of these churches, who had not repented of their profanation of Christianity. It is the second woe, announced at the end of the eighth chapter. Sixth Trumpet. V. 13-19. "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, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates. And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men. And the number of the army of the horsemen, were two hundred thou- sand thousand : and I heard the number of them. And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone; and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions ; and out of their mouths issued fire, and smoke, and brimstone. By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths. For their power is in their mouth, and in their tails: for their tails u-ere like unto serpents, and had heads, and with them they do hurt." Before explaining the emblems of the sixth trumpet, let us glance over the history of Mahomet and his successors. The career of Mahomet dates from 612, when, expelled from Mecca, his native country, he fled to Medina, the city of the prophet. He was born in 577, of illustrious but poor parents. A rich widow, named Chadiga, hired him to transport goods into Syria upon camels, and she became his wife. He said that he was inspired. He had a great abhorrence for graven images, and he was painfully affected by the degradation and irreligion of his nation, and spent whole months in solitude and fastings. He pretended to have every night interviews with the angel Gabriel ; his pretended inspirations and conversations with this angel, formed every day a new page of his Koran, which was posted up and read publicly. He was a long time the object of the ridicule even of his nearest relatives, and was obliged to escape from Mecca. But, nine years after his flight, he was surrounded by one hundred and twenty-four thousand i^lus- sulmans, and he was enabled to vanquish the armies of the Jews and 9 98 COMMENTARY. Christians, united together. The Caliphs, his successors, conquered Arabia, Chaldea, Persia, Syria, Phoenicia, Palestine, and l^gypt. Afterwards, turning to the west, they overran the countries along the Mediterranean Sea, and took the islands of Rhodes, Cyprus, and Sicily; then, passing Hercules' Pillars, they founded the kingdom of Granada, in Spain, and passing over the Pyrenees, they advanced into the centre of France, even to the walls of Poictiers, where Charles Martel arrested their j)rogress in 732, The course of their conquests terminated in 772, when they re- tired to the borders of the Tigris, where they began to till the ground, and founded Bagdad, the metropolis of the empire of. the Caliphs, or of the vicars of Mahomet. In 1031, the Turks Seld- joucids, thus named from Seldjouk, one of their sultans, took pos- session of Persia. Kaiem Bamrillah, one of the Caliphs, crowned in 1057, as sultan of Bagdad, Togrulbeg, the grandson of Seldjouk; and from that time the Caliphs did not reign any more, except under the protection of the sultans, so that the Moslems' empire began in 1057. The power of the sultans became soon threatening; but they were detained upon the shores of the Euphrates, by the Crusades, which commenced in 1095, and terminated at the death of St. Louis in 1260, or rather in 1250, at the battle of Massoure, in which he was made a prisoner; and his brother, the Earl of Artois, killed (the last crusade of St. Louis, having had no effect, should not be accounted for). Every one is acquainted with the numerous disasters of the Crusaders, which were the accomplish- ment of the words, " I will kill her children with death" (2 : 22, 23). The Turks, being loosed, at the end of the Crusades, com- menced their incursions under Othman I., in 1299; and, at the close of the fourteenth century, they passed the Bosphorus, under Bajazeth; they took possession of Thracia, plundered Greece; established themselves in Adrianople, and took Constantinople in 1453. Then, they overran Macedonia, Albania, Esclavonia, Croatia, Bulgaria, Hungary, and came, in 1529, to besiege Vienna, where Charles the Fifth arrested their progress. It is of iNIahomet that it is spoken, in Daniel (8 : 23-25, and 11 : 40-45), where the seat of the Turkish Empire is clearly designated by these words : '' 2Vnd he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace, between the seas in (or towards) the glorious holy mountain," towards Jeru- salem the glorious and holy mountain of Zion. Now, let us exa- mine our text. When the sixth angel sounded, " a voice from the four horns of the golden altar" was heard, saying, " Loose the four angels which arc bound in the great river I^uphratcs." The golden altar being the emblem of the worship which we render to God through the COMMENTARY. 99 mediation of Jesus Clirist, tlie voice, whicli comes from the altar, indicates that it is to avenge the purity of His worship, which had been polluted by the worship of the saints and images, that it is ordered to loose these four angels. These four angels are the sultans of Alep, Iconium, Damas, and Bagdad, which had been the seats of the chiefs of the Turks from the eleventh century, when they had conquered Persia and the countries along the River Euphrates. They had been as it were bound on the shores of this river, by the Crusades, which prevented their progress. But, now, heaven itself commands to loose them ; and these avengers of the worship of God, which has been polluted by the worship of idols, commenced their ravages in 1299. " They were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men,'^ the Eastern Empire, which was the third part of the Roman Empire as it had been divided among the three sons of Constantine. As, according to the prophetic style, one day makes one year; an hour makes 15 days ; a month, 80 years ; and one year, 365 years ; for the prophet employs here the word ^' eniauton" (one year), and not the word " kairos" (a time which makes only 360 years), made use of to indicate the number of years of existence given to a false religion. These different numbers, designated by ^^one hour," "a day,'^ "a, month," and "a year," being united together, make 396 years, and 15 days. Scott supposes, with Bishop Lloyd, that the prophet has indicated by this number of years, the time during which the Turks would be permitted to torment the degenerated Christians ; and, according to him, the Turks commenced their ravages in 1302 and finished them in 1698, which was the epoch of their decline. But it is not the meaning of the prophecy ; for the prophet says that they were prepared, all this time before, " to slay the third part of men," the Eastern Empire, by the taking of Constantinople. Now, according to history, Constantinople was taken the 29th of May, 1453 ; and Mahomet XL entered into the city the 1st of June. Therefore, if out of this number we take 396 years and 15 days, we shall have, the year 1057 (Chronological Tables of French History, by Anquetil, 2d ed., page 148, vol. xiii.), for the time in which they were prepared to execute the judgments of the Lord. And it was precisely in 1057 that Togrulbeg was crowned by the Caliph of Bagdad, and became the founder of the Moslem Empire. It was then from that time that God prepared this empire to punish, in 1453, the city of Constantinople, for having conse- crated the worship of images in its councils, in 842 and 879. ^' And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hun- 100 COMMENTAllY. dred thousand thousand/' It is not a definite number for an in- definite ; for if we examine that their armies were from six to seven hundred thousand men, we may understand that, durin^^ the time of their conquests, from 1299 to the taking of Constantinople, in 1453, the number of their horsemen was two hundred millions, as the prophet says that he heard the number of them. We have, now, the description of the horsemen and of the artillery by which they succeeded in the taking of the city. " The breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone,'' indicate the color, red, blue, and yellow, of their military dress, such as the Eastern soldiers wear still at present. " The heads of the horses, as the heads of lions,'' show the strength, courage, and intrepidity of the horsemen ; and by the words " out of their mouths issued fire, and smoke, and briin- stone," we see the use which they made of artillery at the siege of Constantinople. The Turks had already attempted, in 139(3, to take this city ; but their efforts were unsuccessful. In this new attack, they were directed by an engineer from Genoa, their pri- soner, to make use of artillery; and the city fell. As gunpowder, invented by the monk Roger Bacon, and perfected by the Grerman Schwartz, was unknown before the fourteenth century, the prophet could see only in his vision fire, smoke, and brimstone ; and the horses with the cannons and their carriages appeared to him to be the same object. Therefore, he says, that '^by these three was tlie third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths. For their power is in their mouth and in their tails ;" that is, in the mouth of their cannons, or rather in their religion ; for they killed men not only in the field of battle, but, everywhere they passed, they implanted the pernicious and destructive religion which the Saracens had already propagated before them ; and this misfortune was more durable and pernicious than their most bloody conquests. Chris- tianity was entirely destroyed in those countries, and Mahoraetanism becanje the prevailing religion. It might be said also, that " the tails like unto serpents," designate the tails of the chiefs — by which the pachas are still distinguished — undulating in the air, when they were rushing to battle, and imitating the windings of the serpent. 13ut it is more probable that they represent the pernicious doctrines of Mahomctanism, like unto the poison of the serpent, and that, " by the heads with which they do hurt," he alludes either to their fero- cious chiefs, or to the Saracens, from whom they had received this religion, which they prescribed to the conquered. Now, let us hear from the prophet himself the reason for which Cirod has sent upon the earth the scourges of the locusts, the Saracens, and the COMMENTARY. 101 four angels, which he had long before prepared, on the shores of the River Euphrates, V. 20,21. "And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk: neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts." The rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues, or obliged to embrace Mahometanism, repented not of the works of their hands. The Roman Church, which escaped from these plagues, continued in her idolatrous worship of devils — deified souls of dead men canonized ;* and in the stupid worship of images, " which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk," notwithstanding the express teachings of the word of God (Ex. 20 : 4, 5). ''Neither repented they of their murders," perpetrated by the tribunals of the Inquisi- tion or by the crusades against the saints of the Lord ; " nor of their sorceries," of the magic power of the words of the priests in their superstitious ceremonies, to impose upon the minds of the ignorant people ; '' nor of their fornication," either spiritual or natural, as the result of a prescribed celibacy ;f "nor of their thefts," by the odious traffic of the holy religion of Jesus. The prophet, in saying that they repented not of these bad works, * "When we are born in the Roman Church, we do not easily understand that it is a sin to pray to the saints and kneel before images. We honor them, they say, but we do not worship them. The heathens said also: •' we do not worship copper, nor gold, nor silver, nor other matters with which the images are made." The Council of Constantinople, which ordered the worship of images, says positively that they ought to be worshipped ; and it is consistent with the doctrines of the Rom.an Church. For, to pray to or kneel before images to worship them, is to adore. The worsliip of the saints is what is called here " to worship devils." By devils the Greeks under- stood the souls of deified men, as we are taught by Plato, explaining what were their functions : " Devils have been created, to be as mediators and agents between superior gods and men. God is not concerned with men ; but all the intercourse between God and men, is carried on by the mediation of the devils. They are messengers and interpreters, who come from God to men, and from men to the gods. They bring to men the presents of the gods, and to the gods, the prayers and homage of men." Such is the func- tion of the devils or demigods of the heathens. It is difficult to establish what is the difference between these demigods and the saints of the Roman Church: their worship is equally called in the book of God, "the worship of devils." t Platina, in his history, counts twenty-two Popes who practised sorcery; thirteen, who were adulterers; three, who were abandoned to lewdness; four, who were incestuous ; eleven, who were poisoned with sodomy ; ar.d seven, wlio favored licentiousness. 9-^ 102 CO M M E N T A R Y. shows US indirectly that it was to punish these crimes that the Lord made use of the Saracens and of the Turks to be the instru- mentahty of his vengeance. Impenitence, when one is tried by the judgment of God, is a sin which shall certainly cause the ruin of the sinner (Am. 4 : 6-13); for God is right when he judges. The Greek churches did not repent after having been desolated by the Saracens, and the Turks came, at the appointed time, to over- throw their Empire, and to impose uj)on them the pernicious doc- trines of Mahomet, who, in killing soul and body, deserved well the title of Abaddon, the destroyer. God has given the Roman Church space to repent of her forni- cation (2 : 21) ; and she repented not. She is preserved for the third woe, when the seventh angel shall sound, and shall pour out the last vial of the wrath of God. Now, Jesus, the angel of the covenant, comes, in the following chapter, to strip her of her usurped titles and power, and to give anew to the world the Bible, and with it light and liberty. CHAPTER X. THE LITTLE BOOK, OH THE REFORMATION, IN 1517. The Christian churches still refused, in the eighth century, to be overruled by the Roman bishops. But Charlemagne, having been crowned Roman Emperor, ordered that all the liturgies of the churches of his empire should be burnt, in order that the Roman Latin liturgy should be alone made use of, in his empire. Hence- forth, the churches submitted insensibly to the power of a chief, become powerful by the gifts of several seigniories and principali- ties, which Pepin and Charlemagne made to the Bishop of Rome, after having overcome the King of the Lombards. These lands, called "The Justices of Saint Peter," were the source of the popes' temporal power. The feeble successors of Charlemagne soon permitted them to aspire to greater pretensions. The decretals, llilsely attributed to the bishops of Rome, from Clement I. to the Pope Siricius, favored their ambition, and secured impunity to the bishops. The monks, who then infested towns and villages, preached everywhere the pope and his saints, and propagated everywhere superstition in the midst of the people, sunk already into the most detrrading ignorance. Their success was such that COMMENTARY. 103 in the eleventli century, the universal sceptre fell into the hands of the monk Hildebrand, Gregory VII. This audacious monk dared to say, in a council, in 1076, that the pope could absolve an oath of allegiance; that he could depose the emperors — that he only should be called " pope" — and that to him alone belonged the power of deciding what Scriptures were in- spired, and of making them canonical. The flatterers of these men, who style themselves "the servants of the servants of Jesus Christ,'' went so far as to say that the pope can dispense with the law of God and the 'gospel. Bellarmine says, that God has given him power to cause that which is sin to be no sin, and that which is not sinful to become sinful. That, if the pope should command vice and forbid virtue, the Church should be obliged to believe that vice is good, and virtue criminal. Stapleton, among others, asserts, that, 'the pope is not simply a man, but a god upon the earth." The pope Martin V., in the Council of Sienna, dared to style himself, " Holy and blessed, having a heavenly power, being Lord upon the earth, successor of Saint Peter, the anointed of the Lord, the master of the universe, father of the kings, light of the world, and sovereign pontiif." True, at their will, they could raise innumerable armies to shed blood ; the kings were nothing more than the vassals of the papal throne ; the gold and silver of kingdoms flowed through an infinity of streams, and went to be engulfed in Rome, as in a bottomless abyss; the most powerful kings were trodden under foot, and their crowns taken away, at the wdll of the popes ; but, if God permitted this abasement of the kings, to punish them for their adulteries with Jezebel (2 : 20-22), this did not constitute them gods, though they had usurped the power of God over the minds of the degraded people. As soon as the popes had the sovereign power, the Christian religion was entirely filled with forms and ceremonies ; the papal court became the rival of the court of the King of kings ; the abuses were sanctioned by laws, and, in every century, new abuses and new dogmas were invented and consecrated. The worship of molten images, so long opposed by true Christians, who were then per- secuted as heretics, under the name of " Iconoclasts," was at last sanc- tioned, in councils in 840 and 879. The famous dogma of purga- tory was taken from the pagan ritual, and the people were taught that the elect were burning there in a fire seven and even ten times hotter than the elementary fire, until they have entirely expiated their sins, or until indulgences, bought with money, have delivered them. Thence came the dogma of praying for the dead ; of saying masses, and selling indulgences. It was also for that purpose that 104 COMMENTARY. the feast of all the dead was instituted, in 993, though the fictions of the monks place its institution in 606. Confession, invented, in 627, by fifty-two bishops, for the monks novices, was ordered, in 1215, to the laymen, as the way to obtain the forgiveness of sins, and was sanctioned by the Council of Trent, which anathematizes those who should deny that Jesus Christ imposed this yoke. It is no longer the commemoration of Christ's death, which is made in the sacrament of the Lord : a monk of Corbie, Paschase Radbert, thought the same body was there received, which was born of the Virgin Mary and suffered for us. But, then, the learned Rantram published a tract, in which we find these remarkable words : " The sacraments take the name of the things which they represent. So it is said that they are the body and blood of Jesus Christ, because of the resemblance to the things which they represent. The sacra- ment is called the body of Christ, as we calK passover, and ascen- sion, the days on which these mysteries are celebrated." This error was opposed also by John Scott, and by Raban Maure, Bishop of Mayence, who says, among other things : " Some one having imagined that in the sacrament of the body and blood of the Lord, is found the same body and blood of Christ which were born of the Virgin Mary, I have written against that error, and shown what must be believed on this subject." This doctrine, condemned also by the Council of Cressi, was sanctioned, in the Council of Lateran, in 1215, to which Innocent III. dictated that "all the substance of the bread is transubstantiated into all the body, and the wine into all the blood of Jesus Christ." Soon after, according to the dream of a servant, named Juliana, and at the prayer of a nun of Saint Martin of Liege, named Eve, to whom the Bull was dedicated by the pope Urban IV., a special holyday, called "Corpus Christi day," on which they carry in triumph this god of dough, which they worship and eat, was ordered to be celebrated, every year, to ex- piate the outrages which Jesus receives in this august sacrament. The celibacy of the priests was also ordered, in 1070 ; and the priests of Grcrmany were constrained, notwithstanding their protes- tations, to abandon their wives and children. The mass, intro- duced in 420, arrived at perfection in 1090. In the twelfth century, the dogma of the immaculate conception began to be dis- cussed. It was, at this time, that the popes used their full power to canonize multitudes of saints, to which they assigned festival days. The miraculous lives of the saints were mostly taken from Greek and Latin fables. Thus, it was not to lose the feast of Proserpine, searching for her daughter, who had been carried off by Pluton, that they established Cundlemas-day, in honor of Mary, the mother of God. In proportion as the new Pantheon of Rome COMMENTARY. 105 became filled with gods and goddesses, the papal court was also filled with new dignitaries of the Church. The cardinals, who, at first, were only priests, who had been stripped by the Lombards of the wealth of their churches, and who were admitted (incardinatus), into the diocese of Rome, became, in the thirteenth century, '^ the pivots upon which turns the govern- ment of the universal Church." This celestial court displayed, then, an oriental magnificence, and to sustain it, they invented all sorts of means to extort, under the names of " benefices, reserves, annats, dispensations, &c.," the riches of the people, who were under their power. The impediments to marriage were first extended to the seventh generation ; and the priest was always ingenious enough to discover, that all those who were to be married, were relatives; and consequently, a sum of money was exacted for dis- pensations. A tarifi" was settled and approved for the price which should be paid for the absolution of great, middling, and little sins. Not contented with having stripped the living, they found means to get possession of the effects of the dead. The sacrament of ex- treme unction had no other end than to secure to the priests free access to the dying, who no longer care about worldly posses- sions ; and, by promising them heaven, in exchange for their wealth, they were sure to obtain from them rich donations. They had even the presumption to sell heaven at auction. They preached indulgences, and sold them for crimes, either meditated or committed, asserting that money, when falling into their coffers, liberated souls from purgatory, and secured them access to heaven. The people had become children, and seemed to be unable to shake off the yoke under which they were enslaved. But, if the Prince of the covenant of grace seems to abandon men, for some time, to punish them for their iniquities, he will come again to extricate them from the pit which they have dug for themselves. For that, he made use of an obscure monk, Martin Luther, born at Isleben, in the county of Mansfeld (Upper Saxe), and professor in Wittem- berg. Luther opposed the shameful traffic of indulgences, in 1517. Pope Leon X. fulminated a bull against him, in 1520. Luther dared to burn it ; and thus began the Keformation, foretold in the chapter which we have now to examine. V. 1-4. " And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud; and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face ivas as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire: and he had in his hand a little book open: and he set his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot on the earth, and cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roareth : and when he had cried, seven thunders uttered their voices. And when the seven thunders had uttered their voices, I was about to write : and I heard a voice from 106 COMMENTARY. heaven saying unto me : Seal v;p those things wliich the seven thunders uttered, and write them not."' This mighty angel, coming down from heaven, is Jesus Christ himself. " He is clothed with a cloud/' because the decrees of God are veiled and hidden to the eyes of men. The rainbow, '^ which is upon his head'' reminds us that he is the angel of the eternal covenant. He appears here, as after the flood, to promise better days to his servants, whom he will never abandon. In dis- tress, he is at our side ; and when we seek after him, even when we have committed those disgraceful crimes, which the world never pardons, he is waiting for us, like a good father, for his prodigal son, and says : " My son, here I am." " His face was as it were the sun," the sun of righteousness, which enlightens and rejoices our hearts; but his feet are " as pillars of fire," as a consuming fire for his enemies in the day of his vengeance. " He had in his hand a little book open." This little book open, is evidently the Bible, the emblem of the great Reformation of the sixteenth century. The book of God had long been closed, and put aside for popish decretals, for the legends of saints, and for the teachings of the doctors of the Middle Age. But now, at the time of the Reformation, the Bible was unchained, and translated into common languages. Luther, who was the instrumentality made use of to open it before the eyes of all men, proclaimed that it was by the words written in that book that we shall be judged, and not by the arbitrary laws of men. It is a little book, indeed, if it is compared with all the books of men ! But, what are these volu- minous books of men in comparison with this one ? Men, having misunderstood its vivifying doctrines, put it aside, to substitute in its stead the doctrines which were the fruit of their thoughts and imaginations; and their wisdom proved to be but folly, and an abyss of calamities. But, at last, the Lord, merciful and gracious, came to strip the false prophet of his usurped power. " He set his right foot upon the sea (the civil power : Dan. 7 : 3), and his left foot on the earth (the miry clay mixed with the iron, that is, the papal religion united with the civil government : Dan. 2 : 33- 45), and cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roareth." We see here, a beautiful emblem of the invisible power of God, as it was clearly manifested in the time of the Reformation. The powerful Charles the Fifth, united with the Pope and the kings of the earth, tried in vain to put it down, to burn the monk, Martin Luther, who was like a roaring lion in the assembly of the princes and dignitaries of the Roman Church, before whom he had been commanded to appear at AVorms. The threatenings of the Pope COMMENTARY. 107 and of the Emperor were powerless ; because the Lord had set his right foot upon the Emperor, and his left upon the Pope. The roaring of the lion gives us the emblem of the courage and power, with which the Reformation was proclaimed, and carried on, not only by Luther, but also by all the Keformers, Melancthon, Zuingle, Earel, and Calvin. They were not afraid of the papal anathemas, called in French " Foudres du Vatican,'' to which the prophet makes evidently allusion, when he says that "seven thunders uttered their voices.'' The Papal curses are designated as the seven thunders, because all the persecutions in the seven periods of the Church, have been the work of Rome, either pagan or papal. It is always the same thunder, or curse ) but it is said that they are seven, for the seven ages of the Church. " 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." The prophet was about to write in the prophecy, to take notice of the bull of excommunication, or anathemas of the papal court, against Luther, and all the Reformers ; but he heard a voice from heaven telling him '^ to seal up," to keep secret these curses, ''and write them not;" do not mind them; for they shall be of no eifect. Luther will mock at them, and make bonfires with them. How admirable is the word of God ! How fair a picture of what was done at the time of the Reformation ! The kings themselves refused to publish the bull of excommunication of the Pope ; the orders of the Vatican were not obeyed ; and thus the things uttered by the papal thunders were sealed up. Luther did not mind them; for God had given him a heart and a voice to roar like a lion. And it shall not be as with John Huss, and Jerome of Prague. The opposition 'of the enemies of the Lord shall be vain ; his word shall be proclaimed, and one hair shall not fall from the head of his servant, Martin Luther. V. 5-7. " And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea, and upon the earth, lifted up his hand to heaven, and swore by him that liveth forever 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 ; but in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he has declared to his servants the prophets." We have here a solemn oath, in the name of the Almighty, by which the angel asserts either that the Reformation, undertaken by Luther, shall no longer be delayed, as in the time of John Huss ; or rather, as it is clearly indicated by the following verse, that 108 COMMENTARY. ^^ tliere shall not be a time/' that is, 860 years, before the destruc- tion of popery. This translation of the Greek " clironos oulceti estai," seems to be preferable, though ^' chronos'' instead of ^' Jcairos" be made use of, for the following words, " But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.'' The first meaning, " there shall be no longer any delay," agrees very well with what precedes, to signify that the Reformation shall no longer be delayed ; but it cannot agree with what follows, viz., "the mystery of God,'^ which shall be ''finished" at the sounding of the seventh trumpet; that is, the mystery of iniquity, spoken of by St. Paul (2 Th. 2 : 3-10), the great apostacy of the man of sin, the great Antichrist, shall be finished, and the kingdom of God shall be set up, as he hath de- clared by his servants the prophets (Dan. 2 : 44 ; 7 : 26-27), before ^' a time," which according to the prophetic style, makes 360 years, should be accomplished, in reckoning from the moment of this solemn Reformation. Now, if such be the meaning of these words, " oti chronos oulceti estai," — and the following words show necessa- rily that it is so — the mj'stery of popery treading under foot the holy city, shall be finished before 1877, which is the sum of 1517, the epoch of the Reformation, and of 360, the number indicated by a prophetic '' time." V. 8-10. "And. the voice which I heard from heaven spake unto me again, and said, Go and take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel which standeth upon the sea and upon the earth. And I went unto the angel, and said unto him, Give me the little book. And he said unto me, Take ii, 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 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." This little book, the Bible, so long closed during the Dark Ages, is now open. We are invited, as well as the prophet, to take the little book, to search the Scriptures, and to receive from its words our daily spiritual food. But, unless the Holy Ghost open our eyes and renew our hearts, we cannot know how sweet it is in the mouth. It is sweeter than honey and honeycomb, says David, and more precious than pure gold and rubies ; but it is a book closed for worldly men, however learned they may be in other respects. Their eyes cannot be enlightened by the light which it sheds ; their hearts cannot enjoy the peace which it gives to repentant sinners; nor can they conceive the hopes, Avhich the soul, acquainted with the vanities of the world, derives from its heavenly teachings. To appreciate this book, it is not enough to read it; we must '' eat it COMMENTARY. 109 up ;" we must thirst to come to the living waters that we may be satisfied. Mark the expression^ made use of by the prophet ! He does not say, "Eead this book;" but, "eat it up.'' It is in this manner that Jesus does not say to meditate upon the adorable mysteries of his birth and death ; but he says, " Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you." A cold and weak reader of this book is unable to feel the delights of the word of God ; the book is yet closed for him, as for a man who cannot read. But how this little book, sweet in the mouth as honey, could be, at the same time, bitter in the belly ! It was by the persecutions, which the devil excited against Christians. If it was delightful for the Reformers and their followers to possess this book, to search out the eternal truths, and find there the condemnation of the popish errors, by which they had been long enslaved, their lives were not exempt from bitterness ; they were surrounded with cruel enemies ; they were stripped of all they possessed ; they were torn from the bosom of their families, and abandoned to the tortures of the Inquisition, and burnt at the stake ; so, this book so sweet in the mouth for its heavenly teachings, was bitter in the belly for millions who died for the testimony of this book. In the eyes of men, they were looked upon as madmen for losing everything they possessed, and life itself, for this book, rather than obey the teach- ings of men ; but they were wise before God ; they had found the pearl of great price in this book, and v>-ere glad to sell all they had, to buy the field in which this treasure was hid. Those alone who have been enlightened by the Holy Ghost, can appreciate the word of God, and abjure a religion invented by men to embrace that of the gospel (see the letter to the Church in Philadelphia, 3 : 7—13). V. 11. "And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings." We see from this verse that the course of the events is inter- rupted to prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings ; that is, before the ten barbarian peoples of dif- ferent tongues, who, after having destroyed the Roman pagan empire, raised up out of its ruins ten kingdoms, which have been subjected to the same head, the pope, who may be looked upon as the emperor of this new empire, the image of the first. Until now, the prophet has followed the course of the events from the civil wars of the Roman Empire to the time of the Reformation. And, as the prophet has, now, to speak of a new state of things — of the papal persecutions, of the progress of Protestantism, and of the de- struction of popery and of the kings, its supporters — the prophet 10 110 COMMENTARY. receives here the order to leave off the course of events, which he shall resume in the fourteenth chapter, to explain what was the con- dition of the Church from the time of the overthrow of the Roman Empire, and how it was that the Christians were so long crushed down under foot by their enemies. Therefore, the three following chapters are like an episode, or digression, to explain how it is that the little book is bitter in the belly ; and the prophet, after having shown how Satan succeeded in setting up popery to destroy Chris- tianity, will continue to explain the progress of the Reformation, in the fourteenth chapter, as it may be proved by the words, " And T saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the ever- lasting gospel" (14 : 6). CHAPTER XL THE TWO WITNESSES THEIR DEATH AND RESURRECTION ENG- LAND BECOMES PROTESTANT FRENCH REVOLUTION IN 1792. It seems that the prophet should go on explaining the progress of the Reformation ; but, as he has to speak, at the same time, of the destruction of the papal league with Satan and the kings of the earth against Protestantism, it was necessary for him to show, by a digression, as would do the most faithful historian, how it was that the antichristian Roman Empire arose out of its ruins, after having been destroyed by ten barbarian peoples. Therefore, he resumes the history of the Church up to the time, when Chris- tian Churches, freed from the yoke of the heathens and enriched by the favors of the emperors, abandoned the simplicity and purity of the gospel, to introduce into the Church strange doctrines and worship. Hence originated the enmity of the nominal Christians against the true Church of God, — the crusades of popery against Protestantism. True Christians, as well as the temple and the altar wherein they worship, are measured by the word of God, as by a reed or yard, to test whether they are sound in faith and worship; but nominal Christians have no word of God to be measured by : they are but Gentiles, pagans, to whom the court, which is without the temple, is given, without test of their faith and worship ; and the holy city (the true Church) shall they tread under foot 1260 years ; verses 1, 2. COMMENTARY. Ill True Christians are but like two witnesses, bearing testimony to the word of God, and charging nominal Christians with apostacy from the faith. They are to be, like Joshua and Zerubbabel, the lights of the world, during the time of this great apostacy, and the restorers of the spiritual temple of God. They are clothed with all power to avenge themselves from the persecutions of their enemies; verses 3-6 (see the description of the holy city, 21 : 10- 27). When they shall have finished their testimony, they shall be killed; and their dead bodies shall lie «nburied in the streets of the great city of Home, in France, Piedmont, and England, three da^^s and a half (three years and a half) at the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, by Louis XIV.; verses 7-10. After this persecution, the witnesses rise up and ascend up to heaven, that is, to the throne of England ; and by this revolution, indicated by an earthquake, the tenth part of the city (England, one of the ten kingdoms subjected to popery) fell from popery, and turned Protestant; verses 11-13. The second woe is past ; the Turks shall no longer be the instru- mentality of the scourges of God. But the third woe, — the French Revolution of 1792, — cometh quickly, at the sounding of the seventh trumpet, in which are contained the seven vials of the wrath of God, and by which the "dead,'^ that is, the nominal Christians, shall be judged, and the papal league destroyed, that all the kingdoms of the earth should be the Lord's ; verses 14-19. Before explaining the seven vials of the wrath of God, which we shall find in the sixteenth chapter, according to the order which these calamities occupy in history, the prophet answers this question, which occurs naturally to our minds : ^' How is it that the two witnesses com- posing the true Church of Christ, have been so long trodden under foot by an apostate church, and how was this papal league against Christianity accomplished ?" He answers, that it was the work of Satan, and shows what was his opposition to Christianity during the first three centuries, — what was his fury, when he was cast out of the temples with his angels, after the victories of Constantine over the supporters of Paganism, — how he destroyed the Roman Empire by casting out of his mouth (Paganism) barbarians, as waters, over this empire, supposing that the conquerors would oblige the conquered to take their laws, and gods, and worship, and destroy Christianity in this manner, — how he was wroth with the Church, when these barbarians, instead of destroying Chris- tianity, were registered among the nominal Christians, ^nd left thus true Christians the opportunity of professing the Christian religion, which was revered by the barbarians themselves, — and 112 COMMENTARY. how, after having been thus defeated, he raised up out of its ruins the Roman pagan Empire, or an image of it, by uniting together the civil power with the apostate church, whose chief had power to exercise the authority of the kings before them, and had power not only to teach his pagan religion, but yet to cause that as many as would not submit themselves to his power and profess his reli- gion, should be killed. Such is the subject of this digression, whose emblematic language we are now to examine in a more minute manner. V. 1-3. " And there was given me a reed like unto a rod : and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein. But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not ; for it is given unto the Gentiles : and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty a7id two months. And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth." The temple, being the figure of the Church, and Jesus Christ being the altar, upon which the Church oifers up her sacrifices ; to measure those who worship therein signifies, that those who belong to the true Church, shall be examined and judged by the word of God, which is this reed, or fathom, by which they are measured ; and that those alone are Christians who worship in the temple, in the name of Jesus, who is the altar upon which the people of God are permitted to offer their sacrifices. Those who do not worship, according to the word of God, in his temple and at the altar built up by God, are but nominal Christians. They are out of the temple with idolaters. Nevertheless, they shall take to them- selves alone the Christian name ; they shall invade the temple of God, and hold all the ecclesiastical offices, during 1260 years; whilst true Christians, who shall be only as two witnesses against a multitude, shall prophesy, clothed in sackcloth and afflicted, at seeing the city of God invaded by the Gentiles and polluted by idolatry. Mark that the prophet makes use of different emblems to desig- nate the same number; when he speaks either of nominal Christians, of idolaters, or of true worshippers. In the first case, the 1260 years are designated by ^^ forty-two months;" that is, by the course of the moon, which overrules the night; because these nominal Christians live in the darkness of Paganism, of which the moon is the emblem. In the second case, the same number is indicated by " a thousand two hundred and threescore days,'^ according to the couise of the sun ; because true worshippers are children of light, and there is no dai*kness in them. COMMENTARY. 118 These verses synchronize evidently with the seventh chapter, in which the one hundred and forty-four thousand servants of God have been sealed ; and we shall fix very soon the epoch, in which the two witnesses began to protest against the ' errors, which were introduced into the Church. V. 4-6. " These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth. 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. 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.". The two restorers of the Jewish Church, after the captivity of Babylon, Joshua and Zerubbabel, are represented by the prophet Zechariah (ch. 4), under the emblem of two olive trees ; in the same manner the two witnesses are represented under the same emblem, to show that they shall be, like these two men of God, full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, whose gifts are represented under the emblem of oil, in order that the two witnesses should be like burning lights, to enlighten those who shall live in the darkness of this unfortunate age, and to restore, at the appointed time, the true Church of God. 1. "If any man will hurt them,^' because they bear witness to the word of God, " fire proceedeth out of their mouth,'' at their request, as at the order of Elijah (2 Kings 1 : 10-12), " and devoureth their enemies ;" for the blood of the elect of the Lord shall not be shed with impunity : God will be their avenger. 2. " These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy," that is, they have, like Elijah (1 K. 18), and Elisha, the power to shut heaven, that no man should under- stand the consoling doctrines of the grace of God, which, like a heavenly dew, refresh the soul and prepare it to inherit eternal life. The Roman Church may boast of many learned men, who have written many large volumes about religion ; but their writings, de- prived of the living streams of the grace of God, are but empty clouds or broken cisterns, that can hold no water. 3. Not only have these two witnesses the power that Elijah and Elisha had ; but they have still, like Moses, " power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will." The waters are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues, upon which the great whore sitteth (17 : 15), and the "earth" is the emblem of the papal religion. Therefore, the blood of these peoples and nations is shed, and the papal countries are smitten, at the will of the two witnesses. So it was that the Bohe- 10-- 114 COMMENTARY. mians, to avenge the blood of Jolin Huss and Jerome of Prague, destroyed tlie papal armies, which were sent against them, — that Louis XVI. was beheaded, with many noblemen and priests, in 1792 and 1793, to avenge the blood of the witnesses, shed by the dragoonings of his great grandfather, Louis XIV. — that torrents of blood were shed by Napoleon, and especially in the battles of Montenotte and Marengo, at the foot of the same mountains, where the prophets of the Lord, the Waldenses, had been hunted and destroyed (see 16 : 5-7, where the bloody battles of Montenotte and Marengo, are evidently alluded to). Grod is of long forbear- ance, but finally he will punish ; and the great Napoleon was the scourge, by which the papal kingdoms were smitten with plagues, to avenge the blood of millions of his saints, which they had shed on St. Bartholomew's Day, and in all their crusades against them. V. 7-10. "And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them. 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. And they of the people, 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. And they that dwell upon tlie earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another ; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt upon the earth." We shall see, in the following verses, the precise time when the witnesses finished their testimony. We must inquire here who are these two witnesses, — what is the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit — what is the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, — and how it was that these two prophets tor- mented them that dwelt on the earth, that is, who had all power granted them by the papal religion, the miry clay of the great image of Nebuchadnezzar (Dan. 2 : 31-45). 1. Who were the witnesses ? As, in the prophetic style, a king represents ordinarily a succession of monarchs, or a form of govern- ment, a witness must also represent, not one single individual, but a succession of men, who, during the specified time, bear witness to the truth. Perhaps the prophet makes mention of two witnesses, only because one witness is not sufiicient to prove a fact, according to justice (Deut. 17 : 2-7). But it is more probable, that these witnesses are : 1. The Albigenses and Waldenses, as primitive Christians, having preserved faith in its purity. 2. The lleformed Christians, who, by abandoning the popish errors, bear witness to the truth, and condemn those, who continue in the same errors. COMMENTARY. 115 The two witnesses are the "two breasts" (churches), built upon the wall (Gentiles) to surround the holy city, Jerusalem, that is, Christianity during the Middle Age, to the setting up of the king- dom of God (Song 8 : 10. See the description of the wall, 21 : 10- 19). We have an evident proof, as it shall be shown hereafter (16 : 4 -7), that the Waldenses are reckoned among the faithful Christians, who are called witnesses ; for an angel declares that " they have shed the blood of saints and prophets," in the very mountains in- habited by the Waldenses. Again, the facts, which we shall have to expose in the following verses, prove that the Protestants are also reckoned among the witnesses. Therefore, if the prophet means to designate by the two witnesses, not a succession of true servants of Jesus Christ, but servants of a different origin, these witnesses are the Albigenses and Waldenses, as Primitive Chris- tians, and the Protestants, as Reformed Churches from popery. We know that to these primitive Christians, the Albigenses espe- cially, have been given the titles of '' heretics" and " Manicheans;" but we know also that it has been the old practice of the papist votaries to asperse the character of those they wished to destroy, and that they had always at hand a hundred and one crimes to im- pute to them, in order that they should be made their easy victims. The infidel Gibbon vindicates the Paulicians* or Albigenses from the imputations of heresy, saying that in the state, in the Church, and even in the cloisters, there was a secret succession of disciples of Paul, who protested against the papal tyranny, held the Bible as the rule of faith, and purged their belief from all the visions of the Gnostics' theology. The Pope Innocent VIII., having sent one of his legates among the Waldenses and the rest of the Albigenses, with instructions to engage the King Louis XII. to destroy them entirely in his do- * About the end of the seventh century, Greek Christians, who refused to embrace the new doctrines, introduced into the Church, were mistaken for Paulicians, accused to be Manicheans, though, according to Photius, they abhorred Manes and his doctrines. Consequently, when the persecution was excited against the Paulicians, these Greek Christians were obliged to aban- don their country, and came to settle, some in Italy, where they were called " Patarini," from the name of the place, called " Pataria," in the city of Milan ; the others settled in the surrounding country of Marseilles in France, where they preserved the Greek liturgy, even a long time after Charlemagne had obliged all the churches to make use of the Latin ritual. Hence the Albigenses were charged with the errors of the Manicheans, though the con- trary was proved by the report of the monks themselves, about the condem- nation of those who were burnt in Orleans, in 1017, and who declared that they had been taught their errors by colporters sent by the Albigenses. 116 COMMENTARY. minions, without even listening to the deputies, who might be sent to him, this king answered in a manner which does him honor : " Had I to make war," he said, '' with the Turk or with the Devil, I would listen to what he could have to say in his favor." Conse- quently, the TValdenses addressed their justification to the king; and commissaries were sent to examine what was the state of things among them. Here is the report, as it is given by history : " Having made a strict inquiry about their manner of living, we could not find the least shadow of the crimes which are imputed to them. On the contrary, it seems that they keep religiously the Sabbath day, that they baptize their children according to the practice of the Primitive Church, and that they are thoroughly in- structed with the doctrines of the creed of the apostles, and in the law of God." In hearing this report, the king said with anger to the pope's legate : " By the holy mother of God, these heretics, whom you urge me to destroy, are better men than you and myself." Soon after, Louis XII. died, and every one knows how much they had to sufi'er hereafter. Pope Innocent VIII. ordered a crusade against them in 1655; the inquisitors, the monks, and the priests, were ordered " to exterminate them holily, and to crush them like asps;" the magistrates, under peril of losing their dignities, were obliged to sustain the inquisitors, to whom the command of the crusade was intrusted. The Marquis of Pianesse penetrated into their villages, at the head of two regiments commanded by monks ; they pursued the Waldenses from cavern to. cavern; they hung the women, naked, upon trees, and sprinkled them with the blood of their children. Again, in July, 1685, Louis XIV. revoked the Edict of Nantes, in exclaiming : '' There are Protestants no longer !" He succeeded in engaging the Duke of Savoy to join his troops to those of France to exterminate the rest of the Waldenses, and to destroy entirely their churches. As soon as Louis XIV. had given the Protes- tants the order either to leave France or to turn papists, from six to seven hundred thousand Protestants chose to abandon every- thing in their country rather than comply with popery. Then, new orders prevented them from leaving France ; but dragoons were sent to take possession of their houses, to oppress them by tyranny, until they should comply with popery, or be ruined and utterly destroyed. This persecution of Louis XIV., at the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, was a calamity for, France. And, as historians reprove bitterly the conduct of this king, and the fanaticism of the Roman Church for that persecution, a bisliop, the Abbot Frayssinous, at- COMMENTARY. 117 tempts to vindicate them from the accusation of fanaticism, in a discourse entitled '' Religion vindicated from the reproach of fana- ticism/' in which he says : "AH ranks of the kingdom congratu- lated Louis XIY. on having revoked the Edict of Nantes ; because it was necessary to annihilate the Protestant party, which desired to form a republic, to raise up its churches and obtain its former privileges. Louis XIV. yielded to the general wishes of the nation ; it was supposed that they would be restrained by fear and prevailed upon by persuasion." So, we have from the pen of a popish bishop the illustration of these words of the prophet : "And they that dwell upon the earth (those who are powerful by the favors of popery) shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth," in condemning their errors and idolatry. Charles "Weiss, in his history of the French Protestant Refugees, says on that subject : Let us now see, not merely what the great authorities of the Church of Rome, but what the great lights of the French nation, the most illustrious men of France, who hold the highest place among her sons in learning, literature, eloquence, and philosophy, who are yet unsurpassed, and one of them unap- proached, in all the gifts of intellect, the purest and brightest names to be found in the annals of Romanism, the undimmed glory still of the French language, and justly and highly admired for their genius wherever their works are known ; the most moral, the most enlightened and most favorable representatives of popery that all history can furnish ; let us see now what these renowned per- sons thought of the hideous immoralities and cinielties of the per- secution, of which we have given so brief a sketch ; of the great achievement of the grand monarch ; and then, let us ask ourselves, " Are our Wisemans, and Newmans, and Irish bishops, more enlightened, more tolerant, and more Christian in spirit than were Massillon, Flechier, Bourdaloue, Arnault, and Bossuet,* in the time of Louis XIV. ? and if not, or, if they fall short of, instead of reaching, the stature, in these respects, of their predecessors of the seventeenth century, how can we say, as we are apt to say, that popery has changed its character?" Our first extract, with the purpose in view, shall be from the letters of Madame de Sevigne, that perfect female creation of French society, whose exquisite sense, taste, wit, and judgment in * It is somewhat consoling and cheering to find both Pascal and Fenelon, the only two real Christians that we can recollect among the illustrious men of the Church of Rome, quite silent, perfectly dumb, on the subject of the Huguenot persecution. 118 COMMENTARY. all tilings pertaining to a court-world, made her the most amiable of the amiable in that world. AVriting to her cousin, she says : — " Father Bourdaloue is going, by order of the king, to preach at Montpellier, and in those provinces where so many people have be- come converts, without knowing why. Father Bourdaloue will tell them why, and make good Catholics of them. The dragoons have hitherto been excellent missionaries; but preachers are now re- quired to finish the work.'^ And in another letter, speaking of the act revoking the Edict of Nantes : ^^ No !" she exclaimed, ^' never was anything so noble as all that it contains ; never has any king done anything so memorable. ''' The famous Chancellor, Le Tellier, on affixing the great seal to this fatal act, declared he would never seal another, and blasphe- mously ejaculated : "Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation !'^ Massillon, too, celebrated the great victory of Louis XI Y. over heresy. " To what an elevation," he breaks out, " did his zeal for the Church, the prime virtue of sovereigns, who have received the sword and power to maintain her altars and defend her doctrine, raise him ! Specious reasons of state ! in vain you opposed to Louis the timid views of human wisdom; the monarchy enfeebled by the evasion of so many citizens, and commerce stagnated by the privation of their industry, or the furtive removal of their wealth. Perils inflamed his zeal. The work of God fears not men. He was convinced that he was strengthening his own throne by over- throwing that of error. The profane temples are destroyed ; the pulpits of sedition are thrown down; the prophets of lies are banished from their flocks. Heresy has fallen under the first blow from the arm of Louis; it has disappeared, and is reduced to hide itself in the darkness whence it issued, or to cross the seas, and carry with its false gods, its rage and malignities into foreign countries." The enthusiasm of Flechier on the same subject, is expressed in equally glowing terms. In a discourse addressed to the French Academy, he exclaimed, alluding to the destruction of the Temple of Charenton : '' Glorious ruins ! the noblest trophy France has ever seen. Triumphal arches and statues raised to the glory of the king illustrate it not more than this temple of heresy demolished by his piety. This heresy, which thought itself invincible, is entirely conquered ; and its vanquisher has gained such strength from this conquest, that the very thought of it strikes a panic into the hearts of his enemies. The fable of the strangled hydra can alone give an idea of the victory we so much admire." Bossue^. still the wondecjlbf French literature and eloquence, COMMENTARY. 119 spoke in the same strain. " Profoundly moved/' says he, " with so many marvels, let us pour out our hearts in praise of the piety of Louis. Let our acclamations rise to heaven, whilst we proclaim to this new Constantino, this new Theodosius, this new Marcian, this new Charlemagne, that which the six hundred and thirty Fathers proclaimed formerly in the Council of Chalcedon : You have fortified the faith ; you have exterminated the heretics ; this is the work worthy of your reign, this gives it its distinctive cha- racter. By you, heresy is no more. God alone could accomplish this marvel. King of heaven, hold in thy keeping the King of the earth ! This is the prayer of the churches, this is the prayer of the bishops.'* We should at present accompany M. Weiss, with his refugees, into the foreign countries, where they met not only with a cordial and fraternal reception, but with every kind of aid and encourage- ment, and with special advantages and privileges not accorded to natives; but we cannot contemplate the success of these happy fugitives till we have cast a look back on their wretched brethren whom they left behind them. All our knowledge of these persecuted Christians, from the dra- goonades and galleys to the latter part of the reign of Louis XVI., is, to be sure, of a negative kind. It furnishes, nevertheless, a dreadful picture of suffering on one side, and of unrelenting tyranny on the other. Protestantism was, in fact, blotted out of existence, as far as the law could do it, in France. Without churches, without pastors, without the legal rights of marriage and of sepulture, the Reformed were a scattered and hunted flock, who could only worship God, as they expressed it themselves, in the desert. In some wild tracks of the Cevennes, and some gorges of the Lower Alps, almost inaccessible to a cruel police, who made them its prey, a good number of them (the rest conforming them- selves to their position, had got the real Pariah character) still con- tinued, in defiance of danger, to assemble together, from time to time, for the purposes of worship. Their pastors, few, poor, and obscure, but devoted men, whose names have not been recorded on the earth, traversed these regions, incurring truly apostolic hard- ships, and at intervals, months apart, celebrated the Lord's Supper in rocks and caves, and dens of the earth, and exhorted to Chris- tian virtue and patience those who flocked by stealth to hear them, and returned to their own homes in a like clandestine manner. This state of things lasted more than half a century. The venera- ble and most excellent Malesherbes, whose green old age preserved all the warmth and more than the enthusiastic benevolence of youth, was the first whose voice was heard in favor of the persecu- 120 ' COMMENTARY. ted race. Hulilieres followed his noble example, and presented a petition in their behalf, from which we shall borrow an extract, to Louis XVI. :— " The twentieth part of the natives of the kingdom," says this petition, " retained by force shut up within its frontiers, remain without religious worship, without civil professions, without the rights of citizens, without wives, though married, without heirs, though fathers. They cannot but by profaning the public worship on the one hand, or by disobeying the laws on the other, either be born or marry, or live or die. More than a million of Frenchmen are deprived in France of giving the names of wives and legitimate children to those whom the law of nature, superior to all civil in- stitutions, recognize as such. More than a million of Frenchmen, have lost, in their own country, rights which all men enjoy in all countries, civilized or savage, and which in France are not denied to malefactors, branded with the most infamous crimes. We de- plore the state of the Catholics in England ; they may be unhappy, but they are not marked with infamy. England has never gone so far as to inflict on all their families the desolating names of bas- tardy and concubinage. Their children may inherit their property. Their noble families are not reduced to the impossibility of proving their nobility otherwise than by clandestine acts, inadmissible before the tribunals ; and if they find their condition intolerable, they are permitted to emigrate ; the ports of the three nations are open to them." This petition had the effect of procuring for the Eeformed the rites of marriage, baptism, and Christian burjal. The Revolution afterwards placed them on an equality with all Frenchmen; but this equality, though proclaiming religious liberty, was nearly as hostile, as soon appeared, to everything that bore the name of re- ligion, as popery is to the gospel. To Napoleon, it was, that French Protestants owed the present respectable and permanent establishment of their creed ; and that this great man was induced to do them this justice as much from conscientious reasons as from political motives, we think apparent from the energetic answers he made to a deputation of Protestants who came to thank him for the benefits they had received from his government : — ''I take this opportunity," said he, ''of declaring to the pastors of the Reformed Churches my firm determination and will to main- tain religious liberty in its fullest extent. The empire of the law ceases where the indefinite empire of conscience commences. Neither prince nor law can regulate the latter; and if any of my family who may succeed me, deceived by the dictates of an unen- lightened conscience, should attempt to do so, I devote him to COMMENTARY. 121 public execration, and autliorize you to give him the name of Nero." — Extracted from the New York Observer. For the same reason, there was joy and a solemn procession to the Church of St. Louis in Rome, when the St. Bartholomew's day's slaughter was known in the papal palace; and when two hundred thousand Protestants had been slaughtered in Ireland, in 1641, according to the instructions contained in a Papal bull, which had been received there previously ; and Saint Dominic was ca- nonized in return of the utter slaughter of the Albigenses, who had been a prey to the papal excommunications, from 1187 to 1215, when their cities were reduced to ashes, and the Count of Toulouse, Raymond VII., conducted, naked, with a rope about his neck, to the gates of the church of Yalence, where he was beaten by a deacon, in punishment of the pretended murder of a monk. Add to all these massacres, that only four hundred Waldehses escaped with their pastor, Henry Arnaud, by seeking refuge in Holland ; that James II. of England, had also been prevailed upon by the Jesuit, Peters, his confessor, to destroy Protestantism in his king- dom J so that the two witnesses of the Lord would have then been overcome, and utterly destroyed, had not the Lord come to rescue them from their enemies : ^' from the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit.'' A " beast" represents a worldly kingdom, as the four beasts, which Daniel saw coming up from the sea (the emblem of the civil commotions), represent the four great monarchies, which have suc- ceeded each other from Nebuchadnezzar to our days. This beast does not come up from the sea ; but from the bottomless pit (the destruction of the Roman Empire), which was opened by Boniface III., and out of which came the Dark Ages (9 : 1-3) and the incursions of the Saracens. It came out of a corrupted Church, " out of the earth ; and he had two horns (powers) like a lamb (Jesus Christ), and he spake as a dragon" (devil, 13 : 11). This beast represents, then, popedom, which had its origin in the corrup- tion of the churches, who had abandoned the simplicity and purity of the apostolic doctrines. The union of the Church and State enabled the popes to make war against the witnesses, to overcome and kill them. Their dead bodies were carried upon carts,, and thrown into the rivers, or laid unburied in the streets of the groat city of Rome, which spiritually is called " Sodom," for its impuri- ties, and " Egypt," for the yoke of bondage under which the people of Grod are groaning; and where also our Lord was cruciiied, having been delivered to the Jews by one of its governors. The kingdoms subjected to the papal yoke, are called the streets of the great city of Rome, which is taken for the seat of all these king- n 122 COMMENTARY. doms, as it was before the seat of all the provinces of the pagan empire. It was throughout all these papal kingdoms that the witnesses of the Lord were hunted and killed like wild beasts, and left unburied in the fields, to be the food of the birds of prey. But their murders will avail nothing ; for, behold, the martyrs of the Lord will soon rise up, at the voice of the living God. V. 11-14. "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. And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hitlier. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud ; and their enemies beheld them. And the same hour was there a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand: and the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven. The second woe is past; and, behold, the third woe Cometh quickly." The entire ruin of the witnesses seemed to be inevitable. The powerful Louis XIV. had said, " There are Protestants no longer;" they were destroyed without mercy in France, Piedmont, and James 11. of England was threatening to destroy them also in his kingdom. But a more powerful than Louis XIV. said unto them, three years and a half after this general conspiracy against them, in November, 1688, " Come up hither (to the throne of England). And they ascended up to heaven (to the throne) in a cloud (in a mysterious manner, in a political storm), and their enemies beheld them. And the same hour there was a great earthquake (a great revolution) ; and the tenth part of the city (the tenth papal king- dom, England) fell (from popery), and in the earthquake there were slain of men (names of men, according to the Greek) seven thou- sand;" that is, seven thousand names of men were blotted out from the list of the papal subjects, holding offices in England; for there was no shedding of blood in that religious revolution. "And the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven;" that is, the others, fearing to lose their offices and dignities, gave glory to the God of heaven, by abandoning popery, to take the word of God and turn Protestants. Nothing could give us a more striking image of the religious revolution, which took place in England when the Prince of Orange became master of its throne, than this picture of the prophet. The Prince of Orange, having vanquished James II. at the battle of the Boyne, in Ireland, and having formally acknow- ledged Protestantism as the foundation of the constitution of his kingdom, kept in check the princes who were supporters of papacy. j^As the Waldenses, who had escaped from the slaughter of their COMMENTARY. 123 brethren, had sought a refuge in the Low Countries, where they joined his army, he showed them his gratitude by enabling them to return into their own valleys, under the command of their pastor, Henry Arnaud. They attacked suddenly the French and Savoy army, which consisted of ten thousand men; and after having defeated them several times, they succeeded in driving them from their mountains. It is so that " the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet." Their enemies, who thought to exterminate them, beheld them, but could not resist the invisible power of God ; and, from that time, there has been no outward persecution against Protestants ; they enjoy their civil and religious liberty. The twelfth and thirteenth verses of the fourteenth chapter correspond to this passage. For that reason, a voice was heard, saying : '' Write, Blessed are the dead (the papists, Eph. 2 : 1) which die in the Lord from hence- forth (who abandon popery to turn Protestants), that they may rest from their labors (persecutions); and their works do follow them," their persecutors being henceforth unable to destroy the churches which shall be built up by the preaching of the gospel. We may infer, from the verses which we have just examined, that the two witnesses finished their testimony at the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, in 1685; — that they were slain and left unburied in the streets or kingdoms overruled by popery, during three years and a half, to the reign of the Prince of Orange, when Protestantism became the religion of England. Therefore, the witnesses, who were sealed (chapter 7), from 313, during the peace enjoyed under Constantino and some of his successors, to the time of the invasions of the barbarians, which commenced in 395 and continued to the utter destruction of the Empire, began to bear witness to the truth about 425, Now it was, in fact, about this time that Christianity was banished from the cities; the temples were invaded by the worship of saints, images, and relics ; and the heresies of Arianism, Donatism, and Pelagianism had almost de- stroyed the true faith in Christ throughout the Empire. It was, then, at that time, that the servants of the Lord began to bear witness against the errors and idolatry which invaded the temple of God. The first of the three woes, announced after the overthrow of the Roman Empire (8 : 13), began, as we have said, in 606, and finished at the end of the Crusades, in 1260. The second com- menced about 1300, with the incursions of the Turks, and finished,"^ as it is stated here, when England had become Pro- * The Turks linished their ravages in 1618. 124 COMxMENTARY. testant. But there is an old quarrel between God and the great city, spiritually called Sodom and Egypt (18 : 24); and the third woe, — the French ivcvolution of 1793, — will come quickly to decide ultimately this affair. V. 15-19. "And the scvenlli angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever. 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 tliy 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 tlie i)rophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great : and shouldef5t destroy them which destroy the earth. 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." We have in this passage a succinct exposition of all the plagues, by which the seat of the beast shall be afflicted, at the pouring out of the seven vials, which are contained in the seventh trumpet. The " dead," spoken of here, are those " which destroy the earth," and which God shall destroy. Therefore it is spoken of a spiritual death, of the papal nations, which are dead in their sins (14 : 13; Rom. 6 : 13 ; Eph. 2 : 1), and upon which the vials of the wrath of God shall be poured out. It is said (10 : 7) that, when the seventh angel shall begin to sound, the mystery of God, about the great apostacy of the Roman Church, shall be finished ; and the prophet says here that " The temple of God was opened in heaven (the empire), and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament." He does not say that the final triumph of the Church shall be then accomplished ; but only that the ark of his testament shall be seen in his temple, that the liberty of worship shall be granted to his Church. The final triumph of the Church shall be achieved only after the pouring out of the seventh vial, which is called the vintage of the wrath of God (14: 18-20; 19 : 7-21). Now, it shall be' proved by the ex- position of the seven vials, emblematically represented by " the harvest and vintage" (14 : 14-20), that the French Revolution of 171)3, with its wars, is the third woe announced at the sound of the seventh trumpet. According to Bucholcer and Sigonius, the Emperor Justinian published the code of his institutions in 533, and, by a decree, gave the Bishop of Rome the pre-eminence over all the other bishops. But, then, the bishops denied him this papal power. If COMMENTARY. 125 we add to 533, the 1260 years of existence which are allowed to popery, we have precisely 1793, the epoch of the French Revolu- tion, which, by a decree in the preceding year, interdicted the papal religion, and granted the liberty of worship to any other religious denomination. So, a French law, which was without effect, abo- lished another law which had, in vain, granted to the Bishop of Rome the supremacy over his colleagues. Had we the precise date of the epoch in which popery had its existence, we could easily de- termine the epoch of the destruction of the papal league with the devil and the kings of the earth (16 : 13, 14), and the final triumph of the Church. Its spiritual power dates from 606 ; but its tem- poral power dates only from 756. Therefore, popery will still con- tinue to 2016, if its existence is reckoned only from the time when the popes united the temporal to the spiritual power. But it is rather as a spiritual prince that the man of sin is spoken of; and if we have given the true meaning of the sixth verse of the tenth chapter, 'Hhere should be time no longer," popery must be de- stroyed, in 1866 ; for it should not exist to 1877. The seventh trumpet shall sound only, with all its strength, at the time of the utter destruction of the Antichristian league, as it is described in the nineteenth chapter. It is for that reason, that the saints and angels sing there, as in this passage, and in the fifteenth chapter, when the vials are given unto the angels, saying, "■ The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.'' At the first .sounding of the trumpet, in 1793, the civil constitu- tion of the clergy was decreed, and Louis XVI. had previously been obliged to grant the Protestants the liberty of worship. The temple of Grod was thus open in heaven, that is, in the kingdom, which had been, at all times since Charlemagne, the supporter of the papal pretensions ; and the liberty of worship was granted also, for some time, to all the people subjected to the papal yoke, wherever the French armies were victorious. The temple of God was opened in this manner throughout the provinces of the ancient pagan Roman Empire ; and there was seen everywhere the ark of his testament, which was a token that the presence of God was anew manifested in the midst of his people. But, as " the temple was filled with smoke (the emblem of his wrath) from the glory of God and from his power, no man (none of the papal kingdoms) was able to enter into the temple (to shake off the papal yoke and turn Christians), till the seven plagues of the seven angels were ful- filled" (15 : 8). From that time, the papal colossus is but a corpse ; its anathemas are no longer apprehended, and it stands only for the indifference of men. When (Miarles X., and after him 11* 126 COMMENTARY. Louis Philippe, attempted to give him life, they were precipitated fromt heir thrones. New events will soon teach us what shall be the recompense which Napoleon III. shall receive for having raised up again the papal throne from its ruins. The calamities by which France and the other papal kingdoms were afflicted, from the scaffold of Louis XVI. to the defeat of Waterloo and the invasion of France by the armies of the united powers of all Europe, are the storms foreboded by the lightnings, voices, thunderings, earthquake, and great hail. CHAPTEll XIL THE ENJMITY OF SATAN AGAINST THE CHURCH — HOW HE AT- TEMPTED TO DESTROY CHRISTIANITY. Who is the true author of the persecutions, — and how is it, that, after the destruction of the Roman pagan empire, there are yet other persecutions, in consequence of which, a third woe is an- nounced, at the sounding of the seventh trumpet, to afflict, with plagues, the same countries, which composed formerly this Roman Empire ? The prophet answers : 1. That Satan, the master of the Roman Empire, .is the author of the persecutions; verse 1-G. 2. That having been defeated with his angels, the supporters of Paganism, by the victories of Constantino, over Maxentius and Licinius, verse 7-12, he destroyed the Roman Empire, which had become Christian, by casting out of his mouth (Paganism) swarms of barbarians, like waters, to destroy the Church, supposing that the barbarians would oblige the concjuered to submit to their laws, and to worship their gods; verse L'>-17. Satan, having failed in his attempt, was wroth with the Church, figured by the woman, and he raised up out of its ruins the Roman pagan empire, or an image of it, as it is described in the thirteenth chapter. It was necessary, that the prophet should show us this second existence of this empire, before giving us the emblems of the calamities, con- tained in the seventh trumpet, by which it ought to be destroyed. The triumph of the witnesses, who have now ascended up to the throne of England, is the beginning of the decline and decay of popery. The seventh trumpet announced the presence of the Lord in his temple, and the triumph of his Church shall be accomplished at the pouring out of the seventh vial, called " The vintage, the COMMENTARY. 127 great day of the Lord, the battle of Armageddon^ and the marriage supper of the Lord." V. 1-6. " And there appeared a great wonder in heaven ; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars : and she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and be- hold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth : and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born. And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron : and her child was caught up unto God, and io his throne. And the woman fled into the wilderness, Mdiere she had a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two himdred and threescore days." These verses show us the old enmity between the serpent and the woman, and between his seed and her seed (Gen. 3 : 15), ex- emplified under the emblems of two wonders in heaven, the image of the Roman Empire. The Church, as the bride of the Lamb, and the mother of Christians, is represented under the emblem of a ^^ woman clothed with the sun," intimating that Christians have put on Christ, the sun of righte Dusncss, which is imputed to them. '' The moon under her feet" is the emblem of Paganism overcome by Christianity ; "and upon her head a crown of twelve stars," represents the doctrine of the Gospel, taught by the twelve apostles, and the crown of heaven which Christians shall inherit. Her cries and " travailing in birth, and paining to be delivered," are the emblems of the long expectation of the Jewish Church, for the coming of Messiah, and of the afflictions of the Christian Church, in bringing forth new Christians in the midst of cruel persecutions. On the other side, " a great red dragon," who is the old serpent, called the devil and Satan (verse 9), stands " before the woman, which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born." He has " seven heads," which are seven mountains, on which the city, where he has his seat, is built. They are also seven kings, indicated by the " seven crowns," which represent as many forms of government (17 : 9-12). The "ten horns" repre- sent the ten barbarian nations, by which the Roman Empire was destroyed, and the ten kingdoms, which they raised up out of its ruins. These barbarians, baptized in the pale of the Roman Church, and professing unanimously allegiance to the papal throne, formed a new empire, which is called "the image" of the first (13 : 14, 15); and, here, "the tail" of the red (bloody) dragon; because its chief is a "prophet that teacheth lies." (Is. 9 : 14-17.) 128 COMMENTARY. ^^His tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth/' is the emblem of popery, which drew the bishops of the western part of the empire into its apostacy, and caused them to be worldly men and nominal Christians. " And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron," This man child, that the mystic woman brought forth, is Jesus Christ, the son given unto us, whose name is : '' Wonderful, Counsellor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace" (Is. 9 : 6). He was to rule all nations with a rod of iron, to submit them to the throne of David, his Father ; but, when the mystic woman was ready to be delivered, two years before the birth of Christ, the Roman Empire conquered Judea, and the red dragon stood thus before the woman. The Jews refused to have him to reign over them -, they asked that he should be crucified. Therefore, the man child was devoured by the dragon, who bruised ^'his heel" (Gen. 3 : 15), not his life, because he had life in himself, and power to take it again by rising up from the dead ; and so " the man child was caught up unto God, and to his throne," and the Church was left, as a widow, obliged to flee '' into the wilderness," to escape from the pagan persecutions. She was obliged to live solitary in the wilderness, not only during the reign of paganism, but it was her condition that, after having been de- livered from her bondage, she should be obliged to flee again into the same wilderness, ''where she has a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days." Mark here that the reckoning is again made in prophetic days, because it refers to the true Church, enlightened by the sun of righteousness (P]z. 4 : 6). It is evident, that the wilderness into which the Church fled after the death of Christ, is not the same as the place she has prepared of God, and of which it is spoken in the fourteenth verse. This passage, gives us the picture of the condi- tion of the Church in the Roman pagan empire, from the birth of Christ to the victories of Constantine; and it synchronizes with the churches of Ephesus and Smyrna (2 : 1-11), and with the first five seals (G : 1-11). V. 7-12. " And there was war in heaven : Micliael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angel.s, and prevailed not ; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and 8atan, wliich dcceiveth the whole world: he M'as cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. '• And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven. Now is come salvation and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by COMMENTARY. 129 the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death. Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them, Woe to the inha- biters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time." Until now, the Church has been travailing in birth, with cries, to bring forth Christians in the midst of cruel persecutions. But now the deliverance of the Lord is at hand. There is war in heaven (the Empire) between Christianity and paganism. Michael (who is equal to God, Jesus Christ himself) and his angels (the army of Constantine, composed of Christians) fought for Chris- tianity against the dragon; and the dragon and his angels (the sup- porters of paganism, Maxentius and Licinius) fought for paganism, and prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. Therefore, after ten bloody persecutions, and especially that of Diocletian, which continued ten years, the great dragon, Satan, who deceived our first parents, and deceiveth the whole world, young and old, learned and ignorant, was cast out, with his angels, into the earth; his gods, priests, augurs, captains, and emperors, were cast out; the place of his gods was no longer found in heaven, nor their altars in the temples. His priests, augurs, and pontiffs were stripped of their rich and pompous ministry of impostures and deceptions, and his emperors were overthrown from their throne : " and every mountain and island were moved out of their places ;" all the civil and religious offices and dignities passed from the heathens to the Christians. After that victory of Christianity over paganism, the prophet " heard a loud voice saying in heaven (the empire). Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our Lord, and the power of his Christ.'^ The Christians, supposing that the reign of Jesus Christ had come, maifested their joy and gratitude, and attributed their victory, not to the valor of Constantine, but to the blood of the Lamb, and to the patience of the martyrs. They had cause to rejoice, for they were delivered from the fury of the heathens, who ceased not to accuse them of committing the most heinous sins in their secret assemblies ; to be the cause of the scourges of the famine and pestilence, by which the Empire was desolated ; and to have burnt the palace of the Emperor at Nico- media. These false accusations, which caused the Diocletian per- secution, in which their brethren were slaughtered, and which were heard, day and night, by Jesus Christ, their God, had, at last, put an end to his forbearance, and, in his wrath, he had cast down the dragon and his angels ; for his martjTS " loved not their lives unto the death;" they chose rather to die than to deny their Master and abandon his word (compare this passage with the letter 13^ COMMENTARY. to the Church in Smyi'iia, 2 : 8-11, and with the fifth and sixth seals, 6 : 9-17) : for that cause, he delivered them from their enemies. *' Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them I" Rejoice, empire, freed from the bondage of Satan ! Rejoice, ye inhabitants of this empire, become Christian ! Enjoy, in peace, the liberty which the Lord, the Captain of your salvation, has given you ! But, ^' woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea I" Woe to those who shall inhabit the Empire, when the feet and toes of the great image of Nebuchadnezzar shall be " part of potter's clay, and part of iron'' (Dan. 2 : 31—45), that is, when the earthly religion, popery, shall be united with the civil powers, represented here by the " sea,'' the emblem of the kingdoms of this world. Woe, then, to the inhabitants of the kingdoms, raised up from the ruins of the empire, in which the spiritual and civil power, — the earth and the sea, — shall be in the hands of Antichrist ! For the papal persecutions shall be more cruel than the pagan, in which your brethren were slaughtered. ^' For the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath ; because he knoweth that he hath but a short time," 1260 years, which are but an instant, in comparison with the eternal torments which await him. These words, " the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath," indicate that, when the Church and State, — the earth and the sea, — shall be united together, the devil will make use of all his stratagems of fury and cruelty to devour the saints of the Lord. He will have at his command, armies to exterminate the seed of the woman, and covetous and cruel monks, scattered throughout the cities and villages, to hunt the servants of the Lord, and destroy them in the torture and at the stake of the Inquisition. But, until he has prepared this masterpiece of cruelty, he will invent some other means to deprive the Church of her temples, of the Christian dignities and privileges, and to oblige her to fly into the wilderness to escape from his fury. V. 13-17. " And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child. And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might lly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent. And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be car- ried away of the flood. And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the Hood which the dragon cast out of his mouth. And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ." COMMENTARY. 131 Though the description of the ^^ man child" (verse 5), cannot be applied to any one but Jesus Christ, it may be said that it is ap- plied by the prophet to every Christian, born of God by faith in Christ, and especially to Constantine, the instrumentality made use of to deliver his Church. " When the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman." Two years after the fall of paganism, Arius denied the divinity of Jesus Christ, and taught that the Holy Ghost is not God. This heresy, which de- stroys the foundations of Christianity, took away the peace out of the Church. It was condemned as a heresy, or proclaimed by the councils, as the true doctrine of the Church, according as it was condemned or maintained by the emperors ; and, at the beginning of the sixth century, Arianism had become the predominant reli- gion in many countries of Asia, Africa, and Europe. Neverthe- less, it is to be noticed that, as soon as Justinian had promoted, by a decree, the Roman bishop to the supremacy over his colleagues, this heresy fell, at the same time, and appeared again in 15ol, to take from the Reformation what was lost by popery. Servet was, in the Reformation, the instrumentality made use of, to infect it, as Arius had been in the primitive Church. When the devil is turned out from a stronghold, he invades as soon another. The following year, in 316, the Douatists disturbed also the peace of the Church, and Pelagius and Nestorius came soon after, as well as the Collyridians, who deified the Virgin Mary, and worshipped her as the Queen of Heaven. The Emperor Julian came in 362, and opened again the temples of paganism ; and, in his quality of philosopher, he began a persecution of a different nature from the bloody ones, supposing that contempt and secret oppression would accomplish what the bloody persecutions of the pagan emperors had been unable to accomplish. These heresies undermined the fundamental doctrines of Christianity; the temples were invaded by molten images ; prayers were addressed to the saints, and Satan was again the god of the empire. About 425, the Church of Jesus ceased to be an assembly of servants of Christ : her members scat- tered everywhere in the cities and villages, and in the valleys of Piedmont, held no office either in the State or in the Church, in- vaded by Satan's dependants. The Church was carried upon the wings of Providence, as with ^' the wings of a great eagle," and fled into the wilderness, to live there in a secret obscurity, and receive the spiritual manna from the hand of the Lord, as the seven thou- sand men of old, who did not kneel before Baal. The devil, fearing that the Church would escape from destruc- tion in living in obscurity, "cast out of his mouth (paganism) water as a flood ai'ter the woman (barbarians after the Church, 17 : 15), 132 COMMENTARY. that lie might cause her to be carried away of the flood ;" that is, that the hordes of barbarians, overrunning the country, in which the name of Jesus was known and adored, might oblige the conquered to receive their laws and worship their gods, and destroy entirely the Church of the Lord. But he was mistaken in his expectation. " The earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth (the worldly religion opened her pale), and swallowed up the flood (baptized these barbarians and incorporated them into the Church) which the dragon cast out of his mouth,' ^ out of idolatrous countries. In that manner, the Christian name was held in honor among them, though they were ignorant of the doctrines of the gospel, and the Church of the Lord was enabled, under this shadow of Christianity, to profess freely the doctrines of true Christianity. Then, " the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of Grod, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ." We may infer from the means which the devil employs to de- stroy the Church, that she had already fled into the wilderness, when the Roman Empire was invaded by the barbarians. And, it is evident also that, when the witnesses had ascended up to the throne of England, they were no longer living in the wilderness. They enjoyed civil and religious privileges ; they held offices in the state and church; and the gentiles did not tread any longer underfoot the holy city, either in England or in the countries where Protestantism had been definitively introduced. Consequently, it was about 425, that the Church fled into the wilderness, to pro- test, in sackcloth, against the overwhelming errors and idolatry. The devil having failed to destroy the Church with the flood of his barbarians, cast out of his mouth, taken for the idolatrous religion, of which he is the author, he went to make war with the scattered remnants of her children : and to find them out in their most secret retirement, and in any condition, here is, in the following chapter, the masterpiece which he invented, and which we have, in advance, denominated " the kingdom of Antichrist." COMMENTARY. 133 CHAPTER XIII. THE MASTERPIECE OF SATAN UNION OF THE STATE AND CHURCH, V. 1-10 THE EMPIRE OF ANTICHRIST, V. 11-17 — THE NUMBER 666, V. 18. /. The State. V. 1-4. " And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion : and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority. And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death ; and his deadly wound was healed : and all the world wondered after the beast. And they worshipped the dragon which gave power i.mto the beast : and they worshipped the beast, saying. Who is hke unto the beast ? who is able to make war with him ?" The sand of the sea, upon wliicli the prophet stood, represents a convenient place from which he could contemplate the revolutions of the empires of the earth. The four great monarchies, which were to succeed one another, from Nebuchadnezzar to the reign of Jesus Christ, are represented by the prophet Daniel (7 : 3-27), under the emblems of beasts : that of the Chaldeans, under that of a lion ; that of the Modes and Persians, under that of a bear ; that of the Grreeks or Alexander, under that of a leopard ; and that of the Romans, under the em- blem of a dreadful and terrible beast, diverse from the others, and having ten horns (the emblem of strength and power), which are, he says, ten kings that shall arise out of this kingdom ; and an- other, figured by another little horn which came up among them, shall rise after them, and he shall be diverse from the first, being a king-priest. These beasts, or kingdoms deprived of the knowledge of the true God, ^'rise up out of the sea,'' which is the emblem of the commotions of the empires of the earth. It is evident that all the emblems of the beast, spoken of in this passage, are the same as those of the fourth beast of Daniel, repre- senting the Roman Empire. And, when it is said that the beast was '' like unto a leopard, and his feet as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion," the prophet shows us that this beast represents the monarchy, which succeeded to that of the Greeks, to that of the Medes and Persians, and to that of the 12 134 COMMENTARY. Chaldeans ; that it was like to that of Alexander by the rapidity of its conquests ; to that of the Medes and Persians, by its solidity; and to that of Nebuchadnezzar, by its strength and bravery. Therefore, that it united the rapidity of the first by its conquests, the solidity of the second, and the strength and bravery of the third. The beast had " seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy;" that is, "the Roman Church, the mistress and mother of all the churches" (17 : 5), blasphemously called " the Christian religion," while it persecuted and destroyed Christianity and its professors. "The seven heads" are mountains, on which sitteth the great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth (see 17 :9-14); and these mountains are " the mounts Palatinus, Aventinus, Coelius, Capito- linus, Esquilinus, Quirinalis, and Yiminalis," upon which Rome sitteth. The prophet adds, "there are seven kings," seven crowns upon his heads (12 : 8), or forms of government : namely, kings, consulsj decemvirs, tribunes, dictators, emperors, exarchs or dukes : five are fallen, and one is (emperors), and the other is not yet come (exarchs) and when he cometh, he must continue a short space. " Having ten horns," which are ten kings, or kingdoms, which shall arise out of the ruins of the Roman Empire, after having de- stroyed it; they are, 1st, the Franks, a people from Westphalia; 2d, , the Goths, divided into Ostrogoths, or Eastern Goths, living in Thracia, and into Visigoths or Western G-oths ; 3d, the Bur- gundians, a people from the countries about the entrance of the Vistula River; 4th, the Anglo-Saxons, who settled in England; 5th, the x\lains, who had settled in Spain, where they were de- stroyed in 418 ; 6th, the Vandals, who having given their name to " Andalousia," a corruption from Vandalousia, were obliged to abandon Spain, and went to Africa ; 7th, the Suevi, who settled in Portugal ; 8th, the Huns or Tartars, who having ravaged, as the Lombards, the North of Italy, settled in the islands scattered in the Venetian Sea, or Pannonia ; 9th, the Lombards, in Italy; and 10th, the Heruli, a people from Prussia, settled in Italy, with the Lom- bards and Ostrogoths. Germany was inhabited by men of every one of these nations ; and, for that reason, the inhabitants were called " AUmans" (all men), that is, men of all nations. " And the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority." The dragon, or Satan, is the prince of this world, and he has all power over men, covetous of riches and grandeur. The city of Eome, in which he had his seat, in its renowned capitol, had long reigned over the world. Satan gave it, for the seat of this new empire, which the prophet saw rising up out of the sea, and besides this, he gave it " great authority," such as may be ob- COMMENTARY. 135 tained by superstition, fanaticism, imposture, lying wonders and infernal policy. ^' And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death :" this deadly wound cannot be an emblem of idolatry, destroyed by Constantino, and healed by popery ; for the question is not of the head of the " beast," but of one of his seven heads, representing the seven forms of government of the Roman Empire : and this head, wounded to death by the barbarians, was that of the emperors, under Momillus, called by derision ^' Augustalus." But '' his deadly wound was healed," not by the title of emperor, which was given to Charlemagne, in 800 ; but by the ten barbarian peoples, who had destroyed it, and who, with the ancient inhabi- tants, established ten kingdoms out of its ruins, as it is indicated by the " ten crowns," which are upon the horns of the beast. The prophet will soon tell us how the wound was healed; but, as the explanation of this master-piece of Satan is long, he tells us before- hand, that " all the world wondered after the beast :" all carnally- minded men, all nominal Christians, and children of rebellion, astonished at Satan's master-piece, abandoned Jesus and his word, to worship the dragon, who gave unto the beast power, riches, reli- gion, and infernal policy. They worshipped also, the beast, the civil power of the ten new kings, whose unchristian laws they obeyed rather than the word of (lod, saying : " Who is like unto the beast ? Who is able to make war with him ?" Mark, that we have seen only the corpse of the beast with his ten horns, and ten crowns. The prophet will tell us, now, how Satan gave him life, and that formidable power, which all the world contemplated with astonishment, without seeing that this wonderful work was nothing else than a league of the State and Church, combined to destroy the libert}^ of the people, and to rule over them with tyranny. //. Union of the State and Church. V. 5-7. "And there was given unto him a mouth, si:)eaking great things and blasphemies ; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months. And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome ihern ; and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations." ''There was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies." This mouth is that of the little horn (power, king), spoken of by Daniel (7 : 8, 20, 25). The words, which proceed out of the mouth of God, are the fundamental doctrines of the religion of God. Therefore, when it is said (12 : 15) that the 136 COMMENTARY. '^ dragon cast out of liis mouth water as a flood after the woman" (a deluge of barbarians after the Church), the word " mouth" is taken for paganism, the religion of Satan. It is not said here, whether this mouth, or religion, which was given the ten kingdoms, which rose up out of the ruins of the Roman Empire, belonged either to God, or to Satan ; but the great things and the blasphe- mies, spoken by the mouth, show us that it is the mouth of the second beast, who " had two horns like a lamb (two powers like Jesus Christ, the spiritual, and temporal), and he spake as a dragon," or Satan (verse 11). This mouth was " speaking great things and blasphemies," such as to boast to be " vicar of God, — to be clothed with the power of forgiving sins, — to open or shut heaven at his will, — to form with some dough the same Son of God, who was born of the Virgin Mary, — to entitle oneself ' Holiness' — God on earth — the King of the kings of the earth, being above the word of God, and having power to order that vice should be virtue, and virtue, vice." These kings, to whom such a religion was given, received power to continue forty and two months ; that is, 1260 years, as it is indicated (12 : 14) under the emblems of a time (a year, making twelve months), and times, and half a time (Dan. 7 : 25) ; that is, three years and a half, which make, according to the revolution of the moon, 1260 3-ears. Not only this mouth speaks great things and blasphemies against God and his name, but it is said that the beast opened also his mouth, to ''blaspheme his tabernacle (the emblem of his Church), and them that dwell in heaven," who live in the kingdoms formed out of the provinces of the empire, and who refuse to worship (obey) the beast, and profess his idolatrous religion. But it was given unto him to make war with the saints (Christians, 1 Cor. 1:2; Eph. 1 : 1), and to overcome them : and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations ; that is, over all the different nations of barbarians, who had destroyed the Roman Empire. But how did they blaspheme the Church of God, and the Christians who dwelt in their kingdoms ! They charged them with imaginary crimes; " they are," the Jesuits say, "discontented people and enemies of their country ; they wish to overthrow the throne and the altar; and to exterminate such heretics is to offer to God the most agreeable sacrifice. The State and the Church, must be set free from such pestiferous enemies." So, they blas- pheme the tabernacle (the Church) of God and the Christians, who " dwell in heaven" (in the kingdom), without receiving its religion. They promise heaven, indulgences, to the wild savages, who are ready to slaughter the servants of the Lord. The murderer, Dominic, was canonized for having caused the destniction of the COMMENTARY. 137 Albigenses. It -was the mouth of the false prophet, which ordered the slaughter of the saints, with whom it was given to the beast (the civil powers) to make war. Pope Innocent VIII. ordered the crusade against the Waldenses ; Gregory XIII. placed in the Vatican a picture, under which was this inscription : '' The sovereign pontiff approves the carnage of Coligny.'' He ordered a solemn procession from St. Peter's Church, to St. Louis, and stamped medals to perpetuate the remembrance of St. Bartholomew's Day. It was a bull of Clement Till, which armed the Irish, and caused the massacre of two hundred thousand Protestants. The Jesuit Peters, was the confessor of the persecutor James II. of England ; the Jesuits, Letellier and Lachaise, directed the conscience of Louis XIY., and the Cardinal of Birague was his counsellor. The Dominican friar, Torquemada, confessor o*f the Queen of Spain, Isabella, when grand-inquisitor, prosecuted, in four years, sixty thou- sand persons, more than four thousand of whom, were burnt alive, as heretics. Philip III., naturally mild and good, being spectator of an auto-da-fe (act of faith), pitied the fate of the unfortunate men who were abandoned to the flames, and he shed tears. The grand inquisitor took offence at the tenderness which he showed for their misfortune, and he did not blush to require of this prince, that he should be bled, and that his blood should be burnt by the execu- tioner. The coming of the kings of Spain to the throne, was com- monly celebrated by pompous autos-da-fe, which were for the people, formed, from infancy, according to the will of these bloody men, festival days, as were, for the heathens, the combats of gladiators ; — such are some of the bitter fruits of the masterpiece of Satan : '' The union of State and Church.'' ///. Vengeance of the Lord. V. 8-10. " And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the founda- tion of the world. If any man have an ear, let him hear. He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.'' "All that dwell upon the earth (who do not mind heavenly things and the word of God, as those who dwell in heaven), shall worship him," that is, shall admire and obey this constitution of the State, united with an apostate and worldly Church. But it is because their names are not written in the book of life of Jesus Christ, whose death was decreed, from the foundation of the world, for the ransom of the elect. Though the mouth was speaking great 12* 138 COAiMENTARY. things^ and power was given unto the beast over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations, — over France, England, Ireland, Grermany, Spain, Portugal, and Italy, — there were, among all the inhabitants of the earth, some faithful, dwelling in heaven, minding heavenly things, who did not worship the beast, or admire the great things spoken by the mouth, which was given him. They were this small number of men called ^^ obstinate heretics;" because they refused to admire and obey the beast as the multitude ; and they were the elect, whose names had been written in the book of life of the Lamb, slain from the foundation of the world. These servants of the Lord, had a soul, conscience, and a God ; and they chose the most cruel death rather than a base apostacy, and the liberty of the Lord, rather than the shameful bondage of Satan, though its fetters would be made with gold and enriched with precious stones. Kings may easily lead them into captivity and kill them ; Jezebel may say to Ahab : " Arise, eat bread, and let thine heart be merry : I will give thee the vineyard of Naboth" (1 K. 21 : 7) ; nominal Christians may enlist among Crusaders to slaughter them, or rejoice at the sight of their agonies in these bloody festival days, called " auto-da-fe." Here is what the Lord says, if they have an ear to hear : " He that leadeth into captivity, shall go into captivity : he that killeth with the sword, must be killed with the sword." From the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, and the dragoonings by which it was followed, Louis XIV. saw all calamities fall upon his kingdom, and his great grandson, Louis XYL, brought his head to the scaffold. The wars among the popes themselves ; their wars of thirty years with Germany ; the excommunications of the kings; the millions of crusaders destroyed in the East; the torrents of blood shed by Napoleon, in France, Italy, Germany, and Spain, were as many plagues, which the Almighty brought upon these people, to avenge the blood of his martyrs, and there is yet to come the vintage of his wrath, which will bring to an end the kingdoms of the earth. The elect know that they have a powerful avenger in heaven : therefore, they have patience in persecutions and suf- ferings ; and their faith triumphs in spite of their executioners. Until now, we have seen only the constitution of the civil and rclijiious powers, united together to make war with the saints: we have now to examine a second beast, which is as the soul of the first, and which is sj)oken of by Daniel, as "the little horn of the fourth beast, diverse from the first, being a king-priest (Dan. 7 : 20), and whose look was more stout than his fellows." CO 31 ME N TAR Y. 139 I. Antichrist — his description. V. 11. "And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns hke a lamb, and he spake as a dragon." A beast is a monarchy without understanding, and enemy of the word of God (Dan. 7 : 23). This second beast does not come up, as the others, out of the sea, the emblem of civil revolutions, but ^'out of the earth,'^ the miry clay, mixed with the iron (civil power), of the feet and toes of the great image of Nebuchadnezzar (Dan. 2 : 31-45), which represents a worldly corrupted religion, teaching commandments of men (see the Church of Pergamos, 2 : 12-17). This beast, which comes out of a worldly religion, " had two horns like a lamb,'^ like Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, who took away the sins of the world. A horn, in the prophetic language, is the emblem of strength and power. Therefore, this beast has two powers, as Jesus Christ, who has a spiritual and a temporal power; but, notwithstanding that, ^'he spake as a dragon," the devil or Satan (12 : 9); that is, with the same pride, tyranny, cruelty, and teaching the same idolatry, and lying wonders, to deceive the world. Now, these characters describe perfectly, the Bishop of Rome, universal bishop from 606, and temporal prince from 756, when the King Pepin, gave him the Ravenna's exarchate : Charle- magne gave him also the kingdom of the Lombards, and Louis the Pious ratified in his behalf the possession of the Roman State ; so that the principalities of the Heruli, Ostrogoths, and Lombards, are the three horns (powers or kingdoms), which fell " before the little horn that had eyes (an infernal policy invented by bishops and Jesuits), and a mouth that spake very great things, whose look was more stout than his fellows" (Dan. 7 : 20). We have seen pre- viously what are the great things spoken by the popes ; we know what works of destruction were accomplished at their command ; how the book of God has been proscribed, and the Bible readers tormented in dungeons, and burnt at the stake ; and how the wor- ship of pagan devils (souls of dead men deified), has been again established under the names of canonized saints, under the patron- age of which, the temples, cities, and kingdoms have been placed, as they were formerly under the pagan demigods. Therefore, popedom is the beast spoken of here ; the pope is the " man of sin, the son of perdition,'^ who sitteth in the temple of God, as God, showing himself that he is God (2 Th. 2 : 4). Now, what was the power of the beast ? (See the description of Antichrist, at the end of the seventeenth chapter.) 140 C M M E N T A R Y. II. His Poicer. V. 12, 13. " And be exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and caiiseth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men." It is known by everybody that tlie popes have claimed the power over the whole world, after this fair reasoning : " Jesus Christ gave to Peter the keys of the kingdom of heaven ; whoever gives the container, gives also the things contained in it; now the earth is contained in the heavens; therefore all the earth was given to Saint Peter; and, by him, to his successors." Having such titles to the possession of the whole world, the popes never lost any opportunity to exercise this chimerical power before the kings, who were looked upon as their vassals. It was in the presence of the kings of Spain and Portugal that the papist inquisitors burnt their subjects; it was in the presence of the kings of France, England, Germany, and Piedmont, that the popes ordered crusades to exterminate their subjects; in the presence of the kings, they extorted the money of the subjects of their kingdoms; they enforced upon them the keeping of their fasting and festival days, and forbid or permitted such marriages as they pleased. The tribu- nals themselves were subjected to their orders ; and kings, as well as their subjects, were exposed to their excommunications. There- fore the second beast (popedom) exerciseth all the power of the first beast (civil powers) before him. Again, he "■ causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship (obey) the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed." These words may signify that they preach obedience to the kings, who are looked upon by the popes as ^' kings by divine law," when they have received their crowns at their hands. But they signify rather that the beast causeth all nominal Christians, and those who live in the compass of his dominion, to worship (to receive and obey) a similar form and constitution as that of the Roman Empire which had been destroyed; that the popes should be the emperors ; and the diverse kingdoms, formed out of its ruins, the provinces of this new empire, which was an image of the first, and whose wound (destruction) " was healed" by this form and constitution. " And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men." This fire represents the persecu- tions and anathemas, called in ¥rench ^' Lcs Jo ud res du Vatican'^ (the thunders of the Vatican). jMcn were so blinded and supersti- COMMENTARY. 141 tious that they supposed that these papal anathemas were scourges, or fire, coming down from heaven ; that God was truly condemning to hell those who were under the papal curses. So, when King Robert of France was excommunicated, he was abandoned by all his subjects, and shut up in a room, as a pestilential being, receiv- ing his food through a hole in the wall, at the hands of two faithful servants ; and yet these servants passed the plates, which he had handled, through the fire, to purify them. Every one knows how the high-minded Henry IV., Emperor of Germany, was obliged to come, barefooted and clothed with an old sack, and to kneel, during three cold days in winter, at the gates of the castle of Canossa ! Such is the fire which the beast has the power to cause " to come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men V And men were so superstitious that they could believe that these curses came from heaven ; that God was approving and rati- fying the papal curses ! III. His Works. V. 14, 15, "And deoeiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live. And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed." The miracles, by which popery deceiveth here them that dwell on the earth (in the compass of its dominion) are not the lying wonders, the miracles of saints, of relics, and images, as walking and speaking crucifixes, weeping pictures, or coagulated blood of saints growing liquid in festival days, by which ignorant people are deceived; but they are miracles of this sovereign power and tyranny, which the popes had the power to work, as vicars of God, before the kings of the earth ; " saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.'' The inhabitants of the king- doms which were under the papal sway, were struck with terror by these anathemas, and by the tortures and stakes of the Inquisition ; and they were prevailed upon to submit themselves to the papal power, and to make an image to the beast; to the Roman Empire which they had destroyed by the sword, and did live, having re- ceived a new life from popery. Now, the image ought to be like the original, which is the Roman Empire, not only as it was at the 142 COMMENTARY. time of his destruction, but as it was before an idolatrous empire ; for the beast rises up out of the sea (verse 1), with all the cha- racters of the pagan empire, and receives the seat and power of the dragon. Therefore, this new empire should be like the primitive one, having the same gods and worship, and enjoying the same rights, power, and privileges. So, though the French, English, Germans, Spaniards, and other people, are not the subjects of the Roman Empire, which they destroyed, they are obliged to obey |,he dictates of the popes, and to add to the proper names of their respective kingdoms, the name of their spiritual bondage " Roman Catholics," without being Romans. In this manner, these king- doms are but provinces, and their kings, the vassals of the papal empire, to which they are tributaries, and from which the bishops receive their appointment. The worship of saints, their mediators and protectors, the images and relics, and its gross superstitions, are very similar to those of pagan Rome ; and, for intolerance and superstition, papal Rome has far outdone pagan Rome. For '' he had power to give life (strength and power) unto the image of the beast (the spiritual papal empire) that the image of the beast should both speak (teach its idolatrous religion), and cause that as many as would not worship (accept and religiously obey) the image of the beast should be killed." The prophet does not speak, here, either of talking graven images, or of weeping pictures, but of the image of the beast, — of popery, — the image of the Roman pagan empire. And, as its re- ligion is represented under the emblem of "a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies," the word ''speak" means nothing else, than that popery had such a power, as to be permitted not only *' to preach its religion in every kingdom," but to -order crusades to kill those who would not profess its religion and obey its laws. So, popery was not satisfied to enjoy the liberty of worship itself j but caused that as many as would not worship according to its inventions, should be killed. The following verses will show what was the nature and cruelty of its intolerance. IV. His Intolerance. V. IG, 17. "And he caused all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: and that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name." The beast spoken of obliged every man, without exception, "to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads;" that is, C M M E N T A R Y. 143 to show by their works, — indicated by their right hand, — and by the public profession of their rehgion, — indicated by the mark in their foreheads, — that they belonged to him as slaves, or cattle belong to their masters, whose mark has been stamped on their bodies. There are here two classes of worshippers : the first, as the savages, who have the images of their gods stamped on their arms, do everything to increase the power of the beast; and to this class belong the Jesuits, monks, priests, and every popish fanatic. The second are those, who profess the papal religion, without knowing the depths of Satan, and without being sold to him, soul and body. There is yet another class of men, indi- cated by the words, ''the number of his name," which they have. They do not belong to him, as slaves to their master; they have not his mark of bondage ; they are only called " Roman Catho- lics,'' as Pascal and Fenelon, who were born Catholic, but did not belong to popery, either by their ftiith or their works. This third class of Catholics is not included in the eternal damna- tion, denounced by an angel against the worshippers of the beast (14 : 9-11). "And no man could buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.'^ To sell and buy is to make use of a natural right, which belongs to all men, and without which society can stand no longer. Nevertheless, the Homan Church has prevented those, whom she called " heretics,'^ because they refused to take the mark of her bondage, from using this right, by interdicting the use of fire and water; and yet, if any one had, with them, such intercourse as is commanded by humanity and compassion, he was himself tormented as a heretic. Whoever refused to obey the usurped power of the popes, or to comply with the established Church, was considered out of the protection of the law, and exposed to any legal incapacities and punishment. It is an astonishing fact, that this church has always lived on good terms with infidels and atheists, while no religious man was permitted to live without the mark of papal bondage, which may be the sign of the cross, to which the prophet makes allusion. For it is, according to their catechisms, the sign of Christians, or rather of Koman Catholics. We read in history that the philosopher Diagoras, having turned an atheist, the Athenians were so incensed against him that the Areopagus, to which was committed the charge of punishing impiety, as well as the other crimes, offered one talent for his head, and two, if he were de- livered alive. Rome has invented every kind of torture to exter- minate the friends of the gospel ; but infidelity and impiety, born in her pale, enjoy peacefully the delights of this world, if they 144 COMMENTARY. only preserve the number of the name of the beast, which they received on their birthday, — and if this name is yet unknown to us, here it is. V. The Name of the Beast. V. 18. "Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man ; and his number is six hundred threescore and six." The name of the beast or kingdom must be 1. The name of a man; 2. This name must be written in Grreek letters, and counted after the manner of counting of the Greeks, for St. John wrote in Greek; and before the invention of the Arabic figures, every nation used to represent the numbers with the letters of the alphabet. Now, the Greek name " Lateinos," which by the con- traction of ei into i, according to the use of the Latins, makes " Latinus," the name of the founder of the Latin Empire ; and if we look in a Greek dictionary, for the respective value of every letter of this name, we shall find it as follows : — L = 30 a = 1 t = 300 e = 5 i = 10 n = 50 o = 70 s = 200 Total, 666 The name " Latinus" (Latin), the king of Latium, and founder of the empire of the Latins, in Italy, is therefore the name sought for. The name of the empire, wounded to death by a sword, and healed by the union of the kings with the popes whose vassals they are, is the lloman pagan empire, which, after having been destroyed by ten barbarian nations, was restored by popedom, the image of the first. It is this empire which Satan raised up out of its ruins to destroy the servants of the Lord, which rendered the little book bitter in the belly ; it is this empire, which men, deceived by the chimerical supposition that popery was the king- dom of Jesus Christ on earth, have long supported for the misfor- tune of mankind, and which the Ileformation has shown to be Antichristianity, in giving us again the word of God, in which this COMMENTARY. 145 church is clearly pointed out with her errors, idolatrous supersti- tions, and bloody persecutions. If the characters of the great Antichrist, described in this chapter, are not yet sufficiently clear to tell every man, " Here is the man I" the prophet will give us some others in the seventeenth chapter. Now, the prophet having made known the great enemy of Jesus Christ and of his Church, he will resume the course of the events, which he left off, in the tenth chapter, after having given us the emblem of the Ileformation, under the symbol of a "little book open, sweet in the mouth as honey, and bitter in the belly.'' The following chapter shows us the progress of the Reformation, which shall cause the ruin of Antichrist^ whose emblematic description we have just examined. CHAPTER XIV. SONG OF THE REDEEMED, V. 1-5 — PROGRESS OF THE REFORMA- TION, V. 6-8 CURSE AGAINS-T THE WORSHIPPERS OF ANTI- CHRIST, V. 9-13 — THE HARVEST, V. 14-16 — THE VINTAGE, V. 17-20. V. 1-5. " And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father's name written in their foreheads. And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder : and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps : and they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders : and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth. These are they which were not defiled with women ; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from ajnong men, being the first-fruits unto God and to the Lamb. And in their mouth was found no guile : for they are without fault before the throne of God." These hundred forty and four thousand servants, standings with the Lamb, on the mount Sion, the type of the evangelical Church, are those who were sealed, in their foreheads, in the seventh chapter, to preserve in their purity the doctrines of the apostles, during the Dark Ages, and to hand them to the following generations. They have "his Father's name written in their foreheads;" because they have been faithful to his word,- and were not defiled by idolatry and superstition, as the multitude of men, who were deceived by 146 COMMENTARY. the chimerical unity of all the members of the church under one chief on the earth. And, they appear here, at the time of the Reformation, singing the praises of the Lord, to give the Reformers the hand of fellowship (3 : 7-13). When the Reformation was proclaimed by the monk Luther, it was " as the voice of a great thunder,^' for the high dignitaries of the Roman Church, whose anathemas, ''her seven thunders and the fire which the beast maketh to come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,'' proved, this time, to be powerless. The friends of liberty heard this event with joy and gratitude, and the rest of the scattered Christians, the Waldenses, Lollards, Mora- vians, and Bohemians celebrated this deliverance of the Lord with songs of joy and thanksgivings, rejDresented by ''the voice of harpers harping with their harps.'' It was the awakening of the people and the first shaking of the papal throne, indicated by " the voice of many waters (peoples and nations, 17 : 15), and the voice of a great thunder." " And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts (the representatives of the militant Church, as the elders represent the triumphant: see, 7 : 6-8), and the elders; and no man could learn that song but the hundred forty-four thou- sand, which were redeemed from the earth." Mark here that, without God, we can do nothing. His word is a sealed book in the hands of a learned man, or as a book in the hands of an unlearned man, who cannot read (Is. 29 : 10-12). To the eyes of those who have been seduced by the enchantments of popery, this song of the redeemed, which we have seen (7 : 10—12) proclaiming that salva- tion comes from God and the Lamb, seems to be "a new song," a new religion, though it be the everlasting gospel, " the faith which was once delivered unto the saints." Therefore, this song is heard before the throne of God, and before the representatives of the militant and of the triumphant Church ; but the redeemed of the Lord are not permitted to sing it before the papal throne, without being slaughtered and burnt, as heretics, by the blinded disciples of popery. They cannot understand Protestantism with its simple and truthful worship, its churches without ornaments and statues, its opposition to the papal doctrines and power, its salvation by grace and not by works. They are encircled with this scholastic reason- ing : " We must believe all that can be proved by the holy fathers, councils, decisions of the sovereign pontiffs, tradition, and constant practice of the church," and sometimes, they add, " by the holy Scriptures ;" and so, they wander, as in a labyrinth, in which they cannot find any place to get out of their errors and to arrive at the COMMENTARY. 147 truth. They do not think that truth is older than the corrupt sources from which they draw their doctrines ; and that, to find the truth, they ought to trace it back to its origin, which is the word of Grod. I have seen, hundreds of times, the confutation of the false interpretation of the texts, ^' Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church ;" and, " If he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican'' (Matt. 16 : 18 ; 18 : 17), upon which they build up all the papal edifice ; and, though these confutations be irresistible, they, as men who have no ear to understand, incessantly repeat : "Jesus Christ said to Peter, Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church ;" " If he neglect to hear the Church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican." Hundreds of times, they have been answered that Protestantism is all the Bible, from the first to the last page, and nothing else than the Bible ; that it is not, then, a jiew religion — that Luther did not invent it — that it was before him — that the Reformers, Luther, Zuingle, and Calvin, are nothing else for Protestantism than zealous and courageous men, made use of by G^od, as instrumentalities, to break asunder the fetters of bon- dage, riveted by ignorance and superstition, and to bring back again, among men, the beneficent light of the gospel; and, with the gospel, liberty. Notwithstanding that, they repeat incessantly the same accusations: '^ Where were you before Luther? Your religion is new ', it was unknown before Luther, its inventor, scarcely three hundred years ago.'' Let them learn here, that there are old things, which receive new names, without destroying their purity and antiquity. Though the servants of the Lord had been persecuted and put to death, as heretics and enemies of mankind, they stand, with the Lamb, on the mount Sion, having his Father's name written in their foreheads. The prophet declares that these servants, sealed with the seal of the living God (7 : 2-8), the Albigenses, Waldenses, Lollards, in England, and the Moravian churches, '' are they which were not defiled with women," — with " the harlots" of the 3Iother Church (17 : 5), and with " that woman Jezebel, which calleth her- self a prophetess (the Roman Church, which calleth herself infalli- ble), to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication" (2 : 20), by the worship of saints and images, which is the spiri- tual fornication and adultery spoken of by the prophet. "For they are virgins;" not of that virginity, imposed upon men, by abstaining from marriage, which " is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled (Heb. 13:4); but of that virginity of which St. Paul says: " I am jealous over you with godly jealousy : for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to 148 COMMENTARY. Christ" (2 Cor. 11 : 2). ^' These are theywhich follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth," in tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword, in dungeons and a,t the stake, rather than worship the saints, and kneel down before dumb and insensible images. For, to kneel down before the wood or stone or silver, to render them a religious honor, is to worship and adore, whatever may be the name by which this religious service be denominated. Their virginity consists iti their faithfulness to Christ, and not in a forced celibacy, which has been, at all times, the source of all the immoralities, and of those crimes which Christians are not permitted to name. ^' These were the redeemed from among men, being the first fruits unto Grod and to the Lamb. And in their mouth was found no guile (no hypocrisy), for they are without fault before the throne of (rod.'^ They have been accused, aspersed, and extermi- nated as heretics ; but they are without fault before the throne ol Grod. Their righteousness, it is true, is not their own ; for they were like all the children of Adam, poor and wretched sinners • " but they have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb," who imputed to them his righteousness, and kept them under his wings from the fury of the dragon ; because they were the redeemed from among men, being " predestinated to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the first- born among many brethren." Their number is not large ', but they are only '' the first fruits unto Grod and to the Lamb." And, as the Jews offered, on the day of Pentecost, the first fruits of the earth, that the mass should be sanctified, so these redeemed are consecrated to God, as the first fruits, to sanctify the mass of peoples, namely ; this great multitude of Protestants, ''which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues" (7 : 9). They are the first witness. They come here to give the hand of fellow- ship to those, whom the Lord will cause to come and worship be- fore their feet (3 : 9), to bear witness with them to the word of God. These new disciples of the gospel, called " Protestants," for the protestation of Christian ministers, which was signed at Spires (April 25, 1529), against the profession of faith, which the Emperor Charles V. would constrain them to adopt, are the second witness of the Lord, inasmuch as they were reformed from popery, by the preaching of the gospel at the time of the Reformation, to witness against those, who, notwithstanding the preaching of the gospel, continue to live in the idolatrous doctrines of Antichrist. V. G-8. '-And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the eartli, and to every COMMENTARY. 149 nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him ; for the hour of his judgment is come : and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters. And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, the great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her ibrnieation." The words, " And I saw another angel/' refer us evidently to the tenth chapter, where the prophet saw a mighty angel having in his hand a little book open. This little book is called here by its name '^ the everlasting gospel ;" because it is always the same gospel once delivered unto the saints. It is the same gospel, which was preached by the apostles, which is still to be preached, not to the heathens, but to "them that dwell on the earth," to them that inhabit the kingdoms polluted by the idolatrous doctrines of popery. Hence, we may see how necessary it was that the prophet should show us, by a digression, how the Antichristian Papal Empire had been raised up out of the ruins of the Roman pagan empire, and how these peoples and nations, to whom the gospel is to be preached, were swallowed up in the great papal apostacy. These papal peoples are the subjects of the Keformation, whose emblem we have seen in the tenth chapter. Here, we begin to hear the voice of the Reformers. The rapidity of their progress, with the instrumentality of the recent invention of the art of printing, is re- presented by " the angel %ing in the midst of heaven," through- out the papal empire. At first, they attack only the scandalous abuses which had been introduced into the Church. It was the shameful traffic of indulgences they wished to put down, and the worship of the saints and icnages they wished to destro}^, in order that men should turn again to the worship of the true living God. '^ Fear God," they said, with a loud voice, " and give glory to him ; for the hour of his judgment is come ;" and worship, — not the crea- ture which cannot save you — but "worship him that made heaven and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.'' Such were the first steps of the Reformation. But the little book, translated into living languages, and put into the hands of all men, awoke them soon from their lethargic slumber. It was read with avidity throughout the extent of the papal empire, in Ger- many, Holland, England, France, Spain, and even in Italy : its doctrines were contrasted with the teachings of the Roman Church; the papal errors were revealed, and the man of sin, the son of per- dition, pointed out. Then the voice of the peoples, and among them the Reformers, raised up by the Spirit of God, was heard pronouncing these words of the second angel : " Babylon is fallen, 13* 150 COMMENTARY. is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.'^ Eome is called " Babylon/' because, as the ancient Babylon, which held in bondage the people of God, and cast into a heated furnace, those who would not worship the image that Nebuchad- nezzar set»up, so the Roman Church held in bondage the servants of God, and had funeral piles and tortures for those who would not obey her laws, and worship her images (Dan. 3 : 1-29 ; 6 : 4-28). Pagan Rome did not impose her gods upon the people she had conquered; but papal Rome presents a wooden cross to all people, in all the compass of her dominion, and says, " Believe, or die !" Believe, — not in the book of God, in his word — but in my power, in the miracles of ray saints and relics, — believe, that I am the vicar of Christ, — that I am infallible, — that I have all power on earth and in heaven, or — die ! So, " she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication." Mark the expression, " drink of the wine of her fornication ;" these nations, defiled by her spiritual fornication, are as it were intoxicated, without reason, understanding, and ready, as drunken men, to shed innocent blood,- to gain heaven. At the voice of the monk Dominic, the Albigenses were slaughtered, whilst the priests and other monks were invoking the Holy Ghost, for their bloody deed, by singing the " Veni Sancte Spiritus !" They arc no more men ; there is neither brotherly nor filial love ; for, in their fanatic frenzy, the father will betray the son ; the brother, his brother; the son, his parents; and they will denounce each other to the Inquisition, thinking to render service to God by such unnatural treason. So much, and so true it is, that the papal idolatrous worship had made them drunk with the wine of the wrath of her spiritual fornication ! Therefore, here is the curse, which another angel denounces agtynst the fanatic worship- pers of popery. V. 9-11. " And the third an^el followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his fore- head, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of llie wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation ; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: and the smoke of their torment ascendeth up forever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name." It was decided, in 1215, in the last General Council of Lateran, composed of 412 bishops, and 800 abbots, that " out of the Roman Church there is no salvation." But here an angel of God, more powerful than all the most numerous councils, pronounces, with a loud voice, the eternal damnation of all the worshippers of the C M 31 E N T A R Y. 151 beast and bis image (of the pagan and papal Rome). '' The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture (without alleviation), into the cup of his indigna- tion ; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone, and the smoke of their torment ascendeth up forever and ever" (Ps. 75 : 8). This anathema is clearly pronounced against the Papists ; but does it concern all Roman Catholics in general ? God forbid that we should extend this anathema beyond its limits, and that we involve in that curse such men as Pascal, and Fenelon, and so many other sincere persons, who, in the midst of the darkness of popery, arrived at the knowledge of Jesus, the Saviour of mankind, notwithstand- ing the altars of the pagan superstitions, which concealed him from their eyes. There are some Roman Catholics, who have only "the number of the name of the beast" (13 : 17), who are born Catholic, without being slaves of papal superstitions and idolatry; and they are not included in this curse. The anathema is pronounced only against those, who " receive his mark in their foreheads, or in their hand, or the mark of his name," who are truly Papists in their acts and profession ; who profess his religion in all its idolatrous worship, and support and propagate its doctrines. The curse is formal;, and, without stepping upon the throne of God, we may say Avith certitude, after the words of the angels, that those who profess the abominable doctrines of popery, and are concerned in their propa- gation, or in the papal persecutions and cruelties, " the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God" — that they ^' shall be tor- mented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb, — that the smoke of their torment ascendeth up forever and ever, and that they have no rest day nor night." Such is the anathema enacted against them. Let the Roman Catholics examine themselves before God. Let them com- pare their belief with the word of God, and ask God earnestly that he would teach them in the way that they shall choose ; for God is not mocked with impunity. V. 12, 13. "Here is the patience of the saints: here are they tliat keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus. And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors; and their works do follow them.'' The dreadful curse, which we have just examined, indicates that there is some papal persecution plotted against the witnesses of the Lord; and the words, "Here is the patience of the saints" refer certainly to some bloody deed of the supporters of popery. As all 152 COMMENTARY. the pagan persecutions were included in the Diocletian persecution, which was the last and the most cruel, so the papal persecutions and slaughters are included in the persecution of Louis XIV., which was also the last and the most cruel. The Church of Smyrna (2 : 8-11) is a picture of what shall come to pass during the period of which it is the emblem, and the persecution takes place only, at the opening of the fifth seal (6 : 9-11) ; in the same manner, when a new state of things is to take place, the prophet shows us, in a picture, the sealing of the witnesses and the slaugh- ter which awaits them (7 : 4-17) ; but the bloody persecution is only explained in its place, in the series of the events (11 : 7-11). Therefore the words, '' Here is the patience of the saints," refer us, it is true, to all the slaughters of Protestants b}^ the papists ; but especially to the killing of the witnesses, at the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, which was ^' the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth'^ (8:10). The event, which followed immediately the martyrdom of the two witnesses (11 : 11—13), namely, the ascending of the witnesses up to the throne of England, which checked all persecution, gives us the meaning of the thirteenth verse : '' \Yrite, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth : Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors ; and their works do follow them.'' The prophet is not speaking of the happiness enjoyed by the saints immediately after their death, nor of the possession of the reward promised to good works, as it is generally understood. Scott sup- poses that the Holy Grhost teaches us, by these words, that we have nothing to fear from the terrors of purgatory, since the saints of the Lord rest from their labors. But the prophet does not say, " Blessed are the saints or Christians which die in the Lord," but, " Blessed are the dead" (the sinners, heathens and papists) (Eph. 2:1)" which die in the Lord" who repent and are converted to the Lord)." Paul says, "Yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead," from sinners or heathens, as it is evident (Rom. 6 : 13), and therefore the dead spoken of here, as well as in this text, " And the time of the dead, that they should be judged" (11 : IS) represent the papists. Now, to die in the Lord, signifies " to put off the old man, and put on the new man '," for the same apostle, speaking to the Colossian Christians, says, ^' For ye are dead (converted to the Lord and dead to the world), and your life is hid with Christ in God" (3 : 3). Therefore, the meaning of this text is, " ]3!essed are the papists who turn to Christ and his word from henceforth," from the triumph of the witnesses, who are on the COMMENTARY. 153 tlirone of England, and who will check the papal persecutions. " Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors (from their persecutions to which the converts are exposed), and their works do follow them,'' whatever they may accomplish for the glory of G-od, and the coming of his kingdom, shall stand after them : no papal crusade shall any longer destroy the works of Christians converted from popery ; they shall enjoy the fruit of their faith- fulness unto death. Such is the meaning of this passage. It is like a challenge addressed to the persecutors, showing that they can do nothing against the Lord. We have, now, " the judgment of the dead" (11 : 18), under the emblems of " harvest and vintage,'' which form the third woe, emblematically represented by the seven vials of the wrath of Grod. V. 14-16. "And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle. And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud. Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap ; for the harvest of the earth is ripe. And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth ; and the earth was reaped." The white cloud, upon which sat the Son of man, is the emblem of the holy and mj^sterious judgments of God, in which the Chris- tian sees, as through a shining cloud, Jesus Christ appearing, in his human nature, to execute these judgments, as he has received the power from his Father (5:6-8). He had "on his head a golden crown," as an emblem of his royalty, of his righteous judg- ments, and of his sovereign power over all the kingdoms of the earth. The " sharp sickle" shows how terrible are the judgments, which he is to execute over the papal kingdoms. The other angel, who came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice, to thrust in his sickle, and reap, is the symbol of the iniquities of the dead papists, whose voice crieth to God from the earth ; because the measure of their sins is full, and the appointed time to judge them is at hand. This angel " came out of the temple," to show that the vengeance of the Lord will execute these judgments, to punish those who have sinned against and in his temple (Ez. 8 : 4-18). " It is time to thresh the daughter of Babylon : yet a little while, and the time of her harvest shall come;" for the harvest of the earth (papal kingdoms) is ripe. And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth ; and the earth was reaped. To understand well what are the judgments, which are represented under the emblem of the harvest, let us examine the parable of the '-seed," and the interpretation given by Jesus Christ himself. '• Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven 154 COMMENTARY. is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field : but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. So the servants of the householder came and said unto him: Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? From whence then hath it tares ? He said unto them. An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him. Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? But he said, Nay ; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest : and in the time of harvest I 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 barn." Here is the explanation given by our Lord himself. " He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man ; the field is the world ; the good seed are the children of the kingdom ; but the tares are the chil- dren of the wicked one; the enemy that soweth them is the devil ; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels. As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that oMend, and them which do iniquity ; and shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear." (Matt. 13 : 24-30; 37-43.) The angels, who represent every person, chosen as instrumentalities to execute the will of Crod, have two things to do during the time of the harvest : to gather first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them ] and to gather the wheat into the barn of the Lord. Now, from the beginning of the French Revolution of 1793, the reapers have been at their work. The Robespierres of that bloody revolution have been the instrumentality made use of by the Lord to execute his vengeance upon the royal family, the nobles, and priests. And, as the people had shared in their bloody persecu- tions against the Christians, God raised up the young Napoleon, and bestowed upon him this extraordinary genius, in order that he should avenge, on the field of battle, the blood of his martyrs, vrhich the people had cruelly shed, as water upon the earth. The nu- merous victims of Robespierre's rage, and the thousands who fell in every battle of the great Napoleon, were, as many bundles of tares bound together to be burnt with the fire of war. (Sec the ex- position of the nineteenth chapter.) The harvest, as the emblem of the judgments of God, contains the first five vials of the wrath of God, as it will be shown in the sixteenth chapter, the prophet showing always, in a general picture, the events, which he will afterwards explain more circumstantially. The angels, who had the charge of gathering the wheat into the barn of the Lord, began their work seven years after the French COMMENTARY. 155 Revolution. The Protestant Cliurch of England was then awakened from her lethargic slumber. A Bible society was founded, in 1800, in England ; and, in 1805, some other societies were formed to send missionaries throughout the world, among the heathens and among the peoples poisoned with the idolatrous papal superstitions. This work, which increases day by day, will finish only, when the kingdoms of this world shall be the Lord's. Then it shall be the end of the world, according to the meaning of the parable of the seed ; but not of this universe, as it is generally understood, and which shall take place only after the Millennium (20 : 11-15), if so it is that this universe ought to be destroyed. When the end of the kingdoms of this world shall come, at the pouring out of the seventh vial, called here the vintage, described in the nineteenth chapter, then the kingdom of the Lord shall be set up, and " then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.'^ There is the harvest ; here is the vintage. V. 17-20. " And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle. And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over the fire; and^cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth ; for her grapes are fully ripe. And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great wine-press of the wrath of God. And the wine-press was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the wine-press, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs." The harvest was finished, in 1816, with the fifth vial of the wrath of Grod ; and, then, the sixth was poured out, to prepare the elements (16 : 12-16), which must cause the last catastrophe to take place, and the kingdom of our Lord to be set up in all the earth. It is yet the '^ sharp sickle," which is the emblem of the destruction of the kings of the earth. The angel, who has this deadly weapon, came also "out of the temple," to show that it was thence also that the iniquities of men ascended up to the throne of God ; and these iniquities are the more heinous that the temple of God " is in heaven" (the empire), since the sounding of the seventh trumpet (11 : 19). They could have entered into the temple, since the liberty of worship had been granted, in 1792; the rod of the man of sin had been broken, and the Bible had been put into the hands of all those who would receive it. But they choose rather to con- tinue in their errors, superstitions, idolatry, or infidelity ; therefore this angel comes out of the temple, which is open in the papal empire, " having a sharp sickle." Another angel, which had power over the fire (18 : 8) of war, " came out from the altar," to show that the judgments, which are 156 COMMENTARY. to be executed, liave been provoked by the iniquities committed agcainst the atoninp; sacrifice of Jesus Christ (Ez. 9 : 1-7), cried to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, ''Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth ; for her grapes are fully ripe" (Joel 3 : 9-17). "And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great wine-press of the wrath of God.^^ This vintage is called ''the battle of that great day of God Almighty (16 : 14-16), in the place called in the Hebrew tongue, Armageddon" (the mountain of destruction), and. we have its de- scription in the nineteenth chapter, where this battle is called also " the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.'^ This battle synchronizes with the seventh vial, whose first efi'usion has shaken all the papal kingdoms ; and when it shall be poured out to the dregs, they shall be swallowed up into an everlasting ruin with all the worshippers of the image of the beast, and all those who commit iniquity. The Protestants are also invited to awake from their slumber and luke- warmness, and to be prepared for the coming of the Lord (3 : 14— 22); for many of them, as well as the papists, are miserable, poor, and blind, and naked, and they do not know it. Those, who shall not be clothed with the wedding-garment at His coming, shall be " cast into outer darkness ; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'' " And the wine-press was trodden without the city," either without Rome, or rather without the papal kingdoms, in some Pro- testant country, or in the East, as the second coming of our Lord is likened to the lightning appearing from the east. *' And blood came out of the wine-press, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs," which make 200 Italian miles, which form, it is said, all the extent of the papal territory from Home to the Po lliver. "We cannot say precisely where shall be the theatre of that scene of carnage, since the event is not yet accomplished. But we can say that papal Rome shall drink the dregs of this cup of destruction, that, as a great mill- stone cast into the sea, is found no more, " So with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall b^ found no more at all" (read Is. 34, and 63 : 1-6). Let us not forget that the Lord admonishes us to watch and be ready ; for we know neither the day nor the hour, wherein the Son of man cometh. COMMENTARY. 157 CHAPTER XV. THE TEMPLE OP THE TABERNACLE OF THE' TESTIMONY OPENED IN HEAVEN. This chapter, wliicii is as the preface to the following chapter, where the seven vials of the wrath of God are poured out upon the papal kingdoms, comes naturally after the eleventh chapter, at the end of which the seventh angel sounded. Before commencing the explanation of this chapter, let us cast a glance upon the method which the prophet has followed, since his digression from the course of the events (10 : 11); and we shall be convinced that God alone could employ, in his exposition of the events, such a wonderful order. He has, at first, delineated, under the emblems of the temple, and of the court without the temple, given unto the Gentiles, the limits, which separate the true Christians from the multitude of those who have only the name of Christians, and to whom it was given to tread down under foot the holy cit}^, to over- come and kill the servants of the Lord, during 1260 years. This time being accomplished, the enemies of the witnesses formed a conspiracy to destroy them utterly; and after having killed them, during three years and a half, when they thought to have succeeded in their infernal plot, the witnesses ascended up to the throne of England, at the sight of their enemies. Henceforth' they are enabled to check the papal persecutions : such was their first victory over their enemies. Near by this picture, the prophet shows us, under the same prospect, and by the emblem of the seventh trumpet, the final triumph of the Church of the Lord and the complete ruin of her enemies. An ordinary writer would have given immediately after the sounding of the seventh trumpet, the emblems of the cala- mities which it contains. But we would have known, neither the true author of the persecutions decreed against the Christians, nor the artifices which he had employed, nor the instruments which he had in his power, to succeed in their destruction. For, true, the prophet had told us that the Roman Empire had been destroyed by ten barbarian nations ; that the Mussulmans had conquered the Eastern Empire, in which they spread the poison of Mahometan- ism ; but we did not know what had become of these barbarians or of the peoples which they conquered. It was, then, necessary that the prophet should teach us that first, in order that we might understand which people and nations are to be visited by the 14 158 COMMENTARY. scourges, contained in the seventh trumpet; and again, it was necessary for us that we should be acquainted with the progress of the Reformation, the preaching of the gospel freely given to the papists, and with the eternal damnation awaiting the supporters of the masterpiece of Satan, and the wretched victims of its idola- trous teachings, — in order that we might acknowledge that the judgments of God are just, and that he only punishes because they have refused to obey his gracious and merciful invitations. Now, it is precisely what the prophet has done in the preceding chapters, and it is what he should have done, before giving us the -emblems of the calamities, which are contained in the seven vials of the wrath of God. V. 1-4. '• And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvellous, seven angels having the seven last plagues ; for in them is filled up the wrath of God. And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire : and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God. And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying. Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Ahnighty ; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints. Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thoxi only art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy judgments are made manifest." In reading this chapter, we wonder at the solemn majesty, which reigns from the beginning to the end, as when, in the courts of law, we see, before his judges, some notorious malefactor, con- demned to death, and surrounded with a crowd of spectators and officers, clothed with the emblems of the sacred duty, which society intrusted to them, ready to execute the judgments of human justice. We know who are the guilty. And their doom is repre- sented under the image of a " sea of glass mingled with fire," in which they are to be destroyed, as Pharaoh and all his army were formerly swallowed up in the Red Sea, for having pursued to the utmost the people of God. Here the spectators are the redeemed of the Lamb, who are witnessing the destruction of their enemies; the angels, clothed in pure and white linen, are the ministers of the vengeance of the Lord ; they receive seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, from the hand of one of the representatives of the militant Church, against which the foul deed was committed ; and the temple, in which all these things are performed, is filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power, and no man is able to enter into the temple, to take refuge there, to escape from the judgments pronounced against the guilty; for it is too late. COMMENTARY. 159 The emblems of these mysterious dispensations of the provi- dence of G-od appear to the eyes of the prophet as a '^ great and marvellous sign." Seven angels, commissioned to execute the judgments of Grod, which form the third woe (8 : 13), have " the seven last plagues," by which the empire of Antichrist is to be destroyed, and in which, consequently, " is filled up the wrath of God ;" for then the everlasting kingdom of Jesus Christ shall be set up (Dan. 2 : 44). The chastisements, figured by these plagues, are represented under the image of a '^sea of glass mingled with fire," to show that the papal kingdom shall be wasted by the fire of wars, and broken to pieces as potter's vessels. The smoke mingled with the flames, arising out of the burning cities, will present to the eyes the transparent image of a sea of glass mingled with fire, on which the servants of the Lord, as the Israelites, after having passed the Red Sea, shall sing the song of Moses the ser- vant of God (Ex. 15 : 1-21). It may be said also that these plagues are represented under tbe image of a sea of glass mingled with fire, because these judgments are inflicted upon those kingdoms for the contempt of the manifest grace of God, figured by the brazen laver, wherein Aaron and his sons should wash their hands and their feet, that they die not. The papists refused to wash their robes and make them white in the blood of the Lamb, as in the living waters of the grace of God, in which they could see salvation as through a transparent crystal ; but they despised the gift of God, and, in their hatred against the elect of God, they pursued them through this sea of graces and mercies, which was their refuge; and this sea, which saves the servants of the Lord, became for them as for Pharaoh, a sea of glass mingled with fire, by which they are consumed. While they are perishing in that sea of fire, the elect " that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name," over- the papal impostures, seduc- tions, idolatry, and worldly grandeur, and who have even refused to receive the name of " Roman Catholics," though they might have been preserved from the papal idolatries and superstitions, " stand on the sea of glass," which saved them from the fury of their enemies, "having the harps of God," to sing the glory, power, holiness, and justice of God Almighty. They sing the song of Moses, to show that they are delivered from their bondage, as the Israelites, and from the destruction from which they have escaped by the miraculous protection of the Lamb, while their enemies are drowned in a sea of fire. Therefore, they sing also the song of the Lamb, saying, " Great and marvellous are thy works. Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou 160 COMMENTARY. King of saints. AYho shall not fear tliee, Lord, and glorify tliy name ? For tliou only art holy : for all nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy judgments are made manifest/' Mark what titles they give to the Lamb. They declare in their song that he is ^^the Lord God Almighty, the King of saints, the Lord, and the only one holy." He is the Eternal, our righteous- ness. He put on our humanity, as a veil, to dwell among men, to teach and save them, by accomplishing, as man, the law of his Father, and dying to atone, by the sacrifice of the cross, for the sins of his disciples, who believe in him, and to whom he imputes his righteousness, that they should be made one with him and partakers of the kingdom of God. Though the second interpretation of the emblem of ^^the sea of glass mingled with fire," as representing the grace of God, may ap- pear to be the true one, it is more probable, that it represents the papal kingdoms ravaged by the fire of wars. For the word " sea," has always been employed by St. John and Daniel (7 : 3), as the emblem of the revolutions of the kingdoms of the earth. There- fore, this image of a sea of glass mingled with fire represents the condition of France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Prussia, and of all Europe, during the bloody wars of the French Republic of 1793, to the fall of Napoleon in 1816. These kingdoms were to look upon, as an immense sea of fire, over which stood England, and Holland, and Switzerland, singing the deliverance of the Lamb. The first were indebted to the waters of the sea for their salvation, as the Israelites, and the others were not concerned in these wars. In this manner, we see that Protestant countries were unhurt by the first plagues of the third woe, so that the judgments of the Lord were tnily made manifest. These plagues are for the papal kingdoms, what the Red Sea was for the Egyptians. V. 5-8. "And after tlmt I looked, and, behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven, was opened : and the seven angels came out of the temple, having the seven plagues, clothed in pure and white linen, and having their breasts girded with golden girdles. And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who liveth forever and ever. And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power ; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled." The tabernacle of the testimony, was the temple of God in the wilderness. The Israelites, who sought the Lord went out unto that temple, to worship God and address him their requests; and the presence of God manifested itself in a cloudy pillar, which de- scended, and stood at the door of the tabernacle, the Lord speaking unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend (Ex. COMMENTARY. 161 83 : 7-11; 40 : 34-35; 1 K. 8 : 10-14). Therefore the tabernacle, where God dwelt, is the figure of the true Church of Jesus Christ. The temple of the true Church is called : " the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony f because the true Church was obliged to % into the wilderness to be nourished there, 1260 years (12 : 14), during the time of their prophecy, bearing witness to the truth, and condemning the worshippers of idols. The temple of the true Church, is now opened in heaven, — in all the kingdoms overruled by Antichrist. At the sounding of the seventh trumpet (11 : 19), it was opened in 1792, when the civil constitution of the clergy was decreed by the representatives of the French revolution, and, then, the liberty of worship was granted to every religious de- nomination, except to the papal church, whose rod was broken. The papal thunders, or anathemas, are no longer to be feared : they are now powerless and laughed to scorn. It was after the establish- ment of Protestantism in England, a second victory of the Church over popery ; and her final triumph shall be accomplished only at the pouring out of the seventh vial. Mark how the prophet shows us, by a single word, "the temple was opened in heaven,'^ that this passage synchronizes with the seventh trumpet (11 : 19), where we find the same words. (Compare also for the vintage, 14 : 19 ; 16 : 19 ; 19 : 15, showing that the same event is spoken of.) The angels, "having the seven plagues, came out of the temple;" because it is against the Church that the iniquities have been com- mitted ; and the Lord will avenge the blood of his martyrs, and the contempt of his covenant, which they have trodden under foot. The angels, avengers of the Church of the Lord, are, like the high priests, " clothed in pure and white linen, and having their breasts girded with golden girdles," to show the righteousness and holiness of the judgments which they are to execute. They are like a sacrifice oifered to the justice of Grod, to cleanse his Church, to take away all offences out of the earth, and to establish everywhere a holy worship in spirit and in truth. It is one of the four beasts (one of the representatives of the militant Church), who gave unto the angels " the seven vials full of the wrath of God," because the sins were committed against the militant Church, whose members were trodden under foot, cast into prison, slaughtered or burnt at the stake. It is the testimony of that Church, her teachings, and holy ordinances, which were despised, and prosecuted as blasphemies, and forbidden upon pain of death, whilst errors and idolatrous worship, were protected and paid. Now, the time of revenge is at hand. Now, the temple of God is filled with smoke, for the great and terrible God is there, in the midst of his people, to deliver them by dreadful judgments, 14^ 162 COMMENTARY. from tlie oppression of tlieir enemies. And, this smolie, witli wliich the temple is filled, from the glory of God, and from his pov/er, which he manifests by these judgments, is like this pillar, luminous for his children, and dark for their oppressors. For, ''no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.'^ It is evident that these words : " no man was able to enter into the temple,'^ must be understood, not of individual persons, but of kings and kingdoms, which have committed adultery with popery. These peoples or kingdoms, which were formed out of the ruins of the Roman Empire, are ten in number; and, when England fell from poper}^, one of these kingdoms entered into the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony. But, though the bloody French Kevolution of 1793, used harshly the kings, noblemen, and priests, in hatred of Jesuitism and popery; and though, for the same reason, infidelity erected altars to the goddess Reason, over the ruins of the altars of the papal demi-gods, as Mahomet proclaimed an arbitrary God in hatred of graven images, no one of these kings and kingdoms was able to abandon popery, and enter into the tem- ple of God. On the contrary, Jesuitism was re-established in 1814; armies of Jesuits, from soldiers turned missionaries, were sent every- where to repair the altars of the saints, and to propagate their idolatrous superstitions. Louis Philippe, an infidel, when he was a prince, turned, on the throne, a bigoted king and a slave to popery. The infidel representatives of the new French republic, delivered this young maiden of liberty into the hands of the Jesuits, her enemies, to be smothered in their arms. The Holy Alliance has set on foot again, its infernal league against civil and religious liberty, thinking to prevail, by this assemblage of tyrants, to give a new life to the beast, to revive the principle of priestly law, and again rule over the peoples by decretals, bulls, dungeons, and the stake. But, notwithstanding their hopes, and the triumphs of which they boast for a little while, they forward only the fall of the colossus, which must soon overwhelm them in its ruin. They can- not be enlightened by the gospel; they are to be as monuments of the glory and power of the Almighty, in the day of his wrath. " And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled/' COMMENTARY. 163 CHAPTER XVI. THE SEVEN VIALS OF THE AYRATH OF GOD. First Vial V. 1, 2. " And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth. And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth ; and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon thg men which had the mark of the beast, and upon them which worshipped liis image," There is a great analogy between the emblems of the first trumpets, which caused the ruin of the Roman Empire, and made ready the way to the empire of Antichrist, and between the vials of the wrath of God, which must be poured out upon the earth, that is, upon the papal kingdoms. Their ruin having been decreed, for having defiled the temple of God, and made his house a den of thieves, a great voice out of the temple was heard saying : '' Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth,'' upon the Roman Church (Dan. 2 : 31-45), which is the miry clay mixed with the iron of the civil powers. At the pouring out of the first vial, " there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast and upon them which worshipped his image" (13 : 15-19). The earth, being the emblem of the worldly papal religion, as we have seen it everywhere in this prophecy; because a worldly, tyrannical, and idolatrous religion, whatever may be the name by which she is de- corated, is no longer the daughter of heaven ; it is, then, upon the men having the mark of the papal idolatrous empire, the image of the pagan Roman Empire, that the " noisome and grievous sore fell :" and this noisome and grievous sore was infidelity and revolu- tionary frenzy or anarchy. The angels who poured out this vial were the philosophers of the eighteenth century, and Yoltaire at their head. They unveiled the superstitions and turpitudes of popery ; and to show how bitter a hatred was engendered in their minds by the papal religion, they attempted even to overthrow the God of heaven from his throne, upon which they tried to place their frail goddess, " Reason." For, every one who has no other knowledge of Christianity than the poor notions which he receives from popery, passes necessarily from his superstitions and childish credulity to infidelity and impiety, as we pass from a heinous tyranny to an unbounded anarchy. So, 164 '^ COMMENTARY. idolatry and superstition gave birth to irreligion and impiety; and despotism, to anarchy. This sore upon the mind of men was ^'noisome and grievous:" under the specious names of '' Liberty" and " Equality," they overturned the thrones of the kings ; they banished the nobility; and the priests were obliged to leave France. The rich estates and possessions of the papal clergy (about the fourth part of all France), which they had acquired by a long and cove- tous tyranny over the consciences of men, were seized upon and sold; and, in the name of Marat, Collot d'Arbois, and especially of Robespierre, all France was in consternation. These days of the vengeance of the Lord were called " The Days of Terror." Second Vial. V.3. "And the second angel poured out his -vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man : and every living soul died in the sea." As Genseric, at the sounding of the second trumpet, fell as it were a great mountain burning with fire, which was cast into the sea, and the third part of the sea became blood (8 : 8), so at the pouring out of the second vial Admiral Nelson, at the head of the English fleet, in 1805, destroyed the combined fleets of France and Spain, near Cape Trafalgar. This maritime war, the bloodiest that has ever been seen, which continued more than twenty years, during which so much blood was shed that the prophet might truly say that the " sea became as the blood of a dead man, and every living soul died in the sea." Some other judgments of God, from the sounding of the seventh trumpet, had been already made mani- fest, before that bloody battle ; but they are placed after this event, because this bloody battle was but the result of a plague, which had begun ravaging about twenty-five years before that event. Third Tlal. V. 4-7. "And the third angel poiired out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters ; and they became blood. And I heard the angels of the wafers say, Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wa^t, and shall be, because thou hast judged thus. For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink ; for they are worthy. And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.'" At the sounding of the third trumpet, Attila fell as " a great star from the heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and he fell upon the COMMENTARY. 165 tbiird part of the rivers, and upon tlie fountains of waters ;'^ and, in examining our map, we have seen that the countries, pointed out by this figured language, are those which are at the foot of the Alps, in the north of Italy, whence spring the Ilhine, Pvhone, Danube, and Po, upon which Attila fell with his army, and where he died the day of his marriage. It is therefore upon the coun- tries at the foot of these mountains, that the third vial is poured out, and the waters became blood in consequence of this judgment of God. Now, if we consult the history of this epoch, we shall find that it was precisely there that the young Bonaparte, after having crossed the Alps, destroyed, in some days, the army and the kingdom of Sardinia and Savoy, and cut in pieces the armies of Austria. The blood of the conquering army as well as that of the conquered, in the fjimous battles of Montenotte, Millesimo, Diego, and Mondovi, in 1796, and that of Marengo, in 1800, was shed by torrents, so that these rivers, lakes, and fountains of waters " became blood," in punishment of an old slaughter, accomplished there by the united armies of France and Savoy, and written there, as it were, in the rocks of these mountains (11 : 7-10). When the blood was shedding on both parts, the angel of the waters said : " Thou art righteous, Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be ; because thou hast judged thus. For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink ; for they are worthy." Who are, then, the saints and prophets whose blood had been shed at the foot of these mountains ? Do you hear the voice of this angel, blind executioners of the papal bulls and excommunications ! The place of your slaughters is clearly indicated : no other country can be designated, in Europe, as being the source of rivers and fountains of waters, than these mountains inhabited by the Waldenses. There are their valleys at the foot of these mountains, from which spring the fountains and rivers of Europe ; and it is there that, during three years and a half, you slaughtered about one million of saints and prophets of the Lord. For these heretic Waldenses, whom you hunted as wild beasts in the dens and caves of the forests, where they fied for refuge, were, the angel says, the saints and prophets of the Lord. Your crime was written and sealed in these moving waters, which had been unable to wash it away, though it was one century and a half since; for nations, as well as any sinner, shall be holden with the cords of their sins (Prov. 5 : 22). The Lord waited for you there, and he required a small tribute, before the coming day of your utter destruction. ''Even so, Lord God Almighty," says another angel, " true and righteous are thy judgments." This angel who 166 COMMENTARY. was heard " out of the altar" speaks in the name of the shaughtered "Waldenses; for the altar Is the emblem of the sacrifice of their life offered up to Jesus Christ, our altar, in bearing witness to his word, as the martyrs of pagan persecutions (6 : 9-11). These waters had been stained by their blood, it was just that they should be stained with the blood of the French and Piedmontese, their persecutors. Fourth Vial. V. 8, 9. "And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire. And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues : and they repented not to give him glory."' At the sounding of the fourth trumpet, the third part of the sun was smitten and darkened, as well as the moon and stars ; and, at the pouring out of the fourth vial upon the sun, power was given unto him to scorch men with fire. We have already seen that the expression ^'with fire," designates the fire of wars, and that the ^' sun" represents the chief of the state, either king or emperor, who overrules all the subjects of the state, as the sun overrules all the celestial bodies. Therefore, these words: ^^ and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire," mean, that the chief of the state received power to exercise a military despotism over the papal kingdoms, and to torment them by the disastrous consequences of wars. Now, at this epoch, the young Napoleon, proclaimed Emperor of the French, in 1801, conducted everywhere his victo- rious armies ; and everywhere in Spain, Portugal, Italy, Grermauy, and Prussia, the kings and peoples "were scorched as with a great heat,'' with the plague of war. There were left but women and old men in France, when this scorching sun went to Russia, where his burning heat was extinguished in the ice and snow of a hasty winter, which brought on the destruction of his army, until then, everywhere victorious. This sun kindled again for one hundred days. When he reappeared, he was received with acclamations of joy by the people, who were already tired, after some months, with the base and low rancors of the "• old reqimc," and disgusted with the Jesuitic manners, set again in fashion by their new masters. But his fire had kindled again to be soon extinguished at Waterloo; and, thence, on the rock of St. Helena. These papal kingdoms, instead of repenting of their idolatry and superstitions, blasphemed the name of God, which had power over these plagues. They returned to the gods of Rome, to be delivered by them, from their calamities. Though Napoleon despised the COMMENTARY. 167 papal impostures, lie made alliance with popei-y ', and bj a blind policy delivered France to the popes, by placing at the disposition of their agents, the edifices, temples, parsonages, and Episcopal palaces. In his policy, he did not consult either the rights of God or of his word ; he raised up again the dark kingdom of the beast ; and his policy, wise to the eyes of men, caused his ruin^ and, with it, new plagues. Fifth Vial. V, 10, 11. "And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness ; and they gnawed their tongues for pain, and blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds.'" Napoleon had arrived to the height of power and glory. But the Grod, who had given him power to scorch men with lire, had set limits to the course of his success. The retreat of Moscow, the destruction of his powerful army, the inundation of France, by the numerous armies of all united powers, and the return of the Bour- bons, with a numerous train of Jesuits and missionary soldiers, all these misfortunes are emblematically represented by the fifth vial, poured out especially upon France ; because she had again entered into the alliance of popery; and God, in his wrath, gave again to the French, the ancient regime and Jesuitism, which they abhor. Soon after, all the liberal institutions of the revolution of 1793, were abolished. The liberty of the press was chained ; the prisons were filled with men condemned for political crimes ; the system of privileges was re-established, and the Jesuit could again bestow the kingly favors upon the cringing hypocrite. All these calamities, which fell at once on France, are represented under the image of "the kingdom which was full of darkness."^ It is under the same image, " the sun became black as sackcloth of hair" (6 : 12), that the defeat of Maxentius and Licinius, by the army of Constantine, is represented by the prophet. And as, at the sounding of the fifth trumpet (9 : 1, 2), the man of sin, the great Antichrist, was manifested in 606, by the opening of the bottomless pit, out of which arose popery, and the Dark Ages, and out of popery there arose a smoke, by which the sun and the air were darkened ; so, at the restoration of popery in France, and thence, in all the other papal kingdoms, we see again, under the image of " darkness," which envelops the kingdom as with a thick veil, ignorance, super- stition, tyranny, arising out of the ancient regime and popery, healed from the wound they had received in 1798. 168 COMMENTARY. The men, upon wliicli tliere fell a noisome and grievous sore (in- fidelity and anarchy), are always entrapped with the fetters of tyranny, instead of obtaining the liberty for which they are always fighting. " They gnawed their tongues for pain, at the sight of their calamities/' Instead of returning to the Lord, and to the word of his power, which would make them free and happy (John 8 : 32-36), they blaspheme the God of heaven, and they repent not of their deeds. They build up systems of impiety ; they enter- tain, in their unsettled imaginations, the foolish conceit of Fourier- ism, of Cabetism ; and, under the pretence of reforming society, by making of it an atheistical communism, they attempt to destroy it. These destructive systems originate from a blind policy, which submits the people to the hateful yoke of men, whom they look upon with contempt, and to a religion — whose absurd teachings are known to every one, as well as the tyrannical ambition and avidity of her ministers, — instead of giving them the word of God, that they should worship him in spirit and in truth, that their souls and minds should be subjugated, their hearts purified, and their affec- tions and thoughts raised up to the God by whom they were created, and who alone can accomplish these things. Sixth Vial V. 12-10. " And the sixth angel poTued out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the Vv^ater thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared. And I saw tliree uiiclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false proi)l)et. For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go .forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great i]i\y of God Almighty. Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame. And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon." At the sounding of the sixth trumpet, the four angels, or sul- tanies, which were bound, either by the waters of the Euphrates lliver, or by the Crusaders, were loosed to destroy the Eastern Empire, by the taking of Constantinople (9 : 14) ; at the pouring out of the sixth vial, upon the same river Euphrates, its water was dried up, that the way of the kings of the East might be prepared. This river Euphrates is, then, the symbol, of the Turkish power; and "to dry up its waters" signifies evidently to weaken, annihi- late, this power; that it could oppose no barrier to prevent the coming of the kings of the East, as a river, whose water is dried up, is no longer a bulwark ior the Jvingdom whose frontiers were COMMENTARY. 169 once protected by its waters. Now, the actual weakness of this empire is known by everybody. In 1821-1825, tlie Grreeks re- gained their independence; some years after, the Russians ad- vanced to the gates of Constantinople; and had not the English fleet stood against Egypt, this country would have also regained its independence. The Turkish power is then, now, of no account at ail ; and in weakening this power, the Lord is preparing the way to the kings of the East, that they should come, and worship at Jerusalem. But who are these kings, and for what purpose are they to come ? It is supposed by some that they are the Jews, who shall come to take again possession of Judea. But the Jews would come not only from the East, but also from every country of the world ; for they are scattered towards the four winds of heaven. Scott, after Moore, thinks that it is asserted of the Afghanistans, warlike people, whom he supposes to be the posterity of the ten Jewish tribes; and he thinks that these people, coming from the East, will invade Europe, and shall be the instrumentality of the Lord's vengeance upon the kingdoms subjected to popery. But he forgets that the ministers of the Lord's vengeance are the same people, who had received the mark of the beast (17 : 16, 17); "for God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be ful- filled." Therefore, these kings, who must come from the East, are all the Eastern people, who are still in the darkness of idolatry and Islamism ; and the Ottoman Empire has been weakened, in order that it could not oppose the preaching of the gospel, and the setting up of the kingdom of Jesus Christ, in the countries beyond the river Euphrates, as well as in the Western countries. They will come, not to conquer and destroy ; but to be united with us, by the bonds of the same faith, baptism, and to adore the same Saviour, the same blessed God, forever and ever. " And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the folse prophet." The dragon is the old serpent, called the devil and Satan (12 : 9), the father of lies, and the great accuser of the Christians. The beast is the Roman Empire, which has become the papal empire ; and the false prophet is the pope — the Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess (2 : 20) — united with the kings by the bonds of his religion, which they enforce upon the people of their kingdoms. The dragon, the beast, and the false prophet are then leagued together; for the dragon gave the beast his power, and his seat, and great authority (13 : 2). " Three unclean spirits like frogs," low, cringing, mean, and living ' 15 170 COMMENTARY. in the miry clay, came ^' out of tlie mouth of the dragon," that is, lies and false accusations ; ^' and out of the mouth of the beast,'' infernal policy, attempting to subvert the spiritual liberty of the peo- ple; ''and out of the mouth of the false prophet," imposture, lying wonders, false accusations against the saints of the Lord, foretelling woes to the kings, unless they destroy Protestantism, and forbid the liberty of worship. As these unclean spirits are said to be three, it has been sup- posed that they represented the monks, Dominicans, Franciscans, and Jesuits. But they are said to be three, only because they come from three different sources — from Satan, from the civil power, and from the false prophet ; and they may be found in the same person or in the same class of men, as for instance, in what we call "Jesuitism," in which we find impiety, coming out of the mouth of Satan ; tyranny, coming from the mouth of kings; and supersti- tion and idolatry, from the mouth or religion of the fidse prophet. " For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty." '' They are the spirits of devils," men teaching to worship the saints, who are like the demigods, the devils of Paganism (1 Tim. 4:1-4); and those who teach these pagan doctrines, are called " false doctors — working miracles" — lying wonders, as those of the pictures of Rimini, winking of the eyes and shedding of tears. '' Which go forth unto the kings of the earth (Catholic kings) and of the whole world (Protestant or Greek, as England and Russia), to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty," directing their conscience, and arming their prejudices to destroy the libe^'ty of worship, and to give the last blow to the liberties of the peoples. The words '' they go forth unto the kings," show us that the unclean spirits belong, not to the mouth of the beast (civil powers), but to the mouth of the false prophet. The dragon gives his power and authority ; the beast accomplishes with his brutish constraint ; and the false prophet pronounces his lying oracles, in the name of God, saying that, unless they destroy all liberties, there is no safety for their kingdoms. Therefore, it is evident that, under the emblems of these three unclean spirits, the prophet characterizes these persons, who fovor and provoke this tyrannical policy, which, by any means and deceits, deprives the people of liberty, and im- poses upon them an Antichristian religion, in order that they should be subdued and i-uled, as the animals which are under the yoke. And this class of persons is known, under the denomination of '''Jesuitism," whatever may be in other respects the name by which \\\e,^ are denominated. COMMENTARY. 171 In 1830, the same class of persons advised Charles X. to decree his ordinances destructive to liberty; and his throne was over- turned. The infidel Louis Philippe, surrounded with the same persons, became a bigoted king, who went so far as to prevent the deputies from uniting together for a public dinner; and he was dethroned. We shall soon hear also of the dreadful doom of Napoleon III. The Antichristian league, which they decorate with the fair name of " Holy AlHance," has been recently revived to give the finishing blow to the civil and religious liberties. But it is written that the work of the wicked is deceitful ; and what- ever they may attempt to do, they will only hasten " that great day of Grod Almighty." For he it is who overrules their secret plots, and will gather them, according to their contrivance, for their own ruin, "into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Ar- mageddon," which means " the mountain of carnage." (Read the sublime song of Deborah, concerning the defeat of Sisera, near the waters of Megiddo, which is supposed to be the same as Arma- geddon ; Judges 5 and Joel 3.) "Behold, I come as a thief," says the Lord; "blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame." By comparing these words with tlie letter to the Church of the Laodiceans, in which we find the same words (3 : 14-22), we have a new proof that this letter is truly the emblem of the state of the Church, before the coming of our Lord. Awake, then, Protestants, from your slumber ! Show your- selves the worthy heirs of the faith of your fathers ; for your Pro- testantism will do you no good, unless you keep your garments, and have the wedding garment to cover your nakedness, when you shall appear before the Lord, at that great day, which is called " the marriage supper of the Lamb." It is the Lamb himself who will gather the kings into the mountain of destruction, though the men, out of the mouth of which come the unclean spirits, are engaged in the same work for another purpose ; for the Almighty permits that the wicked should be themselves the authors of their own ruin, whilst they are plotting the ruin of their fellow-men. Seventh Vial. V. 17-21. "And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done. And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there vi^as a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great. And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell : and great Babylon 172 COMMENTARY. came in remembrance before God, to give unto her tlie cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath. And every island fled away, and the moun- tains were not found. And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail ; for the plague thereof was exceeding great." Here is the last vial of the wrath of God. It is poured out into the air (Eph. 2:2; 6 : 12), upon principalities, powers, rulers of the darkness of this world, and upon spiritual wickedness (popery) in high places. And, behold, the Lord will make all things new. The great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, on which the Lord sat, and out of which proceed all events (4 : 5) has pronounced these dreadful words : '' It is done." The mystery of God is finished, and there is time no longer. God will now avenge the outrages done to his Church and to his covenant, which are emblematically represented by the temple, out of which came the great voice, saying, '^It is done:" and there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings, which are the forerunners of the political commotions, indicated by the ^' great earthquake, so mighty and so great, such as was not since men were upon the earth." I am neither a prophet, nor son of a prophet ; but I am com- menting upon the most wonderful prophecy ; and if, in following, step by step, the emblems by which the prophet gives us the history of the Church, of her trials and triumphs, and explaining them, according to their nature, and the explanation given by the prophet himself, we have been enabled to find exactly, and in the most faithful order, the facts recorded in history : this great and mighty earthquake, — this great and mighty political convulsion, such as was not since men were upon earth, — was accomplished these last years, when all the thrones of the earth (papal kingdoms) were shaken, and when the pope and the king of France were obliged to flee in disguise to escape for their life. It is evident, that the three unclean spirits of the preceding vial continue to go to the kings, doing their infernal work, to the time of the great battle of Armageddon, and that the harvest will go on, to gather the good seed, to the time of the vintage, which is the same battle of destruction ; for we have seen often the plagues, indicated by two seals or two trumpets, taking place at the same time. There- fore, if these events, which have shaken at the same time France, Italy, Sardinia, Austria, Hungary, and even Ireland, are, in fact, the events represented by this great and mighty earthquake, the papal kings may use whatever policy they can imagine, the Lord shall overcome ; and they shall drink, with the pope, the dregs of the cup of the wrath of God, which shall be soon poured out. History does not proceed any longer. Here are the events of this COMMENTARY. 173 wonderful prophecy, whicli are yet to be accomplislied, before the Lord makes all things new. " And the great city was divided into three parts." The great city, called the great whore (17 : 1, 18), is the city of Rome, taken for the seat of Antichrist, and for all the kingdoms under his spiri- tual sway. Therefore, all these Catholic kingdoms, whose cities are called " the cities of the nations," because they profess, like the Gentiles, an idolatrous religion, shall be divided into three political parties ; Republicans, Bonapartists, Henriquinquists or Philipists ; for the event only will decide it. But, what we can certify in ad- vance, is that the cities of the people infected by the papal idola- try — the cities of the nations — shall be overthrown ; and that great Babylon, Rome itself, called Babylon, because she used as this sister city, to cast into a fiery furnace or into the den of lions (Dan. 3 and G) the servants of God, who refused to worship her images, or addressed their requests to another God than her own gods, shall come in remembrance before God, and that he will give her " the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath." We have seen (14 : 18-20) what kind of wine it is ; and we have (19 : 11-12) the description of this vintage : " the blood of the prophets, and of the saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth, was found in her f and the Lord will give her blood to drink (Joel 3 : 1-21). It is not, then, by the flight or disguise of a pope that the empire of Antichrist must finish. The mystic Babylon must drink of the cup of the wrath of God ; she must be filled with drunkenness and sorrow, with the cup of astonishment and desolation ; she must disappear suddenly and with violence from the earth, as a great millstone cast into the sea (18 : 21). They wondered, not long ago, when the pope again ascended the papal throne ; and his supporters inferred from that that papal Rome sits a queen, and shall see no sorrow. But it was necessary that the pope should be re-established on his throne, in order that the judgments of God could be accomplished. Daniel says (7 : 26), "that the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his domi- nion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end." Now, this judgment could not bo accomplished by his flight in disguise ; and again, we have, in the nineteenth and twentieth chapter, the de- scription of the end of the papal empire, saying : " And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone." So, the kingdoms under the papal dominion, the kings and the pope, the bishops and cardinals, and all the supporters of tyranny 15* •»fc 174 COMMENTARY. and idolatry, sliali be swept away, in the day of the wrath of God, with a besom of destruction : '' And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found." After the victories of Constantine over Maxentius and Licinius, it is said, " And every mountain and island were moved out of their places" (6 : 14), and we have seen that these emblems '^ mountains and islands" moved out of their places, meant that the civil and religious powers passed from the heathens to the Christians. Consequently, in giving these emblems the same signi- . fication, we have for the first, '^ And every island fled away." All the papal or ecclesiastical powers, the pope, cardinals, bishops, archbishops, priests, and monks, fled away ; and for the second, ^^ xVnd the mountains were not found," and the kings were found no more : all the kingdoms of the earth are become the kingdoms of the Lord (Dan. 2:44). ^'And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, eveiy stone about the weight of a talent." We have seen already that under the emblem of ^' hail," which destroys the harvest, the pro- phet represents the wars, which destroy men and kingdoms as the hail destroys the harvest. But no war was ever so bloody as that spoken of here, under the emblem of " every stone about the weight of a talent." It will be the work of the Lord, for the hail fell " out of heaven ;" and he makes use, not only of armies to destroy his enemies, but he has yet in his power, the flimine and pesti- lence, to reap the wicked which have been preserved fi'om the de- struction of the war (18 : 8). ^^And men blasphemed God be- cause of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof — war, famine, and pestilence, — was exceeding great." The papist and the unconverted Protestant, who has also the mark of the beast, by his infidelity, can' still come to the throne of grace, and take refuge under the wings of the Almighty. At the time of the plague, it will be too late : they shall blaspheme God instead of repenting, when they shall be suddenly overwhelmed by these plagues ; be- cause they did not seek the Lord, when he was easy to be found. Let us not wait until it shall be too late ; for the Lord is at the door. CHAPTER XVIL DESCRIPTION OF A GREAT WIIORE — HER CHARACTERS. This chapter is as the key to the Revelation. The prophet ex- plains here the most difficult emblems, under Avhich the masterpiece COMMENTARY. 175 of Satan has been represented in tlie tliirteenth chapter. The great city, which is the seat of this empire, which we saw arising out of its ruins, and to which was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, is called a great whore, that sitteth upon many waters ; with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornica- tion, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication. From the description of the prophet himself, we can learn : 1. What is that great whore. 2. Where is her dwelling-place. 3. The first time of her existence. 4. The acts of her reign. 5. And what shall be her end. As the popes have been pointed out, in the course of this exposition, as ''the man of sin, the son of perdition,'^ generally called " Antichrist,'' and his Church, as the great whore, it is important to examine at- tentively whether the characters, given here, may be applied to the Eoman Church, and to its head, — and to them alone. Let us remember first, that Rome is built upon seven mountains called the " Mounts Aventine, Capitoline, Coslius, Esquiline, Palatine, Quirinal, and Viminal.'' 2. That she had seven forms of government, " kings, consuls, decemviri, tribunes, dictators, emperors, exarchs or dukes;" and that popedom is the eighth, 3. That the Homan Empire was destroyed by ten barbarian people : " the Huns, Alains, Goths (divided into Visigoths and Ostrogoths, or eastern and western Groths), Franks, Saxons, Suevi, Vandals, Bourguignons Heruli, and Lombards.'' That these barbarians, incorporated with the ancient inhabitants, formed ten kingdoms out of the ruins of the Roman Empire, and that three of them — those of the Ostro- goths, Heruli, and Lombards, — were given to the bishops of Rome, by the kings of France, Pepin, Charlemagne, and Louis the Pious, These ten barbarian nations, are represented by the prophet Daniel, under the emblem of " the ten horns of the fourth beast ;" and popedom, under that of a " little horn," diverse from the others, and before which, three of the former fell. All these people — the French, and all those who are of the same origin, — the English, and all those who are of the Saxon origin, — the Spaniards, and all those who are of the same origin, and speak the same language, — the Italians, and so with the other nations, — formed as many king- doms, which, having received the papal religion, became as so many provinces, tributary to the papal empire, which was in this manner an image of the first Roman pagan empire. For papal Rome has, as well as the pagan, her sovereign pontiff, her priesthood, and vestal virgins ; she has her supreme Grod, together with saints and saintessess, or demigods; she has also a queen of heaven, feasts and fasts, penances and flagellations, to obtain forgiveness of sins ; she has lying wonders and processions, oficrings and sprinklings, vows 176 COMMENTARY. and conjuring words; so that papal Rome, is both in civil govern- ment and religious worship, an image of the pagan Roman Empire. V. 1, 2, "And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me. Come hither; I will show unto thee the judgment of the great whore, that sitteth upon many waters; with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication." The waters, upon which the great whore sitteth, " are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues;'^ that is, the barbarians who destroyed the Roman Empire ; and the woman (the religion), called the '^ great whore," is ^'that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth" (verse 15, 18). When the Pope has decided some theological question, we say by metonymy, or trans- position of names, "Rome has spoken, the aflair is ended;" in the same manner, the city is taken for the chief, who has his seat there, and for the religion, called the great whore, through which he reigns over the kings of the earth. Therefore, this great whore is the city taken for the religion, which her king propagates among those different nations. The Papist Vega, Viegas and Ribera, concur in the opinion that Rome is evidently pointed out by the prophet in his description of the city ; and the Cardinal Bellarmine confesses, that it cannot be understood otherwise. But some main- tain, that pagan Rome is there spoken of; and the others think that Catholic Rome will apostatize at the end of the world. What- ever may be their opinion, it is thus granted by popish doctors that Rome, either pagan or papal, is the seat of Antichrist. " With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornica- tion." In the style of the holy writings, a whore represents an idolatrous Church (Ez. 23) ; the Christians, who apostatize from Christianity, to follow her idolatrous worship, commit "adultery;" and "fornication," if they are but nominal Christians (2 : 22); for they have been repudiated ; and Jesus is not the bridegroom of such churches. The kings of the earth have made an impure alliance with that great whore, in receiving her idolatrous doc- trines, and in enforcing them upon their subjects (13 : 5-9), who " have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication." As men are deprived of reason and understanding by the excess of wine, so Papists, who have imbibed her poisonous doctrines, are deprived of reason and understanding, and are induced to trample under foot the holy law of God, and to commit in his holy name, the most atrocious crimes. Pagan Rome did not impose the wor- ship of her gods upon the nations, which she had vanquished ; on the contrary, she gave to their own gods an honorable place in the COMMENTARY. 177 capitol of Jupiter. Therefore, the characters, described here by the prophet, are true only as applied to papal Rome. V. 3-5. " So he carried me a^vay in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet-colored beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet color, and decked with gold and precious stones, and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand, full of abominations and lilthiness of her fornication : and upon her forehead was a name written, Mystery, Babylon THE Great, the mother of harlots and abomination of the earth. The prophet, being under a powerful agency of the Holy G-host, was carried into the wilderness, where he saw " a woman (a reli- gion 12 : 1; Ez. 23), sit upon a scarlet-colored beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.'^ We have seen already the description of this beast (13 : 1-4), which is the emblem of the Roman Empire, whose provinces were divided among the ten barbarian nations, by which it was destroyed. Every one knows that the Pope and his cardinals are arrayed, as were formerly the Roman emperors, ^'in purple and scarlet color/' so that the woman, that sits upon the throne of the Cscsars, and to whom she has suc- ceeded, is made an image of the beast, which had the wound by the sword of the barbarians, not only in power, government, and idolatrous worship, but also in her gorgeous array. She despises the simplicity of the evangelical worship, in sj)irit and in truth, and glories in the riches of the earth, in the pomp of a dazzling wor- ship, and in the magnificence of priestly vestments. The '^golden cup in her hand, full of abominations and filthiness of her fornica- tion," is the emblem of her power and riches, which are the fruits of her ambition, and of her apostacy ; and the abominations and filthiness of which it is full, are her mock sacrifices for the living and for the dead, the annats, investitures, dispensations, indulgences, and her tariff for the forgiveness of small and great offences. But whatever may be her hellish impositions, the inhabitants of the earth are willing to drink the poisonous wine, by which they are made drunk, because the cup is of gold. They are promised riches, honors, and civil and ecclesiastical dignities ; they are permitted to enjoy peacefully, the delights of the present life, while Protestants are hunted and destroj^ed like wild beasts : *' If thou wilt worship me,'' said Satan to Jesus, ^^all shall be thine;" and so did the great whore throughout the past ages. But how is it that this great whore, that reigns over many people, and multitudes, and nations, and which boasts to be Catholic, be- cause she has churches over all the face of the earthy could be seen, 178 COMMENTARY. sitting upon the scarlet-colored beast, in a wilderness ? St. Paul speaks of the heathens, as of " things that are not ;" because the multitudes of people who worship idols, are but nought before Grod. There is not to be found, in all the extent of the empire of the king-priest, either a Bible or a real faith in the Saviour ; there is neither true sacrifice, nor true worship, nor true Mediator, nor atonement : there is but a priest with his fanciful power ; saints, images, relics, blessed water and tapers, as mediators, to deliver from the devil, and good works, to reconcile them with God; and consequently, however immense may be the empire of the great whore, it is but a wilderness, without water and without the bread of life. Everywhere in the empire of the great whore, men are taught to believe that the popes are " the representatives of God on the earth — vicars of Jesus Christ;" " infiillible ;'' "above the word of God ;" " that they have the keys of heaven and hell either to save or damn ■" " and that out of their religion there is no salvation." And these men, whose throne stands upon a sea of blood, and whose crimes are written with a pen of iron, and with the point of a diamond, in the annals of history, and in the book of remembrance before God, style themselves " His Holiness V and the kings of the earth, who are leagued with them to enforce their Antichristian religion upon their subjects, and to destroy the ser- vants of the Lord, are adorned with the titles of " Most Christian Kings I" Their idolatry is called " Christianity, the True Church of Jesus Christ ;" and true Christianity is styled by them "Abomi- nable heresy," and the true worshippers are hunted and destroyed like wild beasts ! " And I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet-colored beast, full of names of blasphemy \" " And upon her forehead was a name written. Mystery, Babylon the great, the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth." Here is the mystery of the great whore. There is upon her fore- head a mysterious inscription, whose meaning and value, according to the judgment of God, is " Babylon the great, the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth ;" and this name or inscrip- tion is, " the Roman church, the first and mother of all churches, out of which there is no salvation :" which assumption, in the sight of God, is equivalent to " the mystic Babylon, the mother of harlots (churches), and the cause of infidelity, idolatry, tyranny, impiety, sacrilege, immoralities, thefts, and murders — of all the abomina- tions of the earth." The word " mystery," at the head of the inscription, admonishes us that the name, written upon her fore- head, is not " Babylon the great ;" but that it is the mysterious or hidden meaning of another, which is known by everybody, since it is written upon her forehead. COMMENTARY. 179 V. 6, 7, " And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus : and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration. And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns." The Abbot Frayssinous confesses (conferences religieuses) that there has been, every year, an average of six thousand victims of the papal religion ] and he insinuates that such a number of martyrs of its intolerance, is nothing in comparison with the great good she has conferred upon society. But the benefits of Christianity, which the Roman Church claims to herself, do not belong to her. Popery exists only from the beginning of the seventh century; and she can glory only of the calamities, which have since been inflicted upon mankind — of having built superb cathedrals to gratify her pride and vanity — and of having preserved in her monasteries the precious works of the great men of antiquity. But what is that, for the riches of the earth, which she possessed, and in comparison with the evils which she has done ? We know already the mas- sacres of St. Bartholomew's Day, and those of Ireland ; the crusades against the Albigenses and Waldenses ; the wars against Bohemia and Moravia ; and the dragoonings of Louis XIV. We can add the twelve millions of the natives of America, who were slaugh- tered like wild beasts, by the Spaniards commanded by the monks, as well as the millions of victims of the Inquisition in Groa and in the countries which were under her dominion. According to the reckoning of the victims of the Inquisition in Spain, during 339 years, extracted from the books of the inquisitors, the number amounts to 34,658 souls, sent into hell, after having been cursed by the inquisitors, before burning at the stake ; to 18,049 burned in eflSgy ; and to 288,214 condemned to prison or to the galleys. This number, for Spain alone, makes more than 1000 victims every year; therefore, instead of an average of 6000 a year, we can treble this number. And yet, though the number of victims should be only an average of 6000 a year, or of 100, or even of 10 victims, could such a religion boast to be the religion of the meek and holy Son of God ? That is the reason for which the prophet " wondered with great admiration,^' at seeing this Roman Church, whose faith was spoken of throughout the whole world (Rom. 1 : 8), "drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus,'' and being, now, an idolatrous and tyrannical Babylon, cast- ing into a fiery furnace, or into dark dungeons, the servants of Grod, who refused to kneel down before her images, and dared to invoke and worship God in the manner which he has appointed. All these characters designate evidently the papal church ; and if 180 COMMENTARY. there is stiil some incertitude in our minds, tlie prophet will tell us yet more clearly the mystery of the woman and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns. V. 8. " The beast that thou sawest was, and is not ; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is." This verse, which at iSrst reading, seems to be an inexplicable riddle, offers no diihcuity, if we remember that the Eoman Empire, which overruled all the world, was, according to the prophet Daniel, to be destroyed by ten people, and to be restored again, out of its ruins, by the kings of these people, and by another diverse from the first ; and this empire thus restored was to be consumed and destroyed a second time, that the kingdom of the Lord should be set up. Therfore the meaning is, " the beast that thou sawest was" (the Roman Empire which thou sawest existed), " and is not" (after its destruction); " and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit" (out of its ruins, 13 : 1-4), " and go into perdition '/' and the inhabitants of the earth, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, shall wonder, " when they behold the beast that was" (before its fall), " and is not" (after having been destroyed by the barbarians), " and yet is" (and yet exists by the power which the popes exercise over the subjects of the kingdoms, which have been formed out of the ruins of the same empire). It will be the same x\ntichristian and idolatrous empire ; and though it will persecute and destroy the saints of the Lord, worldly men shall obey its laws, and shall wonder at the Satanic wisdom, by which the Church, united together with the State, was enabled to enforce, upon every man, the chimera of the unity of the Church, under a terrestrial chief, clothed with the attributes of the divinity. That was the masterpiece of Satan, which we have examined pre- viously : " And they worshipped the beast, sajang. Who is like unto the beast ? Who is able to make war with him ?" (13 :4.) This unnatural union of the State and Church is represented by the prophet Daniel (2 : 43), under the image of iron mixed with clay in the toes of the feet of the great image of Nebuchadnezzar j and the second existence of the Roman Empire is also clearly fore- told, by the same prophet, in his prophecy concerning the four great monarchies, which were to hold the sceptre of the kingdom of this world, to the setting up of the kingdom of the Lord. After having represented the first three great monarchies, namely, that of the ('haldeans under Nebuchadnezzar, that of the COMMENTARY. 181 Medes and Persians, under Cyrus ; and that of the Greeks, under Alexander, under the respective symbols of a lion, a bear, and a leopard, the prophet says : '■'• After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceed- ingly ; and it had great iron teeth : it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it : and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it ; and it had ten horns. I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots : and, behold, in this horn were eyes like men, and a mouth speaking great things;" that is, though the king, represented by this little horn, were but an ambitious, worldly man, seeing the things of this world and eternity, with the eyes of a natural, irreligious man, he had a religion, boasting of great things, to be as a god on the earth, and having all power on earth and in heaven. The prophet wishing to know the truth of the fourth beast, " and of the ten horns that were in his head, and of the other which came up, and before whom three fell ; even of that horn that had eyes, and a mouth that spake very great things, whose look was more stout than his fellows" (the most powerful kings were but the vassals of the popes), he 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, thus he" ^(one of them that stood by) said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all king- doms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces. And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise (after its destruction); "and another shall rise after them" (popery in 606); '^ and he shall be diverse from the first" (as a king-priest is diverse from the kings), "and he shall subdue three kings" (Heruli, Visigoths and the Lombards). " And he shall speak great words against the Most* High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and think to change times and laws" (showing the arrogance of his pretensions and his rash- ness in adding his laws to the commands of God, and declaring that his power is above the word of God) : " and they shall be given into his hands until a time, and times and the dividing of time ;" that is, 1260 years (Dan. 7 : 7-27). We may see from this prophecy of Daniel, which is as the nucleus of the book of Revelation, that the fourth monarchy — that of the Roman Empire — has two existences, the first represented by the beast itself ; and the second, by the ten horns, or ten kings tha* 10. 183 C IM M E N T A R Y. shall arise out of it ; and by the little horn, whose look was more stout than his fellows, and before whom three of the first fell. The following passage of our prophet will show evidently that the same beast is alluded to in either of the prophets, and that the pope is the little horn^ diverse from the others, and which arose after the first. V. 9-12. "And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth. And there are seven kings : five are fallen, and one is, mid the other is not yet come : and when he cometh, he must continue a short space. And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition. And the ten horns which tliou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet ; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast." " And here is the mind" (the explanation of the mystery of the beast for him) " which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman" (the great city; verse 18, and by metonymy the great papal religion) " sitteth. And there are seven kings" (seven forms of government, indicated by the seven crowns upon his heads, 12 : 8). When the prophet saw this vision, '^ five are fallen/' namely, the kings, consuls, decemviri, tribunes, and dictators, " and one is," to wit, the emperors ; " and the other is not yet come,'^ the Ravenna's exarchs, under which Rome was but a Dukedom, which was under their power about one hundred years. "And the beast that was, and is not" (the Roman Empire which was then, and which was to be destroyed by the barba- rians), even the same empire " he is the eighth" (the eighth form of government raised up out of its ruins). Is there any possibility to see, in this description, anything else than popedom, the eighth form and the image of the Roman Empire ? Again, " and is of the seven :" that is, has succeeded to the first seven forms of government, " and goeth into perdition," having only 1260 years of existence, " given her for repentance, and she repented not" (2:21). "And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet (at the time of the prophecy) ; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast," the emblem of the papal empire, the second beast of the thirteenth chapter. Daniel says, that the little horn, the emblem of popedom, diverse from the first, and whose look was more stout than his fellows, " shall rise after them, and shall subdue three kings," namely Odoacer, Theodoric, and Alboin, or the Heruli, Ostrogoths, and the Lombards. Therefore the date of the existence of Antichrist is clearly determined by either of the prophets. Though the mystery of iniquity did already work in the time of COMMENTARY. 183 St. Paul, the man of sin, the son of perdition, could not be mani- fested before the overthrow of the Roman Empire (2 Th. 2 : 7-12). The key of the bottomless pit, of the ruins of that empire, was given, as we have seen previously (9 : 1, 2), to a fallen angel, or bishop, namely, to Boniface III., who opened the bottomless pit of its destruction, and brought forth out of it popery and the Dark Ages. According to St. John, the kings, who divided among themselves the spoils of the Koman Empire, should receive power as kings, at the same time with the beast, representing popedom ; and, according to Daniel (7 : 24), popedom should rise after them, and subdue three of these kings. But the former says only that they shall receive power as kings, at the same time, as it is true that the bishops of Rome enjoyed an imperial authority and power among the barbarians, and commenced, then, to regulate political mat- ters ; and the latter says that the little horn (the king-priest) diverse from the first, shall rise or be manifested after the others, as it is true according to history. Hence we may infer that the great Antichrist, the man of sin, was to be revealed neither under pagan Rome, nor under papal Rome, at the end of the world ; but after the destruction of the empire. The great whore, sitting on the throne of the Caesars, is the eighth form of government of this empire, and the image, in its horns, of the empire represented under the emblem of the beast, which was wounded to death, and wjiose deadly wound was healed by popedom : " And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven" (in- heriting from them), " and goeth into perdition." V. 13, 14. " These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength inito the beast. These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them : for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings : and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful." ''These have one mind." The kings of the earth have often- times been trodden under foot of the popes ; many times they had wars with them, and their kingdoms have often been groaning under the covetous papal exactions; but, notwithstanding that, they have always been slavishly submissive to their idolatrous religion, — always ready to support their infernal traffic of holy things, — to protect their tyranny and pretensions, — to obey their orders to make war with the disciples of Jesus Christ, and to destroy Christianity out of their kingdoms : so, the kings and the popes had ''one mind;" and the kings gave "their power and strength unto the beast," to make war with the redeemed; but, in so doing, they were making war with the l^amb ; for this cause, he will break them in pieces in the day of his wrath. For he it is, 184 COMMENTARY. — ^not the pope, — who is Lord of lords and King of kings. Like- wise, they are not the followers of the popes, those that are *^ called, and chosen, and faithful ;" but they are those who are with the Lamb, who read his word, and keep his commandments, though they be hunted like wild beasts, and killed by the kings and the popes united together; — this unity of mind and purpose between the kings and the popes, — the iron mixed with the miry clay, — is yet true and conformed to history. V. 15-18. "And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues. And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire. For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled. And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth." The Koman Church boasts to be the Catholic Church, because her doctrines are taught and professed throughout all the world. But the catholicity of a church does not consist in her being known and professed everywhere ; but in her teaching the same doctrines, which have been taught at all times by the Christian churches, to the time of the apostles. Now, if we compare the teachings of the Koman Church with those of the primitive churches, whose teachings are found in the gospels and in the epistles of the apostles to the same churches, we find that there is between them a great chasm ; and either Papal Rome or the Pri- mitive Church, Jerusalem, &c., is not a Christian, a Catholic Church. Therefore, the Roman Church is not Catholic, though she has the name, and though she reigns, as^a queen, over many peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues; that is, over the barbarians, who destroyed the Roman Empire; for it is under that denomination that they are alluded to by the prophet (10 : 11). But the same people, called in our days, '^ English, French, Dutch, Germans, Austrians, Spaniards, Italians, Portu- guese," shall hate the whore, " and shall make her desolate, and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire ;" that is, they shall rise up against her, and shall take away her riches and power ; they shall sell her rich domains, seigniories, abbeys, and monasteries, which are ^' her flesh;" because, through her riches, she was enabled to live deliciously; and so they "shall eat her flesh," when they shall strip her of her wealth, and rich estates, and kingdom. These predictions have already been accomplished to the letter, COMMENTARY. 185 at the time of the French Revolution of 1793, when the rich estates of the clergy, its monasteries, and vast domains, were sold, not by strangers, but by her own children, who hate her, and who will soon burn her with the fire of wars. Spain, even Catholic Spain, not long ago, seized upon eight hundred convents, which were sold for the benefit of the State. But that is only the begin- ning of sorrows, and the end is at hand. '' For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled.'' Instead of studying the mysteries of humility, piety, and holiness, in the manger at Bethlehem, in the carpenter's shop at Nazareth, in the garden at Gethsemane, or in the Mount Golgotha, they chose rather a fashionable religion, with pompous and imposing cere- monies, rivalling those of the heathens; and God, in his anger, permitted that they should be enticed by the papal show and by the golden cup of the great whore, so that they should agree, for a little while, with the great whore, to give her power over themselves, to support her atrocious crusades against the servants of the Lord, in order that they should be punished for their unfaithfulness by the same tyrannical power of the great whore over themselves. But, when the will of God shall be ful- filled, the same God, who has a sovereign power over the minds of men, will open their eyes, and show them the deformity of the old, ugly, toothless, and wrinkled great whore, whose throne is esta- blished on a sea of blood, and upon the corpses of more than fifty millions of victims of her black and devilish tyranny. Then, they shall acknowledge that some Satanic enchantment had fascinated their minds; that the golden cup, which she presented them, as the emblem of happiness, did not contain anything else than igno- rance, degradation, bondage, and misery in this life, and gnashing of teeth in the world to come. Then they shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire ; and so, her own children, the Roman Catholics, shall be, in the hands of God, the very instrumentalities of her destruction (see 19 : 17-21). If we examine all the characters of the man of sin, commonly called "Antichrist," we cannot find him either in pagan or in papal Rome apostatizing at the end of the world. Her apostacy was accomplished more than twelve centuries since. And, if any one replies, that it is impossible that a church that honors the name of Jesus Christ, — that sends missionaries throughout the world, be an apostate, an antichristian church, I answer, that Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light, — that it is not Christianity but popery, whose power they endeavor to strengthen and extend, — that Christianity, as taught by the apostles, does not 16* 186 COMMENTARY. consist in the name of Christ only, and in a formal worship to Grod ; but in the living principles of a new life, in holiness, in brotherly love, and in the glory of the Grod of heaven, our Creator and Redeemer. He it is who is the judge of his law, of our faith- fulness, and of our transgressions ; and he has given us so clear a description of the man of sin, of the apostacy of this church, that, should our temporal interests be concerned, in the escape of a man, so perfectly described, he could not pass through any city or village, without being apprehended at his first appearance. Here are the principal characters and features of this great Antichrist, according to the description of the prophets themselves. Let every one judge for himself. Description of Antichrist^ or the Man of Sin. 1. He is represented as a little horn (little king), rising, after ten other horns (kings), out of the terrible beast, by which the prophet Daniel has described the fourth monarchy, that is, the Roman Empire, which existed 1230 years, to 476, when it was utterly destroyed by ten barbarian people, namely, the Huns, Alains, Goths, Franks, Saxons, Suevi, Vandals, Bourguignons, Heruli, and the Lombards; three of whom, namely, the Heruli, Visigoths, and the Lombards, or Odoacer, Theodoric, and Alboin, were subdued by the little horn (Dan. 7 : 7-27). 2. In the little horn were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth (religion) speaking great things (verse 8), showing his earthly-mindedness in opposition to the arrogant pretensions of being vicar of Jesus Christ, of having power, on earth and in heaven, to save or to damn. 3. He shall speak great words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and think to change times and laws (verse 25) ; that is, though, according to the decrees of the Most High, the Jewish Church, her priesthood, and sacrifices have been abolished at the death of Jesus Christ, he shall claim the prerogatives of this church, of her priesthood, and the sacrifice of the bread and wine, as he says, according to the order of Mel- chi.sudec. He shall also change the law of God, the mediatorial worship, the conditions of salvation, and shall add his commands to the commandments of God. 4. He shall be diverse from the other kings ; and, though he be a little king, his look shall be more stout than his fellows, the kings being only as his vassals ; verse 20, 24. COMMENTARY. 187 5. His union with tlie kings is described by the same prophet (2 : 31-45), as the miry clay, mixed with the iron of the feet and toes of the great image, representing the ten kings, which shall arise out of the fourth monarchy; and, by St. John (17 : 13, 14), as having one mind to make war with the Lamb, and to destroy the saints of the Lord. 6. When St. Paul was writing to the Thessalonians, he said unto them that the mystery of iniquity did already work, — that they knew what withheld that Wicked, that he should be revealed in his time, and that after the destruction of the Roman Empire, which was to be taken out of the way, he would be revealed, and come after the working of Satan with all power, and signs, and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish ; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved (2 Th. 2 : 3-12). 7. The mystery of iniquity was accomplished by a faction, in the Church, called by the prophet " Nicolaitanes'' (domiuators of the people, 2 : 6, 1 5) ; and it shall be destroyed by the Church of the " Laodiceans" (judgment of the people), whose meaning is con- trary to that of " Nicolaitanes" (3 : 14). It is by a spiritual death, by the martyrdom of a bishop, killed by the devil, in the city where Satan's seat is, that this mystery of iniquity was accomplished ; and the nature of his apostacy is specified by the name of " Antipas'^ (against all, 2 : 13). 8. The man of sin holds 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 ; therefore, he is called, as the chief of a Church, " woman Jezebel,'' the wife of Ahab, calling herself a prophetess, that is, infallible (2 : 14, 20). 9. The man of sin, as a star fallen from heaven (a bishop fallen from Christianity), received the key of or power over the bottomless pit of the destruction of the Roman Empire (9:1); and, having opened it, the deadly wound of the beast was healed : and all the world wondered after the beast, to which the mouth of the little horn, speaking great things and blasphemies, was given, with the power to continue 1260 years, and to make war with the saints. (13 : 1-7). 10. Besides this first beast, representing the ten kings out of the first beast, there is a second, the little horn, rising after the first. This one comes up out of the earth (ambition, forgetfulness of Christianity), and he had two powers, a spiritual, and a temporal power, like Jesus Christ; but he spake as a dragon (Satan). He exerciseth all the power of the first kings, and causeth all the earth to submit to his empire, which was the image of the Roman Em- IBS' CO MOMENTARY. pire, which had been destroyed. He had power not only to speak, to teach his rehgion ; but also to slaughter every one, who would not obey his power. The name of this beast or empire is : " The Latin Empire" (13 : 11-18). 11. The city, in which he lives, is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth, — which is built upon seven mountains, and he is the eighth king, or form of government of this empire, having inherited of the seven. He is clothed in purple and scarlet, as the Caesars, on the throne of whom he sitteth; and, upon the forehead of his religion, there is a mysterious inscription, the hidden meaning of which, is, '^ Babylon the Great, the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth" (17 : 1-18). 12. This city is called Sodom, Egyjjt, and Babylon, in which the blood of all saints and prophets shall be found, and even the souls of men, of which she has made merchandise (18 : 13). Her agents are described as false doctors, speaking lies in hypocrisy, forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats (1 Tim. 4 : 1-4 j 2 Tim. 3 : 1-8). Therefore, an angel says from heaven : " Come cut of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues" (18 : 4). CHAPTER XYIII. A LAMENTATION OVER THE FALL OF THE MYSTIC BABYLON. The prophet, having given us the description of the great whore, resumes, here, and in the following chaj^ter, the matter of the seventh vial of the wrath of God. And, now, that we have been made acquainted with this great whore, which boasts to be " the first, and the mother of all churches ;" whilst, in the judgment of God, the mysterious meaning of these titles which she assumes, should be : <' Babylon the great, the mother of harlots and abomi- nations of the earth,' ^ a powerful angel cries mightily, with a strong voice, in order that everyone might hear, saying: '' Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hate- ful bird :" and he invites his people — those who fear and love God — to come out of her (out of the Roman Church), that they be not partakers of her sins, and receive not of her plagues. It may not be amiss, to say some words about the overthrow of the great Babylon of tlie Chaldeans, since wo have to examine here the destruction of her daughter. Home, the mystic Babylon. The COMMENTARY. 189 decline, desolation, and utter ruin of that opulent city, then the mistress of the world, had been long foretold by the prophets. Isaiah had called her conqueror Cyrus by his name, more than one hundred years before his birth, and he had explained by what means, namely : '^ By the drying up of the river, and by the opening before him of the two-leaved gates of brass, which should not be shut" (Is. 44 : 27 ; 45 : 1-7), — he should succeed in the taking of that city, crossed and surrounded by the waters of the Euphrates Eiver (see Jer. 50 and 51). Herodotus, who lived two hundred and fifty years after the pro- phet Isaiah, says that the walls of Babylon were three hundred feet high, before they had been reduced to seventy-five by Darius Hystaspes, — that they were seventy-five feet thick — that her temple of Belus, was six hundred and thirty feet high, — that the city had one hundred gates of brass, — that the palace of Nebuchadnezzar, was eight miles in circumference, — and that the artificial lake, thirty-five feet deep, had a circumference of more than one hundred miles. Therefore, when Cyrus and his army surrounded the city with trenches, the Babylonians, were quite unconcerned about their works. But Cyrus was executing the secret decrees of the Al- mighty, and he was successful in his undertaking. There was but one way of success, namely : to dry up the deep, and the river, as it had been foretold by Isaiah, and by Jeremiah (51 : 36-43). The/efore, Cyrus ordered his soldiers to make wide and deep trenches around the city; and, the work being advanced enough, he opened his trenches to the river, when an opportunity was given him, by the security with which the inhabitants abandoned them- selves, in a feast day, to the excess of wine and debauchery. The waters, leaving the channel of the river, rushed into the trenches ; and so the river being dried up, the soldiers of Cyrus, following its former course, arrived to the centre of the city, which was buried in the slumber of debauchery, and they invaded the palace of the king, even before the alarm could be given. The inhabitants, having revolted some time after, and recovered their independence, Darius subdued them again, after a siege of twenty months. Three thousand of the principal inhabitants were put to death ; and the royal residence was removed to Shusan. Her sacred treasures were seized upon by Xerxes, and her temples were destroyed. Alexander wished to restore her her ancient splendor ; but his death did not permit him to carry out his pur- pose. A Parthian conqueror took it, 130 years before Christ, and he destroyed her most beautiful wards. The inhabitants retired then to Media, and to Seleucia, a neighboring city, built by the Macedonians. In the fourth century, she became a hunting park 190 COMMENTARY. for the Persian kino-s; and her walls having fallen down, the river had no longer its free course, and the current took another setting. So, the progress of ages has annihilated that city in such a manner that Babylon is become a wilderness, in which her true position can no more be ascertained. Such were the decline and ruin of Baby- lon, the powerful city of the Chaldeans; now, what shall be the ruin of her daughter, the mystic Babylon ? V. 1-3. '• And after tlsese tilings I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power ; and the earth was lightened with his glory. And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every nnclean and hateful bird. For all nations have drunk of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have com- mitted fornication with her. and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies." - This powerful angel, coming down from heaven, is Jesus Christ himself, who proclaims the condemnation and ruin of the great whore. The words twice repeated : '^ Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen," indicate not only that her fall is certain and that she shall never rise up from her ruin; but also that she shall fall twice ; iSrst, when she was ransacked by the barbarians; and secondly, when she shall be utterly destroyed, and burned with fire (17 : 16). She is cursed even in her ruin, for her iniquities; and she is condemned to be a species of hell, inhabited by devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hate- ful bird. They shall be there, in the midst of her ruins, to tell to the coming generations her diabolical ambition, her apostacy, impostures, lies, impurities, murders, and all the crimes which she has committed under the mask of religion. The judgment, by which she is condemned to become such an abominable place, accursed of God, is just; '^ for all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication." They have worshipped her idols; and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, in receiving her devilish doctrines, and forcing their subjects to drink in the same impure cup, full of the abominations and filthiness of her fornication. Her traffic of holy things, and even of '' souls of men" (verse 13); her unbounded pretensions, and her tyranny over the consciencesof men, have afforded her abundance and delicacies; her splendor, magnificence, and excess in everything, have made rich the merchants of the earth, who traded with her, and for the very same reason supported her doctrines and tyranny. This is the cause for which she is condemned to become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. COMMENTARY. 191 V. 4-8. "And I heard Knotljer voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath re- membered her iniquities. Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double iHito her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double. How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her : for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow. Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine, and she shall be utterly burned with fire : for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her," When Jesus Christ foretold the ruin of Jerusalem, he admo- nished the Jews, who listened to him, to flee into the mountains as soon as they should hear of wars. Therefore, his disciples abandoned Jerusalem, and fled to the mountains, when they heard of the approach of the Roman legions ; and so they escaped from the desolation, which caused the destruction of the city, and that of eleven hundred thousand inhabitants, who did not believe in the word of the Lord. The just Lot and his family were also warned to get out of Sodom, lest they should be consumed in the iniquity of the city; in the same manner, a voice from heaven, invites those who love Grod and fear his name, " to come out of Babylon,^' to abandon this idolatrous Church, an enemy of God and of his saints, whose blood she shed by torrents', lest they be partakers of her sins, and receive of her plagues. For those who will follow the wicked, must expect to be overwhelmed in their destruction, as accomplices of their crimes. The cup of her iniquities is full; ''for her sins have reached unto heaven ;" and God will come down to be re- venged at her hand. Though revenge be forbidden, his people are ordered not to for- bear from rewarding her as she rewarded them, and to double unto her double according to her works. God is the just judge of the earth ; and, when one obeys his orders, there is no revenge. She has long trampled under foot his people, with the most cruel tyranny ; she got her riches by her devilish practices, and she made use of them to live deliciously ; she glorified herself, and said in her heart : " I sit a queeix, and am no widow, and shall see no sor- row ; therefore, shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine ; and she shall be utterly burnt with fire ; for strong is the Lord who judgeth her." She shall, then, be visited, at once, with three scourges, pestilence, famine and wars, to punish her tyranny, luxury, and especially her pride (Dan. 4:30; Jer. 50 : 29 ; Ez. 16 : 49). Therefore, come out of Babylon, ye who fear the Lord and his judgments, lest ye be partakers of her tyranny over the consciences of men, of her haughtiness, idleness, 192 COMMENTARY. and delicacies, which are the heinous fruits of the ignorance and superstition which she instils into the minds of her priestridden subjects : if you do not obey the command of the Lord, to come out of her, ye shall receive of her plagues. V. 9, 10. "And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning, standing afar otf for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come." When the day of calamity is come, Babylon is alone and friend- less. True, the kings of the earth, who have committed fornica- tion, and lived deliciously with her, bewail her, and lament for her, at seeing the smoke of her burning ; but they stand afar off for the fear of her torment. In their distress and frenzy, they do not understand that it is a just reward of her crimes, and they say : " Alas, alas I'' or rather : '^ Woe, woe V for that is the signification of. the Greek " ouai ;" and her destruction is the fulfilment of the third " woe," foretold in the eighth chapter. Woe, woe after woes, they say in their lamentations ; How, great and mighty Babylon, is thy judgment come in one hour ! (Ez. 28 : 16-23.) They do not pity her in her calamity ; but they tremble for them- selves, as do the accomplices of the same crimes, when they see the companions of their misdeeds foil under the sentence of their judges. V. 11-19. " And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her ; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more. The merchandise of gold and silver, and precious stones, and of pearls, and fine linen, and pur- ple, and silk, and scarlet, and all thyine wood, and all manner vessels of ivory, and all manner vessels of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble, and cinnamon, and odors, and ointments, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and liorses, and chariots, and slaves, and soids of men. And the fruits that thy soul lusted after are departed from thee ; and all things which were dainty and goodly are departed from thee, and thou shall find them no more at all." " The merchants of these things, which were made rich by her, shall stand afar otf for the fear of her torment, weeping and wailing, and saying, Alas, alas, that great city, that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold and precious stones, and pearls ! For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood alar off, and cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying. What city is like unto this great city ! And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas, that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness ! for in one hour is she made desolate." COMMENTARY. 193 The merchants of the earth, vrho traded ^nth. the mystic Babylon, shall weep also and niourn over her destruction, because no man buyeth their merchandise any more. Among the goods, spoken of in this kind of inventory, some refer to the magnificence of the bishops', cardinals', and pope's vestments, as precious stones, pearls, fine linen, purple, silk and scarlet. Some are for the shrines of relics, and for the images of the saints, as thyine wood, ivory, precious wood, brass, iron, and marble. Some others, for her mate- rial worship, borrowed from the heathens, as cinnamon, odors, ointments, frankincense, wine, oil, and fine flour — and the others are, either to indulge in idleness, pride, and delicacies, as beasts, sheep, horses, and chariots, or to gratify cupidity and tyranny, as slaves ''and souls of men :" which points to the infamous traffic of indulgences, dispensations, absolutions, masses, and to all the means invented to satisfy the ambition of her supporters, as the annats, benefices, reserves, &c., &c. But it is done ! All these things which were dainty and goodly, which their soul lusted after, are departed from them, and they shall find them no more. The merchants of these things stand also afar oil for fear of her torment, and weeping and wailing, they say, " Alas, alas !" how that great city, that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls, — hoWj so great riches are come to nought in one hour ! (Is. 56 : 9-12 ; Matt. 21 : 12, 13.) The shipmaster also and the sailors shall stand afar off; and, seeing the smoke of her burning, shall say, '' What city is like unto this great city ?" They shall cast dust on their heads, and cry " Alas, alas ! that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costli- ness," — how is she made desolate in one hour ! (Is. 34 : 9-15.) The friends of the mystic Babylon are, as we have just seen, the kings of the earth, who enforced her tyranny upon the con- sciences of their people, and the merchants, who were made rich by her luxur^^, opulence, and by her material worship. They lament over her ruin; but they stand afar off in the time of her distress, and they weep and wail only, because they were partakers of her infamous delicacies, and because no man shall buy any more their merchandise. There is no cry of distress for their sins. They know not Grod ; they repent neither of their tyranny, nor of their murders, nor of their sinful trade : their lamentation is that of the wicked in the day of calamity ; but there is no godly sorrow to calm and refresh the soul ; for it is too late to repent : the Bridegroom is come, and the door is shut. V. 20. " Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets; for God liath avensed you on her." 17 194 COMMENTARY. While the companions of the mystic Babylon lament over her ruin, the heaven, that is, the inhabitants of the empire freed from the papal yoke, the Christians, and the holy apostles and prophets are invited to rejoice over her calamity; because this destruction is a judgment of God, over that idolatrous and persecuting city, to avenge the blood of his martyrs, and to prepare the way to the preaching of the gospel. The apostles themselves, whom she honored with a special worship, are invited to rejoice over her destruction, to avenge themselves for having been disgraced by her worship, and by the abuse she made of their names and cha- racters to maintain her pretensions. It was upon the name of Peter that she built up the foundation of her sway and tyranny ; — it was by selling the supposed relics of the saints and apostles that she got a part of her riches; — it was by the abuse she made of their words, and by placing the cities and villages, the woods and the rivers, and the cattle, under the patronage of the saints and apostles, and under that of fanatic and bloody men, as her St. Dominic, the murderer, that she claimed the power to canonize the supporters of her tyranny and superstition, and led thus astray to idols the servants of Grod, and dishonored consequently the saints, the apostles, and prophets, whom she debased to the rank of her bloody supporters : therefore, all must rejoice over her ruin. V. 21-24. "And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all. And the voice of harpers, and musicians, and of pipers, and trumpeters, shall be heard no more at all in thee; and no craftsman, of whatsoever craft he be, shall be found anymore in thee; and the sound of a millstone shall be heard no more at all in thee; and the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee ; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth ; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived. And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth." To give us a striking image of the violence of the destruction of the great Babylon, a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying : '' Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all" (Jer. 51 : Gl-64). Henceforth she shall only be inhabited by devils, by foul spirits, and by unclean and hateful birds. Then shall there be neither any more joy, nor feast-days, nor rejoicings ', the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more; the light of a candle shall shine there no more: an eternal silence and darkness shall reign there forever. For COMMENTARY. 195 Babylon has deceived all the nations of the earth by her sorceries, by the magic power of her words, and by the poisoning of her idolatry. " And in her was found the blood of prophets, and saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth/' Satan, that old serpent, which deceiveth the whole world, and is the accuser and murderer of the servants of God, had his seat there, and he gave to the beast his power, and his seat, and great authority. In this manner, papal Rome inherited not only the worldly grandeur of the monarchies, which had been before ; but also the crimes and murders, which had been committed from the creation of the world ; for she received all as a gift by the will of Satan. There- fore, the papal throne stands upon the corpses of the millions of victims of Satanic rage, and upon an immense sea of blood, whose yoice crieth unto Grod for revenge. The condemnation of the great whore, the mother of harlots, has long ago been decreed in the eternal counsel of God : " she shall no longer be inhabited, save by devils and unclean birds." " Her time is near to come, and her days shall not be prolonged" (Is. 13 : 17-22). CHAPTER XIX. THE GREAT BATTLE OF ARMAGEDDON AT THE COMING OF THE LORD, OR, THE MARRIAGE SUPPER OF THE LAMB. We have in this chapter, the great event called : " The second coming of our Lord," — " The vintage of the wrath of God," — "The battle of that great day of God Almighty, at Armageddon," — ^' And the end of the world ;" because, at that great day, the papal powers, priests, bishops, cardinals, shall flee away, and the kings of the earth shall be found no more, according to the vision of the prophet, saying: "And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found." It synchronizes, then, with 3 : 20-21 ; 14 : 18— 20 ; 16 : 15-21 ; and it is for that event, and not for the final judgment, which takes place after the Millennium, that we are warned by our Lord, in all the parables concerning his coming, to watch, and be ready; "for ye know neither the day nor the hour, wherein the Son of man cometh." A close investigation of the prophecies, concerning the coming of our Lord, will show us that this event is spoken of, not to warn the generations living during the Millennium ; but those who live 196 COMMENTARY. before, and say : " AVhere is the promise of his coming ? All things continue as they ^yere from the beginning of the creation." In the same manner, we shall find that the judgment, which shall take place at his coming, represents the judgment of the great whore (11 : 18 ; 19 : 2), and the destruction of the kingdoms of this world, when the times of the Gentiles shall be fulfilled : and these events are called, "the end of the world;" for, according to the explana- tion of the parable of the seed, " the harvest is the end of the world." The harvest consists in gathering ''out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them that do iniquity," — and afterwards "■ shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father." Hence, it is evident that the end of the world represents the destruction of the kingdoms of the earth, to set up, on their ruins, the kingdom of the Lord. Our Lord, having foretold the destruction of the temple of Jeru- salem, his disciples said unto him : " Tell us, when shall these things be ? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world ?" Jesus, in his answer to these three questions, gives the destruction of Jerusalem, as the type of the destruction of the kingdoms of this world; and having compared his coming to a lightning, which cometh out of the east (indicating that these events shall originate from the east), he represents them under this emblematic language : " For wheresoever the carcase is (sinners to be destroyed), there will the eagles (Eoman legions, or the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, 19 : 17) be gathered together. Immediately after the tribulation of those days, shall the sun (kings or emperors), be darkened, and the moon (popery) shall not give her light, and the stars (captains, priests, bishops, and popish saints or demigods), shall fall from heaven (from the offices which they hold in the kingdoms of the earth), and the powers of the heavens (the kingdoms) shall be shaken : And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven (Christianity shall be established in these kingdoms) : and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven (in the revolutions of those kingdoms, Ez. 30 : 3), with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels (gospel ministers), with a great sound of a trumpet (the emblem of the preaching of the gospel), and they shall gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in mar- riage, until the day that Noe entered into 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" (Matt. 24 : 27-39 ; Luke 21 : 25-3(3). C0 3IMENTARY. 197 It is evident from this passage, that the coming of the Lord, spoken of here, has no reference at all to the death of individuals, or to the final judgment; but to the destruction of the kingdoms, which are under the papal sway, and to the judgment of the great whore, and of her supporters, called ''the dead/' which are to be destroyed (11 : 18), as it may be still proved by this passage of St. Paul, in his second letter to the Thessalonians (2 : 1-8). The Thessalonians were troubled about the coming of our Lord. The Apostle Paul beseeches them not to be troubled, as if the day of Christ were at hand, " For," he says, "that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first (the papal apostacy), and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition. " And, when the Roman Empire, which withholdeth him, that he should be revealed in his time (Dan. 7 : 2-4, that is, after the other kings, who were to destroy this empire), shall be taken away, " then shall that wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming.'' The destruction of Popery is clearly connected here with the coming of our Lord, who, says the same apostle, "shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ" (2 Th. 1 : 7-10). But, as the Lord did not come personally to destroy Jerusalem, so we cannot suppose that he will come personally, either to destroy his enemies, or to reign among his elect during the Millennium ;* for it is by his spiritual power that his * Nevertheless it may be said : there is as much infidelity in spiritualizing too much the promises of God, as in opposing them. We believe that God spoke with Adam, — that he appeared to Moses in the bush, and spoke with him on the Mount Sinai, — that his presence was manifested, in a cloud, in the wilderness ; what reason have we to deny his personal presence, among his people, during the Millennium 1 Is it not the same reason which the infidels have to deny the teachings of the heavenly mysteries, which they have neither seen nor handled ? We live in a world accursed for sin ; our judgments are formed according to the ideas which are suggested to our minds by the state of things which is before our eyes; shall we deny his appearing the second time v/ithout sin unto salvation, because we have no idea of a new earth renovated by the power of God? It is not said, that he shall appear for the destruction of Jerusalem, but only after the destruction of the kingdoms of this world (Matt. 24 : 30), to set up Ins kingdom. Is there any reference to the final judgment in the texts which foretell his coming in Acts 1:11; Matt. 26 : 64 ; Luke 21 : 25-36 ; Heb 9 : 28 ; 10 : 37 ; Rev. 1:7; and in many others? The destruction of ungodly men and of the papal kingdoms is also a judgment of the Lord (11 : IS); therefore we believe in his personal appearing to the world, though we cannot sui>pose that he will reign personally, as the kings of the earth, and dwell continually in person among his people. 17^- 198 COMMENTARY. enemies shall be destroyed ; and, it is said, that the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High ; and so the kingdoms of the earth shall be the Lord's. The coming of the Lord is generally supposed to take place at the final judgment; because the judgment of the dead, and the destruction or the end of the world, are spoken of as taking place at the same time. But the dead spoken of, are those who are dead in trespasses and in sins (Eph. 2:1), and the end of the world, is the end of the times of the Gentiles, and the destruction of the kingdoms of the earth, which shall be the Lord's. It is the same great event, and not the destruction of this universe, or of the globe which we inhabit, which is described by the xipostle Peter in his picture of the end of the world. For, if we examine carefully this passage, we shall see that he is alluding to the answer of our Lord to the questions of his disciples, concerning the destruction of the temple, concerning his coming, and the end of the world ; and, consec[uently, that he describes the same events ; namely, the de- struction of the kingdoms of the earth. St. Peter complains first, of those '' Scoifers, walking after their own lusts, and saying: Where is the promise of his coming? For, since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.'' He compares, then, the destruc- tion, of which he is speaking, to that which took place in the days of Noah, as we have seen it, in the answer of our Lord (Matt. 24 : 37), and he adds : " But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in the which the heavens (kingdoms) shall pass away with a great noise ; and the elements (not of this universe, but of these kingdoms), shall melt with fervent heat (the emblem of wars and military despotism, 16 : 8-9), the earth also (worldly religion), and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing then, that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless, we, according to his pro- mise, look for new heavens, and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness" (2 Pet. 3 : 4-13). Now, everything, in this pas- sage, shows that he is alluding to the answer of Jesus, which we have just examined; and, as he compares the destruction of which he is speaking, to that which took sinners unawares in the days of Noah, we arc permitted to infer, that, in his comparison, ho speaks of the same world — of ungodly men, of worldly cities, and king- doms, whose elements — not of this globe — i4iall be destroyed with 31 M "e n t a r y. 199 the fervent heat of the fire of wars, and by famine and pestilence. Therefore, however strong may be the language made use of by St. Peter, there is no good reason to maintain the general opinion, that he is speaking of the destruction of the globe, which we inhabit, and of the heavens, where is the throne of God ; for they were declared to be good by their Almighty Creator. V. 1-4. "And after these things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven, saying, Allehiia ; salvation, and glory, and honor, and power, unto the Lord our God : for true and righteous are his judgments : for he hath judged_ the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of his servartts at her hand. And again they said, Alleluia. And her smoke rose up forever and ever. And the four and twenty elders and the four beasts fell down and worshipped God that sat on the throne, saying, Amen ; Alleluia," The prophet, after having given, in the sixteenth chapter, the emblems of the seven plagues, by which the papal kingdoms are to be destroyed, described, in the seventeenth, the characters of the great whore, which had corrupted the earth, and made a lamenta- tion over her utter ruin, in the eighteenth chapter. Now, he gives us a picture of the songs of praise, thanksgivings, and worship, which were heard among the people of the saints, while these judg- ments of God were executed. These vsongs are nearly the same as those of the Waldenses, after the battles of Montenotte and Ma- rengo, at the pouring out of the third vial (16 :4-7); but, here, they do not designate any special event : they include all the events, which shall consume and destroy the great whore unto the end : for "her smoke rose up forever and ever." Therefore, the four and twenty elders and the four beasts, v/hich are the representatives of both the triumphant and militant Church, fall down to wor- ship God, that sits on the throne, saying, " Amen ; Alleluia ;" that is, be it so, and praised be the name of the Lord, who has judged the great whore. Y. 5-9. "And a voice came out of the throne, saying. Praise our God, all ye his servants, and ye that fear him, both small and great. And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia : for the Lord God omni- potent reigneth. Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to him : for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white : for the white linen is the righteousness of saints. And he said unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God."' The seven last plagues of the wrath of God, contained in the seventh trumpet, are divided into the harvest and into the vintage 200 COMMENTARY. of the wrath of God (14 : 14-20). It seems that, in this song of the marriage of the Lamb and of his Church, there is an aUusion made to the great event (the French Revolution of 1792), by which the harvest was begun ; for it consists in gathering out of his king- dom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity, and in gathering the wheat into the barn of the Lord. Then, the kings, the noblemen, the priests, and the bishops, were gathered out of the kingdom, and missionary societies were established. " And a voice came out of the throne, saying. Praise our God, all ye his servants, and ye that fear him, both small and great;" that is, the liberty of worship was granted to the Church of God, and all the servants of the Lord were invited to praise him, in his temple. Such a liberty could not be granted by a king of the earth, sitting on his throne (15 : 8), but it was granted by the National Assembly of France, when Louis XVL was powerless ; and so the voice came out of the throne, soon after the Republic was proclaimed ; and, then, was heard " as it were the voice of a great multitude and as the voice of many waters (many people, 17 : 1-15), and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying. Alleluia : for the Lord God omni- potent reigneth.'' The power of tyrants is now at an end; there is no longer any hindrance to the setting up of the kingdom of God. Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to him : for the mar- riage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. There is no description of the events alluded to, because they have been described under the emblems of the seven vials, and because every one knows that the judgments of God upon the great whore, are the subject of this song of the people of God. And, as for the persecutions, either pagan or papal, there is but the last and most cruel, which is spoken of, namely, the Diocletian Perse- cution, for the heathens; and that of Louis XIY., for the papists; so, in this song of the servants of God, there is but the principal event, which is alluded to ; because all these plagues, all the struggles and revolutions, were made to destroy tyranny and to proclaim liberty, or to set up the kingdom of God. "And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white." In all these struggles and revolutions made to break the chains of the tyrants, the Church of God, so long trodden under foot, as an orphan without a protector, and as a heretic and schismatic Church, was delivered from her bondage, and she en- joyed liberty of worship without any restraint. Whilst the popish agents, and tlie Pope himself, were obliged to disguise themselves I'or fear of destruction, " it was granted to the bride" (the Protes- tant Church) "to be arrayed," as the high priests of the Jews, "in fine linen, clean and white," to serve the Lord freely in his temple: C0M3IENTARY. 201 and this liberty of worshipping him freely and without fear, is a proof that the Protestant Church is not only rigliteous before God, but also before the people, proclaiming, by this very deed, that she has always been faithful to her mission, and to the liberty and happiness of nations : ''for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints." " And he saitb unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me. These are the true sayings of God." These words indicate clearly the reaction, which followed soon after these shakings of the kingdoms of the earth, in all the struggles of the people for liberty. For it is in tbe same language that God laughs at the vain attempt of Louis XIV. to destroy Protestantism (14 : 13). ^' Write," he says to the prophet, "Blessed are the dead (dead in trespasses and in sins) which die in the Lord (turn to the Lord) from henceforth : yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors ;" that is, "■ Blessed are the papists who shall turn Protestants, for henceforth they shall rest from their persecutions : your attempt is vain, and they shall eat of the fruit of their works. ^' In the same manner, the prophet receives here the order to defy the tyrants who attempt again and again to keep in fetters the liberty of his people ; and the angel says unto him, " Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lafnb ;" that is, do not mind their attempts to destroy liberty : they shall not succeed ; victory is yours, Bepublicans, and the last hour of the tyrants is ready to strike : " these are the true sayings of God." We shall see, verse 17-21, the description of those who shall be called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb, whose weddings are called " a Supper," because he will come as a thief in the night. (Compare with the Church in Laodicea, 3 : 14-22.) Scott supposes that it is spoken, in this passage, of the conver- sion of the Jews ; because the Hebrew word " Hallehdah" is re- peated several times in this song of the marriage of the Lamb and of the Church, his wife. But we cannot draw such conclusions from a word, which has passed into every language. " None of those men (the Jews) which were bidden shall taste of my supper;" for " blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the gentiles be come in" (Luke 14 : 24 ; Eom. 11 : 25). There- fore, the Jews shall come only after the heathens and Mahometans ; for ''the first shall be the last." The wife, which has made herself ready, in serving God and men, and to which it was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white, being clean from any participation with the sins of the oppressors of the nations, is the Church of the one hundred and forty-four thousand ser- 202 COMMENTARY. vants of God, sealed in their foreheads by the Holy Ghost, to keep the flambeau of the gospel, during the Middle Age, and to hand it to the future generations — the wife of the Lamb is that great mul- titude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, — who after the Reformation, listened to the call of the gospel, and washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb, and were made one of the towers of the wall of the city, as we shall see it, in the allegorical description of the true Church of God (21 : 10-27). V. 10. " And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellow-servant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus : worship God : for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.-' The prophet, at seeing the judgments of God upon the great whore, and upon the kings who had committed fornication with her, and the glory of the bride, arrayed in fine linen, clean and white, — the emblem, not only of the righteousness of the Lamb, her bridegroom, which is imputed to her ; but also, of her faith- fulness and of the good report which she enjoyed before the papal nations, — was so amazed that he fell at the feet of the angel, to worship him. But the angel rebuked him, saying, " See thou do it not," as Paul rebuked the inhabitants of Lystra, who wished to offer him and his companion a sacrifice. ^' See thou do it not : I am thy fellow-servant :" I am not of a different condition than thine own; this honor is due to God alone. Though I am of a difi"erent nature, I am, as thou and the prophets, thy brethren, nothing else than a messenger commissioned to bear witness to Jesus. Therefore, we are all brethren and fellow-servants with the prophets, who are sent to bear witness to him ; for he it is who is the object and the end of all prophecies. And tliose who con- fess and believe that he is the Son of God, the Saviour of men, are animated by the same Spirit, and are, consequently, fellow- servants, worshipping and serving the same God. For to have the testimony of Jesus is to have the spirit of prophecy. (See 22 : 8, 9.) V. 11-16. "And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he liimself And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. And the armies ivliirh were in heaven followed liim upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he trcadeth the COMMENTARY. 203 winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Ahnighty God. And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, King or kings, and Lord of LORDS." The promoters of civil and religious tyranny, represented under the emblem of three unclean spirits like frogs (16 : 13-16), have at last succeeded in gathering the kings of the earth to the battle of that great day of Grod Almighty. The principal object of their infernal league is to give the finishing blow to the civil and reli- gious liberties. They have long cherished their black plot, and they think that its success is certain. They do not suspect that millions of voices have already sung songs of praise and thanks- giving to the Lord, for his judgments upon the enemies of his people ; — that the bride of the Lamb has put on her beautiful garments, to take possession of the kingdoms of the earth, — and that the marriage supper of the Lamb is at hand ; for, though many struggles and overturnings of kingdoms have been unable to destroy tyranny and enjoy liberty, the angel of the Lord ordered the prophet to write, that " Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb ;" for they shall overcome, and shall enjoy the blessings of the kingdom of God. We have, in this passage, the description of the titles, dignity, armor, and vesture of the great Captain of the armies, which shall fight under his invisible command, at the battle of Armageddon, called the vintage of the wrath of God. He is the same warrior, whom we saw, at the opening of the first seal (6 : 2), sitting on a white horse, and going forth conquering and to conquer. His invisible arm has inflicted many plagues upon the Roman Empire, either pagan or papal, for the idolatry and persecutions, which were supported by its rulers; and, now, he appears, at the head of his armies, upon the same white horse (as an emblem of the holi- ness of his cause), to give the finishing blow to his enemies, and to give the kingdom to his people. As he had promised his people to come to deliver them from their enemies, and to give them the kingdom, he is called the " Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.'' " His eyes were as a flame of fire," showing his indignation at the sight of the oppressors of his Church ; " and on his head were many crowns," the emblems of the triumph of his Church over the kings of the earth, whose kingdoms are to 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 (Dan. 7 : 27). " And he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself." This name cannot be "the Word of God," which was 204 COMMENTARY. made flesh, and dwelt among us; for we know that he is the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. Nor can it be any of his divine perfections, as the eternal Jehovah, which are known to his servants, — and he himself only knew this name written. Therefore, this name ought to be the name of ''the angel standing in the sun" (verse 17), who shall be, in his hands, the instrumen- tality of the destruction of his enemies. For the description of the armies, which follow the Lord of hosts, upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, does not represent the very armies which shall fight the battle of the Lord ; but it shows only what shall be the true character of these armies. It indicates, that the invisible Lord of hosts shall be on their side, — that the war shall be holy, and its success certain, — that those, who shall be engaged in that war, shall not be, as in former and unsuccessful attempts, treated as rebels and promoters of anarchy; but they shall be crowned with glory, for having fought the battles of the Lord, " they shall be clothed in fine linen, white and clean ;" their cause shall be crowned with glory. "And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood; and his name is called The Word of God.'' This is the name, — not the name written, that no man knew but he himself, — but the name of the great Captain of the armies of God. His vesture has been dipped in the blood of the cross; but this blood by which his vesture is stained, is that of his eneriiies, whom he has trodden alone in the wine-press of his anger (Is. G3 : 1-G ; IM : 1-17); or, rather, it is the emblem of the blood, which shall be shed by the armies, which shall be instrumental to the destruction of the papal league, and which shall fight under his invisible command and protection. "And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.'' These armies followed the Lord; therefore, the war is holy, and its success is certain, as it is indicated by " the fine linen, white and clean ;" they shall not be, for this time, condemned to death or to exile, as rebels and enemies of their country; the kings of the earth shall be taken and the false prophet with them, and they shall be cast alive into a lake of fire, burning with brimstone. Nevertheless, if the fine linen, white and clean, is not for them who shall be called, the mantle of righteousness, and the wedding garment, they shall be treated as the enemies of the Lord, and taken away, and cast with them, into outer darkness (Matt. 22 : 11-14), though they shall have been engaged in a just and holy cause, which shall be approved before God and men, as the battles which the Americans ibught for their independence. " And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he COMMENTARY. 205 should smite the nations (papists); and he shall rule them with a rod of iron," The Lord has only to speak, and his enemies shall be no more. His word is a two-edged sword : if it does not give life, it causes death. His word has long been despised, pro- scribed, and burnt, and reckoned amongst dangerous books ; his servants, who found their delight, and life, and immortality in this word, have been cast into dark dungeons, and ruined, and burnt at the stake for the reading of it. Now is the day of ven- geance ; and this gracious word is become a sharp sword and a rod of iron, with which the nations are smitten and destroyed. " For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven, whose voice shakes not the earth only, but also heaven'* (Heb. 12 : 25). Therefore, he treadeth them '^ in the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God" (compare with 14 : 18-20 and 16 : 19). For, kings of the earth, be instructed, and know what is the power of him against whom you have united together to make war ! He has, like the ancient con- querors, the titles of his power written on his thigh ; and they are, " King of kings, and Lord of lords." Though he be alone, he will tread you in his anger, and trample you in his fury; your blood shall be sprinkled upon his garments ; for the day of ven- geance is in his heart, and the year of his redeemed is come (Is. 63 ': 2-7). V. 17-21, " And I saw an angel standing in the sun ; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God; that ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great. " And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, ^lathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army, Atjd the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had re- ceived the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both vi'ere cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. And the emnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which 'word proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their ilesh." The prophets of the Lord do not write history, as men who take notice only of the natural causes, and of the material events, by which powerful armies have been defeated, and kingdoms destroyed. They show us, at first, as in the preceding picture, the invisible Lord of hosts, at the head of unseen armies, smiting the nations, and ruling them with a rod of iron, for having despised his holy 18 206 *• . COMMENTARY. religion, — for the sword goeth out of his mouth ; they represent, under emblems, the righteousness of the war, the certainty of victory, the carnage of the enemies, and the glory and honor of those who shall be engaged in that holy war, which shall put an end to the old controversy, between the word of God and its enemies. Then only, they give us the emblematic description of the armies, which shall fight the battle of the Lord, and shall be the instru- mentality made use of for the destruction of his enemies. " And I saw an angel standing in the sun.'^ The sun is the emblem of the emperor (6 : 12 • 8 : 12 ; 16 : 8) ; and, by metonymy, or transposition of names, of the empire itself, as Rome is taken for the head of the Roman Church, and for the religion itself. Likewise an angel is the emblem of a man, or of an army, commis- sioned to accomplish the will of God (8 : 7-12 ; 9 : 14). Now, since the reign of Charlemagne, who was crowned emperor by the Pope Leon III. in 800, France has been the seat of the civil Roman Empire; therefore, this angel standing in the sun, is either a French army, or a Frenchman, whatever may be his titles, who shall stand against the emperor and all the kings leagued together against civil and religious liberty. " And he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven. Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God.'^ The " fowls," which are birds of prey, are unclean, and cannot represent the Christians ; but they represent, as it is said in the parable of the marriage of the king's Son (Matt. 22:9, 10; Luke 14:21), those, whom the servants found in the highways, both bad and good, the poor and the maimed, the halt and the blind ; so that the house was filled with guests. Remark, that this destruction of the enemies of the Lord is called "the marriage supper of the Lamb;" and that it is pro- bable that Christians will pray to be excused, as the Jews, alluded to in the parable, and that the battle shall be fought by men such as those who are there described. They are "fowls," unconverted men (Acts 10 : 12) ; they "fly in the midst of heaven," that is, they are free, independent of the kings; and they have not the mark of the papal bondage, either in their foreheads or in their right hand : though they are born Catholics (17 : 16, 17), they neither profess nor favor the papal religion ; they, on the contrary, hate the great whore. Such are, then, the men to whom the angel, standing in the sun, that is, in the Empire, against the infernal league, cries with a loud voice, by a proclamation against the tyrants : " Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God ; that ye may eat the flesh (spoils, riches, estates) of kings, the flesh COMMENTARY. 207 of captains and mighty men/^ and of all the supporters of tyranny, " both free and bond, both small and great/' It may be said also that the corpses of the soldiers of Antichrist's armies shall be a feast for the fowls of heaven ; for righteousness and judgment are the habitation of the throne of the Lord. It is known that the dead bodies of the martyrs were not suffered to be put in graves (11 : 9) ; that, by an order of the pope, the dead body of Wicliff was, in 1416,- dug out of its grave to be burnt, even forty-one years after his death. ^' And I saw the beast (the pope and his supporters), and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together (by the three unclean spirits 16 : 13-21 showing that the same event is spoken of), to make war against him that sat on the white horse, and against his army." There is no description here either of the battle, or of the battle-field ; because we know already that the battle shall be fought at Armageddon (mountain of destruction) ; and that the carnage shall be such that the blood shall come out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thou- sand and six hundred furlongs (14 : 20). The prophet tells us only what shall be the consequences of this battle : "And the beast was taken (civil powers), and with him the false prophet, that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived then-i that had re- ceived the mark of the beast (the pagan Roman Empire 13 : 13— 18'; 2 Th. 2 : 9-12), and them that worshipped his image (the empire become the Papal Empire). These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone,' ' which designates the fire of artillery by which they shall be destroyed, and their destruc- tion shall be everlasting, as their torments in hell (20 : 15). " And the remnant were slain with the sword (death, mourning, famine, pestilence, and wars) (18 : 8) of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth, and all the fowls were filled with their flesh" (Ez. 39 : 17-22). Though the destruction of the enemies of the Lord was great, there was a remnant who escaped, perhaps because they had not joined the armies of the Antichristian league. But because they had the mark of the beast, they were slain with the sword, which proceeded out of the mouth of the Lord — with famine, mourning, and pestilence (18 : 8 ; Ez. 7 : 15), which are swords at the command of the Lord. The sword of the Lord is his word (Heb. 4 : 12) ; and were it not for the last words : " And all the fowls were filled with their flesh," we could infer that the remnant of the papists, who were not destroyed, gave glory to God, and turned to the Lord. But it is too late to repent; therefore all those who have trodden under foot the word of his grace, and chose rather to worship idols and support the enemies M^ ^ 208 COMMENTARY. ^ of his Church, shall he as wild grapes of the vine of the earth, cast into the great winepress of the wrath of God. And so shall end the long controversy of God with men ; the long quarrel about the word of God, and his covenant, shall be decided, at the coming of the Lord ; for '^ every soul which will not hear that prophet^ shall be destroyed from among the people." CHAPTER XX. THE MILLENNIUM AND THE FINAL JUDGMENT. V. 1-3. " And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit, and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, and cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and seta seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thou- sand years should be fulfilled; and after that he must be loosed a little season." Now is the time of the Gentiles fulfilled ; and the new Jeru- salem, the holy city, so long trodden under foot, will loose the bands from her neck, and put on the beautiful garments of rejoicings ; for the Lord her God reigneth ; and he will introduce her with triumph into the kingdom, prepared for her from the foundation of the world. " And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit, and a great chain in his hand." This angel is the symbol of Jesus Christ, taking possession of the kingdoms of the earth, in the persons of his saints, to whom "the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven shall be given" (Dan. 7 : 27). After the destruction of the Roman Empire, called also 'Uhe bottomless pit" (9:1-3), the key was given to a star, fallen from heaven unto the earth (to an apostate bishop, Boniface III.) ; and, when he had opened it, there arose out of the pit, a smoke like that of a great furnace, that is, popedom and the Dark Ages, ]5ut now, the key of the destruc- tion of the kingdoms of this world, is in the hands of an angel, coming down from heaven — of Jesus himself, — who will give it to his servants. Instead of making use of it to obtain worldly gran- deur and dominion, they will shut Satan in the bottomless pit with the kings and the false prophet ; and they shall bind him, COMMENTARY. 209 with good institutions and laws, as with a great chain* so that, the tyrannical powers of the earth being destroyed, Satan shall be unable to hurt any more in the holy mountain of the Lord. Con- sequently, instead of oppression, murders, wars, and intemperance, and idolatrous worship, there will be, throughout the earth, peace and liberty, brotherly love, holiness, and true worship in spirit and in truth : " And many nations shall come, and say. Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob ; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths." *' And he laid hold on the dragon, and bound him a thousand years, and cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years be fulfilled." The good laws and institu- tions, established by Christian rulers, shall be as a seal set upon Satan, so that, being cast into the bottomless pit of destruction with the civil powers, he shall be unable to deceive any more the nations, and to raise up any new tyrannical power, to make war with the Lamb and his servants. But, after the thousand years, he shall be loosed a little season, when Gog and Magog shall be powerful enough to be instnimental to his wrath to favor again tyranny and idolatry. Hence, we may infer, that the kingdom of the Lord shall be circumscribed (perhaps according to the vision of Ezekiel 47 : 13-23) ; and that, before the final judgment, the kings and nations of the East, shall only bring their honor and glory into the kingdom of our Lord (16 : 12). We may suppose, then, that all the kingdoms of the earth shall only be the Lord's, after the destruction of Gog and Magog; and this supposition is strengthened by the prophecy itself, for it refers only to the Roman Empire, either pagan or papist, a circumscribed kingdom, as was the Jewish Church. V, 4-6. "And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded, for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neitiier had received his mark upon their fore- heads, or in their hands ; and they Hved and reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of tlie dead lived not again, until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he, that hatii part in the first resurrection : on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God, and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years." " And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them." These thrones are the thrones of the princes of the earth, leaaued with the dragon, and with the ftilse prophet, 18^ 210 COMMENTARY. which are now the Lord's. Though the prophet does not call, by their names, the rulers, that sat upon these thrones, we may learn, from the resurrection of the martyrs of the Lord, that they are of the same family, — of the people of the saints of the Most High, unto whom the kingdom has been given. " And I saw the souls of them that were beheaded, for the wit- ness of Jesus, and for the word of God.'^ Here is the description of those who shall live and reign with Christ, during the Millen- nium. There are first, the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of Grod. The Greek *' Pepelekismenon'^ means " killed with the axe," and points out the pagan persecutions, at the time of the primitive Church, under the Roman emperors. The prophet saw only their " souls,'' show- ing that a resurrection of the body is not spoken of, as it shall be shown hereafter. The English translation: "And which had not worshipped the beast," does not render exactly the meaning of the Greek '^ Oitines," whose signification '' ichoever," designates the living, as well as the dead; whilst the pronoun ^^ which," refers only to the souls of them that were beheaded, and had not wor- shipped the beast, nor his image. Therefore, the phrase must run thus : " And whosoever had not worshipped the beast (the Roman pagan empire), neither his image (popery), neither had received his mark upon their foreheads or in their hands ;" that is, who had neither professed, nor supported, nor preached the papal doc- trines. "And they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years." This life and reign of the servants of the Lord is called : " the first resurrection;" thereforej it. is not a resurrection like that of the two witn<>sses (11 : 11-23); for it would be called : "the second resur- rection :" neither is it like that of Elias, which was accomplished by the birth of John the Baptist (Matt. 17 : 10-13) ; nor like that of the Jews, whose conversion is called, "a life from the dead;" but it is a resurrection both political and religious, at the same time. For, from the foundation of Christianity, the two witnesses of the Lord had been given to be trodden under foot by the Gentiles ; so that the martyrs of the pagan persecutions were looked upon, as the enemies of men and of the gods ; likewise those of the papal per- secutions were destroyed as heretics, and enemies of Jesus Christ ; even, at present, the living l*rotestants are still under the curses and anathemas of the great Ileresiarch, sitting as god in the tem- ple of God ; for none of his infernal decrees against them has been repealed ; and so the Protestants are yet under the papal anathemas. But, after the destruction of the infernal league, wh«ii the words of God shall be fulfilled, the kingdom being given to the COMMENTARY. 211 people of the saints of the Most High, their memory shall be re- instated; they shall be declared, ''The faithful, the ransomed people of the Lord/^ and they shall live, and reign morally with him a thousand years. Until now, God has done nothing, in the sight of men, to reinstate hip servants, to adopt them as children — not even when Christianity was, for a short time, proclaimed the rehgion of the Roman Empire, — they have always been looked upon as fanatics, superstitious, heretics, and enemies of God and men ; but now, the kingdom, under the whole earthy is in their hands ; and the blessedness, enjoyed under their administration, is the first step to, and the first image of, the everlasting kingdom of God, after the resurrection of the dead, at the final judgment : it is the first deliverance from the bondage of Satan, since the fall of man. '' But the rest of the dead lived not again, until the thousand years were finished." Besides the Protestants, who have always been as dead or damned under the papal anathemas, and the martyrs of pagan persecutions, there are many servants of God, who had only the number of the beast, or the name of Papists, as Pascal and Fenelon, and some others, who have been put to death, as heretics, by the Inquisition in Spain, Italy, and in other countries; but, as they did not belong professedly, either to the accursed sect of Protestants, or to the martyrs under pagan Home, their spiritual condition shall not be known before the final ju.dgment; and so, these dead, under the pagan or papal curses, shall not live again ; that is, shall not be justified and accounted faithful, until the last judgment, when the thousand years shall be finished, and when every man shall appear before the judgment seat of Christ. There- fore, " this is the first resurrection/' the first rehabilitation of the people of God, and the first enjoyment of the blessings of the king- dom of Christ. At the second resurrection, they shall put on im- mortality, and shall be like angels before God; but, during the Millennium, they shall be priests of God, and of Christ, a holy people, serving the Lord, and reigning with him a thousand years (1:6). • ^ " Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection : on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousaud years." These words indicate clearly that a political and religious resurrec- tion is spoken of; for those that shall have part in it, are declared to be blessed and holy, and free from the bondage of sin and Satan, which are the cause of the second death. That is the reason, for which it is said, " Blessed are they which are called unto the mar- riage supper of the Lamb" (19 : 9) ; for, not only they shall escape from the general destruction of the supporters of popery, but also 212 COMMENTARY. they shall enjoy all the means of grace, which shall be abundantly supplied in the kingdom of Christ. Nevertheless, we ought not to entertain ridiculous and extravagant opinions about the nature of this kingdom of our Lord : all we can expect with certainty is that ^Hhe kingdom and dominion and the* greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven (the Roman Empire), shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High — that all dominions shall serve and obey him — that the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea; and that, in that day, the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people ; which shall be left, from the four corners of the earth" (Dan. 2 : 44 ; 7 : 26, 27 ; Is. 11 : 9-13). And, for the other blessings, we find them described in the following passages of the prophets Isaiah and Micah : — " For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth : and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind. But be ye glad and rejoice forever in that which I create : for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy. And I will re- joice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people : and the voice of weep- ing shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying. There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days : for the child shall die an hundred years old ; but the sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed. And they shall build houses, and inhabit them ; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them. They shall not build, and another inhabit ; they shall not plant, and another eat : for as the days of a tree are the days of my people, and mine elect shall long enjoy the works of their hands. They shall not labor in vain, nor bring forth for trouble ; for they are the seed of the blessed of the Lord, and their offspring with them. And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer ; and while they are yet speaking, 1 will hear. The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock : and dust shall be the serpent's meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the Lord" (Is. 65 : 17-25). " But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it. And many nations shall come, and say. Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob, and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths : for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the ]jord from Jerusalem. And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar oiF; and they shall beat their swords COMMENTARY. 213 into ploughsliares, and their spears into pruning-hooks : nation sliall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree ; and none shall make them afraid : for the mouth of the Lord of hosts hath spoken it" (Mich. 4 : 1-4). Such are the temporal and spiritual blessings, which we may expect to enjoy, at the first resurrection of the people of God, until we put on life and immortality, and be as the Lord is in the everlasting kingdom of Grod, therefore by this first resurrection, the first degree of deliverance accomplished by the Messiah, Christians are made free from the yoke of their enemies, and they enjoy the blessings of a new Eden. V. 7-10. " And \Ylien the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed oitt of his prison, and shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle : the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city : and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them. And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are. and shall be tormented day and night forever and ever," ^^ And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison." After the Millennium the great sabbath of the saints, the numerous people, who shall oppose the influence of tfhe gospel, will aff'ord Satan a support powerful enough, to at- tempt again to destroy the saints of ih.Q Lord. Gog and Magog, marching at the head of great armies, deceived by Satan, shall compass the camp of the saints and the beloved city, which is the Church of the living God. They shall say in their heart : ^^ I will go up to the land of unwalled villages ; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates, to take spoil, and to take a prey ; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land. Sheba, and Dedon, and the merchants of Tarshish, with all the young lions thereof, shall say unto thee, Art thou come to take a spoil ? Hast thou gathered thy company to take a prey ? To carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to take great spoil" (Ez. 88 : 11-13) ? Gog does not know that the people of God dwelleth safely ; that, as the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the Lord is round about his people. Therefore, a fire shall come down from God out of heaven, and shall devour them. Seven months, Ezekiel says, shall the. house of Israel be burying of them, that they may cleanse the land. This shall be 214 COMMENTARY. the last attempt of Satan to destroy the people of Grod ; for he shall be cast into the lake of fire and brimstone — not into the fire of wars — but into hell, where the beast and the false prophet are, and he shall be tormented day and night forever and ever. Magog was the son of Japheth, and was the father of the nations which inhabited the country formerly called '^ Scythia/' and now, " Tartary" (Gen. 10 : 2—5) ; and Gog is considered as the title of their king, as Pharaoh was the name of all the kings of Egypt. The prophet Ezekiel (38 and 39) speaks of Gog, inhabiting the land of Magog, as the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, which are supposed to be, from their analogy, " Moscow," and " Tobolsk." Scott thinks that, in Ezekiel, it is spoken of events anterior to the Millennium ; and that Gog and Magog, spoken of in St. John, are not the same ; for, he says, according to Ezekiel, they come only from the north, whilst, in St. John, they are the nations, " which are in the four quarters of the earth." But it is said in Ezekiel (38 : 5, 6) that " Persia (which is in the east), Ethiopia (in the south), and Libya" (west), and Gomer, and all his bands, the house of Togarmah (Gen. 10), who were the fathers of the nations, which inhabited the isles, shall come with him to the battle, with all their armies. Therefore, the prophets agree together for the countries, from which they shall come. They agree also for the attack of these different nations, for the time (in the latter days, verse 16), and yet for their destruction. For, it is said (verse 22) : " And I will plead against him with pestilence, and with blood ; and I will rain upon him, and upon his bands, and upon the many people that are with him, an overflowing rain, and great hailstones, and fire, and brimstone." But how shall we reconcile that attack of Gog, at the head of so great an army of different nations, with the prophecies of Isaiah and Micah, saying that they shall not hurt, nor destroy in the holy mountain of the Lord ; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea; and all the people shall serve the Lord? (Ps. 72 : 8-11 ; Hab. 2 : 14.) It is evident that the kingdom of the Lord shall be circumscribed, till the end of the Millennium ; that all the other kingdoms shall only be under his dominion, as England and the United States, which, being inha- bited by the same people, spoken of (11 : 7-13) as the witnesses, who after a cruel persecution, stood on their feet, and ascended up to the throne of England, have enjoyed the blessings of the gospel from the time of their triumph over the princes of darkness. There will be, as in these two countries, good and wicked men living together : ^' the wolf shall dwell with the lamb;" but the good shall be stronger than the wicked ; and, at the close of the COMMENTARY. 215 Millennium, by the favor of Gog, an apostate prince or an avowed enemy of the Lord, the prevailing number of the wicked, enticed by the love of pillage, and deceived by Satan, shall gather together for this battle, which shall cause their own destruction. And, then, the great enemy of men, Satan, who has brought upon mankind all the calamities which have been inflicted upon men from the creation of the world, shall be cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and he shall be tormented day and night forever and ever. V. 11-15. " And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heavens fled away ; and there was found no place for them. And 1 saw the dead, small and great, stand before God ; and the books were opened : and another book was opened, which is the book of life : and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And who- soever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire." When Massillon preached his famous discourse, " On the small number of the elect," before the court of Louis XIV., at Versailles, all his auditory arose involuntarily, as struck with terror, at the pict^ire of the few of his hearers, who would be saved, should the Lord appear there to make the trial among them. But what is the picture of the great orator, in comparison with the sublimity of this picture of the final judgment, so grand and so majestic that it is beyond any human conception ! God appears, at a glance, sitting on a great white throne ; and the earth and the heavens fly away from his presence. The dead, small and great, stand before the judgment seat, to be judged according to their works. The books are opened ; no man can escape, for the sea gives up the dead, which have been buried in the deep ; death itself and the sepulchre deliver up the dead which are in them ; and death and the sepulchre are cast into the lake of fire, with those who are not found written in the book of life. " This is the second death ;" therefore, those who are not re- conciled to God, by Jesus, and live unconcerned for their salvation, are like intoxicated men, dancing and rejoicing in the delusive thought that they are rich, whilst they are poor and miserable, and while the executors of men's judgments are at their door. God forbid that, when Christ knocks at our door, we may say, as Felix, " Go thy way for this time, when I have a convenient season, I 216 COMMENTARY. will call for thee ;" we must not delay, while we can boldly approacli the throne of grace, and when God is easy to be found. ^^ And I saw a great white throne." The throne is white, to show the justice and holiness of Grod's judgments. He that sat on it, is Jesus Christ, who is the appointed judge of the quick and of the dead (Rom. 2:16; 2 Cor. 5 : 10) ; and he shall judge, not according to the traditions or teachings of men, but according to the word, which he has spoken (John 12 : 48). " The earth and the heavens fled away" from his presence, " and there was found no place for them ;" that is, every earthly thing, as wants, in- firmity, sickness, death, kingdoms, and earthly grandeur and glory, fled away ; and eternity commenced : there is time no longer. (See nineteenth chapter, the destruction of this world.) "And the books were opened." There are, then, many books of remembrance before the Lord; 1st, the book of conscience, which is a witness against the sinner; 2d, the book of natural law, by which shall be judged those who have been deprived of the book of God ; 3d, the book of the law given on the Mount Sinai; 4th, the book of the gospel, which has been opposed or rejected, and which shall render more dreadful the condemnation of sinners ; 5th, the book of life, written before God for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon his name (Mai. 3 : 16). Therefore, the character of every one shall be manifest : our actions, either public or secret ; our motives, intentions, obligations, talents, advantages, and even our idle words, thoughts, and desires, shall be compared with the law of God ; and the judgment shall be pronounced with the most exact justice, according to the talents intiTisted to us, and the circumstances increasing or alleviating our culpability. The Gentiles, who have sinned without law, shall also perish without law ; and, as many as have sinned in the law, shall be judged by the law (Rom. 2 : 12-16). But, by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in the sight of God; for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God. All the sons and daughters of Adam, weighed in the balances, shall be found wanting ; and, had not Jesus Christ, our high priest, atoned for our sins, we all should be condemned. But, thanks be to God, there is a book of remembrance before God for those that feared the Lord and thought upon his name. This book of life is the emblem of the knowledge, which God has of his people, whose sins he has cast into the sea, because they answered when he called ; they believed, and repented of their sins, and chose the fear of the Lord. Having been elected, accord- ing to the foreknowledge of God the Father, and sanctified by the COMMENTARY. 217 Holy Gliost, unto the obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus, they find, at that great day, as among tlie Jews of old, a rich brother, the Son of G-od, who is able and willing to redeem and restore th^m their heritage, which they have sold away. But the unbelievers have no man, no brother, to redeem their heritage, and it shall not go out in the jubilee (Lev. 25 : 30). They have set at nought the counsel of God, and would none of his reproofs ; there- fore, God shall laugh at their calamity. There is, now, no Media- tor, no throne of grace, for them that are not reconciled to God by Jesus Christ. But there is no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus ; for the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord (Rom, 6 : 23 ; 8:1, 31-35 ; 2 Cor. 5 : 10-21). "And they were judged every man according to their works.'' Some profess that they know God ; but in works they deny him. Therefore, we shall be judged, according to our works ; for they are the witnesses of the sincerity and efficacy of our faith, and show our character, as by the fruits we judge of the tree. Never- theless our works are not, as the price, by which we can buy heaven. It is freely given to those, who, by faith in Jesus Christ, take and drink the water of life. For we are saved, "not by works of righteousness, which we have done, but according to the mercy of God our Saviour, who saved us, by the washing of rege- neration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost ; which he shed on us abiAidantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour ; that being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.'' But, though we are saved by grace, it is by our works that we shall be judged whether we are in Christ or not. And, as Jesus Christ himself has given us a description of the final judgment (Matt. 25 : 31-46), we may know, by our works, whether we shall be set on the right, or on the left hand. The condemned sinners, whose names shall not be found in the book of life of the Lamb, shall be cast, as useless vessels, with death itself and the sepulchre, into the lake of fire, prepared for the devil and his angels. And, then, Jesus having put down all rule and all authority and power, and destroyed death, which is the last enemy, which shall be subdued unto him, "shall the Son also himself be subjected unto Him that put all things under him, that Grod may be all in all" (1 Cor. 15 : 24-28). 19 218 COMMENTARY. CHAPTER XXL THE HEAVENLY JERUSALEM. V. 1-4. " And I saw a new heaven and a new earth : for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying. Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall tliere be any more pain : for the former things are passed away." Here is the end of the prophecy. For, in the following verses, the prophet shows who, and what church shall inherit the kingdom of Grod, and who shall be deprived of its blessings. The last chapter contains, as it were, the seal of the Lord, approving and ratifying the contents of the prophecy, and the signatures of the prophet, commissioned to write it, and of the Spirit, who inspired the prophet, and of the bride, who has experienced that it is indeed the word of the Lord. This passage comes immediately after the sixth verse of the preceding chapter. The prophet, having spoken of the destruction of the beast and of the false prophet ; of the confinement of Satan, and of the setting up of the kingdom of God, left off his subject, to speak of the revolt of Gog and Magog, and of the final judgment, which shall follow the destruction of these enemies of the saints of the Lord. Now, he resumes his subject and shows us what shall be the blessings, enjoyed under the government of the saints sitting on the thrones of the earth. " And I saw a new heaven and a new earth ; for the first heaven (the lioman Empire, either pagan or papal), and the first earth (heathenism and popery) were passed away; and there was no more sea" (no political convulsion) ; consequently neither tyranny, nor persecution, no false prophet, no anathemas, to protect and support superstition and idolatry. This is a new heaven and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness, peace, holiness, and liberty. It is a new earth, filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea, where all shall be taught of God, and where the righteous shall shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. " They shall sit every nian under his vine and under his fig tree ; and none shall make them afraid : for the mouth of COMMENTARY. 219 the Lord of hosts hath spoken it." Thej shall walk in the name of the Lord their God forever and ever. ^' And the inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying, Let us go speedily to pray be- fore the Lord, and to seek the Lord of hosts : I will go also. And it shall be, that whosoever will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the king, the Lord of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain ; and in that day shall there be upon the bells of the horses, Holiness unto the Lord'' (Mich. 4 : 1— 5 ; Is. 2, 11, 60, 62 ; Zech. 8 : 21-23 ; 14 : 17-20). ^- And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from Grod out of heaven." The holy city comes down from Grod out of heaven, to indicate that all her beauty, riches, and glory, come from God and the Lamb, through the powerful agency of the Holy Ghost. She is not the work of men : it is God who made her as she is. She received the ornaments, with which she is adorned, from the Lamb, her Lord and husband, who, through love to her, regarded her in her low estate, and, having given her his titles of grandeur and nobility, exalted her to the high dignity, which she holds as the bride and wife of the Son of God. '' And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God." The tabernacle was a portable temple, divided into two parts, representing the two states of the Church and the two natures of Jesus Christ. The outer part, called " sanctuary," be- cause it had been built up to adore a holy God, to represent a holy Saviour, and to form a holy people, was as the court and palace of the great king of Israel. The inner part was called " the holiest of all," and was the type of heaven, and of the body of Christ, who permits us to have a glimpse of heavenly things, through his death on the cross, and to approach boldly to the throne of grace, through his atoning sacrifice, upon which rest the grounds of our hopes of eternal life and inheritance — or rather, the outer part was the type of the Church trodden under foot, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled, and striving to enter into the kingdom of God ; and the inner part represented the Church enjoying the blessings of the kingdom of God, during the Millennium, and after the final judgment, when the ransomed of the Lord shall have put on immortality. This tabernacle was the symbol of the presence of God among his people (Ex. 25:8)- therefore, the words: ''Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men," shows that God shall dwell hence- forth among his people — that he will surround his Church with his powerful protection — that she shall never be trodden down of the 220 COMMENTARY. Gentiles — and that he will impart to her every blessing, as it is expressly declared that he shall wipe away all tears from their eyes — that there shall be no more death, neither sorrow; that is, perse- cutions, bloody, crusades, nor crying under tyrants, neither shall there be any more pain; ^' for the former things (pagan and papal tyranny) are passed away;'' and the mountain of the Lord shall be all glory and happiness and rejoicings. But who shall inherit these blessings, and who shall be deprived of them? These questions are answered in the following passages. V. 5-8. " And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write : for these words are true and faithful. And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is atl)irst of the fountain of the water of life freely. He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. But the fearful,- and unbelieving, and the abomir»able, and murderer.s, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone : which is the second death." This law, enacted by the Lord sitting upon the throne, cannot be a law for the inhabitants of the kingdom; for there shall be there neither fearfulness, nor unbelief, neither any of the abomina- ble things, which are mentioned in that picture. It is, then, a fundamental law of the kingdom, having force and power from the time of the prophecy. The words, " Behold, I make all things new," are themselves a prophecy of the destruction of the king- doms of the earth, and of the final triumph of his Church, signi- fying, " Behold, I shall make all things new." For that reason, our Lord adds: '^ Write, for these words are true and faithful." He is the Almighty, who could prevent him ? Has he said, and shall he not do it (1 : 8, 11). He will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely (John 7 : 37-39) ; and he that overcometh shall inherit all things. '^ But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremon- gers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake, which burneth with fire and brimstone : which is the second death," the eternal misery of the soul, that chose rather to serve the world than the living God, and delayed to be recon- ciled unto him by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost. All the rest of the chapter shows us the character of the true Church, which shall enjoy the blessings of the kingdom of the Lord, and consequently the eternal happiness of heaven. For ''on such the second death hath no power" (20 : 6) ; and, at the final judgment, new blessings shall yet be added to their happiness ; COMMENTARY. 221 wants, infirmities, and death, shall be no move 5 their mortal bodies shall be changed into spiritual and celestial bodies ; there shall be time no longer : eternity is at hand. V. 9-15. "And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked vi'ith me, saying, Come hither, I will show thee the bride, the Lamb's wife. And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, having the glory of God : and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal; and had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel: on the east three gates; on the north three gates; on the soulJ,i three gates; and on the west three gates. And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. And he that talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof. ' Here is the description of the city of God, of which glorious things are spoken by the holy prophets : and happy is the man, of whom the Lord, when he writeth up the people, shall say : " This man was born there" (Ps. 87 : o-G). We must not forget that the Lord wrote upon the Reformation the name of this glorious city, New Jerusalem, that he adopted Protestantism and the Reformers, upon whom he wrote his new name (3 : 12). We shall see then, whether Protestantism possesses all the characters of the Lamb's wife, as described here, under the allegory of a great city, coming down from God out of heaven, and having the glory of God. '^ Come hither, I will show thee the bride, the Lamb's wife." This angel, who was commissioned to destroy the papal league, knew which was the true Church of God, and v/as then able to show the prophet the bride, the Lamb's wife, with all the cha- racters by which she is distinguished from any other. It is important for us to know which is the true Church of the Lord, that we may not be deceived, and led astray by the show and pre- tensions of specious sects, and by Satan, who is transformed into an angel of light. Let us, then, examine with attention the cha- racters of the bride of the Lamb, as they are exposed in this description. "And he carried me away in the Spirit (under a powerful agency of the Holy Ghost, 1 : 10 ; 4:2) to a great and high mountain," which is the emblem of Jesus Christ himself, of whom it is said that " the stone, which smote the image (of Nebuchad- nezzar, representing the four great monarchies, which were to succeed one another, Dan. 2 : ol-45) upon his feet that were of 19* 222 COMMENTARY. iron and clay (worldly religion united with tlie state), and brake them to pieces, became a great mountain and filled the whole earth." The great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, is built on this mountain, upon Jesus, who is the corner stone of his Church. She is called 'Hhe holy Jeru- salem,'' because Christ loved his Church, and gave himself for her, that '^ he might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that he might present her to himself a glorious Church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing ; but that she should be holy and without blemish." And so God is present in the midst of her walls, as he was in the midst of his people in Jerusalem, when they were faithful to his law. His glory, in the midst of l^r, sheds such torrents of light, that " her light was,'' to the eyes of the prophet, ''like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal," indicating that God, who is represented under that symbol (4 : 3), is himself the light of his Church. "And had a wall great and high." If we examine closely all that is said about this wall, we shall perceive that something else than an ordinary wall is meant by that expression. The Song of Solomon (8 : 8-10) will give us the meaning of it : " We have a little sister (heathenism), and she hath no breasts (no word of God) : what shall we do for our sister in the day when she shall be spoken for ? If she be a wall, we will build upon her a palace of silver : and if she*"be a door, we will enclose her with boards of cedar. I am a wall, and my breasts like towers : then was I in his eyes as one that found favor." The Jewish Church is the city; for to the Israelites pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises. But our fathers, who were aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world, were made nigh by the blood of Christ, who has wade both one, and has broken down the middle wall of partition, that through him we both might have access by one Spirit unto the Father (Eph. 2 : 11-22). Now, the Jews having rejected Christ, and his atoning sacrifice, it was decreed in the eternal counsel of God, that "the little sister," the heathens, should be like a wall, extending from the time of the rejection of the Jews to the second coming of our Lord, and the setting up of his kingdom. The two breasts of the little sister, namely Christianity as it was first preached by the apostles, and professed by the primitive churches, and Christianity restored by the Ilcformation, are the towers, built upon the wall, to preserve and protect the Church of the living COMMENTARY. 223 God, during the times of the Gentiles. The wall was '•^ great and high j" and so the wrath of Satan and of his agents was powerless, either to pull it down, or to pass over it. We shall see in the following verses the nature and description of the wall. ''And had twelve gates. '^ Jesus is the only way and door to enter into the city, to become citizens of the commonwealth of Israel, and have a part with the chosen people of God. But it is said that the wall had twelve gates ; because the same Mediator and Saviour was preached, as the way and the door, by his twelve apostles. And there are three gates on every side of the holy city, to show that it is of easy access to all men, from all parts of the world, through Jesus Christ : '' and they shall come from the east, and from the west, and from the north, and from the south, and shall sit down in'the kingdom of God" (Luke 13 : 29). '' And at the gates twelve angels," as were cherubims at the east of the garden of Eden, to prevent that there should in no wise enter into the holy city anything that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie. " And names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel.'' As there is neither Jew nor Greek in Christ Jesus ; and, if we be Christ's, then are we Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise (Gal. 3 : 28, 29), these names, written on the gates, as on monuments of glory, are not the names of any of the sons of Abraham, but those of the Gentiles, who havp overcome the world, and have gone forth unto Jesus without the camp, bearing his reproach, ''And the wall of .the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb." The Church, which is entitled to the blessings of the commonwealth of Israel, is built upon " the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone ; for other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ, who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justifica- tion" (Eph. 2:19-22 5 Rom. 4:25). No one, then, can enter into the holy city but through the obedience to the evangelical doctrines preached by the twelve apostles, and through the faith which was once delivered unto the saints : our faith and conversa- tion ought to be stamped with the seal of the apostles, and be conformed to the plan of salvation, as it was laid down in their holy writings, and preached once to the apostolic churches. We have seen (11 : 1, 2) that a reed, like unto a rod or yard, was given the prophet to measure the temple, and the altar, and them that worshipped therein ; — we have said that this reed repre- sents the word of God, by which we are taught the nature of the 224 COMMENTARY. worship, whicli God requires from liis worshippers. Those who do not worship according to that rule, are but nominal worshippers, standing out of the temple, with the Oentiles, and having conse- quently no part with the people of God. It is with the same golden reed, and not according to the judgments or traditions of men, that the angel measures the city with the gates and the wall thereof, to indicate that the law and conditions of citizenship must be complied with to be admitted into the holy city. We have in the following verses all the dimensions of the city, of its wall, and gates, taken with the golden reed, with which everything ought to be measured and examined (John 12 : 48). V. 16-21. "And the city lieth foursquare, and the length is as large as the breadth, and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs. The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal. And he mea- sured the wall thereof, an hundred and for ly and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel. And the building of the wall of it waso/jusper: and the city xvas pure gold, like unto clear glass. And the foundations of the wall of the city «'«-e garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation icas jasper; the second, sapphire ; the third, a clialcedony; the fourth, an emerald; the fifth, sardonyx: the sixdi, sardius ; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a chrysophrasus; the eleventh, a jacinth ; the twelfth, an amethyst. And the twelve gates tvere twelve pearls; every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass." " And the city lieth foursquare.'^ Of all the solid bodies, those which have four equal sides, are the most regular, and the most difficult to be moved. It is for that reason that' St. Paul repre- sents the love of God to men, as a solid body, having breadth, and length, and depth, and height (Eph. 3 : 18) ; showing thus that it is unchangeable — that by its " breadth," it is extended even to the chief of sinners — by its " length," that it is the same in all ages — by its " depth," that it is immovable and searches out the most secret mysteries ; and, by its ^' height," that God alone could devise such a plan of salvation to save our fallen race. Therefore, these words : " the city lieth foursquare," indicate its firmness and beauty. " And the length is as large as the breadth ;" that is, the salvation foretold by the prophets, typified by sacrifices and cere- monies, and preached to the Jewish Church by the Lord Jesus and his apostles, reaches equally every sinner and extends throughout all ages. This Church or holy city, built up among the Jews by our Lord, measured with the golden reed, was found to be " twelve thousand furlongs," which make about fifteen hundred miles ; that is, was found equal to the teachings of the apostles, so that the wall or the church of the ({entiles, built up by the apostles, was e(pial to the city, or church built up by the prophets and by COMMENTARY. 225 Jesus Christ, and so the city and the wall were thus equal in all their extent, in breadth, length, depth, and height. It is evident that the number " twelve" is taken for the apostolic doctrines — that the number " thousand" is added to show the in- crease of the members of the Church, through the zeal of the keepers of the vineyard, who have brought to the Lord of the vineyard his thousand (Sol. Song, 8 : 11) ; and that the word '' furlongs" is made use of to preserve the allegory of the Church, represented under the emblem of a holy city. Therefore, the meaning is that the Church, built up among the Jews by the Lord, is the same as that which is described in the writings of the apostles, having the same Saviour and the same promises, the same plan of salvation, extended to every sinner, throughout all ages, and being equally the work of God : " the length and the breadth and the height of it are equal" to the teachings of the apostles ; consequently those who believe and profess the apostolic religion, in all its extent and claims, are entitled to the blessings of the chosen people of God. " And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel. ^' The wall, we have said, is the Church of the Gentiles, grafted in, among the Jews, into a good olive tree, to preserve Christianity, during the time of the blindness and unbelief of the chosen people of God, to the setting up of the kingdom of the Lord. This church, then, being measured with the golden reed, was '^an hundred and forty and four cubits." Here again, the number " twelve" is taken for the teachings of the twelve apostles; and this number, being multiplied by itself, makes one hundred and forty-four : which expresses perfectly the handing down of the same plan of salvation, from men to men, throughout ages, as by the multiplication of the same thing, or of the same number multi- plied by itself, preserving alv»'ays the same root, as it is also indicated by the foursquare of the city. This Church of the Gentiles, con- sidered either as the primitive church founded by the apostles, or reformed from popery — which are the two towers of the wall (Song 8 : 10) or the two witnesses — being measured, judged and ex- amined with the golden reed, was found to be conformed to the teachings of the apostles; and consequently entitled to enjoy the blessings of the holy city with the chosen people of God. But her faithfulness was not spotless : it was not an angelic perfection ; it was a human faithfulness; therefore the works, labors, faith, and patience of this church, are measured with the measure of a man ; that is, of the angel, who had put on the human form. The word '' cubits" indicates the works of our hands, and shows that this church had 226 COMMENTARY. been sanctified, and made meet for the master's use, and prepared unto every good work : so, in her infirmity and weakness, she was found faithful, according to the claims of the gospel. '^ And the building of the wall of it was of jasper." It is said (4 : 3) that God " was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone ;'' if we apply to the building of the wall the signification of this emblem of the glory of God, we shall have for its meaning : "And the members or Christians composing the church of the Gentiles, throughout ages, were godly Christians, having the image of the holy and glorious God.'' The following words, " and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass," show evidently that such is the signification of this emblem ; for they are but a consequence of this exposition. This is the argument of the prophet : the Church, built up by the Lord Jesus, was holy, having the plan of salvation, by which even the chief of sinners could be saved; the plan of salvation, taught by the apostles, is conformed to that plan in all its extent, and can consequently form a holy church ; now, the Church of the Gentiles, being examined by the word of God, is found to be built upon the same plan -, and the members, who are like the building or materials of the wall, are found, notwithstanding human infirmi- ties, to be in Christ, and having in this manner the express image of God ; therefore " the city was pure gold (righteous and spotless), like unto clear glass" (Eph. 5 : 25-27) ; and again : " the founda- tions of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of pre- cious stones," that is, with all manner of good works, testifying that their conversion was genuine, and that they were truly con- cerned for the kingdom and the glory of God. That such is the meaning of these words, the apostle Paul gives us an evident proof, when he says that, as a wise master builder, he has laid the foundation, and that another buildeth thereon — that other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ — that if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble, every man's work shall be made manifest : for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire ; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is (1 Cor. 3 : 10-15). Now, there is neither wood, nor hay, nor stubble garnishing the wall of the holy Jerusalem ; but they are garnished with precious stones. In the same manner, gold, as the purest and the most precious of metals, was, in all the symbols of the covenant of God with men, as in the golden censer, the ark, and the mercy seat, the emblem of the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Therefore, the city which *' was pure gold, like unto clear glass," shows that the righteousness and holiness of Jesus Christ has been COMMENTARY. 227 imputed to his Church, which was manifested in his sight (Heb. 4 : 12, 13), so that she is found spotless before God. But, instead of one foundation, twelve are spoken of here, not only because each of the twelve apostles laid one and the same foundation in the building of God ; but because the Church de- rived from the plan of salvation, taught by the apostles to the Gentiles, several gifts and blessings, which are represented by as many precious stones. The precious stones, representing the good works of the Christians, forming the Church of the Gentiles, garnish the foundations of the wall of the city ; but these latter are themselves the foundations, and represent the Author of the plan of salvation, and the gifts and blessings, which are derived from this covenant of God with men (Ps. 68 : 18 ; Eph. 4 : 4-16), and by which the Church was made holy, and preserved, in her purity, throughout all ages. " The first foundation was jasper," indicating that God the Father, represented under the symbol of that precious stone (4 : 3), is the first foundation, the author and grand architect of the plan of salvation, as the sapphire, which is either a blue crystal, or a bright one, called oriental ruby, represents Jesus Christ, as the second foundation ; for it was " as the appearance of a sapphire stone," that the Prince of the covenant and Captain of our salva- tion, appeared to the prophet Ezekiel (1 : 26), when he saw him sitting on the throne. ^' The third foundation was a chalcedony," which may represent the Holy Ghost ; for chalcedony, a precious stone, so called from Chalcedon, a town in Asia Minor, is a trans- lucent variety of quartz, having a whitish color and a lustre nearly like wax. And it is to be remarked that, as the Holy Ghost, who continues the work of the Lord for the salvation of men, produces in believers faith, hope, charity, and is the dispenser of the heavenly gifts, so chalcedony constitutes many other precious stones. When of difi"erent colors and arranged in stripes, it con- stitutes ''agate;" if the stripes are all horizontal, it is "onyx." Chrysoprase is nothing else than green chalcedony; cornelian is a flesh-red, and sardius a grayish-red variety. Chalcedonix is a variety of agate, in which white and gray layers alternate. For the precious stones, which form the other foundations, I shall give only their description, as they are found in Webster's Dic- tionary; and I shall attribute to any of them the corresponding gifts of the Holy Ghost, in the order, in which they are presented, in the twelfth chapter of the Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians, without pretending to assert that the prophet had any design to express anything else than the excellency of these gifts, or that any special gift be designated, rather than any other, by the nature 228 COMMENTARY. of the corresponding; precious stones. One thing is certain : the prophet explains, under this emblematic language, the nature and constitution of the Church of the Gentiles, and the gifts and bless- ings, which flow from the plan of salvation ; and his description is equivalent to that, which is given by the apostle Paul, saying, " There is one body, and one spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling ; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. Wherefore he saith. When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. And he gave some, apostles ; and some, prophets ; and some, evange- lists ', and some, pastors arid teachers ; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ : till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the know- ledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ" (Eph. 4 : 4-lG). Here is, now, the nature of the precious stones of every foundation with the gifts of the Holy Ghost, as they are described in the twelfth chapter of the First Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians. " The fourth foundation was an emerald," a precious stone of a green color, and identical, except in color, with the beryl : " now there are diver- sities of gifts, but the same spirit. And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord ; and there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom. '' (See Is. 11 : 2.) ' " The fifth, sardon3'^x," from Sardis, a city of Asia Minor, and ^' onux," a nail, so named from the resemblance of its color to the flesh under the nail. Its color is reddish-yellow, or orange-colored agate, with an undulating surface : " to another the word of know- ledge by the same Spirit." " The sixth, sardias," a variety of chalcedony, which has a rich brownish-red color. Between the eye and the light, it appears a deep blood-red : "to another faith by the same Spirit/' and consequently, hope and charity as its fruits. '*The seventh, chrysolite." Its prevailing color is some shade of green, harder than glass, but les^ hard than quartz, often trans- parent, sometimes only translucent : " to another the gifts of heal- ing by the same Spirit." " The eighth, beryl," which is a mineral of great hardness, occurring in green or bluish-green six-sided prisms, identical with COMMENTARY. 229 the emerald, except in color. Its color is oxide of iron : ^^ to an- other the working of miracles/' " The ninth, a topaz," which is generally of yellowish color and pellucid ; but it is also met with colorless, and of greenish, bluish, or brownish shades, and sometimes massive and opaque : " to an- other prophecy." ^' The tenth, a chrysoprasus," which is a mineral, a variety of quartz. Its color is commonly apple-green, and often extremely beautiful ; it is translucent or sometimes semi-transparent : " to another dis- cerning of spirits." '^ The eleventh, a jacinth," a species of pellucid gem. Hyacinth is a red variety of zircon, which is a mineral containing the earth zirconia and silica, occurring in square prisms with pyramidal ter- minations of brown and gray color, occasionally red, and often nearly transparent : " to another divers kinds of tongues." " The twelfth, an amethyst," a precious stone approaching the color of wine ; a species of quartz of a bluish violet color. The oriental amethyst is the violet-blue variety of transparent crystal- lized corundum, which is a massive mineral of extreme hardness, consisting of nearly pure alumina : " to another the interpretation of tongues • but all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will. For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, beirfg many, are one body : so also is Christ. For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free ; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit" (1 Cor. 12 : 4-31). Such are the emblems of the fundamental gifts and graces, origi- nating from the plan of salvation, upon which stands the constitu- tion of the church of the Grentiles. And, as the twelve precious stones of the breastplate of judgment, which the high priest bare upon his heart, were with the names of the children of Israel, to show that he was, as a public officer, acting with equal love to all, so the precious stones of the twelve foundations, representing the gifts and graces, by which the believers become entitled to the glory and happiness of the kingdom of God, are engraved, as it were, in the foundation, which is Jesus Christ, the high priest of his Church, who died with equal love for every member of his ransomed people (Is. 54 : 11-17). " And the twelve gates were twelve pearls ; every several gate was of one pearl." Jesus is the only door, to enter into the holy city ; but twelve are spoken of, because the same Jesus was pointed out, as the door, by the twelve apostles. Every several gate was of one pearl, showing that there is but one Lord and Mediator by 20 230 ' COMMENTARY. whom we can be permitted to enter in ; and, as the pearl is pre- cious, we ought to deny ourselves and forsake even our father and mother, to purchase it; for "the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls : who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it" (Matt. 13 : 45). Jesus himself is that pearl of great price } all the saints, who will obtain entrance into the holy city, must enter by the same door, and buy the same pearl at any price ; for there is no other door, no other way, but by the blood of Jesus, " who of Grod has been made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sa notification, and redemption." As he is the way as well as the door, " the street of the city is pure gold, as it were transparent glass." It is the strait gate and narrow way; but it leadeth unto life ; and we must strive to enter in at this strait gate and by this narrow way : though few there be that find it. Jesus, then, the only door to enter into the holy city, is represented by a pearl of great price, to show that we ought to abandon all we have, even our life, to follow him. He is also the way, or the street of the city, which is pure gold, showing the riches of his love, and the righteousness, which is imputed to those who, being reconciled to God by the blood of his cross, walk therein, with a holy conversa- tion, to enter into the heavenly Jerusalem. V. 22-27. " And I saw no temple therein : for the Lord God Ahiiighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honor into it. And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there. And they shall bring the glory and honor of the nations into it. And there shall in no wise enter into it anything that defileth, neither whatso- ever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie ; but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life." " And I saw no temple therein." The temple, which, at Jeru- salem, was the symbol of the presence of God in the midst of his people, was a material temple, a shadow of things to come ; but here it is an allegoric description jof a spiritual city : and there is no material temple to be seen there. But yet, such is not the meaning of the prophet : the meaning is, that the holy city, being trodden under foot, during the times of the Gentiles (11 : 2), shall not be allowed to have a temple, that is, to enjoy the liberty of worship, as it has been the case, even in France, to the revolution in 1792, when only the temple of God was opened, " and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament" (11 : 19). Then only the liberty of worship was granted — and yet how false a liberty ! COMMENTARY. 2ol But, if they are deprived of that liberty, " the Lord God Ahnighty and the Lamb are the temple of it :'' the rich pavilion of heaven, stretched out over their heads, is their temple, and the Lord God and the Lamb are with them, in their closets and in the wilder- ness, — the Lamb, to atone for their sins and reconcile them unto God, — and the Lord God, to accept them graciously, as sons and daughters, in the name of his beloved Son. " And the city had no need of the sun (of the kings or emperors), neither of the moon (of the established religion, or overruling church, feeding the flock of God by constraint, as being Lords over God's heritage), to shine in it/' to dictate them laws, to repress wickedness and to prescribe religious worship, and good works ; " for the glory of God did lighten it (teach them their duty, Heb. 8 : 11), and the Lamb is the light thereof' (Ps. 38 : 8 ; 84 : 11 ; Is. 30 : 20, 21). " And the nations of them which are saved (which are no more under the dark papal sway, as the north of Germany, England, and the United States) shall walk in the light of it (of the true church and of the gospel of the Lamb) ; and the kings of the earth (the pagan Roman emperors and the kings supporters of popery) do bring their glory and honor into it;" that is, the elect of the Lord, who are the precious of the earth, the honor and glory of their kingdoms (Heb. 11 : 38). The verb is in the present, to show that, even the Roman pagan emperors did already bring the chosen people of God into the Church, when the prophecy was written. ^' And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day." The prophet Isaiah (60 : 11-22) speaking of the glory of the Church in the abundant access of the Gentiles, says : '' Therefore thy gates shall be open continually ; they shall not be shut day nor night ; that men may bring unto thee the forces of the Gentiles, and that their kings may be brought." The prophet says only that they shall not be shut "by day," showing that a continual day will shine in it ; that the Gentiles shall be able to enter into the Church, at any time; "for there shall be no night there ;" and so the gates shall never be shut; the true church shall be easily distinguished from the spurious, even when she shall be obliged to fly into the wilderness, to escape from the persecution of Satan. The night is taken for spiritual darkness, idolatry, strifes, rioting, and drunken- ness (Rom. 13 : 12-14), and the day represents the spiritual light, which shall shine continually in the holy city. " And they shall bring the glory and honor of the nations into it." The prophet has said previously that the nations of thcni which are saved shall walk in its light ; that the kings of the earth, either pagan or papist, did bring their glory and honor into it ; 282^ * COMMENTARY. now, lie draws a general conclusion that all the godly men, the ransomed of the Lord, who are the glory and honor of the nations, either pagan, or papist, or Protestant, shall be brought into the holy city. Though some of the nations be saved, being set apart from popery, and walking in the light of the gospel, there are but the true believers, who shall enter into it; for '^ there shall in no wise enter into it anything that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie; but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life." CHAPTER XXIL THE DESCRIPTION OF THE HOLY CITY CONTINUED THE TREE AND THE WATERS OF LIFE — THE PROPHECY APPROVED AND RATIFIED. V. 1-5. "And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the midst of the street of it and on either side of the river, ivas there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it.; and his servants shall serve him : and they shall see his face ; and his name shall be in their fore- heads. And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign forever and ever." We have here the end of the description of the mystic city, the holy Jerusalem. In the midst of this new Eden, and in the midst of the garden, planted by the Lamb, for his wife, there is also a tree of life, to give immortality to its inhabitants, and a pure river of water of life, to water the garden ; it is the paradise restored. "And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb." As a thirsty land is refreshed and made fruitful by the dew of heaven, so a thirsty soul is refreshed and revived by the word of God. This pure river of water of life is the emblem of the gospel of our Lord, who was that rock, in Horcb, out of which the, waters came that the children of Israel might drink. Sinners arc invited to go to Christ, as to the fountain opened, to wash away their sins, through the agency of the Holy Ghost; and whosoever drinketh of the water that he will give him, shall never thirst; but this water shall be in him a well of water springing up into ever- lasting life (Is. 55 : 1-5 ; John 4 : 10-14 ; 7 : 37-39). COMMENTARY. 233 The waters of tlie grace of God, which flow from the gospel of our Lord, and by which we are sanctified through the agency of the Holy Ghost, are pure "and clear as crystal," to show that the righteousness which they confer upon the believer is perfect, without blemish and without spot ; that, in obeying the truth of the gospel through the Spirit, they are born again of incorruptible seed, by the word of God, and are made a chosen generation, a royal priest- hood, a holy nation, a peculiar people ; that they should show forth the praises of him who has called them out of darkness into his marvellous light. These waters of regeneration proceed " out of the throne of God and of the Lamb ;" because, in the plan of salva- tion, the grace, which reinstates the sinner, does not proceed out of himself, neither out of his merits, nor of his works ; but from God the Father, as the source of all good — from the Son, as our Mediator and Redeemer — and from the Holy Ghost, who, by his divine agency, enlightens and sanctifies us. The Father elected us from eternity, according to his foreknowledge ; the Son redeemed and cleansed us from our iniquities, and imputed us his righteous- ness : and the Holy Ghost sanctifies us by subjecting us unto the obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ (1 Peter 1 : 2, 3). In this manner, the sons and daughters of Adam, banished, for sin, out of the garden of Eden, receive new titles to eternal life, through this plan of salvation, in which the three persons of the Most Holy Trinity have distinct operations, but so united to- gether that no man could be saved, were he not elected by the Father, redeemed by the Son, and led to the gospel and sanctified by the powerful agency of the Holy Ghost. The prophet Ezekiel (47 : 1-12) represents the preaching and progress of the gospel, under the same emblem of waters which issued out from under the threshold of the temple of Jerusalem, and which were rising from distance to distance, in such a manner that they became a river that could not be passed over. At the bank of the river were very many trees on the one side and on the other ; and these waters, which issued out towards the east country, went down into the desert and into the sea (the dead sea, the emblem of pagan nations) ; and being brought forth into the sea, "the waters," he says, "shall be healed. And it shall come to pass, that everything that liveth, which moveth, whithersoever the rivers shall come, shall live. But the miry places thereof and the marshes thereof shall not be healed; they shall be given to salt;" that is, they shall be made, as the wife of Lot, an example unto those that thereafter should live ungodly ; and shall be as monuments or pillars, upon which the ungodly shall learn wisdom, of which salt is the emblem. Therefore, the waters are the emblem of the 20* 234 COMMENTARY. gospel preached to all the nations of the world, to form a holy nation, a peculiar people unto the Lord, and zealous unto good works. '' In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month : and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations." The street of the city, which is pure gold, as it were transparent glass, being the emblem of Jesus Christ, our righteousness, and the way to the holy city, the tree of life is consequently planted and rooted in him, and in his righteousness, figured by the gold of the street, as in a fruitful ground, and is, then, the emblem of the new birth and regene- ration of those who are watered by the living waters of the word of God (Gen. 3 : 22-24 ; 1 Cor. 15 : 22). Christians are them- selves called ''trees of righteousness" (9:4; Jer. 11 : 19), because they have been grafted into this good olive tree by the preaching of the Gospel ; and this tree of life is '' on either side of the river," showing that the preaching of the Gospel brings life and immor- tality not only in Christian lands, but even in the surrounding countries, as it may be clearly seen that popery is not as hideous and pernicious in Protestant countries as in Spain, Italy, and even in France, where the sound of the gospel is scarcely heard. As the tree of life has been planted by the twelve apostles, it is said that it " bare twelve manner of fruits/' and that it "yielded her fruit every month," to indicate that the wants of the elect were abundantly supplied. These twelve manner of fruits may be also the principal graces and virtues of those who have put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness; but they are rather the diflPerent gifts of the Holy Ghost (1 Cor. 12 : 27-31). " And the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations." The leaves are the emblems of the beauty and prosperity of the Church of God and of her members renewed by the word and the Spirit of God (Ps. 1:3); and, as the leaves of many trees are used for medicine, the prophet employs this figure to indicate that the beauty and prosperity which shall adorn this tree of life and immortality, shall be instrumental to the conversion of the nations. The nations cannot taste the sweet fruits of the Gospel ; for, except a man be born again, he can neither sqc the kingdom of God, nor understand the peace, joy, and happiness, which are experienced by the children of the kingdom ; but they can witness the eminent virtues of Christians, their peace and happiness, and see their good works, their charity, and their zeal in the missionary work, for the setting up of the kingdom of God : which things are, as it were, the COMMENTARY. 235 external glor}' and ornament of the tree of life. Therefore, the meaning is that the glory of those, who shall be grafted in the tree of life and entitled to eat its fruits of life, shall be displayed in sending the Gospel to the nations : and the nations shall go and say : '' Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob ; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths.'' ''And there shall be no more curse (no papal anathema, no bloody crusade, when the kingdom shall be given to the saints of the Most High) ; but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it } and his seryants shall serve him (with liberty) : and they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads," showing by their works as well as by their profession that they are the Lord's. "And there shall be no night there" (no persecution, no wickedness, no hypocrisy, no spiritual darkness; Rom. 13 : 12); ''and they need no candle," no gospel minister, to say to his brother, " Know the Lord :" for all shall know him, from the least to the greatest (Heb. 8 : 10-13 ; 1 John 2:27); " neither light of the sun (neither ordinances of kings to govern them) ; for the Lord God giveth them light (is their lawgiver, who teaches them their duty): and they shall reign for ever and ever;" for it is their Father's good pleasure to give them the kingdom (Luke 12 : 32), when the times of the Gentiles shall be fulfilled. Such is the explanation of this allegorical description of the true Church of God, — not of the triumphant church in heaven, but of the militant church, trodden under foot of the .Gentiles (11 : 2), and which shall be presented as the bride of the Lamb, at the coming of the Lord (19 : 7-9), to enjoy the blessings of the king- dom. She is called "New Jerusalem," not because the temple at Jerusalem was the type of Christianity,— for the type and the anti- type represent one and the same thing, — but because Christianity, as taught by the apostles, having been defiled and destroyed by papal delusions, the Lord spewed out of his mouth this spurious Christianity, renounced this first name, taken from his own, and adopted the Reformation, upon which he wrote the name of his God, the name of " New Jerusalem," and his own new name, and caused it to be called by his new name "Protestantism" (3 : 12), whose doctrines, as taught by the Reformers, and which are the word of God, are clearly characterized in the allegorical descrip- tion which we have just examined. If this new name of the Lord is not "Protestant," tell me what it is? The Church of the Gen- tiles, represented by "the wall of the city," has two breasts, or churches, called the two witnesses, which ought to be the towers (Song 8 : 10) to protect Christianity, during the times of the 236 ^ COMMENTARY. Grentilcs: tlie first is the primitive church, founded by the apostles; and the second, the New Jerusalem, which was founded by the lleformers, who were made " pillars" in the temple of God, by the Lord of the temple (3 : 12). V. G-9. "And he said unto me, These sayings arc faithful and true: and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to show unto his servants the things which must shortly be done. Behold, I come quickly : blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book. Antl I John saw these things, and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which showed me these things. Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not: ior I am thy fellow-servant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God." We have now the conclusion of the prophecy. As in a nota- rial deed, the contract is signed by the stipulating parties, by the witnesses, and by the notary, who approves and ratifies everything contained in the contract, so the prophecy is, as it were, signed by turns, by the angel, as the delegate or ambassador, sent by the Lord Jesus, to reveal the things which are written therein ; — by the prophet, to whom the Kevelation was made, and by whom it has been written ; — by Jesus Christ, who approves and ratifies the things written by his prophet ; — and by the Spirit and the bride, as the witnesses, who testify of the truth of the prophecy, and invite every one to come, and take the water of life freely. The angel, having shown the prophet the holy city and the future blessings of its citizens, says unto him that 'Hhese sayings are faithful and true," and that it is the Lord God, who sent his angel (1 : 1) to show his servants the things which must shortly be done. The Lord approves these words of the angel, and says, " Behold, I come quickly : blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book :" blessed is he that shall not be defiled by the devilish doctrines of popery, that shall be fliithful unto death, and prepared for the marriage supper of the Lamb, when his enemies shall be made his footstool ; for it is true that I have sent my angel to show these things unto my servant and prophet. " And I John saw these things and heard them." Here is the signature of the prophet, who is like the notary, and testifies of what he has seen and heard (1 : 1-4, 9). He is John, known to the churches, as the faithful and beloved disciple of the Lord; therefore, his testimony may be relied upon ; for he is not a forger of false visions to deceive the churches of his Lord. " And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which showed me these things." It is not, as it is supposed COMMENTARY. 237 by Scott, a new fall of tlie propliet to worship the angel ; but it is the same which we have seen (19 : 10) ; and it is mentioned here as a new proof of the truth of the wonderful vision, which he has just described. Nevertheless, let us not pass without notice, the words of the angel, " See thou do it not : for I am. thy fellow-servant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book : worship God.'' If an angel, the most excellent of creatures, rebukes thus the least appearance of worship, when he in present, what should we think of the worship of absent angels, of the saints, and even of dumb images of wood, and stone ? Could the apostles Peter and Paul, and Mary, whose worship has been extolled above that of Jesus, see men kneeling down before them- selves, as they do before their insensible images, would they not say, as the angel, ''See thou do it not : worship God ?" "Stand up," says Peter to Cornelius, whom he took up, "I myself also am a man'' (Acts 10 : 26). '' Why do ye these things," Paul says to the inhabitants of Lystra ; " we also are men of like passions with you?" (Acts 14 : 15.) Now, if it is a sin, and idolatrous worship, to kneel before the angels and saints of the Lord, what shall we say of the worship of relics, of idols of brass, of stone, and wood ? " Woe unto him that saith to the wood. Awake ; to the dumb stone, Arise, it shall teach !" (Hab. 2 : 19. See Is. 44 : 9-20.) It* is an illusion of the devil to believe that the succor of the saints is wanted to approach the throne of God, as it is necessary that we should be introduced to the throne of the kings of the earth by their ministers. If we are unworthy, by ourselves, to approach the throne of God, we have a powerful Mediator, his beloved Son, who being God and man, unites heaven and earth together ; and by whom we can " come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. Neither is there salvation in any other : for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus" (Acts 4 : 12 j 1 Tim. 2:5); to invoke other mediators than Jesus, is to revolt against the government of God, and to say with the Jews, his enemies, " Away with this man, and release unto us Barabbas I" Another illusion of the devil is to suppose that the Jews only were concerned by the laws forbidding the worship of images ; be- cause they were prone to idolatry. The proof that men are always and everywhere the same is, that notwithstanding the same laws, which have not been revoked, and the dreadful calamities, by which the Jewish people have been visited for the same transgression, we 238 COMMENTARY. see everywhere temples built to the saints, and costly chapels, in which stands a stock of a tree, or a block of stone, to which a work- man has given a human form, and before which, even in our days, men are kneeling down and say, " Deliver me -, for thou art my God !" There can be no comparison between this idolatrous worship of relics and of graven images, and the picture of a beloved father, mother, wife, or husband ; for to the one we render a religious worship, which is an abomination before God ; and to the others we attribute no virtue, no religious power : they recall only to our minds the features of a person, which was dear to us in many re- spects : there is no religious feelings there, no worship ; whilst it has been decreed, concerning molten images, that there were but the damnable heretics who said that they should not be worshipped as their originals. V. 10-15. "And he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand. He that is unjust, let him be unjust still : and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still : and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still. And, behold, I come quickly: and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates of the city. For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie." The prophet goes on relating the words of the angel, who told him, '^ Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book ;" that is, keep them not secret, publish them, in order that the events may be compared with the prophecy, and that the fulfilment, which is at hand, may render more guilty the unjust man who continues to be unjust still, and more filthy, the man who persists in his filthi- ness ; that he who is righteous may improve these events to persist in his righteousness, and he that is holy, in his holiness. Tlie Lord approving these words of the angel, says, '' Behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last" (1 : 8-11). Jesus has his reward with him to give every man according to his works, either to chastise the wicked, or to recompense the just and holy ; not to save them by their works ; for then, he should no longer be their Saviour. But (Jod, who forgives our sins, and invites us to take the waters of life freely, by our faith in the name of his Son, will still reward the good works which we accomplish, not to gain heaven, which God does not sell, and which we could by no means buy ; but because, being saved by gracC; we delight in COMMENTARY. 239 doing tlie works wliich are pleasing in liis sight, and whicli are the fruits of our faith and the evidence of our Christian life. As the tree is judged by its fruits, so Christians are judged by their works (Gal. 5 : 16-26) ; for, unless they be trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, grafted, by faith, in the tree of life, they are unable to say, with faith, " that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God.^' " Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.^' There is a close connection between our faith and our works ; for faith without works is dead (James 2 : 20). There- fore Paul keeps under his body, and brings it into subjection, lest that by any means, when he has preached to others, he should be himself a castaway (1 Cor. 9 : 27). Faith ought to be, in our hearts and understandings, as a precious ointment, removing the fetid odor of vice and sin, and exerting our faculties to work for the glory of God, and to garnish the foundations of the plan of our salvation with all manner of precious stones. The tree of life is planted in the Lord Jesus, and it grows wherever the gospel is preached, and on either side of the river of the holy waters of re- generation. Men, grafted in that tree of life, are called " trees of righteousness ;" and if they be barren and unfruitful in the know- ledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, they, are blind and cannot see afar oiF, dnd have forgotten that they were purged from their old sins : they have no right to the tree of life ; for the Lord has said, '^ Every branch in me that beareth not fruit, he (the Father who is the hus- bandman) taketh away : and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit" (John 15 : 2—8). Therefore the fruitful branches of the tree or of the vine, those who do the commandments of the Lord, shall have right of citizen- ship to enter in through the gates into the holy city, and to enjoy the happy immortality. Here is true happiness, unknown to the world, and even to philosophers, who place happiness, not in the things in which the soul is concerned, but in the riches and in the gross enjoyments of the things of this life. The soul ? It is man. Therefore, any happiness, in which the soul is not concerned, is but imaginary, and a Satanic delusion. Blessed, then, are they alone that have right to the tree of life, to enter into the cityj "■ For without are dogs (impudent), and sorcerers, and whore- mongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie." V. 16-17. "I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star. And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that 240 COMMENTARY. heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely." The Lord Jesus acknowledges having delegated his angel to de- liver this prophecy to his servant John, and by him, to the seven churches of Asia. The angel was then commissioned by the Lord, and acted in his name ; and so, the things contained in the pro- phecy are approved and ratified by Jesus, who styles himself, here, *^ the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star." As God, he is the root, which brought forth David ; and, as man, he was the son of David, the Branch which grew out of the roots of Jesse (Is. 11:1). He is also the bright star, which was to come out of Jacob, and have dominion over his enemies (Numb. 24 : 17); and, as the morning star, shining in the dark- ness of the night, foretells the coming of the sun, so Jesus ap- peared, at his birth, not as the sun, but as a bright star, in the darkness of the world ; and, when the darkness ,of paganism shall be dispelled, at his second coming, this bright star, in his morning, shall shine as the sun — the sun of righteousness — in the midst of the Holy City, giving peace, and joy, and glory, to his people. Again : when this shepherd and bishop of our souls, is first manifested in the heart of a converted sinner, his light is surrounded with darkness, as the light of the star; " But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day" (Prov. 4 : 18); and that is the work of the Lord, who removes our spiritual darkness, more and more, until we are, as it were, immerged into an ocean of lights. The Spirit, who is the true witness, and the bride, who has ex- perienced the power and goodness of the Lord, say to all the sons and daughters of men : "Come;" be partakers of the blessings of the gospel, and enjoy the happiness of the kingdom of the Son of David; for we testify that Jesus is truly the star of Jacob, and the son of David, who is to reign on the throne of his father, and who shall redeem his people from their enemies. Let every one that bcareth (who understands that he is truly the Holy One of Israel) say: "Come," parents; come, friends and neighbors! Come, " eyei-y one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, .buy wine and milk, without money and without price, and let your soul delight itself in fatness ; for the Lord has made an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David" (Is. 55 : 1-5). Sinners are, then, invited " to take the water of life freely." Let no one dare to change the condition of salvation, or to advocate any restriction, when there is none. God does not write as men do : We are invited to search the Scriptures; and we must draw the COMMENTARY. 241 just consequences wliich follow from the word of God. Our Lord is a perfect Redeemer ; he has accomplished his work of redemp- tion. Therefore, the forgiveness of sins does not proceed from works, which we have done; for one must be born spiritually, before being enabled to act and live spiritually ; but it proceeds entirely from the perfect work of our redemption, accomplished by the Son, and accepted by God the Father; "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever belie veth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." V. 18-21. "For I testify unto every man, that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add imto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: and if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book. He that testifieth these things saith. Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen."' When God has spoken, we must listen and adore in silence. It is a great temerity either to add to, or to take anything away from his word. Woe to the false doctors, who make void the words of God, to teach their own inventions, after the traditions of men, and the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ (Col. 2 : 8-23) : ''God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book;" for this is the sin of the great Antichrist, and of his agents. He has substituted for the word of God, the dreams and inventions of his monks. He has invented sacraments for every important affair of life, in order that men should be as slaves under his dominion, — he has added six commands, to the commandments of God, — ordered fasts and abstinence, where God required nothing, — pre- scribed a religious worship to the saints, — enclosed their relics in shrines, enriched with gold and precious stones, and instituted days of rest, and feast-days, which are celebrated with more honor than the sabbaths and feasts of the Lord. And, though these inventions be criminal, for having been invented by the devil of ambition and pride, they are yet more so, because they take out of our sight God's commands, ordinances, sacraments, and sabbaths, and because the Holy One, Jesus, the true Mediator, is unknown and lost from our sight, among these millions of imaginary mediators. On the other side, the infidel, with the same right, rejects the miracles, because he has never seen any, and the mysteries, because they cannot be explained by reason ; and he maintains that, if we do good, it matters not what we believe. He does not know that, after the fall of man, and the curse of God, nothing within our power, and within the elements of the first creation, could rescue 21 242 COMMENTARY. our fallen race from its ruins; consequently that Christianity, which is a religion of mercy, must of necessity be supernatural, and con- sistent with the holy character of a just and merciful God, and can neither have its foundation on the natural law, nor be explained by the reason of the natural man, who has no right to inter- fere with the conditions, or the means, by which mankind may still be entitled to the divine favor. Has God spoken or not by his prophets ? Has he promised, and has he sent his Son to the world ? These questions are within the power and criterion of reason. God himself invites us to search the Scriptures, to be always ready to give an account of our faith ; and it would be, for us, mere credulity and superstition, were we to embrace, without examination, a religion whose evidence we should not have acknow- ledged. But when, after examination, we find that all the edifice of Christian faith has been delineated, and built up by the hand of the Almighty, we must stop before its unsearchable mysteries, and adore its divine Architect. We are not permitted to lay rashly our hand upon the work of his hands. Therefore, " If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book ; and if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book" (I)eut. 4 : 2 ; Prov. 30 : 5, 6; Matt. 15:3-14); for he rejects the mysterious work of our Kedeemer ; he chooses rather to remain in the natural state of the lost sons of Adam, and consequently, he can in no wise have his portion among the redeemed people of the Lord. These words of the prophet are still testified and ratified by the Lord, saying: ''Surely I come quickly;" and the prophet adds: *' Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus :" It is the desire and expec- tation of thy ransomed people : Come, make no tarrying. The prophecy closes with the apostolic blessing : " The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all." It is given in the name of Jesus; because he is the seed of Abraham, in which shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, and because he is the channel through which we may obtain mercy and peace with God. For being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him; and he is able to save them to the utter- most, that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them. Let us look unto him, and be saved; for he is our God and Redeemer, and the Lord our righteousness. He will surely come quickly. Let us watch, therefore, that we may be found having the wedding garment to meet him at his coming, and go in with him to the marriage supper of the Lamb. He is at our door and knocks. Prepare ye the way of the Lord, — make bis COMMENTARY. 243 paths straight. Come out of Babylon. Return, every one from your wicked way, for, '' Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city. For without are dogs, and sor- cerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and who- soever loveth and maketh a lie." But in the Lord, shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and shall glory. Let us, then, say with the Spirit and the bride, " Come;" and with the prophet, "Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus." CONCLUSION. " If our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost."' — 2 Col. 4:3. In casting a glance upon the historical events, foretold under the emblematic language of this prophecy, we find that, under the symbols of the seven letters to the seven churches of Asia Minor, Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea, a general picture of the state of the Church has been drawn, as upon a large canvas, upon which ail the events were to be represented (chapter 1, 2, 3). TJie prophet, having given us the synopsis of seven diff"erent ages, or states of the Church, introduced us into the court of the great king of heaven and earth, surrounded by millions of saints and angels, who sang his praises and glory. Out of his throne pro- ceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices, which are the emblems of the political storms, by which the kingdoms of the earth, which are before his throne as a sea of glass, shall be broken as potters' vessels. He held, in his right hand, a book written on both sides, and sealed with seven seals. As no man, nor any angel, was found worthy to open the book, and to look thereon, it was de- clared that the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Boot of David, had prevailed to open the book and to loose its seals. Therefore, he took the book ; and millions of saints and angels united to sing the praises and glory of the Lamb that was slain, and applauded the power which was conferred upon him (chapter 4, 5). At the opening of the first seal, Jesus, sitting on a white horse, and having the emblems of his victories over his enemies, went forth conquering and to conquer. At the opening of the three fol- lowing seals, there appeared three horsemen, representing under their respective emblems, the massacre of the Jews, and the Iloman civil wars, the famine and pestilence, wliich ravaged, by turns, the Roman Empire, to avenge the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. 244 COMMENTARY. Christians were accused to be the cause of these awful plagues, and to have burnt the palace of Diocletian at Nicomedia \ therefore, the tenth persecution, called the era of martyrs, was decreed, and it continued ten years \ and so, at the opening of the fifth seal, the souls of the martyrs were heard crying to the Lord for deliverance. Their avenger came, at the opening of the sixth seal \ and the sup- porters of paganism, Maxentius and Licinius, its priests, augurs, and pontiffs, were destroyed by the victorious armies of Constantine. The pagan gods fell unto the earth, and were no longer gods; and Christianity became the religion of the Empire (chapter 6). A new state of things is now at hand. The peace which the Church enjoyed from the reign of Constantine to the death of Theodosius, is represented under the symbols of four angels, stand- ing on the four corners of the earth, and holding the four winds of the earth ; to wit, the armies of Alaric, G-enseric, Attila, and Odoacer, that they should not invade the Empire, till a number of servants of God should be sealed, to preserve the evangelical doc- trines, during the woeful ages which were at hand, and to transmit them to the following generations. And, as these servants of God were to be trodden under foot and slain by the Gentiles, during 1260 years, the prophet shows us, on the other side of the picture, the same servants, glorified, before the throne of God, for having come conquerors out of great persecutions, and having washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb (chapter 7). Christianity having been proclaimed the religion of the Empire, the angel of the Church in Pergamos (church exalted), received a golden censer; and much incense was given unto him, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar (Jesus Christ) which was before the throne. But the angel, the Bishop of Rome, at the head of the bishops, took the censer, and filled it with the fire of the altar (emblem of the wrath of God for the idolatrous worship which was then introduced into the Church), and cast it into the earth ; and consequently there were voices and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake, which are the emblems of the invasions of the barbarians, under Alaric, Genseric, Attila, and Odoacer, who, at the sounding of the first four trumpets, destroyed the Roman Empire (chapter 8). The destruction of the Roman Empire is called " bottomless pit." The key of it was given to a fallen angel, namely, to Boni- face III., who opened it, at the sounding of the fifth angel ; and out of the ruins of the empire, he formed the woeful papal empire, out of which arose the Dark Ages, which were like the smoke of a great furnace, by which the sun and the air were darkened. And, out of the smoke of the pit, from which arose the papal empire, God, COMMENTARY. 245 in his wrath, sent the Saracens, like swarms of locusts, to torment, during 150 years, his unfaithful churches. As the worship of im- ages had been sanctioned, by the eastern churches, in a council at Constantinople, the Lord raised up and prepared the Moslem's Empire, to destroy, in his appointed time, these apostate churches and Constantinople, at the sounding of the sixth trumpet (chapter 9). In wrath God remembers mercy. The Lord appears, as after the flood, with the emblems of his power and mercy. He has in his hand a little book open, the Bible unchained, the emblem of Reformation. He set his right foot upon the civil powers, and his left, on the papal power, to show that the thunders of their ana- themas shall be powerless against the new work of regeneration which he was ready to perform. The little book, sweet as honey in the mouth, was bitter in the belly, showing, on one side, the delights which flow from the word of God; and, on the other, the persecu- tions, by which the Reformation would be opposed. The course of events is here broken off, in order to resume the prophecy from the overthrow of the Roman Empire by the barbarians, to show the origin of these persecutions, and the cause for which new plagues are again to be inflicted upon the kingdoms of the earth (chapter 10). The overthrow of the Roman Empire was caused by the apostacy of the western churches ; therefore those who profess to be Chris- tians^ are examined and judged by the word of God. Those only who worship, at the altar in the temple of God, according to the plan of salvation, are truly servants of God ; the others are but nominal Christians, worshipping, without the temple, with the Gentiles, and they shall tread under foot the true church, during 1260 years. When the two witnesses — the Albigenses and Waldenses, as primitive Christians, and the Protestants, as re- formed from popery, shall have finished their testimony, the popish kingdoms shall make war against them, and kill them, at the re- vocation of the Edict of Nantes, under Louis XIV., during three years and a half. But then, the martyrs of the Lord shall arise, and, with the young Prince of Orange, they shall ascend, in 1688, to the throne of England. Immediately after this victory of the witnesses, the French revolution, which is the third woe, is an- nounced at the sounding of the seventh trumpet, as to show that the consequences of this revolution shall cause the final triumph of the Church, which, from this time, shall enjoy the liberty of worship (chapter 11). Satan, the master of the Roman Empire, was the author of these persecutions. He was watching the Church, to destroy her chil- dren, as soon as they were born, as he had caused the death of Jesus himself. He corrupted the ministers of the gospel of the 22 246 COMMENTARY. Western Empire, and cast them to the earth, maki^ig them worshippers of idols and of worldly grandeur. His supporters, Maxentius and Licinius, having been overcome by Constantine, he was cast out of his temples, with his gods, and having great wrath, he persecuted the Church, and cast out of his mouth (religion) barbarians, as a flood, to destroy both the Church and the Empire. But the fallen ministers, the earthly church opened her pale, baptized these barbarians, gave them saints instead of their idols ; and so the Christian name was safe; for, under this shadow of Christianity, which the barbarians had adopted, true Christians were permitted to worship God, as in a wilderness. The stratagem of Satan having failed, he invented and performed the following masterpiece (chapter 12). He raised up the Roman Empire out of its ruins. For that, he formed ten new kingdoms, to which he gave a religion boasting of great things, and speaking blasphemies against Grod, and against his Church. The state and the idolatrous church being united together, they made war with the true worshippers : hence arose the destructive wars, by which these kingdoms were desolated. Again, he formed another kingdom, whose chief, diverse from the first, had two powers, like Jesus Christ, a spiritual and a temporal power, — but he spoke as a devil. He had power over the first kings, and he exercised their authority in their own kingdoms. He displayed so wonderful a power, that all the inhabitants of the earth were deceived by his wonders ; and that, by his contrivances, they formed a new pagan empire, in imitation of the idolatrous Roman Empire, which had been destroyed by Constantine. Not only he claimed for himself the liberty of speaking, and teaching his arrogant and idolatrous religion ; but also he caused to kill every one who refused to obey him, and to profess his devilish religion. The name of the empire, in which such a masterpiece of Satan has been enforced, is the Latin Empire (chapter 13). Now, the prophet, having explained how it was that the witnesses were persecuted and slain for the word of God, resumes the course of events from the tenth chapter, and shows us, on the Mount Zion with the Lamb, the servants of God, who were sealed, in the seventh chapter, giving the hand of fellowship to the churches, reformed from popery. At the same time, the angel of the Reformation, flies throughout the empire, having the everlasting gospel, to preach it to the papists, and proclaiming the fall of the mystic Babylon, and the judgments of God, which await the unconverted papists. The slaughter of Protestants, at the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, is alluded to; and, as Louis XIV. said that there were Protestants no longer, the prophet, challenging him, declares that blessed are the papists who shall turn to the Lord ; for the persecutors shall hence- COMMENTARY. 247 forth be unable to make war against them. From this time, popery shall decay, and come to perdition. The calamities, by which the papal kingdoms must be destroyed, at the sounding of the seventh trumpet, are divided into the harvest, and into the vintage of the wrath of God (chapter 14). The fifteenth chapter, is but a sublime and solemn preparation for the events which take place in the following chapter. At the pouring out of the first five vials, the people who had been trained under the papal delusion, were seized with a spirit of infidelity, and of anarchy, — the combined fleets of France and Spain, were de- stroyed by Admiral Nelson, — the bloody battles of Montenotte, and of Marengo, avenged the blood of the Waldenses, — Napoleon received his despotic power to burn, with the fire of wars, the im- penitent popish subjects, — and the French army, having been destroyed in Russia, France was twice invaded by millions of soldiers of the allied powers, by the Jesuits, and by the ancient regime. The sixth vial was poured out upon the Turkish Empire, which became more and more weak, from the time of the Grreek independence. From the same epoch, the Satanic agents, sup- porters of tyranny and of popish roguery, represented as three un- clean spirits, coming out of the mouth of the three infernal powers, go forth to the kings of the earth, to gather them to the battle of thaji great day of Grod Almighty, which shall be fought, at the pouring out of the seventh vial (chapter 16). We have, in the seventeenth chapter, the description of the great whore, which has corrupted Christianity, and killed the saints of the Lord ; a lamentation over her fall and her destruc- tion, is contained in the eighteenth; and, in the nineteenth, the great battle of Armageddon, called the vintage and the coming of ihe Lord, is fought by the armies of the Lord. The kings of the earth are overcome, and cast alive with the false prophet, into a lake of fire burning with brimstone (chapters 17, 18, 19). The kingdoms of the earth, are now given to the saints of the Lord, and Satan is bound. The peace and happiness, which Chris- tians enjoy under Christian rulers, are called, "the first resurrec- tion ;'' because they are the foretaste of the delights of peace, freedom, and happiness, which they shall enjoy forever, after the resurrection of the bodies, when they shall be clothed with immor- tality, to enter into the everlasting kingdom and inhabit eternity. Besides that, they are free from the bondage and enmity of Satan. The final judgment follows the destruction of the last enemies of the people of God : Satan, and death, and the sepulchre are cast into a lake of fire, which is the second death (chapter 20). God is now in the midst of his people. A new earth, in which there is neither tyranny, nor idolatrous religion, nor persecution, 248 COMMENTARY. succeeds, at the first resurrection, to the former, which was groan- ing under the thraldom of the infernal power of Satan; and this new earth, in which dwelleth righteousness, shall be throughout eternity the heaven inhabited by the righteous ; for, where God is there heaven is. But who shall be admitted into this everlast- ing kingdom ? The true Church of the Lamb, to which his righteousness has been imputed ; and whose members, tried by the word of God, as it was announced by the twelve apostles, have built upon the true foundation, and have entered in through the gate, Jesus Christ, who is also the foundation and the pearl of great price, which they have bought, in forsaking all they possessed for the love of Christ, These alone shall be partakers of the blessings of the kingdom, and shall have right to regeneration, which is the tree of life, which grows wheresoever the healing waters of the gospel spread. The promises, made in this prophecy, to the saints, and the plagues by which the unbelievers are threatened to be destroyed, are certain, and duly approved and certified by Jesus, the author of the prophecy, by the prophet, and by the witnesses, the Spirit and the Bride, inviting sinners to come, and to take the waters of life freely (chapter 21, 22). Such is the picture which the prophet gives us, in this wonder- ful book, of the principal events, which have been accomplished during eighteen centuries, and of those which shall be accomplished to the end of time. Its symbolic language has been faithfully ex- plained, according to the nature, use, and functions of its emblems, which become clear, when they are confronted with the events which they describe. The same event is often represented under two pictures, the one as a prediction of the event, the other, as its fulfilment; and then, there is always some word in the latter, which points to the former. All the events, thus explained, are connected together, from the first to the last chapter; and they are described, in the prophecy, with the same order in which they are related by the most correct historians. There is, then, no other explanation of this book, except for secondary matters, which may be understood according to the difierent opinions of men. You can judge, at present, reader, whether Newton or Voltaire, had an erroneous judgment upon a principle received without ex- amination. '' Who hath declared this from ancient time ? Who hath told it from that time ? Have not I the Lord ? And there is no God else beside me ; a just God, and a Saviour ; there is none beside me. Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth : for I am God, and there is none else." THE END. CATALOGUE OE VALUABLE BOOKS, PUBLISHED BY LIPPINCOTT, GRAMBO & CO., NO. 20 NORTH FOURTH STREET, PHILADELPHIA; CONSISTING OF A LARGE ASSORTMENT OF Bibles, Prayer-Books, Commentaries, Standard Poets, MEDICAL, THEOLOGICAL AND IVIISCELLANEOUS WORKS, ETC., PARTICULARLY SUITABLE FOR PUBLIC AND PRIVATE LIBRARIES. FOR SALE BY BOOKSELLERS AND COUNTRY MERCHANTS GENERALLY THROUGH- OUT THE UNITED STATES. THE BEST &, MOST COiVlPLETE FAMILY COMMENTARY. 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All those who wish to possess a beautiful and correct copy of this valuable work, would do well to purchase this edition. It is for sale at all the principal bookstores in the United States, aad by country merchants generally in the Southern and Western States. Also, the above work in two volumes. BURDER'S VILLAGE SERMONS; Or, 101 Plain and Short Discourses on the Principal Doctrines of the Gospel. INTENDED FOR THE USE OF FAMILIES, SUNDAY-SCHOOLS, OR CO:\IPANIES ASS5M- BLED FOR RELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION IN COUNTRY VILLAGES. BY QEORG-E BURDER. To which is added to each Sermon, a Short Prayer, with some General Prayers for Familio» Schools, ice, at the end of the work. • COMPLETE IN ONE VOLUME, OCTAVO. These sermons, which are characterized by a beautiful simplicity, the entire absence of contro- renty, and a true evangrlical spirit, have gone through many and large editions, and been translated Into several of the continental languages. " They have also been the honoured means not only of convertmg many individuals, but also of introducing the Gospel into districts, and even mto parish ehurches, where before it was comparatively unknown." ^ " This work fully deserves the immortality it has attained." ^ This is a fine library edition of this invaluable work ; and when we Bay that it should be found in the possession of every family, we only reiterate the sentiments and sincere wishes of all who take a deep interest in the eternal welfare of mankind. FAMILY PRAYERS AND HYMNS, ADAPTED TO FAMILY WORSHIP, TABLES FOR THE REGULAR ^READING OF THE voRIPTURES. By Rev. S. C. Winchester, A. M., L*t« Pastwer aiMt eici'iisite taste." 9 LIPPINCOTT, QRAMBO & CO.'S PUBLICATIONS. THE POETICAL WORKS OF ROGERS, CAillPBELL, MONTGOMERY, LAMB, AND KIRKE Y/HITE. COMPLETE IN ONE VOLUME, OCTAVO. WITH SIX BEAUTIFUL ENGRAVINGS. The beauty, correctness, and convenience of this favourite edition of these standard aulliors are •o well known, that it is scarcely necessary to add a word m its favour. It is only necessary to say, that the publishers have now issued an illustrated edition, which greatly enhances its former value. The engravings are excellent and well selected. It is the best library edition extant. CRABBE, HEBER, AND POLLOK'S POETICAL WORKS. COMPLETE IN ONE VOLUME, OCTAVO. WITH SIX BEAUTIFUL ENGRAVINGS. A writer in the Boston Traveller holds the following language with reference to these valuable editions : — " Mr. Editor : — I wish, without any idea of puflyig, to say a word or two upon the ' Library of English Poeis' that is now published at Philadelphia, by Lippincott, Grambo ages, carefully and tastefully selected from all the home and foreign authors of celebrity. It is mv.iluable to a writer, while to the ordinary reader it presents every subject at a fiance." — Godcy's I/idy's Book. " The plan or idea of Mrs. Hale's work is felicitous. It is one for which her fine taste, her orderly Ijabitsof jninil, and her long occufiation with literature, lias given her peculiar facilities; and tho- roughly has she accomplished her ta.sk in the work before us." — Sartam's Magazine. " It is n choice collection of poetical extracts from every English and American author wortk perusing, from the days of Chaucer to the present lime." •Wushiiiot07i Union. " There u nothing negative about this work ; it is positively good."— Evening BtUletvt. 10 LIPPINCOTT, GRAMBO & CO.'S PUBLICATIONS. THE DIAIViOND EDITION OF BYRON. THE POETICAL WOEKS OF LORD BYRON, IVITH A SKETCH OF HIS LIFE. COMPLETK IN OSTH NEAT DUODECIMO VOLUME, WITH STEEL PLATES. The type of this edition is so perfect, and it is printed with so much care, on fine white paper, that it can be read with as much ease as most of the larger editions. This work is to be had vt plain and superb binding, making a beautiful volume for a gift. " Tfie Poetical Works of Lord Byron, complete in one volume ; published by L., G. & Co., Phila. delphia. We hazard nothing in saying that, take it altogether, this is the most elegant work ever issued from the American press. '"In a single volume, not larger than an ordinary duodecimo, the pubUshers have embraced the whole of Lord Byron's Poems, usually printed in ten or twelve volumes ; and, what is more remark- able, have done it with a type so clear and distinct, that, notwithstanding its necessarily small size, it may be read with the utmost facility, even by failing eyes. The book is stereotyped ; and never have we seen a finer specimen of that art. Everything about it is perfect — the paper, the print- ing, the binding, all correspond with each other; and it is embellished vfith two fine engravings, well worthy the companionship in wliich they are placed. " 'This yfill make a beautiful Christmas present.' " We extract the above from Godey's Lady's Book. The notice itself, we are given to understand, is written by Mrs. Hale. " We have to add our commendation in favour of this beautiful volume, a copy of which has been sent us by the publishers. The admirers of the noble bard will feel obliged to the enterprise which has prompted the publishers to dare a competition with the numerous editions of his works already in circulation ; and we shall be surprised if this convenient travelhng edition does not in a great degree supersede the use of the large octavo works, which have little advantage in size ana openness of type, and are much inferior m the qualities of portability and lightness." — hiteUigcncer. THE DIAMOND EDITION OF MOORE. (corresponding with BYRON.) THE POETICAL WORKS^OF THOMAS mOORE, COLLECTED BY HIMSELF. COMPLETE IN ONE VOLUME. Tnis work is published uniform with Byron, from the last London edition, and is the most com- plete printed in the country. THE DIAMOND EDITION OF SHAKSPEARE, (COMPLETE IN ONE VOLUME,) ISTOXitTDISfG £L SKETCH OP SS2S X^IFIE!. UNIFORM WITH BYRON AND MOORE. THE ABOVE WORKS CAN BE HAD IN SEVERAL VARIETIES OF BINDINS. GOLDSMITH'S ANIMATED NATURE. in two volumes, OCTAVO. BEAUTIFULLY ILLUSTRATED WITH 385 PLATES. CONTAINING A HISTORY OF THE EARTH, ANIMALS, BIRDS, AND FISHES; FORMING THE MOST COMPLETE NATURAL HISTORY EVER PUBLISHED. This is a work that should be in the library of every family, having been written by one of th« most talented authors in the English language. " Goldsmith can never be made obsolete while delicate genius, exquisite feeling, fine inventioiv 'he most harmonious metre, and the happiest diction, are at all valued." BIGLAND'S NATURAL HISTORY Of Afiimala, Birds, Fishes, Reptiles, and Insects. Illustrated with numerous and beautiful ings. By JOHN BIGLAND, author of a " View of the World," " letters on Universal Hietory," ., Formerly of Surry County, Virginia. In one volume, 12 mo.; bound in cloth; gilt. MASON'S FARRIER AND STUD-BOOK-NEW EDITION. THE GENTLEMAN'S NEW POCKET FARRIER: COMPRISINQ A GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE NOBLE AND nSEFDL ANIMAL, THE HORSE; WITH MODES OF MANAGEMENT IN ALL CASES, AND TREATMENT IN DISEASE.. BIT RZCHilLRD ISiL50X7, M. D., Formerly of Surry County, Virginia. to which is added, A PRIZE ESSAY ON MULES ; and AN APPENDIX, containing Recipes i i Diseases of Horses, Oxen, Cows, Calves, Sheep, Dogs, Swine, een to a ereat "Feast of Languaires," and stole all the scraps. A work of thus character should have an extensive sale, as it entirely obviates a serious difficulty in which most readers are involved by the freriS FROII A FATHER TO HIS DAUGHTER. One volume, 18mo. This is one of the most practical and truly valuable treatises on the culture and discipline of the ftniale mind, which has hitherto been publi.ihed iu this country ; and the publishers are very confi- dent, from the great demand for this invaluable little worii, that ere long it wiU be found in the library of every young lady. ■ THE AMERICAN CHESTERFIELD! Or, "Youth's Guide to the Way to Wealth, Honour, and Distinction/' k. 18ino. CONTAININO ALSO A COMPLETE TREATISE ON THE ART OF CARVTNa. "We most cordially recommend the American Chesterfield to general attention; but to yonng persons particularly, as one of the best works of the kind that has ever been published in thu country. It cannot be too highly appreciated, nor its perusal be unproductive of satisfaction and usefulness." SENECA'S MORALS. BY WAY OF ABSTRACT TO WHICH IS ADDED, A DISCOURSE UNDER THE TITLE OF AN AFTERTHOUGHT. BYSIR ROGER L'ESTRANGE, KNT. A new, fine edition ; one volume, 18mo. A copy of this valuable little work shouM be found in every family library. NEW S0NG-800K. drigg's iDotljrrn nnb iBwttrii longsttr; KtING A CHOICE COLLECTION OF THE MOST FASHIONABLE SONGS, MANY OF WHICH ARE ORIGINAL. In one volume, 18mo. ftreat care was taken, in the selection, to admit no son? that contained, in the slightest deforce any indelicate or miproper allusions; and with great propriety it may claim the title of " The Par- Uiur Song- Book, or Songster." Th ^ immortal Shakspeare observes — "The man that hatli not music in himself, Nor is not moved with concord of sweet sounds, Is fit for treasons, stralajfcms, and spoils." ROEOTHAM'S POCKET FRENCH DICTIONARY, CAREFULLY REVISED, AND THE PRONUNriATTO:-? OF ALL THK PTFFirn.T WOnP.S ADDED. 20 LIPPmCOTT, GRa-MBO & CO.'S PUBLICATIONS. THE LIFE AND OPINIONS OF THISTRAM SHANDY, GENTLEIVIAN, CUMFRISINO TH3 HDMOROOS ADVBNTDRE8 OF UNCLE TOBY AND CORPORAL TRIM. BeauM/uDy Illustrated by Dasriey. Stitched* A sentimentTl journey. BY L. STERNS. Illustrated aa assove by I>arley« Stitcheda The beauties of r.nts aotnor are so well Known, and his errors in style and expression BO lew amj J»r between, that oua reads with renewed delight his delicate t;sms, <5cc. THE LIFE OF GENERAL JACKSON, WITH A LIKENESS OF THE OLD HERO. On© volume, 18mo. LIFE OF PAUL JONES. in oix« volume, 12nio- WITH QIVE HUNDRED ILLUSTRATIONS BY JAMES HAMILTON, 'rhe work is comoited irom nis original journals and correspondence, and includes aa accouTit eS Ws services in the Ament-sm Revolution, and in the war between the Russians and Turlu In tixe Black Sea. There v* scarcely any Naval Hero, of any age, who combined in his character so much of Jhe adventurous, skiiiui and daring, as faul Jones. The incidents of his life are almost as start ling and absorbing- as tflose of romance, riin achievements dnrin? the American Revolution — the fight between the Bou Homme ilichard ajwi Serapis, the roost desperate naval action on record — and the alarm into wtiicn, with so small a force, he threw the co.ists of England and Scotland — are matters comparatively well known to Americans ; but the incu^pnts of liis subsequent career have been veiled in obsn?*rity, which is dissipated by this biosrapny. A book like this, narrating the actions of such a man, ought to meet with an extensive sale, and become as popular as Robinson Crusoe in fiction, or WcRms's Life of A5wnon and Washington, and similar books, in fact. It con- tains 400 pages, has h ftanus'jme portrait and medallion likeness of Jones, and is illustrated with Bitmerous original wood engraviiugs of uaval scenes and disunguished men with whom lia was familiar. TIE GflSEK illlii Or, A Narrative of the CaptiYi^ ad Escape of Christophorus Plato Castanis, DURING THE MASSACRE ON THE ISLAND OF SCIO BY THE TURKS TOGETHER WITH VARIOUS AUVENTURES IN GREECE AND AfjlERIC^^. WUITT'BN BY HIMSELP, Author of an Essay on tbe Ancient and Modem Greek f.angnagss; Interpretation of the Attribute of the Principal Fabulous Deities ; The Jewish Maiden of Scio's Citadel ; and Shs C4reek Jboy in the Sunday-SchooL ^© vomme, 12mo, THE YOUNG CHORISTER; k Collection of New and tfeautiful Tuncii wlapted to the use of S^abbath-Schools, from some of ^ most distiiiimutned composers ; lo^etner with many of toe author's compositions. EDITED Br MiNARD W. V/ILSON. 91 LIPPINCOTT, GRAMBO k CO.'S PCBLIGATIONS. CAMP LIFE OF A VOLUNTEER. A Campaign in Mexico; Or, A Glimpse at, Life in Camp. BY "Oini WHO HAS SEEN THE ELEPHANT." life of (gjnnal ^lu^nn] ^aqlnr, COMPRISING A NARRATIVE OF EVENTS CONNECTED WITB HIS PROFESSIONAL CAREER, AND AUTHENTIC INCIDr^NlS OF HIS EARLY YEARS. BY J. REESE FRY AND R. T. CONRAD. With an original and accurate Portrait, and eleven elegant lUustrationg, by DarJey, In one Handsome 12mo. volume. " It is by far the fullest and most interesting biography of General Taylor that we have ever seen." —Richmond ( Whif/) Ckromcle. " On the whole, we are satisfied that this vuJume is the most correct and comprehensive one yet pubLsiied." — /i«;jr5 Merchants' Magaziiie. "The superiority of this edition over the ephemeral publications of the day consists in fuller and more authentic accounts of his family, liis early life, and Indian wars. The narrative of lus pri^ ceedings in Mexico is drawn oartly from reliable privai* letters, but chiefly from bis own official correspondence." " It forma a cheap, substantial, and attractive volume, and one which should be read at the fir»- ■ide of every fiunily who desire a faithful and true life of the Old General." GENEr.AL TAYLOil AND HIS STAFF: Comprising Memoirs of Generals Taylor, Worth, Wool, and Butler; Cols. M.iy, Cross, Clay, Hardin, Yell, Hays, and other distinguished Officers attach^jd to General Taylor's Army. Interspersed with NUMEROUS ANECDOTES OF THE MEXICAN WAR. wid Personal Adventures of the Officers. Compiled from Public Documents and Private Corr»- spoiidence. With ACCURATE PORTRAITS, AND OTHER BEAUTIFUL ILLUSTRATIONS, In one volume, 12mo. GENERAL SCOTT AND HIS STAFF : Compiismg Memoirs of Generals Scott, Twi!?)?s, Smith, Quitman, Shields, PiUow, Lane, Cadwalader Patterson, and Fierce : Cols. Childs, Riley, Harney, and Butler; and other distinguished officers attached to General Scott's Army. TOGETUER WITH Notices of General Kearny, Col. Doniiihan, Col.. Fremont, end other ofTicers distinaruinhed in tb« Conquest of California and New Mexico ; and Personal Ad (dentures of the Officers. Com- pdcd from Public Documents and Private Correspondence. With » CCURATE PORTRAITS, AND OTHER BEAUTIFUL ILLUSTRATIONS. In one volume, 12mo. THE FAMILY DENTIST, MCLUDING THE SURGICAL, MEDICAL AND MECHANICAL TREATI^ENT OF THE TEETH. ninstrated 'vritli thirty-one Bnj^raviiigs* By CHARLES A. DU BOUCHET, M. D., Dental Stirgoon. In one volume, 18mo. 22 LIPPINCOTT, GRAMBO & CO.'S PUBLICATIONS. MECHANICS FOR THE MILLWRIGHT, ENGINEER AND MACHINIST, CIVIL ENGINEER, AND ARCHITECT: CONTAINING THE PRINCIPLES OP MECILLNICS APPLED TO MACHINERY Of American models, Steam-Engines, Water-Works, Navigation, Bridge-building, 6uo. &.c B» FREDERICK OVERMAN, Author of " The Manufacture of Iron," and other scientific treatises. Dlusfrated by 150 Engravings. In one large 12mo. volume. WILLIAMS'S TRAVELLER'S AND TOURIST'S GUIDE Through the United States, Canada, &c. This book will be found replete with information, not only to the traveller, but likewise to the man of business. In its preparation, an entirely new plan has been adopted, which, we are con- vinced, needs only a trial to be fully appreciated. Among its many valuable features, are tabjes showing at a glance the distance, fart, and ttmt occupied iu travelling from the principal cities to the most important places in the Union ; so thai Ihe question frequently asked, without obtaining a satisfactory reply, is here answered in fuB. Other tables show the distances from New York, uid a Half Cents per Volume. FIELD'S SCRAP BOOK.— New Edition. litcrarii nii& ^Histtllnurnns §nm 33Dnit. CouoBttag of Tales aud Anecdotes — Bioeraphicai, Histon.-ai, Fatnotic, Moral, K«ligioua, and SesO.- uiotilut Pieces, hi Prose at,iJ Po»'t'-» Compiled by AVILLIAM FIELDS. SECOND EDn-ION, REVISED) AND IMPBOVUD. In one nttnOsome 8vo. Voluiii*. Price, S2.0i9l POLITICS FoTISirCAFOTJm A WORD UPON OUR EXAMPLE AS A NATION, OUE LABOUR, Ac TOGETHER Vtirn THE POLITICS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. BY THE AUTHOR OF " NEW THEMES FOR THE PROTESTANT CLERGY." One vol. 8vo., hali ciotti. Price 50 ceni*. For sale by all the Trade. THE HUMAN BODY AliTnilS^ MAtl. ILLUSTRATED BY THE PRINCIPAL ORGANS. BY JAMES JOHN GARTH WILKINSON, Member of tne Royal College of SuTijeons of Euei*uit IN ONE VOLUME, 12Mte^-PBI0K SI 26 LIPPINGOTT, GHAMBO & CO.'S PUBLICATIONS. BOARDMAN'S BIBLE IN THE FAMILY, €^i 38ilih in tjiB /umilii: OR, HINTS ON DOMESTIC HAPPINESS. BY H. A. BOARD MAN, PASTOK OF THE TENTH PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, PHILADELPHIA. One Volume 12mo.— Price, One Dollar. W H E E L E R^S^HlsToiFoFNii^^ OF NORTH CAROLINA, From 1584 to 1851. Co»npiled from Original Records, Official Documents, and Traditional Statements ; with Biographical Sketches of her Distinguished Statesmen, Jurists, Lawyers, Soldiers, Divines, ii7 Bulletin. "Jeffrey was for a long period editor of the Review, and was admitted by all the other contribu- tors to be the leading spirit in it. In addition to.his political articles, he soon showed his wonderful powers of criticism in literature. He was equally at home whether censuring or applauding; iu Lis onslaughts on the mediocrity of Southey, or the misused talents of Byron, or in his noble essayi «ai Shakspeare, or Scott, or Burns."— Aew York Express. PRICE, ONE DOLLAR AND A HALF. ROMANCE OF NATURAL HISTORY; OR, WILD SCENES AND WILD HUNTERS. WITH NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS, IN ONE VOLUME OCTAVO, CLOTH. BY C. W. WEBBER. "We have rarely read a volume so full of life and enthusiasm, so capable of transporting the reader into an actor among the scenes and persons described. The volume can hardly be opened Bt any page witliout arresting tlie attention, and the reader is borne along with the movement of a style whose elastic spring and life knows no weariness."— ^osion Courier and Transcript, PRICE. TWO DOLLARS. THE LIFE OF WILLIAM PENN, WITH SELECTIONS FROM MIS CORRESPONDENCE AND AUTOBIOGRAPHY. BY SAMUEL M. JANNEY. Second Edition, Re^^!?ed. " Our author has acquitted himself in a manner worthy of his sulijoct. His style is easy, flowing, and yet sententious. Altogether, we consider it a hislily valuable addition to the Uterature of our »g«, and a work tliat should find its way into tlie library of every Fhead."— Frietids' Intelligencer, Philadelphia. " We regard this life of the great founder of Pennsylvania as a valuable addition to the literature of the country."— Philadelphia Evening Bulletin. V\ e have no hesitation in pronouncing Mr. Janney's life of Penn the best, because the most ■alisfactory, that has yet been written. The author's style is dciur and uninvolved, and well suil ed j> Uie purposes of biograpliical narrative." — Louisville Journal. PKIGE, TWO DOLL.\KS 28 LIPPINCOTT, GRAMBO & CO.'S PUBLICATIONS. LIPPINCOTT'S CABINET HISTORIES OF THE STATES, CONSISTING OP A SERIES OP Cabinet Histories of all tlie States of the Union, TO EMBKACE A VOLUilE FOR EACH STATE. We have so far completed all our arrangements, as to be able to issue the whole series in the €hovt«st possible time consistent v/ith its careful literary protluction. SEVERAL VOLUMES ARE NOW READY FOR SALE. The talented authors who have engaged to write these Histories, ara fio strangers in the hterary world. NOTICES OF THE PRESS. "These most tastefully printed and bound volumes form the first instalment of a scries of State Histories, which, without superseding the bulkier and more expensive works of the same charac- ter, may enter household channels from which the others would be excluded by their cost and magnitude." "In conciseness, clearness, skill of arrangement, and graphic interest, they are a most croelteftt tamest of those to come. They are eminently adapted both to interest and instruct, and shouM ftave a place in the family library of every American."— 2V. Y. Courier and Etmdrer. " The importance of a series of State History like those now in preparation, can scarcely be esla- »aated. Being condensed as carefully as accuracy and interest of narrative wUl permit, the size tnd price of the volumes will bring them within the reach of every family in the country, thus \naking them home-reading books for old and young. Each individual will, in consequence, become familiar, not only with the history of his own State, but with that of the other States ; thus mutual toterests will be re-awakened, and old bonds cemented in a firmer re-union."— //oot€ Gazetle. NEW THEIIES FOR THE PROTESTANT CLERGY; CREEDS WITHOUT CHARITY, THEOLOGY WITHOUT HUMANITY, AND PROTESTANT- ISM WITHOUT CHRISTIANITYi Wjith Notes by the Editor on the Literature of Charity, Population, Pauperism, Political Economy, and Protestantism. -The great question which the book discusses is, whether the Church of this age is what the primitive Church was, and whether Christians— both pastors and people— are doing their duty. Our enthor believes not, and, to our mind, he has made out a strong case. He thinks there is abundant room for reform at the present time, and that it is needed almost as much as in the days of Luther. And why ? Because, in his own words, • While one portion of nominal Christians have busied themselves with forms and ceremonies and observances ; with pictures, images, and processions ; others have given to doctrines the supremacy, and have busied themselves in laying down the lines by which to enforce human belief— lines of interpretation by which to control human opinion —lines of discipline and restraint, by which to bring human minds to uniformity of faith and action. Tliey have formed creeds and catechisms ; they have spread themselves over the whole field of the sacred writings, and scratched up aU the surface ; they have gathered all the straws, and turned over all the pebbles, and detected the colour and determined the outline of every stone and tr«e and shrub ; they have dwelt with rapture upon all that was beautiful and sublime ; but they have trampled over mines of golden wisdom, of surpassing richness and depth, almost without a thought, and almost without an effort to fathom these priceless treasures, much less to take ] of thent'" PRICE, ONE DOLLAR. SIMPSON'S MILITARY JOURNAL, JOURNAL OF A MILITARY RECONNOISSANCE FROM SANTA FE NEW MEXICO, TO THE NAVAJO COUNTRY, BY JAMES H. SIMPSON, A.M., FIRST LIEUTEiSTANT CORPS OF TOPOGRAPHICAL ENGINEERS. WITH SEVENTY-FIVE COLOURED ILLUSTRATIONS. Or.e volume, ot^tavo. Price, Three Dollar*. LIPPINCOTT, GBAMBO & CO.'S PUBLICATIONS. TALES OF THE SOUTHERN BORDER. BY C. W. WEBBER. ONE VOLUME OCTAVO, HANDSOMELY ILLUSTRATED. Tlie Hunter Natiiral[st, a Romance of Sporting; OR, WILD SCENES AND WILD HUNTERS. BY C. W. WEBBER, Author of " Shot in the Eye," "Old Hicks tlie Guide," " Gold Mines of the Gila," &c. ONE VOLUME, KOYAL OCTAVO. IIUSTRATED WITH FORTY BEAUTIFUL ENGRAVINGS, FROM ORIGINAL DRAWINGS, MANY OF WHICH ARE COLOURED. Price, Five Dollars. NIGHTS IN A BLOCK-HOUSE; OR, SKETCHES OF BORDER LIFE. embracing Adventures arnong the Indians. Feats of the Wild Hunters, and Exploits of Boom, Brady. Kenton, Wlietzel, Fleehart, and other Border Heroes of the West, BY HENRY 0. WATSON, Author of "Camp-Fires of the Revolution." WITH NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS. One volume, 8vo. Price, ^ 00. HAMILTON, THE YOUNG ARTIST. BY AUGUSTA BROWNE. ■vnm AN ESSAY ON SCULPTURE AND PAINTING, BY HAMILTON A. C. BROWNE. 1 Tol. ISmo. Price, 37 1-2 cents. THE FISCAL hTsTO^Ti^^ '^''T^^Z^r^Or^L''^ "' '''''™^^' ^^^TS, AND CURRENCY, FROM THE COMMENCEMENT OP THE REVOLUTION IN 1834, TO 1851-2, WITH REMARKS ON AMERICAN DEBTS. BY WM. M. GOUGE, Author of "A Short lOstory of Paper Money and Banking ,n the United States." In one vol. 8vo., cloth. Pi Ice $1 50. iNGERsoLL^rnimToilnE^^ war- A HISTORY OF THE SECOND WAR BETWEEN THE U. STATES AND ST BR UIN BY OHAELBS 1. IWGEESOLL. Second sorics. 2 TOlmncs, 8ro. Price $4 00 War." a. it ha. „,„al|y be,„ railed A 3 II :, , "■°"' "" "'" =""""' " " "• ^ •""- "-" «"^i»' --. -Vi^ *;„f,:,::dr,;r.::';zr' '- '-- -""^ 80 LIFPINCOTT, GRAMBO & CO.'S PUBLICATIONS. FROST'S JUVENILE SERIES. TWELVE VOLUMES, 16mo., WITH FIVE HUNDRED ENGRAVINGS WALTER O'lvTEILL, OR THE PLEASURE OF DOING GOOD. 25 Engrav'gfc JUNKER SCHOTT, and other Stories. 6 Engravings. THE LADY OF THE LURLBI, and other Stories. 12 Engravings. ELLEN'S BIRTHDAY, and other Stories. 20 Engravings. HERMAN, and other Stories. 9 Engravings. KING TREGEWALL'S DAUGHTER, and other Stories. 16 Engravingfl. THE DROWNED BOY, and other Stories. 6 Engravings. THE PICTORIAL RHYME-BOOK. 122 Engravings. THE PICTORIAL NURSERY BOOK. 117 Engravings. THE GOOD CHILD'S REWARD. 115 Engravings. ALPHABET OF QUADRUPEDS. 26 Engravings. ALPHABET OF BIRDS. 26 Engravings. PRICE, TWENTY-FIVE CENTS EACH. The above popular and attractive series of New Juveniles for the Young, are sold together •, separately. THE MILLINER AND THE MILLIONAIRE. BY MRS. REBECCA HICKS, (Of Virginia,) Author of " The Lady Killer," &c One volume, 12ma Price, S73^ cents. " STANSBUEY'S EXPEDITION TO THE GREAT SALT LAKE, - AN EXPLORATION OF THE YALLEY OF THE GREAT SALT LAKE OF UTAH, CONTAINING ITS GEOGRAPHY, NATURAL HISTORY, BIINERALOGICAL RE- SOURCES, ANALYSIS OF ITS WATERS, AND AN AUTHENTIC ACCOUNT OF THE MORMON SETTLEMENT. ALSO, A RECONNOISSANCE OF A NEW ROUTE THROUGH THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 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