centuries. It approaches its end. The victor's garment is dyed with blood.

"His name is called the Word of God." That is to say by that name we may know Him. It is an expression frequently used in the N.T. for the Gospel of Christ. It appears to have been a Jewish appellation of the Messias. Josephus, in the beginning of his discourse to the Greeks concerning Hades, says, "At the resurrection and general judgment God the Word shall come as a Judge, whom we call Christ." S. John used "the Word" as a designation of our Lord in his first Epistle, writing, "Our hands have handled of the word of life" (1 Jhn. i. 1). And again, "There are three who give testimony in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost. And these three are one" (1 Jhn. v. 7). When S. John wrote his Gospel, some years afterwards, he opened with, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God" (Jhn. i. 1). "His name is called the Word of God," is one of many proofs that S. John the Evangelist wrote the Apocalypse, for he alone in the Holy Scriptures has used this expression.

14. Καὶ τὰ στρατεύματα τὰ ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ ἠκολούθει αὐτῷ ἐφ ̓ ἵπποις λευκοῖς, ἐνδεδυμένοι βύσσινον λευκὸν καθαρόν.

14. And the armies that are in heaven followed him on white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.

"The armies that are in heaven" has a wide significance. It includes the angelic host, S. Michael and his angels (R. xii. 7), as well as the redeemed. "Is there any numbering of his soldiers?" (Job xxv. 3). "The armies of the living God" (1 Kings xxvii. 26).

White horses are emblems of victory (see R. vi. 2, notes). Fine linen, white and spotless, is put for the uniform of heaven. At verse 8, above, we have "Búσσivov λaμρóv κalaρóv," clothing the Church triumphant. See also R. iii. 4, 5, 18, iv. 4 (R. iii. 4, 5; see R. xix. 8, notes). All this is symbolism. If we refer back to R. vi. 2, 8, we find the actual fighting forces which followed our Lord and conquered Rome are war, famine, pestilence and death. The red horse of battle is engaged here.

15. Καὶ ἐκ τοῦ στόματος αὐτοῦ ἐκπορεύεται ῥομφαία ὀξεῖα, ἵνα ἐν αὐτῇ πατάξῃ τὰ ἔθνη· καὶ αὐτὸς ποιμανεῖ αὐτοὺς ἐν ῥάβδῳ σιδηρᾷ· καὶ αὐτὸς πατεῖ τὴν ληνὸν τοῦ οἴνου τοῦ θυμοῦ τῆς ὀργῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ τοῦ παντοκράτορος.

15. And out of his mouth proceedeth a sharp two-edged sword, that with it he may strike the Gentiles. And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; and he treadeth the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God, the Almighty.

Haydock's Bible translates Tà eovn, "the Gentiles," other Bibles, "the nations." As the whole of these passages relate to the chastisement of pagan Rome, Gentiles would seem to express the mind of the Seer. Pagan nations were commonly called "Gentiles" in the N.T. (Matt. xii. 21; Mark x. 33; Luke xviii. 32; Acts x. 45). That was the Jewish meaning of Tà Oun when the Apocalypse was written. All nations were then either Jewish or pagan.

In the vision of our Lord in Chapter i. 16, "From his mouth came out a sharp two-edged sword" (see also ii. 12); this serves to identify the rider of the white horse, and to explain his mission, which is one of execution of judgment. To the red horse which followed Him was granted "to take away peace from the earth . . . and to him was given a great sword (R. vi. 4).

The rod of iron refers to Psalm ii. 8, "I will give thee the Gentiles for thy inheritance. . . . Thou shalt rule them with a rod of iron, and shalt break them in pieces like a potter's vessel." The dominion of paganism is broken up and handed over to the Church of the millennium. To the Church of Thyatira was given power over the nations (Tv Ovwv, the Gentiles), to rule them with a rod of iron (R. ii. 27, where see notes). We are on the eve of the millennium, i.e., the Church of Thyatira. Again at R. xii. 5, The woman "brought forth a man child who was to rule all nations (πάντα τὰ ἔθνη) with a rod of iron."

"And he treadeth the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God." For the wine of the wrath of God, see R. xiv. 10, xvi. 19, and for the winepress see xiv. 20, notes.

16. Καὶ ἔχει ἐπὶ τὸ ἱμάτιον καὶ ἐπὶ τὸν μηρὸν αὐτοῦ ὄνομα γεγραμμένον, βασιλεὺς βασιλέων καὶ κύριος κυρίων. 16. And he has on his garment and on his thigh written, King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

In this final scene of the contest with the dragon, the beast, the false prophet, and the kings of the earth, our Lord appears

at the head of His followers with His high titles blazoned on His garments: King of Kings-a very fine picture, and a striking introduction to His conquest over "the kings of the whole earth."

We have had the title King of Kings before at R. xvii. 14 in connection with this same battle. In the O.T. this title is seen with reference to the King of Babylon (Ezech. xxvi. 7). It was the recognised title of the Parthian kings from the time of Orodes 38 B.C., and was in use when S. John was preaching the Gospel on the Euphrates. Goterzés, a Parthian satrap, who ruled about A.D. 40, took the title of Satrap of Satraps, or Lord of Lords, before he was proclaimed "King of Kings." He reigned A.D. 41 to 51. It agrees perfectly with "The white horse and he that sat on him had a bow, and a crown was given to him" at R. vi. 2 (where see notes). The same title is given to our Lord, Jesus Christ, by S. Paul (1 Tim. vi. 15). This distinguishing title, carried into battle, blazoned on his vesture, by the leader of an army, is of the essence of heraldry. It may have been a Parthian custom.

17. Καὶ εἶδον ἕνα ἄγγελον ἑστῶτα ἐν τῷ ἡλίῳ καὶ ἔκραξεν φωνῇ μεγάλῃ λέγων πᾶσιν τοῖς ὀρνέοις τοῖς πετομένοις ἐν μεσουρανήματι Δεῦτε συνάχθητε εἰς τὸ δεῖπνον τὸ μέγα τοῦ Θεοῦ.

17. And I saw an angel standing in the sun, and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the birds that did fly through the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together to the great supper of God.

In anticipation of the great slaughter of the enemies of God, an angel calls the vultures from the midst of heaven to sup upon their flesh. Similar imagery is found in Jeremias (vii. 33) and Ezechiel (xxxix. 4, 17). Vultures have remarkable powers of vision. They circle in the air at such altitudes as to be invisible to man, ἐν μεσουρανήματι. When a dead body lies exposed they appear like specks in the sky, and in a very short time perch round the body. They are recognised scavengers. S. John was familiar with the Egyptian vulture, very common in Palestine. An angel standing in the sun is well placed to call vultures" together to the great supper of God."

18. Ἵνα φάγητε σάρκας βασιλέων καὶ σάρκας χιλιάρ χων καὶ σάρκας ἰσχυρῶν καὶ σάρκας ἵππων καὶ τῶν καθη μένων ἐπ ̓ αὐτῶν, καὶ σάρκας πάντων ἐλευθέρων τε καὶ δούλων καὶ μικρῶν καὶ μεγάλων.

18. That you may eat the flesh of Kings and the flesh of tribunes and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all freemen and bondsmen, little and great.

(S. = ἐπ' αὐτούς.)

The object of calling the vultures together is to eat the flesh of kings, and tribunes, men and horses, freemen and bondsmen, the leaders and captains and the rank and file of the army, gathered together, by the dragon, the Beast, and the false prophet, "against the great day of the Almighty God" (R. xvi. 14). And they were gathered into a place called Armagedon. Observe the correspondence between these men, the food for vultures, and the Christians who suffered persecution at the hands of Rome (R. vi. 15). We have kings, tribunes, mighty men, freemen and bondsmen, in both places, denoting the Roman Empire. The lex talionis is in view, a king for a king, a tribune for a tribune, and so on. But whereas the Christians were driven into hiding by persecution, their persecutors the Romans are made the food of vultures. To leave the dead a prey to loathsome vultures was to inflict upon them the worst possible indignity in the eyes of the Jews. Hence this lot is foretold for the pagan persecutors of the Church. It also carries out the judgment pronounced against Rome, "Render to her as she hath rendered to you, and double ye the double, according to her works " (R. xviii. 6).

19. Καὶ εἶδον τὸ θηρίον καὶ τοὺς βασιλεῖς τῆς γῆς καὶ τὰ στρατεύματα αὐτῶν συνηγμένα ποιῆσαι τὸν πόλεμον μετὰ τοῦ καθημένου ἐπὶ τοῦ ἵππου, καὶ μετὰ τοῦ στρατεύματος αὐτοῦ.

19. And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies, gathered together to make war with him that sat upon the horse and with his army.

The Seer sees the battlefield of Armagedon. The Beast is there, and the ten kings. "These shall fight with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them, because he is Lord of Lords and King of Kings" (R. xvii. 14). The armies gathered together at Armagedon meet, but the battle is not described. It is a foregone conclusion. The vultures are waiting to feed on Roman corpses. We have a special interest in the date of

this battle as it is one of the events leading up to the millennium.

There was a battle between Attila, the scourge of God, and the Romans in the year 451, which was the prelude to the fall of the Empire of the West. On that occasion the ten kings. lent their strength and power to the Beast (R. xvii. 13). Gibbon in describing the battle says:

"The Visigoths, the most powerful of the so-called barbarians, consented to join with Rome. The examples of the Goths determined several tribes or nations that seemed to fluctuate between the Huns and Romans. The indefatigable diligence of the patrician gradually collected the troops of Gaul and Germany, who had formerly acknowledged themselves the subjects or soldiers of the Republic, but who now claimed the rewards of voluntary service and the rank of independent allies-the Loti, the Armoricans, the Breones, the Saxons, the Burgundians, the Sarmatians or Alani, the Repnarians, and the Franks. . . . Such are the various armies which... advanced . . . to give battle to the numerous host of Attila."

Besides the above-mentioned nations, Gibbon says the Rugiens, the Heruli, and the Thuringians joined the Roman forces. Attila, like Titus, had an idea of his divine mission. "The doctrine of predestination, so favourable to martial virtue, was carefully inculcated by the King of the Huns, who assured his subjects that the warriors protected by Heaven were safe and invulnerable amidst the darts of the enemy ("D. and F.," cap. xxxv.).

In the battle of Chalons which is foreshadowed, there were engaged on the side of the Huns an army of from 500,000 to 700,000 men, and on the side of the Romans an equal number. The slain were computed to have numbered from 180,000 to 300,000. The total casualties by modern reckoning would have been over 500,000. "One of the most gigantic as well as most important contests recorded in history" ("Ency. Brit.").

Although this battle could not be claimed as a decisive victory for either side, it shattered the Western Empire. Attila returned in the year 452, conquered the north of Italy, and threatened Rome. He died in Italy in 453. A few years afterwards, Romulus Augustulus, a Parmonian, the last Roman Emperor, resigned, and the Roman Empire ceased to exist A.D. 476.