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It is plain, then, our only chance of understanding this book will be in some measure to realise the position of those to whom the Revelation was sent; to place ourselves in imagination in that land which was immediately to be the theatre of these predictions; to enter into the deep feelings of those to whom the worship of the Beast was an awful reality, and the coming of the Son of Man a present mystery; to stand in the broad street of that Holy City which was to be trodden down of the Gentiles, and to see from its lofty walls the myriads of locust armies gathered together for its destruction; to listen to the groans of the famine-stricken people; to see their desolation, only equalled by their impenitence; to let one idea stand prominently forward in our minds, that the Jewish Christian of those days expected the immediate coming of his Lord to destroy his city and nation, and to gather his elect from the four corners of the earth.

To do this effectually, we must perhaps unlearn what we have been accustomed to consider established and certain truth, we must perhaps unteach ourselves what has hitherto rested on a foundation supposed to be unassailable. We must sift and try to the bottom principles of which no doubt has up to this time been entertained, and we must weigh them carefully in the balance of the Sanctuary. But if, by the grace of an all-wise and directing Spirit, we are enabled to arrive at more sure conclusions than those previously formed, our labour will not be lost. The majesty of Scripture, as a grand and unbroken whole, will be asserted. The Apocalypse will be found to utter the same note as the Gospels, and the Gospels will be found confirmed by the Apocalypse. The Epistles will take up the same divine sound, connecting the predictions of our Lord with the nearer announcement of their speedy and immediate accomplishment. Not one link will be wanting. "By the greatness of his power not one faileth."

Added to this we shall gain an insight, such as we may reasonably hope is not at variance with truth, into a sublime and long sealed up portion of Holy Writ-an insight which the first commentators on the Apocalypse had, and which modern theorists have lost sight of. We shall go back, with Andreas and Arethas, to the scenes connected with the destruction of the

Jewish polity, instead of going forward with new-fangled speculators to the so-called end of the world. Following the steps of the earliest commentators, whose expositions were based upon others which had preceded theirs, we shall discover that the view taken of these symbols by the early Church, was in all probability the right one; and that the fables with which the religious world is now ringing are the creations of yesterday. In a word, we shall hope to uncover the wrapping which the ignorance of bygone days has rolled around the Apocalypse; proceeding all the while upon the incontrovertible principle, that the Apocalypse is declared by its author to be a prophecy of which the fulfilment should take place immediately, and that if a blessing was promised to the public reader of it1, and to those who heard him, it must have been intelligible to those who complied with the terms upon which that blessing was to be expected. Surely it does not follow because the biblical student has been led with parched throat and swollen tongue to one mirage after another of hot and glaring sand, each as illusory and as unstable as the preceding, that no oasis of green sward and of limpid streams shall ever give rest to his burning brow and his fainting form. Surely it does not follow that truth is never to be found because it has been for a long time overlaid; or that an interpretation, satisfactory to reasonable minds, shall never be made out, because error has mystified the subject for 1,000 years. Surely it does not follow that a book, once understood, shall never be understood again, or that the light and knowledge of the nineteenth century shall not be able to unravel mysteries which to the first century were easy of comprehension. Nay, may it not be possible, that the time for the unveiling of this secret volume may be at hand; that with a more enlightened and critical study of the Scriptures, the darkness of former ages may disappear? Nay, may not the time have come, in the providence of God, when a deeper insight into the first principles of the doctrine of Christ may lead to still more glorious results than those already accomplished, and a clearer demonstration of eternal truth produce a more real acceptance of vital religion at the hands of the spiritual Israel of God?

Only let us not fear for the truth itself. That will come out

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unscathed and untouched; as it cannot be injured by falsehood, so it cannot be propped up by sophistry; it dreads no assailant, as it needs no apology. Like this glorious book, "not one word of which could be added to or taken from," it derides every attempt at amplification or detraction. We do not commend ourselves a whit nearer to God by magnifying predictions which are defined as relating to particular events (a feeling natural to man, and the latent cause of all hero-worship); neither do we estrange ourselves from his favour by representing things as they are, and not as our taste would lead them to be.

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LECTURE VII.

THE FIRST FOUR TRUMPETS AND VIALS.

REV. viii.

1. And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.

2. And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets.

3. And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne.

4. And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel's hand.

5. And the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire of the altar, and cast it into the earth: and there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake.

6. And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound.

REV. XV. xvi.

5. And after that I looked, and, behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened:

6. 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.

7. And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who liveth for ever and ever.

8. 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.

1. 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.

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SECOND TRUMPET.

8. 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;

9. And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed.

THIRD TRUMPET.

10. And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters;

11. 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.

SECOND VIAL.

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.

THIRD VIAL.

4. And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood.

5. And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus.

6. For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy.

7. And I heard another out of the altar say, Even So, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.

FOURTH TRUMPET.

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.

FOURTH VIAL.

8. And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire.

9. 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.

We have already explained six of the Seven Seals. The 1st, indicative of invasion and conquest.

The 2d, of faction and civil war.

The 3d, of dearth and famine.

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