throne a book written within 2 And I saw a strong angel and on the back side, sealed proclaiming with a loud voice, with seven seals. who is worthy to open the

hand;" xxii. 10. ¶ Seven seals.—as if the heathen notions on these The book (or rather roll) was sealed subjects were correct; but we have with seven seals. It was divided into no belief that Jesus or his apostles seven different parts, and each part intended to recognize the heathen was sealed by itself. This is easily fables concerning spirits to be true, understood, if we keep in mind the any more than they intended to acidea of the roll. One part was writ-knowledge the doctrine of actual posten, and rolled up and sealed. An- sessions. That there are good angels, other was then written, rolled upon the who execute the will of God, we alformer, and also sealed; and so on to low. It is consistent both with Scripthe end. Thus, although there was ture and reason to think so. But but one roll, or book, there were that there is a chief prince of darkseven parts to it, each part being ness, the leader in all that is evil, the sealed by itself. It might have been tempter of mankind, having a legion divided into more parts, but seven is of ministers or imps at his command, the perfect number of the Apocalypse, is unreasonable, and exists only in and hence that division. These parts the language of allegory. God is could be taken off and read one atter omnipotent. He shares dominion the other; and thus one seal would with none. We do not hold the be opened at a time. The account of opinion of the Manicheans, viz., the the opening of these seals we shall existence of two eternally opposite find in the 6th, 7th and 8th chapters principles. Man is tempted when he of the Apocalypse. They are the is drawn away of his own lust and seven seals into which John was per- enticed. This will account for all mitted to look, one after another. sin, without the agency of any other When John wrote the Book of Rev- tempter. But in the parables, metelation, the end was near. He fore- aphors, and allegories of the Bible, told things that were "shortly to come evil spirits are introduced, not to acto pass." The time for unsealing knowledge their real existence, but Daniel's book had come. It was the for scenical purposes. Did Jesus inbook of God's dealings with the Jews, tend to acknowledge the Jewish ideas or his will concerning the punishment of heaven, when he spoke of Abraof that people. Jesus had foretold ham's bosom? or the heathen notions their destruction; he had unfolded of hades, when he spoke of the great the purpose of God respecting them, gulf? Dr. Macknight says, "In parand thus had opened the sealed book. abolical discourses, provided the doc2. A strong angel. - We take ad- trines inculcated are strictly true, the vantage of this place to offer certain terms in which they are inculcated remarks on the angelology of the may be such as are most familiar to Apocalypse. It has already been in the ears of the vulgar, and the imtimated by us, that John makes much ages made use of such as they are use of angels in his descriptions. best acquainted with." (Par. and The heathen had long believed in the Com. on Luke xvi.) We reject, existence of spiritual intelligences, therefore the notion of evil angels. such as we call angels, both good God is good; and the messengers, and bad. The Jews unquestionably who fulfil his pleasure, who inhabit became infected with their notions. his presence, must be good also. So The metaphorical language of the much we should infer from the ScripBible, therefore, is sometimes framed tures. The angel who came down

earth, was able to open the book, | open, and to read the book, neither to look thereon. neither to look thereon.

21.

some to shame and everlasting con-
tempt. And they that be wise shall
shine as the brightness of the firma-
ment;
and they that turn many to
righteousness, as the stars forever
and ever;" Dan. xii. 1-3. This cer-
tainly had respect to the destruction
of Jerusalem; for so our Lord him-
self applied the prophecy, Matt. xxiv.
The judgment mentioned by
Daniel was the judgment which took
place at that time; John v. 22-29.
Compare carefully all the texts here
named. The book which Daniel
sealed being about to be opened,
shows that the events foretold by that
prophet are those which are described
by the revelator in the second section
of the Apocalypse, and that they re-
ferred to the destruction of Jerusalem.
For the opening of the seven seals,
see chapters vi. vii. and viii.

5 And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the

been a matter of very great sorrow to all good Christians if the sealed vision of Daniel had not been opened to their understandings, so the revelator represents himself as weeping when no man dare come forward at the challenge of the angel. We think this is all that the imagery of these three verses is designed to convey.

5. One of the elders. - That is, one of the four-and-twenty elders mentioned in the preceding chapter. This is introduced merely to fill up the imagery, and to prepare the reader for what is to come. T The lion. The lion is the king of beasts. It is a remarkable fact that both Jesus and the adversary are compared to the lion. Compare 1 Peter v. 8 with the passage before us. The reason is, that the lion is the king of beasts, -an animal of great power. The lion, when he stands for the adversary, is enraged, -a roaring, furious lion.

3. Heaven, earth, neither under the earth. The meaning here is simply this: no man was there in the uni-¶ Of the tribe of Juda. - Judah was verse who could break the seven seals of the book. Heaven, earth and under the earth, is a periphrasis for the universe. See remarks on Rev. v. 13. No man could disclose the meaning of the sealed roll of Daniel; it was not in the power of human reason or philosophy to foretell events yet future. Daniel's prophecy had respect to events that were far future when he wrote; they were also future, but were near at hand, when the revelator wrote Who should foretell them? Who should be able to show with certainty the matters to which Daniel referred, and trace them out in their several particulars? No mere man could do it. The angel challenged; and no man could answer.

4. Iwept much. That is, the revelator wept much. This is in keeping with the general character of this part of the vision. As it would have

one of the sons of Jacob; Gen. xxix. 35. He it was who saved the life of Joseph; who suggested to his brethren intent on his death, the selling of him to the Ishmaelites; Gen. xxxvii. 20-22 and 26-27. He was always regarded as the most powerful of all Jacob's sons. When the dying patri arch called his children around him to tell them what should befall them in the latter days, he said, "Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise; thy hand shall be in the neck of thine enemies; thy father's chil dren shall bow down before theeJudah is a lion's whelp; from the prey, my son, thou art gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up?" Gen. xlix. 8, 9. The twelve tribes into which the Jews were divided were named after Jacob's twelve sons. These twelve

Lion of the tribe of Juda, the to open the book, and to loose Root of David, hath prevailed the seven seals thereof.

this manner, had it not been foreseen by prophetic vision that our Lord would spring from that tribe. In a very important sense, therefore, he was the cause of its greatness, and consequently of the distinction given to Jesse and his son David. He was their Lord. David in spirit called him Lord; Matt. xxii. 42-45. For this reason he is said to have been the Root of David. David, in his greatness, grew up as a branch out of the greatness of Judah; and our Lord was the principal source of the greatness of that tribe. ¶ Prevailed to open the book. And how? Because the Spirit of the Lord was upon him. Had not the Father gifted him with more than human wisdom, he could not have foretold the future but

tribes continued united as one state, one people, and one monarchy, till after the death of Solomon, when ten of the tribes revolted from the house of David, and formed the kingdom of Israel. Judah's tribe was the most powerful and numerous. He gave his name ultimately to all the descendants of his father, — Judæi, or Jews, and to the promised land they had inherited, Judea. In consequence of the superiority of Judah and his tribe, some striking emblem was necessary for their banner; and from the words of his dying parent, choice was made of the lion. Judah continued a distinct tribe until the Messiah came; Gen. xlix. 10. From these facts will easily be gathered the reason why Jesus was compared to the lion of the tribe of Judah. He near-approaching calamities of the sprung from that tribe; Heb. vii. 14. Jews. Jesus was a prophet, as well That was the most powerful tribe, as a priest and a king. He therefore and existed until his birth. It was to could prevail to open the sealed book give an idea of the Redeemer's power of the future. The Spirit of God that he was compared to the lion, the rested upon him, the spirit of wisking of beasts; and as the lion was dom and understanding, the spirit the distinguishing emblem of the tribe of counsel and might,—the spirit of of Judah, and as our Lord belonged knowledge and the fear of the Lord; to that tribe, he was called "the lion Isa. xi. 2. Examine our Lord's of the tribe of Judah." ¶ Root of prophecies. He foretold the defection David. Jesus is called in another of Judas; he forewarned his followplace, "the root and offspring of ers that they would desert him; he David;" Rev. xxii. 16. It will be assured Peter that before the dawn time enough to consider the apparent of the coming day he would deny him confusion of figures in that phrase- thrice; he foretold his own death, and ology, when we come to the place. the sacrificial character of it; his Jesus is called "the root of Jesse," resurrection from the dead, and the David's Father; Isa. xi. 10; comp. length of time which should intervene Rom. xv. 12; and for the same rea-between his death and his resurrecson, "the root of David." The family of David sprang from Judah; and David was king of that tribe. The greatest fact in its history was the fact that our Lord sprang from it; and perhaps it was in reference to this event, in part, that God directed the minds of the people to take the lion, the emblem of majesty and strength, as their emblem. They would probably not have been distinguished in

tion; he foretold his appearance in Jerusalem after his resurrection; the preaching of the gospel throughout the then known world; and the wonderful catastrophe of the destruction of Jerusalem, with all its accompaniments of wonders and sufferings. He was indeed a prophet, and he prevailed to open the book and to loose the seven seals thereof.

6. In the midst of the throne, &c. —