2 With whom the kings of | of the earth have been made the earth have committed for- drunk with the wine of her nication, and the inhabitants fornication. of the vile woman was a present judg- Isa. xxiii. 17; Ezk. xvi. 30. Also ment — a judgment about to break the following passage: "Wherefore, out when the revelator wrote his say unto the house of Israel, Thus prophecy. The seven angels were saith the Lord God; Are ye polluted directed to pour out their vials on the after the manner of your fathers?. earth; xvi. 1; and these seven vials and commit ye whoredom after their contained the seven last plagues, in abominations? For when ye offer which were filled up the wrath of God; your gifts, when ye make your sons xv. 1. We must not look away from to pass through the fire, ye pollute the earth in order to find this judg- yourselves with all your idols, even ment. The judgments of God on the unto this day and shall I be inquired enemies of his church were made of by you, O house of Israel? As I manifest to the early Christians; xv. live, saith the Lord God, I will not 4. "Thy wrath is come, and the time be inquired of by you ;” Ezk. xx. 30, of the dead that they should be 31. See the notes on ii. 14, 20; xiv. judged;" xi. 18. "The hour of his 4. We are not to understand anyjudgment is COME;" xiv. 7. "In one hour is thy judgment come;" xviii. 10. See particularly the notes on xi. 18; xiv. 7; xv. 4; and xvi. 5-7. We see, then, very clearly, that no judgment is referred to here, except that which took place in this world. Whether the doctrine of a judgment in the future state is true, is no part of our purpose to discuss; we say merely that that doctrine gets no support from the passages before us. That sitteth upon many waters. — The waters on which the woman sat represented peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues," as we shall show more fully under verse 15, where the metaphor of "the many waters" is explained. Examine that verse. 2. Committed fornication. — The species of crime here mentioned is not to be understood strictly; it is a figure to denote that the kings of the earth had combined with her to do great wickedness. They had carried on illicit trade with her, and thereby corrupted and debased the people. See xviii. 3. It was very common for the prophets, and even the New Testament writers, to represent other sins and improprieties under the figure of offences against conjugal life. See thing more, therefore, from the revelator's words, than that the kings of the earth consorted with spiritual Babylon, or Rome, to do wickedly; and this was done principally through the influence of Rome. ¶Drunk with the wine of her fornication. — She had power to entice the nations, to inflame their passions, to madden them; and hence it is said, "The inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication." Here is a double metaphor. The crime mentioned is itself a figure, and the "wine of fornication" is metaphor upon metaphor. In verse 4, the woman is said to have a golden cup in her hand, in which she carried her intoxicating wine. The revelator describes the wrath of God by precisely the same metaphor - "the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation;" xiv. 10. See the remarks under that passage. This figure will be still further explained under verse 4, which see below. 3 So he carried me away in a scarlet-colored beast, full of the spirit into the wilderness: names of blasphemy, having and I saw a woman sit upon seven heads and ten horns. colored beast. -- and ten horns, as mentioned in that place, and was "full of the names of blasphemy ;" and so we read that the beast (xiii. 1) had "upon his heads the name of blasphemy." There is no doubt, then, that the beast, on which the woman sat, represented the secular power of the empire; and the city of Rome did sit on that beast. Being the imperial city, the centre of the power, both secular and ecclesiastical, the empire sustained the city, and contributed immensely to its support and grandeur. The woman, therefore, is represented as resting or sitting on the beast. Scarlet and pur yet it seemed to him that he was so. He was there spiritually, i. e., mentally. Woman sit upon a scarletThe scene which laid before him was this: he appeared to be in the wilderness, and he saw a woman, sitting upon a scarlet-colored beast, full of blasphemous names, (i. e., the beast was full of these names,) having seven heads and ten horns. The woman was the harlot mentioned in the two preceding verses; and of course this vision must have been something like what John expected to see, from the invitation which had been given him by the angel, "Come hither, I will show un-ple were colors of great magnificence to thee," &c. It was very common among the Romans; they were the for the prophets to represent a city colors of state, the mark or sign of under the figure of a woman. What imperial power. Hence the beast is was the "daughter of Zion," but the scarlet-colored. ¶ Full of the names temple or city of Jerusalem? What of blasphemy. This may mean, full was the "daughter of Babylon," but of names, or titles, or sentences, that the city of Babylon? "They shall hold are in fact blasphemous, and may the bow and the lance: they are cruel, refer to the distinctions which the and will not show mercy: their voice emperors saw fit to take upon themshall roar like the sea, and they shall selves. The seven heads and ten ride upon horses, every one put in horns have been already explained, array, like a man to the battle, against under chapters xii. and xiii., and will thee, O daughter of Babylon. The be explained again below, under vs. king of Babylon hath heard the report 9-12. There is a conjecture of of them, and his hands waxed feeble: Lowman, which we think not altoanguish took hold of him, and pangs gether unworthy of credit. He says: as of a woman in travail;" Jer. 1. 42, "The beast seems to be called scarlet43. Instances in which this figure colored, because a scarlet covering, or occurs in the prophets are too numer-rich cloth, was thrown over it. Might ous to be even referred to. It was no uncommon thing, then, among the Jews, to personify a city, and describe it as a womana virgin, if it was pure a harlot, if it was, like Rome, wicked. Those who were well versed in the Jewish prophets would readily have understood these things, on the earliest appearance of the Apocalypse. The woman mentioned in the verse before us sat "upon a scarlet-colored beast." This was the beast mentioned in chap. xiii. 1. He had seven heads not that rich horse-cloth be embroidered with gold, and have heads and horns worked upon it, as emblems of power and authority, with proud mottoes, or titles, amounting to blasphemy?" There seems to be something reasonable in this conjecture. (See Paraphrase, &c., page 207.) Having noticed John's description of the beast, we turn now to that of the woman. 4. The woman was arrayed, &c. - Contrast the appearance of this 4 And the woman was arrayed | golden cup in her hand full of in purple and scarlet-color, and abominations and filthiness of decked with gold and precious her fornication : stones and pearls, having a 5 And upon her forehead was woman with that of the woman men-cup in the Lord's hand, that made all tioned in chapter xii. 1, and mark the difference. The former is distinguished by rich and gaudy decorations; the latter is clothed with the sun, the source of light the one is decked with gold and precious stones, and pearls, and has a golden cup in her hand, which is full of abominations and filthiness; while the other is lifted above all earthly glory and magnificence, and has the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown or circle of twelve stars: the former represents the city of Rome, distinguished by great magnificence, but very corrupt; the latter represents the holy city, New Jerusalem, which came down from God out of heaven, and looked as a bride prepared for her husband. The woman [Rome] was, as we have said, arrayed in purple and scarlet." These were the colors of the imperial habit, the purple in times of peace, and the scarlet in times of war. The object of the revelator is to set her off with all possible magnificence of dress. But he borrows his figures from the prophets. See the following: "Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord God; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes, was prepared thee in the day that thou wast created;" Ezk. xxviii. 12, 13. A golden cup in her hand. This also is a prophetic metaphor, as will be seen by the following passage: "Babylon hath been a golden the earth drunken: the nations have drunken of her wine; therefore the nations are mad;" Jer. li. 7. The cup agrees exactly with the description of the woman. : It is a golden cup, and she is dressed with great magnificence. Full of abominations, &c. But notwithstanding it is a golden cup, it is full of abominations and filthiness; and so, although she was decorated with such a profusion of rich ornaments, yet she was full of wickedness and impurity. The influence of Rome upon the nations at large was decidedly bad; and hence the woman is said to give the contents of the cup to the nations to drink, and they were made drunk with the wine of her fornication. Wine is used in the Apocalypse as a metaphor in two senses, viz., 1st. To represent the wrath of God; xiv. 10; xvi. 19; and 2d. To represent the wickedness of men; xiv. 8; xvii. 2; xviii. 3. The reason is easily seen. They both madden men, like very strong wine excessively used. The judgments which God sends on men sometimes madden them, and make them act as though their reason was destroyed. "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;" xvi. 10, 11. Judgments producing such effects might well be represented by inflam. matory wine. So the maddening influence of evil examples, especially those of a bad woman, are well described by the wine of fornication. Men's reason is driven away, and they seem to know not, nor care, what they do. The influence of the woman a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT 5. Upon her forehead.—The forehead is mentioned as the most conspicuous part of the body on which to place the label. So Aaron bore the motto, "Holiness to the Lord," engraved on a golden plate, upon his forehead, "And thou shalt make a plate of pure gold, and grave upon it, like the engravings of a signet, HOLINESS TO THE LORD. And thou shalt put it on a blue lace, that it may be upon the mitre; upon the fore-front of the mitre it shall be. And it shall be upon Aaron's forehead, that Aaron may bear the iniquity of the holy things, which the children of Israel shall hallow in all their holy gifts; and it shall be always upon his forehead, that they may be accepted before the Lord;" Exod. xxviii. 36-38. Subsequently it became a custom to place a mark of approbation on the foreheads of those who were worthy of particular honors. "And the Lord said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof;" Ezk. ix. 4. Thus the hundred and forty-four thousand were sealed in the forehead; Rev. vii. 3; which mark the enemies of the gospel had not; ix. 4. The redeemed are said to have the Father's name written in their foreheads; xiv. 1. The forehead being the place on which marks, or inscriptions of honor, were worn, earthly potentates conferred honors to be thus worn; and hence they ordained sentences and titles for that purpose. The beast caused all that worshipped him to receive his name in their foreheads; xiii. 16; xiv. 9. It is said by some writers, that lewd and public women were accustomed, among the Greeks and Romans, to wear their name and their character upon their foreheads, and perhaps this was done among some of the earlier nations; and hence the prophet speaks of a person without shame as having a harlot's forehead. "And thou hadst a whore's forehead, thou refusedst to be ashamed;" Jer. iii. 3. It is easy enough to be seen, then, why, in the case before us, the woman is said to have her title written upon her forehead. ¶ Mystery, Babylon the great, &c. - We can easily see why the woman should wish to place upon her forehead the title, "BABYLON, THE GREAT;" but why she should wish to call herself "mystery," or to declare that she was "the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth," is more difficult to be known. For although she may be supposed to have had no shame, yet she would hardly have desired to wear an inscription that would destroy all her influence, and warn the unwary in the most direct manner against her. We think the conjecture of Prof. Stuart on this verse a very reasonable one. He puts it as follows: "And upon her forehead was a name mysteriously written, BABYLON, THE GREAT; (the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth;") as if the language quoted in parenthesis was that of the revelator, and formed no part of the title. And now a few words as to Babylon. The ancient city Babylon was situated on the Eu phrates, but its history is veiled in much mystery. It is doubtful where the exact site was. The accounts of it approach almost to the miraculous. The walls are said to have been about three hundred and fifty feet high, and eighty-seven feet thick; to have had two hundred and fifty towers, and one hundred gates of brass, and to have been more than sixty miles in circuit. The temple of Belus and the hanging gardens were among the greatest THE MOTHER OF HAR-1 6 And I saw the woman LOTS AND ABOMINA- drunken with the blood of the TIONS OF THE EARTH. saints, and with the blood of the curiosities of this gigantic place, of which almost every trace is destroyed. It is certain that Babylon proper was not intended by the motto on the woman's forehead. Hence, she is said to be Babylon, not really, but by way of mystery, enigma, or figure; as if it were said, "Upon her forehead was a name written metaphorically, Babylon, the great." When the Son of man declared to the revelator the mystery of the seven stars and the seven golden candlesticks, he said, "The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven candlesticks are the seven churches;" this was giving the mysterious or metaphorical sense of the figures employed. So when the revelator says, in the chapter before us, "I will tell thee the mystery of the woman and of the beast," &c., (ver. 7,) he goes on to show what was meant by those metaphors. "Mystery, Babylon," therefore, means, not Babylon proper, but Babylon in a mysterious, or metaphorical sense. And why was the figure Babylon used? The term seems to have been one which the woman was willing to apply to herself. Babylon was truly a great city, and one of the wonders of the world. Rome claimed to be in glory and magnificence what Babylon was, when at the height of her pride. The sacred writers compare Rome to Babylon for other reasons, viz., to foreshadow her destruction. Babylon had been the place to which the Jews had been carried captive, (see Psa. cxxxvii.,) and for the bondage and indignities which they suffered there, they believed that God would overthrow the city and kingdom, which was so effectually done that doubts now remain as to the exact site of the former. Nebuchadnezzar carried away the holy vessels from Jerusalem and put them in his temple at BabyJon; 2 Chron. xxxvi. 7. For the wickedness of the city God decreed, that "Babylon, the glory of king. doms, the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah ;" Isa. xiii. 19. Hence comes the proverb, "Babylon is fallen, is fallen;" Isa. xxi. 9, and Jer. li. 8. Reason enough, therefore, why Babylon was used metaphorically for Rome, just as Sodom and Egypt were used for Jerusalem: "The great city, which spiritually (or by mystery) is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified;" xi. 8. Rome was doomed to fall, and to become "the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird;" xviii. 2. Rome was, in truth, the mother of harlots, whether she would see fit to wear such an acknowledg ment or not. It was a habit with the prophets to call any wicked city a harlot. As for instance, 1st. Jerusalem. "How is the faithful city become a harlot!" Isa. i. 21. Also Jer. iii. 20, and Ezk. xvi. 15, - in fact the whole of the last named chapter. 2d. Tyre; see Isa. xxiii. 15—18. Scarcely anything was more common than for the prophets to represent wicked cities under this similitude. The language and style of the reve lator, in this respect, would not, therefore, have appeared strange to the people whom he addressed. The "mother of harlots" shows how wide was the influence of Rome, as if she was the head of a family of cities of that description. 6. Drunken with the blood of the saints. The woman was intoxicated with the blood of saints; i. e., she had revelled in their blood, until she had become perfectly mad or delirious. To make one drunk with blood, is to revel in slaughter. "I will make mine arrows drunk with blood, and my sword shall devour flesh;" Deut. |