and his number is Six hundred | threescore and six. "VICARIVS natural and easy then, than to account and sixty-six. What stress is to be in this way for both of the readings laid on this I cannot say. in the codices. The discrepant modes of sounding Nero's name, whether fully in Hebrew, or in an abridged way, gave rise to the different designations of the corresponding numbers. A solution of the various readings, which is so natural and obvious, one is strongly tempted to believe, must have its foundation in truth and reality." So far, in substance, Prof. Stuart. See his Commentary, vol. ii. 457, 458, Excursus iv. The reason why the revelator did not give fully, and without enigma, the name he intended, is easily seen; he did not desire to bring down upon the unoffending church, the pointed indignation of the power intended. If the seven-headed beast intended the Roman secular power, as we think we have clearly shown, then the name of the beast may well be considered the name of the reigning emperor at the time the Apocalypse was written. Since the above was written, I have received from a friend the following singular paragraph, which he states was copied from an old book, called the "Gospel Treasury," p. 125. The date and authorship of the book were gone. We present the extract as a very striking illustration of the ingenuity which has been displayed in obtaining the beast's number, 666, from the names of eminent dignitaries, or of the places of their power. "VICARIVS FILII DEI. * * "Sometime ago, an English officer happening to be at Rome, observed on the front of the mitre which the pope wore at one of the solemnities, this inscription: VICARIVS FILII DEI.' It instantly struck him perhaps this is the number of the beast.' He set to work and when he had selected all the numerals, and added them up, he found, to his great astonishment, that the whole amounted to precisely six hundred FILII V 5 I 1 DEI. D 500 I 1 L 50 I 1 C 100 I 1 I 1 I 1 501 Preliminary Considerations. - The chapter before us is by no means an unimportant one. In chapters xii. and xiii. the pagan and secular power of Rome are set forth, the former under the figure of "a great red dragon," xii. 3, the latter under that of the beast that rose up out of the sea, xiii. 1. These two powers, which were the two active powers of the Roman Empire in the persecution of the Christians, being thus introduced to the reader, with that of the false prophet, xiii. 11-17, the revelator proceeds (viz., in chap. xiv., which we are now to examine) to give a general synopsis of the matters that remain to be treated of in the Apocalypse. In chapters xii. and xiii. are described the rise and reign of the persecuting powers of the empire. Chapter xiv. is in favor of the church. It describes the prosperity of the church, notwithstanding the persecutions; and the punishment of the persecutors, and of those by whom they were sustained. The effect of what is stated in chap. xiv. was to encourage the Christians. As, in chapters xii. and xiii., the prophecy is of things that were against the church, from henceforth the prophecy is more especially of things that make for the church and against her enemies. The subjects treated in the 14th chapter are as follows: 1st. A view of the continued faithfulness of the 'Jewish converts, the hundred and forty-four thousand. See verses 1-5. 2d. The preaching of the gospel to the Gentiles, and the judgment of the nations by the power thereof; verses 6, 7. and with him a hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father's name written in their foreheads. to 1. A Lamb stood on the mount Sion. - The first five verses of this chapter clearly describe the faith and constancy of the Jewish converts Christianity. They were persecuted somewhat by the Roman power, and hence were introduced in this place by the revelator. The subject matter of these five verses has already been treated of, in the fifth chapter. The "Lamb" was the "Lamb of God, who taketh away the sin of the world" John i. 29; the Lamb that stood in the midst of the elders; Rev. v. 6; the Lamb that was an object of universal worship; v. 8-14; the Lamb that was "slain from the foundation of the world;" Rev. xiii. 8; xvii. 8. This Lamb stood on mount Sion. We are not to understand this of the mount in the literal sense; but of the gospel, which the figure mount Sion is used to designate. Hence Paul said to the Hebrew Christians : "Ye ARE COME unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the 5th. The blessedness of the Chris- heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innutians, like the blessedness of the Jew-merable company of angels, to the ish converts to Christianity; verses 12, 13. 3d. The fall of Rome, the great seat of persecution in the empire, as Jerusalem had been the seat of persecution in the country of the Jews; ver. 8. 4th. The punishment of the Roman persecutors, and of those who sustained them, as the Jews had been punished; verses 9-11. 6th. Coming of the Son of man in judgment on the Romans, as he came in judgment on the Jews; ver. 14. general assembly and church of the first-born, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to JESUS the Mediator 7th. He reaps the harvest of the of the new covenant;" Heb. xii. 22 earth, and his enemies are crushed-24. ¶ With him a hundred forty like grapes trodden in the wine-press; and four thousand.. With the Lamb verses 15-20. was the hundred and forty-four thousand, the same body of Christians mentioned in chap. vii. 4: "And I heard the number of them which were sealed; and there were sealed a hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel." These had the Father's name written in their foreheads; and so they are said to be sealed, as the servants of God, in their foreheads. The hundred and forty-four thou The figures here applied to the Romans are the same with those which had been applied to the Jews; Joel iii. 13; Jer. li. 33; Matt. xiii. 39. Such are the subjects treated of in the 14th chapter; and they are, as it were, a table of contents of what remains to be treated of in the Apocalypse. With these preliminary remarks, we proceed to consider the chapter more particularly. 2 And I heard a voice from | voice of harpers harping with heaven, as the voice of many their harps: waters, and as the voice of a great thunder:'and I heard the sand mentioned in vii. 3, were sealed in their foreheads. No one can doubt that it is the same hundred and forty-four thousand referred to in both cases. Father's name written in their foreheads. The Father's name is written in their foreheads as the most conspicuous part of the body they were not ashamed of their profession. The worshippers of the beast also had the beast's name on their foreheads; xiii. 16; xiv. 9; and the great harlot likewise had an inscription on her forehead, xvii. 5, the mark of her disgrace. It was a reward promised to the faithful Christians, that "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, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name;" iii. 12. The faithful Christians acknowledged, in the most conspicuous manner, their allegiance to God. 2. Voice from heaven. —This "voice from heaven," was the voice of worship from mount Sion, as of the mingled voices of a hundred and fortyfour thousand persons singing aloud the praise of their God. Mount Sion was heaven. Heaven is the spiritual state produced in the soul by the belief of the gospel. Hence Paul calls the gospel kingdom, the heavenly Jerusalem; and Christians are the general assembly and church of the first-born, whose names are written in heaven, that is, on the roll of the church; Heb. xii. 22-24. As the voice of many waters, &c. It was like the noise of a cataract, or of great thunder; that is, it was exceedingly loud. So the voice of the Son of man was described; i. 15. The 3 And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, praise offered to God by the Christians throughout the Roman Empire is described in the same manner: "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 omnipotent reigneth;" xix. 6. The description is designed to connect the idea of majesty and authority with the voice of Christ. The voice of a hundred and forty-four thousand people singing would necessarily be loud. ¶ The voice of harpers harping with their harps. - Harps had been used in the religious worship of the Jews, probably from the time of the earliest existence of that people, for the harp was constructed very early in the history of the world; Gen. iv. 21. David and all Israel played on harps; 2 Sam. vi. 4. It was an instrument in universal use among the Jews; especially in times of triumph, joy, and religious exultation; Job xxi. 12; Psa. xxxiii. 2; xliii. 4'; lvii. 8; lxxi. 22; Isa. v. 12. In times of sorrow the voice of the harper was not heard; Psa. cxxxvii. 2; Isa. xxiv. 8; Ezk. xxvi. 13; Rev. xviii. 22. The music of the harp formed a very important part of the temple-service. Hence the praise of the Christian church to God, as it was an outbreaking of triumph and joy, is metaphorically described as "the voice of harpers harping with their harps." Thus the elders are represented as having harps, Rev. v. 8, and those also who stood on the sea of glass, xv. 2. 3. And they sung a new song.. That is, the hundred and forty-four thousand did this. All the preparation for singing is described in the preceding verse. They had made ready their harps, and had already and before the four beasts, and which were redeemed from the the elders and no man could earth. learn that song but the hundred 4 These are they which were and forty and four thousand, not defiled with women; begun the prelude on those instruments, which were also to accompany the voices in the song. What was this new song? It was called new, because it had never been sung before the Lamb was actually slain. It was the custom of the Jews, to "praise the name of God with a song;" Psa. Ixix. 30. When any new matter of religious rejoicing came up, God was said to put a new song into the mouths of his people, Psa. xl. 3, a new subject of rejoicing and praise. These songs, when generally learned by the people, were very precious to them. They could sing them on Zion; they could sing them at home; but they could not sing them in a strange land; Psa. cxxxvii. 4. But THE NEW SONG mentioned in the verse before us was emphatically new. It was on a subject for which men had never sung the praise of God before. It was the song of redeeming love, which was commenced to be sung when the Lamb was actually slain. See Rev. v. 9, 10: “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." From this it is evident, that THE NEW SONG is the song of praise for redeeming love, by the blood of Christ, and for the triumph of Christian principles among men. This song was sung before the throne, and before the four beasts, and before the elders; which is precisely as the facts were described in chap. v. 6-9. And no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand which were redeemed from the earth. For how could any besides the redeemed for meant sing the new song of redeeming love? By the redeemed here are those who had been brought to the knowledge of Jesus, and who believed in him. In one sense all men are redeemed, for Jesus "gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time;" 1 Tim. ii. 6. In another sense, those only are called the re· deemed who have come to the knowledge of Jesus, and have experienced the benefits of the redemption in their own souls. The term is used in the latter sense in the verse before us. The new song all are to sing at last. All shall praise God for the gift of his Son. "Every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father;" Phil. ii. 9-11. This is the matter of the new song. The hundred and forty-four thousand were persons on the earth who had been brought to the knowledge of the truth, and purified thereby. But who they were is more fully made known in the two succeeding verses. 4. Not defiled by women. -The state of virginity is put for purity in doctrine and life. 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 Christ;" 2 Cor. xi. 2. Believers are said to have "escaped the corruption that is in the world;" 2 Peter i. 4. By parity of metaphor, fornication is put in the Scriptures for the sin of idolatry, and of partaking in the support and countenance of false religion. To go into idolatry, in the language of the Old Testament, was to go a whoring after heathen gods: "For thou shalt worship no other god: for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God; lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they they are virgins. These are being the first-fruits unto God and to the Lamb. they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, 5 And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are of the dependence and gratitude of go a whoring after their gods, and do sacrifice unto their gods, and one call thee, and thou eat of his sacrifice; and thou take of their daughters unto thy sons, and their daughters go a whoring after their gods, and make thy sons go a whoring after their gods. Thou shalt make thee no molten gods;" Exodus xxxiv. 14-17. See also Lev. xx. 5, 6; Deut. xxxi. 16; Psa. lxxiii. 27; Ezk. vi. 9. As the hundred and forty-four thousand kept themselves pure from false religion and crime, they are said not to have been defiled. Follow the Lamb. They are said, too, to have followed "the Lamb whithersoever he went." This was a condition of discipleship. "He that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me;" Matt. x. 38. Again: "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them; and they follow me;" John x. 27. ¶ Redeemed from among men. -They were redeemed from among men. "Ye are bought [says Paul] with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's;" 1 Cor. vi. 20. Thus the believers were re-creation will eventually become what deemed from among men, they were brought out, made separate, and became a peculiar people zealous of good works. The first-fruits unto -- God and the Lamb. -So the Jewish Christians were in truth. They were the earliest converts to Christ. The gospel was first preached to the Jews; and although the great body of the people rejected it, yet some believed on the Son of God; and they were, of course, the earliest converts, or "the first-fruits." The figure is a beautiful one. The "first-fruits" were certain small portions of the harvest, gathered as soon as they were fully ripe; and they were offered to the Lord, in the temple, as a sign they were. They were the sample and the pledge of it. For, as Paul says, "If the first-fruits be holy, the lump [i. e., all that remains] is holy;" Rom. xi. 16. The first-fruits were holy, for the revelator testifies, “In their mouth was found no guile; for they are without fault before the throne of God." Such were the firstfruits; such shall be the general harvest. 5. No guile. Guile here is put for deceit. Blessed is the man (says the Psalmist) unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile;" Psa. xxxii. 2. Again: "What man is he that desireth life, and loveth many days, |