their works do follow them. lowed with them, i. e., they were enabled, by the abatement of persecution, to preach the gospel and labor more diligently, and do those works which followed such as truly believed wheresoever they travelled. But if, after all, the reader supposes, that to may rest from their labors; and Lamb; and these had no rest day nor night, vers. 10, 11. This had given patience to the saints, ver. 12. Then follow immediately the words, "Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, for they rest [the worshippers of the beast had no rest] from their labors, and their works do follow them." Why should the want of rest to the persecutors be considered as belong-lished about three years since, by ing to this world, and the rest enjoyed by the Christians as belonging to the immortal state? Would the context lead us to apply the passage to that state? We think not. Certain other considerations deserve our attention in this place. Did not the Christians rest from their labors in this life, when their enemies were destroyed? Did not their works follow them in this life, when, by the overthrow of their persecutors, they were enabled to persevere in their duty without hindrance? If such things actually transpired in this world, why need we seek for the fulfilment of the passage in the future state? But there seem to us to be some difficulties in applying the passage to the future state, which have not been generally apprehended. Why should it be said the Christians rest from their toils in the state of the dead more than others? Do not all men rest from their toils there? Death, surely, is a state of rest to all. And besides, what idea can we get of men's works following them, or going with them into the immortal world? The common idea is that the works follow them there in the shape of rewards. But this is certainly a very strange construction; for there is not one word said in the verse about reward that we can discover. But on our construction of the passage, the mcaning seems rational. The Christians, when their enemies were put down, rested from their toils, but their enemies had no rest, day nor night; and as to the former, their works fol die in the Lord" signifies to pass into the immortal state, then let him consider the following remarks, pub Rev. Asher Moore, of Philadelphia : "But here we shall be reminded that there is an important part of the passage, concerning which we have thus far said nothing:-'And their works do follow them.' Are we to conclude from this expression that the works of the persons spoken of actually follow them into the future state of existence, and there continue with them? What are the works of men in this world? even the best of men the very martyrs to the cause of Christ? The voice of inspiration declares, and all human experience confirms the fact, that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.' And let us suppose that a company of the best men have passed away from this life, and now stand before God in the spiritual world. Their works are with them, and these works are exhibited in the presence of the Almighty. Well, what is the amount of these works? To say nothing in regard to an eternal weight of merit, let us inquire whether these godly men have in all respects ever performed their duty? If they have in any wise been remiss in simple duty, it is in vain to talk of their great merit. Our Saviour said to his immediate disciples: When ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants; we have done that which was our duty to do.' But this company of good men cannot even say that they have done their duty; and they are therefore worse than unprofitable. Their best deeds fall far short of the 14 And I looked, and behold, | of man, having on his head a a white cloud, and upon the golden crown, and in his hand cloud one sat like unto the Son a sharp sickle. perfect righteousness required by the divine law; while their sins are many and great. And though just and true, compared with other men, they are obliged to confess, after all, that salvation is not of works, but the free gift of God's grace! But we do not believe that the revelator meant, in the passage before us, to furnish any information concerning works that follow men into the spiritual and immortal world. The works of a man may follow him, and be known in the world, after he has ceased from his labors. Thus, St. Paul says of righteous Abel, Heb. xi. 4: By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it, he, being dead, yet speaketh.' Now, in the very same sense that Abel's speech continued after he was dead, did the works of the persons mentioned by St. John follow them. Being dead, they yet work; and the fruits of their labors are seen and known and enjoyed wherever man is blessed with the hopes and comforts of that religion, in behalf of which they did not count their lives dear unto themselves. Though they were put to death, their works were not destroyed; but their influence still continues, as Abel speaks by his righteous example to the sons of men. Solomon says, 'The memory of the just is blessed.' It lives in the hearts of posterity. And while we witness the continuance of the faithful labors of those devoted and self-sacrificing servants of God who laid down their lives in the service of Christ, we revere their toils, and cherish their memory with grateful feelings. Their works live with us; and while the name of the wicked shall rot,' the righteous shall be held in everlasting remembrance." 14. Behold, a white cloud. It is a very common figure in the Bible to speak of God coming in the clouds. His descent at the giving of the law was in a cloud, which veiled him from the sight of the people; Exod. xvi. 10; xix. 9; xxxiv. 5. He accompanied Israel in a pillar of cloud by day, and of fire by night, the latter being more distinctly visible in the darkness. God, it is said, maketh the clouds his chariot; Psa. civ. 3; and hence saith Isaiah: "Behold, the Lord rideth upon a swift cloud, and shall come into Egypt: and the idols of Egypt shall be moved at his presence, and the heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst of it;" xix. 1. The coming of Christ to judgment, after the custom of the ancient Jewish writers, is said to be in the clouds. So Daniel prophesied of the coming of the Son of man ; vii. 13. So Christ himself described his coming; Matt. xxiv. 30; and the same figure is used in the communication to the revelator; i. 7. ¶ Son of man. The revelator having shown that the persecutors of the church and worshippers of the beast had no rest, day nor night, but were to be destroyed, while the Christians rested from their labors and toils, he proceeds to speak further of the judgment of these persecutors under the figure of a harvest; and in the first place he describes the reaper. The Son of man appears upon a cloud, having on his head a crown, (as king in Zion,) and having in his hand a sharp sickle. He who hath the sickle is the reaper, and the sign of the sickle shows that the harvest is ripe. The coming of the Son of man took place at the end of the Jewish age, or world, when he rendered to men according to their works; Matt. xvi. 27, 28. 15. Another angel came out of the temple.- Lightfoot states, "It is ob 15 And another angel came | for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe. out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap for the time is come servable that the word for reaping of the earth comes out from the temple; yea, though Christ have the sickle in his hand, yet an angel out of the temple calls to him to reap; and another angel comes out of the temple with a sickle; and a third out of the temple calls to him to reap. As this may be understood to doctrinal information, that the cries and urgencies of the church to Christ stir him up to avenge them on their enemies, (Luke xviii. 7,) so the expressions may be explained by an allusive application. The putting in of the first sickle, to reap the first corn in Judea, was by the word and warrant of the priests and rulers sitting in the temple; and they that were to reap, when they were come to the corn, put not in the sickle, till the word was given Reap."-(Works iii. 351, 352.) Hence the angel that came out of the temple cries to him that sat on the cloud, (who seems to be waiting for the command,) "Thrust in thy sickle and reap." Harvest of the earth is ripe. 16 And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped. time of her harvest shall come;" Jer. li. 33. The same figure was employed to describe the punishment of the Jews. "The harvest is the end of the world [or age] and the reapers are the angels;" Matt. xiii. 39. "As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; and shall cast them into a furnace of fire; there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth;" 40-42. Such was the description of the punishment of the Jews. The fire in which they were burned was a metaphor to represent the judgments that fell upon their city. "The Lord's fire is in Zion and his furnace in Jerusalem;" Isaiah xxxi. 9; and we have already showed that Jerusalem was described as a furnace, and the people as metals that were to be gathered therein, and melted and purified as gold and silver by the fire. See Ezk. xxii. 19-22, already quoted. 16. And the earth was reaped. How appropriate, in view of all that we have said, was it to represent the destruction of the Romans by the reaping of the harvest. This destruction did not perhaps fall upon them all at once; but it was to happen at no very distant day, and formed a part of the divine plan of operations in ushering the gospel into the world. Let us proceed now to the consideration of the metaphor of the vintage. The ripeness of the harvest denotes that the people were exceedingly wicked, and that the full time of their destruction had come. See the language of Joel, which the revelator seems to have copied. "Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, get you down; for the press is full, the fats overflow; for their wickedness is great;" Joel iii. 13. This settles the point, that by the ripeness of the harvest is intended that the enemies of the church had filled up the measure of their iniquities, and 17. Another angel came out of the nothing remained to them but to be temple.· The same form of the scenedestroyed. But once more: "Forry is kept up. The second angel with thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; the daughter of Babylon is like a threshing-floor, it is time to thresh her yet a little while, and the the sickle comes from the temple like the first. The sickles in both cases were sharp and ready for service. The same facts which had been rep 17 And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle. 18 And another angel came out from the altar, which had resented under the metaphor of the harvest, are now to be represented under the figure of the vintage. power over fire; and cried with a loud voice to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe. transplanted from place to place, and with proper care might even be carried a great distance without losing its 18. Angel came out from the altar. life. Hence it was used to represent - This is one of the angels of the a people removed from one place to elements; see the classification men- another. The Jews were a vine, tioned in our note under v. 2. He brought out of Egypt, carried to Cacomes from the altar, where fire was naan, and planted there, after the kept continually burning. ¶ Power heathen were driven out. "Thou hast over fire. That is, the fire of the altar. brought a vine out of Egypt: thou "The fire shall ever be burning upon hast cast out the heathen and planted the altar; it shall never go out;" Lev. it. Thou preparedst room before it, vi. 13. Cried with a loud cry.. and didst cause it to take deep root, All the voices from heaven, and from and it filled the land. The hills were the temple, (and these terms are some- covered with the shadow of it, and times used synonymously,) are de- the boughs thereof were like the goodscribed as voices of great power; for ly cedars. She sent out her boughs the reason that they are effective, unto the sea, and her branches unto majestic, and command the obedience the river;" Psa. lxxx. 8-11. Isaiah of all men. The thunder is some- speaks of a vineyard which God times described as God's voice; Job planted. He looked for good grapes, xxxvii. 4, 5; Psa. lxxvii. 18; civ. 7. and behold it brought forth wild God's voice is a mighty voice; Psa. grapes. The prophet_explains his lxviii. 33. Any voice announcing allegory by saying: "For the vinejust recompense for sin seems to have yard of the Lord of hosts is the house been called the voice of the Lord; of Israel, and the men of Judah his Isa. lxvi. 6. The voice of the Lord is pleasant plant: and he looked for like the sound of many waters, as of judgment, but behold oppression; for the roaring sea, or a mighty cataract. righteousness, but behold a cry;" Isa. Such a comparison is truly sublime. v. 7. Jeremiah says to Israel, “Yet See Ezk. i. 24; xliii. 2. It was as I had planted thee a noble vine, the voice of a multitude; Dan. x. 6; wholly a right seed; how then art which shakes not only the earth, but thou turned into the degenerate plant heaven also; Heb. xii. 26. These of a strange vine unto me?" ii. 21. metaphors and comparisons are all See, also, Hosea x. 1. It is apparent, employed by the revelator. See i. then, that the prophets used the met. 15; v. 2, 12; viii. 13; x. 3; xi. 15; aphor of the vine to represent the xii. 10; xiv. 2; xvi. 17. Thrust in house of Israel, or nation of the Jews. thy sharp sickle.. Here the command In the Apocalypse, the vine stands comes from the temple again, before for the Romans, and occurs only in the gathering of the clusters was com- xiv. 18, 19. Her grapes are fully menced. ¶ Vine of the earth. - What ripe. -This denotes that the wickedis the accustomed metaphorical use ness of the people was full. which the sacred writers make of the ye in the sickle, for the harvest is vine? We will see. The cultivation ripe: come, get you down; for the of the vine was early known. It was press is full, the fats overflow; for "Put 19 And the angel thrust in | and cast it into the great winehis sickle into the earth, and press of the wrath of God. gathered the vine of the earth, their wickedness is great;" Joel iii. 13. See the remarks under verse 15. Every abomination prevailed among the Romans. They worshipped the beast and his image, and received his mark on their right hands and foreheads; they had no rest day nor night, save the few who had embraced the religion of Jesus, taken up the cross, and been crucified with himthey rested from their labors, and their good works followed them. 19. Great wine-press of the wrath of God. - To tread a people as in a wine-press, was to surround them, to crush, destroy, and extirpate them. See the following passage. "The yoke of my transgressions is bound by his hand; they are wreathed, and come up upon my neck; he hath made my strength to fall, the Lord hath delivered me into their hands, from whom I am not able to rise up. The Lord hath trodden under foot all my mighty men in the midst of me; he hath called an assembly against me to crush my young men ; the Lord hath trodden the virgin, the daughter of Judah, as in a wine-press. For these things I weep; mine eye, mine eye runneth down with water, because the comforter that should relieve my soul is far from me; my children are desolate, because the enemy prevailed;" Lam. i. 14-16. The wine-press of the wrath of God was the wine-press of his judgments. 20. And the wine-press was trodden. To tread the wine-press is, of course, to crush the enemy. The manner of crushing grapes among the Jews was to put them into the vat, or press, and then place men among them to tread upon them. The garments of such must, of course, be stained somewhat of the color of blood. "Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him that treadeth in the wine-fat? I have trodden the wine-press alone; 20 And the wine-press was and of the people there was none with me; for I will tread them in mine anger, and trample them in my fury; and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment. For the day of vengeance is in my heart, and the year of my redeemed is come;" Isa. Ixiii. 2-4. This metaphor was perhaps used by Isaiah to represent the destruction of the Jews, in the days of vengeance, at the coming of Christ. See Lowth on the place. But, according to Adam Clarke, "Kimchi interprets the whole of the destruction of Rome." The latter is the true application of the metaphor in the Apocalypse. See xix. 13, 15. Without the city. When it is said the winepress was trodden "without the city," it has reference, we think, to the custom of the Israelites, that men who were disgraced should be put out of the city. Punishments eminently disgraceful were inflicted without the city. The custom originated on the journey from Egypt to Canaan. Those who were infected with the plague and leprosy were obliged to dwell without the camp; Lev. xiii. 46; Numb. v. 3. The punishment of stoning to death was inflicted without the camp; Numb. xv. 35. It was a disgrace, therefore, to be obliged to dwell without the camp, or to suffer punishments there. Hence we read in Hebrews: "For the bodies of those beasts, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned without the camp. Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate. Let us go forth, therefore, unto him without the gate;" xiii. 11-13. The meaning is, we will suffer reproach for the name of Christ. The Romans were to be punished in a manner to bring upon them the greatest disgrace. ¶ Blood_came out of the wine-press. Here the figure |