way of the kings of the east might be prepared.

See Job xii. 15; Isa. xix. 6; xlii. 15; xliv. 27; 1. 2; Jer. li. 36; Zech. x. 11; Nahum i. 4. Another figure, as already noticed, is to represent the sea as being dried up to permit the people to pass through; Psa. lxxiv. 15; cvi. 9. ¶ Kings of the east.. Prof. Stuart inquires, why the kings of the east are mentioned, and adds, because "Parthia and her allies were the only powers that could pretend to rival the Romans in the strife of war. The Parthians often drove back, and at last confined, the Romans to the western bank of the Euphrates, retaining the dominion of middle Asia to themselves. The apocalyptist, therefore, here threatens war upon the Roman Empire by the only power which could then make it with any prospect of success. Even to the western parts of Asia had the Parthians sometimes urged their invasion and conquests. It is not necessary to suppose a literal prediction and fulfilment here. Enough that the symbol employed is exceedingly significant. The Roman Empire must be attacked, divided, weakened, by enemies; and this is most significantly expressed here by adverting to the only enemies which, when this book was written, were able to make any impression upon that empire.”. (Stuart on Apoc., ii., 313.) It is not to be supposed, that the Euphrates was actually dried; but it was a figurative method to show that the obstacles to the incursions of the enemies to the Romans, in that extreme quarter of the empire, should be removed; and the enemies should come in and break down the Roman power. Filled with fear at the approaching danger, the Roman power, both secular and spiritual, rouses all its energies to meet the crisis, as we shall see in the

next verse.

13. Unclean spirits. In this instance, unclean spirits are unquestionably spoken of metaphorically.

13 And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of Even though we were to decide that the doctrine of actual demoniacal possessions is taught in the other parts of the New Testament, we should not suppose it was intended to be taught here. The doctrine of demoniacal possessions the Jews learned of the heathen, especially during the seventy years' captivity in Babylon; and this we judge to be the reason why we find so much more said in the New Testament concerning unclean spirits than in the Old. From this doctrine of possession, the phraseology of the Jews came to be somewhat modified; and although our Lord and his disciples adopt their phraseology, it is not to be supposed they meant to adopt their errors. The learned Dr. Lightfoot says, in his remarks on the parable of the unclean spirits: "These words seem to have been spoken by our Saviour according to the capacity of the common people, or rather according to the deceit put upon them, more than according to the reality or truth of the thing itself; taking a parable from something commonly believed and entertained, that he might express the thing which he propounded more plainly and familiarly." - (Works, xi. 203.) From the earliest ages, the heathen supposed invisible spirits to have agency in the affairs of this world. They peopled the skies with the departed spirits of their heroes, to whom they assigned divers ranks, dispositions, and occupations; some they adored with gratitude, and others they worshipped with fear. This was all the work of imagination—it had no reality. They unquestionably believed it real; and when they experienced any extraordinary emotions, they were wont to attribute them to the agency of their fabled demons. This absurd notion was embraced by the Jews, as we learn from their historians; and Josephus, who lived nearly in the same age with the

the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast,

apostles, tells us, that demons are the spirits of wicked men, which return to the earth, and possess and torment the living. Speaking of a certain plant, he says: "It is only valuable on account of one virtue it hath, that if it be only brought to the sick persons, it quickly drives away those called demons, which are no other than the spirits of the wicked, that enter into men that are alive, and kill them, unless they can obtain some help against them."-(Bell. Jud., lib. vii., c. vi., sec. 3.) This was the prevailing opinion in the time of Christ. Persons afflicted with insanity and epilepsy were more particularly judged to be possessed of demons; and the careful reader will perceive, by examining the supposed cases of possessions recorded in the New Testament, that the symptoms put forth by the subjects of them are precisely the symptoms shown by persons really afflicted with those diseases. (See Jahn's Arch., sec. 194 -197.) The Saviour, in speaking of persons thus afflicted, used the common language; not, as we suppose, to give countenance to the notion of the real existence of demons, but in tenderness, perhaps, to the persons afflicted, and in accommodation to their views of themselves, as well as to the prevailing opinion on the subject. When Jesus cured people of insanity or epilepsy, he was said to cast out a demon, or demons, if the possessed thought himself to have more than one; and when Jesus transferred the madness on one occasion to a herd of swine, as the leprosy of Naaman was transferred to Gehazi, the demons were said to enter them, and their end was what might have been expected. We have thought it proper to present these general views on the subject of demoniacal possessions. Those who wish to look more into the matter are referred to Matt. x. 1; xii. 43; Mark i. 23, 26, 27; iii.

and out of the mouth of the false prophet.

11, 30; v. 2, 8, 13; vi. 7; vii. 25; Luke iv. 36; vii. 21, 22; xi. 24; Acts v. 16; viii. 7. We recommend the reader also to consult Farmer on Demoniacs, and Campbell's Prelim. Diss. vi., p. 1. ¶ Mouth of the dragon, mouth of the beast, &c. The principal fact brought out in these two verses is, that the dragon, and the beast, and the false prophet, representing Rome spiritual and Rome secular, all united to arrest the downfall of the empire. Filled with consternation at the approaching danger, the civil power roused all its energies to meet it, as did also its coadjutors, the priests and minions of Rome spiritual. We were told, in Rev. xiii. 11-13, that the second beast, the auxiliary to the first, was a lamb in appearance, but a dragon in reality. He for a time exercised all the power of the first beast, and caused the body of the people to honor and reverence the first beast, or Rome secular. This auxiliary beast was to do great wonders, and to deceive mankind by the miracles which he appeared to perform; verses 14, 15. The unclean spirits, like frogs, came out of the mouth of the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet, the same power being intended here by the false prophet which is intended in Rev. xiii. 11-13 by the auxiliary beast. The heathen spiritual power, beyond all doubt, was auxiliary to the secu lar. But the energies of all were summoned to ward off the dangers of the empire. Every kind of art and deception were employed to control the people, and ensure their devotion to the ruling power. The revelator states that the unclean spirits wrought miracles, the object of which was to rouse the people "to the battle." The unclean spirits that came out of the mouths of the dragon, beast, and false prophet, were like frogs. The frog is an odious animal, and was unclean under the law. It inhabits

low marshes and bogs, and the filthiest and most stagnant pools. The frogs were known as one of the plagues of Egypt, and even the magicians of that country had power to counterfeit the miracle wrought by Moses; Exod. viii. 2, 7; Psa. lxxviii. 45; cv. 30. Hence the unclean spirits that came out of the mouth of the dragon were compared to them. 14. For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles. - The unclean spirits were not, of course, real beings. The whole is metaphorical. The dragon and beast are both metaphors; and the unclean spirits like frogs coming out of their mouths are metaphors. So when we are told they are the spirits of demons, or devils, the language is still metaphorical, the spirits of imaginary beings being put for the deceivers who endeavored, by their auguries and enchantments, to stir up the people against the Christian religion. Every reader of history knows, that the order of augurers was held in very high repute among the Romans. See the remarks on xiii. 14, and xix. 19, 20. Few important matters of state were done without their advice. They were supposed to have power to foretell future events, and to decide whether any enterprise about to be undertaken would be successful. They were an order of priests, and had a college, or corporation, at Rome. They served to keep the people in subjection. Every one must see, that such an order of priests would have a vast influence upon the populace. They stirred them up to war, or kept them back from it, almost at their pleasure. They had great influence over the rulers, called in the verse before us, "the kings of the earth and of the whole world," who by their influence,

15 Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest

by their auguries, by their assurances of success, were gathered together "to the battle of that great day of God Almighty." ¶ That great day.

By that "great day" is meant the day of God's visitation upon the em. pire for its sins. The day of God is a phrase frequently employed by the sacred writers to describe any time in which God specially visited men with judgments. Thus, the time of the destruction of Babylon is called the day of the Lord; Zeph. i. 12—18; so also was the time of the destruction of Jerusalem. See the language of Joel: "Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the Lord cometh, for it is nigh at hand; a day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness;" ii. 1, 2. The New Testament writers adopt the same language; see Luke xxi. 34; 1 Thess. v. 4. And as it is said to be the day of God Almighty, it would seem to show, that although all the forces of the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet, might combine, yet they could not prevail against the Most High.

15. Behold, I come as a thief. Here is one of the strongest illustrations we could possibly have, that metaphors and comparisons are not designed, as authors say, to go upon all fours, that is, they are not supposed to hold good in all particulars. When once we have got the design of a writer, that is enough; we are not to persist in applying his imagery in a variety of ways that he never thought of. The Judge says: "Behold, I come as a thief." Here, the point to be illustrated was, that he came suddenly and unexpectedly, like a thief in the night. This is the whole

16 And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.

17 And the seventh angel

design and end of the comparison, and it should not be pursued any further. The thief comes to steal, to kill, and to destroy; but we must not push the comparison to this length, for Jesus came for no such purpose. We see, then, that by pushing the application of metaphors and comparisons too far, we do essential injustice to the meaning of the sacred writers. Obtain, if possible, the true meaning, and there stop. See the remarks on iii. 3. The passage before us is evidently parenthetical; for the strain of the 14th verse is resumed in the 16th. Paul exhorted his brethren, at Thessalonica, not to let "the day of the Lord" overtake them as a thief; 1 Thess. v. 4; and this seems to be the design of the verse before us. The Christians were required to watch for that day, and keep their garments in order, that they might not be obliged to walk in their shame.

16. Gathered them together. Here the account of the battle mentioned in verse 14 is resumed again. And he gathered them together; i. e., the power did this which was mentioned in the verse last named, which went forth to the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day, &c. ¶ In the Hebrew tongue Armageddon. And the place to which they were gathered together was called in Hebrew, Armageddon. There are different speculations as to what is meant by Armageddon. We incline to the opinion that it is formed from the Hebrew word signifying a mountain, and Megiddo, the name of a place mentioned in the Old Testament; so that Armageddon signifies the Mountain of Megiddo. It was a place famous in the history of the Old Testament for blood

18 And there were voices,

and slaughter; see Judges v. 19; 2 Kings ix. 27; xxiii. 29; 2 Chron. XXXV. 22; Zech. xii. 11. Armageddon is therefore put for a place of slaughter, because it had been noted for battles. The name Waterloo, in consequence of the great reverse suffered there by the Emperor Napoleon, is now used to signify any place of overthrow and defeat; and so Armageddon is put for any place of great slaughter. Bonaparte once gained a great victory at Austerlitz. At another battle, in which he determined to succeed, and which he commenced just as the sun was rising, he pointed to the luminary and said, "It is the sun of Austerlitz." It was on this principle that the armies were said to be gathered together at Armageddon.

17. Seventh angel.-The seventh angel was the last of the series. The description of the judgment is now about to be finished. ¶ Into the air.

In the imagery of the chapter the seventh vial of the wrath of God is said to have been poured into the air. ¶ A great voice. And there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, the very place of the Holy One, saying, "It is done." That is, the last vial is poured out, and under this vial the judgment is completed. The facts to be stated in the succeeding verses of the account are the completion of the judgment. On the subject of "the great voice," see the note on xiv. 18.